2014

Dancing adders

Happy new year to you all! I have three posts which will appear quite quickly in the new year, most likely over the next week. This first post is just a brief review of 2014 in terms of what I photographed. I am sure I have missed a lot out, and have not necessarily put in my best/favourite photos, but ones that remind me of what I did throughout the year. I have also limited it to 10 photos just to make me think a bit when selecting them.

Next up I will be sharing my favourite photos of 2014, and then introducing a new project I have been asked to participate in... very exciting, and it will lead to a regular weekly blog post for a couple of months. More on that later though, first lets look back on last year...

Every year the first thing I look forward to, if we don't have any snow, is the dance of the adders. I experimented with the macro lens this year and got some lovely shots I was pleased with. Above is one of my favourites, although I feel my back catalogue of this behaviour is still better. I am still waiting for that one really special photo of this event... maybe this year.

Stoat

I try and sit in on at least one BWC photo day a year, and one BWC Owl day a year. This gives me a good opportunity to get some fresh photos for the office to use, but also see how the day goes from a visitors view. Above is one of a stoat I took and is now used for the cover of this years leaflet.

Little owl

On the owl day I joined in on the above is one of my favourites, Scrappy peering around the edge of our stone wall set.

Bee swarm

Our bees swarmed a couple of times last year, and having a lot of photos of them all in a mass from before I tried something different. Changing the angle slightly came up with something I really liked.

Fallow deer

I was asked by the owner, David, to help with a project he is doing for a children's educational DVD and book. For the book he needed specific photographs, so with a list in hand off I went. It was the first time I have really taken photos to demand, but it was good fun and I learn't a lot from it. I am sure it will happen again in the future if the book is successful, but above is one of a fallow deer grazing.

Ironically I don't think the above photo was used, but it was one of my favourites front he shoot.

Harvest Mouse

Lucy "found" some nice corn over the summer, so we spent an evening photographing the harvest mice. You can look back in the archives for these photos, but this simple portrait above is one of my favourites.

Common Dormouse

While doing some routines in with our dormice this summer, we noticed one was up... very unusual, so after checking that they were ok I made the most of this rare chance to take some photos.

Emmy and Buster

Later in the year we had another otter cub born, little Ol' Buster. He has just started to come out more regularly. This photo above is of him on one of his first days out.

Tawny owl

Winter is always a good time for photography here. Although the days are shorter, the light when out is usually a little softer... especially in the afternoon, and you often get that nice red glow. We have done many owl days for ourselves and Andy Rouse, and Andy has recently decided to offer half and half days. I took this one late afternoon while testing the best times to use certain perches for the light. Previously we saw this location as a potential place to put the tawny owl, but were running late in the day.

Otters playing through the ice

Finally, the other day, I took this photo of Emmy and Elwood playing and chasing each other throughout the ice. Something I tell people every winter, but have never been able to show them... By luck I had my camera with me a couple of days ago while they were chasing each other, so I took a couple of snaps. Not the best, but it shows what I want.

Next week I will post my favourite images from 2014 before sharing new photos taken this year, and announce the new project I have been asked to help with.

Thanks for looking :-)

BWC Photographic Day

Red Squirrel

I joined in on one of our photographic days a few weeks a go, and after having rain on the open days I did and dark skies on the owl day I had... both! for the BWC photographic day. It seems my luck was against me, but I still had a great day, got a couple of photos I am very pleased with and for two brief spells we did get a bit off light piercing through.

As always, we started with our red squirrels. The rain was light, and the skies were dark hence the low aperture and high iso obviously visible in the photo above, but I have to confess I really like this one. Also goes to show, push the iso up if you have too! Better to have a slightly noisy photo which is sharp than a blurry photo with no noise.

Fox

We tried the foxes next, but they were having none of it so we had to move on to the wildcats. But since we usual do the foxes second I thought I would show those photos second here too.

This is where the real advantage of a photo day comes to. Having the keeper with you for the squirrels is great, as we can even move them to a certain extent on to logs and branches for natural photos, but with the foxes, wildcats and otters you get to enter the pens with them and not only have a keeper but also avoid the barriers/mesh fencing.

Frodo

This gives you the chance to get some nice portraits, looking straight at you with a little help from a keeper, or off to one side.

Red Fox

The other advantage is being able to get close enough for something a little more abstract.

Fox Running

And if they are up for it, we can always get the animals moving a bit too for some action shots.

Wildcat

Next up is the wildcats. Once again, close up portraits is the obvious advantage, but we can get the cats running and even jumping for some great action shots. I didn't do too much with them during our session, but at the end of the day went back in of the last few minutes and with a brief spell of sunshine to take the photo above... one of my favourites from the day.

Wildcat Yawn

And who can resist a yawn shot when it shows itself!

Harvest Mouse

After the cats and before lunch, we bring out the hedgehogs and harvest mice for some more natural looking photographs on little sets. The mice are usually on teasel or corn and the hedgehog can be placed on the grass, bark or even leaves during the early autumn days.

Tawny Owl

We don't do too much with our owls, so as not to take away from our owl photographic days, but we do perch a tawny owl and barn owl for those who are interested and don't wish to come on one of our owl days. Ironically, this was my favourite photo of a tawny owl our of both our normal day and owl day I joined in on last month.

Blue Skies!

After lunch we start with the deer, and to be honest this is the one animal where there is not much difference to if you attended the keeper talk on an open day, but next is what I think is the best part of the day... going in with the otters. Once again it was very dull, but with a ten minute spell of beautiful blue sky! I just had to put on the wide angle to prove we actually did get a bit of light during this day.

Otter Swimming

With the otters we can get them on the bank, in the water and if they are up for it even a little bit of running. The big advantage here is you can get very low on the ground to get more intimate photos of them.

Otter

And as with the foxes and cats, it really shows the advantage of a photographic day over an open day. The low angle, inside the enclosure, and with a keeper keeping them interested and varying where they are.

Stoat

At the end of the day we finish up with our stoats, weasels, polecats, mink and badgers. You have no extra access with these than you would on an open day, but having the keeper there does help. They can help position the animals a little bit, and make sure they are out for you to photograph. A little bit of food of course helps keep them interested.

Thanks for looking.

BWC in the Snow

Red Squirrel

Here are a few of my favourite snow photos I have. A few years a go now we had nearly 2 foot of snow around the Centre, it was the most I can remember seeing, and in many places on the reserve it drifted up to 4 foot. I remember taking Bess round the reserve one evening thinking it wouldn't take much longer... but a quick twenty minute circuit turned in to an hour of trenching through the snow. I managed to get a couple of nice photos of her though, which you may have seen in the post I did on Bess a couple of weeks a go.

Above is one of my favourite red squirrel photos.

Snowy Owl in Snow

The snow always brings a conflict of thoughts for me. I do enjoy it while it is pure and white, and love how vibrant it makes the works appear. I like colour, and the natural white background makes the colour really stand out. For photography, this is great, and I missed not having any snow earlier this year to experiment with. Near the top of my list when the snows fall is to get Hedwig out and take him to the reserve for a photo shoot, although that being said, one of my faves of him... above... was taken in the Dell.

Wildcat in Snow

From a work point of view the snow is nothing but a pain. Everything takes longer. Locks need un freezing before going in to a pen, then un freezing again when you need to go bak in later. Water bowls need ice removing before refilling not to mention taps defrosting before being able to use them, bedding replaced more often to make sure all are warm and cosy. Even just walking through the snow to get to everywhere takes its time and repairing any damaged enclosures. If the snow is particularly bad and the keeper scan't get in, then I am on my own to do all the work...

Don't get me wrong, that isn't a complaint, I enjoy it... and the keepers are so good at trying to get here all weathers, it has been a rare occurrence that I have been on my own, but it is all things we need to account for.

Peeking Wildcat

For me, the wildcats are one of the best animals to see in the snow, and it is really where they belong. They look amazing in it, and this is one of my favourite photos of them in the snow. Lex, peering around a trunk where the snow has drifted up it by about 3 feet.

Stoat

Not as many British mammals hibernate as people think... only the hedgehog, dormice and bats. Others like badgers, squirrels and this stoat are still active but do cut down there activity a lot and hunker down to keep warm.

Otter in Snow

The otters love the snow, almost as much as the foxes, and often run around in it. They are very playful animals and love the colder weather, really enjoying playing in the ice too.

Red Deer

A lot of people don't go out with their cameras in the bad weather like rain or when it is actually snowing, but this can lead to some great pics that not many people get as they are indoors or concerned about their cameras getting wet.

Cameras these days are pretty good at being weather resistant, and you can always through a plastic bag over your camera to protect it.

Tawny Flying in Snow

I have only once been around when it was snowing at the Centre, but I tried to make the most of it with a few owls, foxes and deer.

Tawny Flying through Snow

Florence flying in the snow, they seem to get less wet in snow than in rain and so we can get away with flying them.

Flo the Fox

Flo, always photogenic.

Fox

Enjoying playing in the snow and catching snow drops... I think of all our animals the foxes enjoy it the most.

Fox

And I quite like this one, it looks more wild with her battling agains the wind and snow to move.

Short- eared Owl

The last lot of snow we had fell just before an Andy Rouse owl workshop, so I went out the day before to scout out some new positions that would work well with the snow.  While out there I took some nice close portraits of some of our owls.

Little Owl

The little owl really fluffed himself up to keep warm.

Snowy Owl

This one of the snowy was taken on the Andy Rouse workshop day.

Fox in Snow

Fox in snow is one of my more popular pictures, and was lucky enough to win a place in the Country file calendar a few years a go... This is when I first learn't how bitchy photography can be, reading comments on forums about this and others photos. Good came from it though, as it gave me the relaxed attitude that I now have towards photography and taking pictures and means I enjoy it far more.

Otter

Simple otter portrait that was one of our many Christmas cards over the years, and below Lilly running over the ice.

Cool Runnings

Thanks for looking.

Few pics from last few days

Badger, Meles meles

Just a few quick pics from the last few days this time, a bit of a mix. Above is possibly one of my favourite Badger photos at the moment. I changed the exposure and metering in the camera to emphasize the harsh shadow and still keep the detail in the lit side of his face.

Polecat Kit

A few photos of our polecat kits, they are growing quickly aren't they?

Polecat Kit from the Left

I do a lot of photography with the animal looking into the frame... for two reasons really, one I just like it! And two, it gives Liza space on the opposite side of the animal for text for advertisement and articles.

Polecat Kit from the Right

So here is one of a kit looking in from the other side too :-)

The Beautiful Susie

While photographing the kits, I couldn't not miss out on spending a bit of time with Susie. Same as many I already have of her, but she is so beautiful I couldn't resit another portrait.

Red Squirrel Stare

We had a few walnuts, so I gave them to the squirrels for something a little different to what they are used to.

Wide Angle of a Squirrel with a Walnut

They have had walnuts before, so they knew what to do with them.

Red Squirrel with a Walnut

I particularly like this one as it shows off the remaining wisp of his ear tuft :-)

Mother and Calf

One of the evenings I spent a bit of time with red deer, mainly trying to get a few photos of the calves. It may sound easy to do, but they are so wary and don't come that close at all until they are much older... and the mums are more wary too during this time. I keep my distance as I don't want to upset them.

The Creche

This was one of the mothers looking after four of the calves while the others were eating some of the food I took out with me. 

Red Deer Calf

After some time, one of the calves got brave enough to come and see what I was doing.

Startled

I quite liked the expression on this hinds face. She looks startled, but she is actually just eating and I caught her mid chew.

The Boys; Albus and Olivander

The boys! On his own Olivander looks the business, but then when he is next to Albus he really looks quite small!

Albus, Master Stag

Albus, still the Master Stag. Not sure how much of a rut there will be this year, Albus really is the bigger stronger looking stag.

Back Lit Barn Owl Flying

Finally, Monday night myself and the rest of the keepers went onto the reserve to fly big pete, before going to off to watch some wild barn owls. This one was back lit to show off the wings, only just got away with it as the sun was still a little too high and ideally needed to be taken half hour later, but we were watching the wild barn owls at that time.

Side Lit Barn Owl Flying

And a simple side lit one to end on...

Thanks for looking.