With the large amount of flooding affecting many of my normal wildlife photography sites I headed for higher ground to check out a new site. In this video I show you how I approach a new location and assess the wildlife on site and my methods for getting images over the coming months.
More Wildlife Photography Tips!
I have just uploaded my second wildlife video to Youtube. In this episode I give you information on how to take those next steps from photographing the birds in your garden (a very controlled situation) to getting out into the wild places around your home. Here you have much less control of the situation but with over fifteen years of wildlife photography experience I share some of the methods that have helped me produce wildlife images over the years.
Take a look by following the direct link below!
Wildlife Photography, Photographing Garden Birds
My latest vlog is now up on youtube. This week I start my Wildlife Photography series where I show you how to set up your garden and equipment to get stunning images of garden birds. Please like and subscribe!👍
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JrOk84s0QE
Walking On The Moon!
We recently spent a few days in the North Pennines and we stopped in a wonderful holiday cottage on the edge of moorland with the magnificent Hamsterly Forest bordering the other side of the moorland. Of course as a landscape and wildlife photographer I was expecting some great things from this few days away. Sadly I was to find that all was not as it seemed.
Burnt Moorland
Grouse management
Hamsterley Forest is managed by Forestry England who actively encourage wildlife and from our position so close to this we where expecting a huge range of species. Over the three days we spent here we walked eight miles every day and where able to get a really good feel for the area. On the drive to the cottage on a single track road the first interesting point to note was the number of baby rabbits both alive and killed on the road. Immediately, at this early stage my eyes where drawn to the electricity/communications poles that bordered the road expecting to see the familiar site of a buzzard perched on every other pole. Strange, not one was spotted on the two miles of single track. Still it was early days.
We took our first walk that afternoon, an out and back route that took us over the moorland. There where grouse a plenty and also a high number of Curlew, Plover and Lapwing. Oh, and of course the rabbits. On top of the moor I had hoped to see a short eared owl or perhaps a hen harrier. Sadly there was nothing not even a Kestrel.
This same story was played out on the next two walks we did all had some moorland, farmland and woodland. Over three walks I counted not one bird of prey. On our second walk we also bumped into the estates female gamekeeper. She topped the rise on her quad bike and could be seen hastily sheathing her gun before approaching us down the hill. She seemed nice enough although there appeared to be a veiled warning about keeping to the paths and being extra careful with our dog as there where grouse chicks everywhere. We advised her that our dog does not come off the lead as she is a rescue dog. I had my camera and told her I was a wildlife photographer. She wasn’t very helpful on wildlife and it soon became clear to me there was little I could learn from her. I wondered later if keeping to the paths might also keep us from seeing something else that may be going on?
Every evening we where treated to the site of her tweed clad husband slowly emerging from his back door with his gun and walking to a pile of wood before shooting into the ground presumably shooting rabbits. He did this every ten minutes for a couple of hours.
Killing in the Name of
Eh, Killing!
The moorland itself, as the title of this blog infers was not too far away from the moons surface. The heather has been regularly burnt and cut, presumably to allow a few over privileged pricks to descend on the place and shoot anything that moves during the grouse shooting season. We took macro lenses in the hope of some moorland mini beasts but apart from a few green tiger beetles it was largely sterile. The shots we did get where from the Hamsterly Forest. I have witnessed similar things in Derbyshire but I have to say they look positively flourishing compared to this ecological disaster.
Now I have to say I have no firm proof of what is going on here , but laying my cards on the table I am 90% certain that the management of the grouse moor can explain everything that is happening here. A plague of rabbits, why because these grouse moor guardians of the environment have annihilated every apex predator to protect the grouse. Not a fox, stoat or bird of prey is allowed to live in this sterile moonscape. So you have to spend your time wasting shot on the rabbit plague. I know what they will then say to defend themselves, but what about the waders we provide a habitat for? This I’m afraid is inconsequential. I would bet large sums of money that if curlew started to down grouse chicks they would soon mysteriously disappear.
Golden Plover
A Non-Grouse eater!
Despite the wonderful cottage we will not be going back here. It is such a shame that what could be a wonderful haven for wildlife has been spoilt to provide a part time playground for a privileged few. At time in the past I had found myself falling for the rhetoric of these grouse moor custodians, that they where really protectors and enhances of the environment. The evidence here was stark and this behaviour really does have to stop. The sad thing is that this area could make far more money from its landscape by actually working to protect the environment for its wildlife. How much money do the white-tailed sea eagles bring to the Isle of Mull?
Anyway, here are a few images I did get and I will leave you with this. I happened to mention to the female gamekeeper that I had just seen a roe deer heading off the moorland and into a small wood. Presumably it had cut across the moor from Hamsterley Forest. She could not hide a tut and exclaimed they cause us problems as well. I could also see her itching to reach for the gun!
Until next time.
Scott
Summer Macro Workshops
Due to the success of my One 2 One Photography Days I am now able to provide half day sessions on Macro Photography. If you have an interest in the smaller creatures that are often all around us and would love to see them in close up detail then this is the session for you.
Ideally you need a digital SLR or a mirror-less camera and a lens with macro capability. A dedicated macro lens is ideal as this will enable you to get true 1:1 images.
I prefer to work One-2-One with clients and would never work with more than three people at any one time as I prefer to give a client my full attention so that you are not left with gaps in your knowledge at the end of the session.
I have a number of nature reserves in Nottinghamshire that have good opportunities for macro photography throughout the summer months.
Sessions are charged at £30 and you can book on the calendar link below.
Once a session is booked I will contact you to arrange where to meet. Most people prefer to leave there vehicle at my address and travel to the location with me but most arrangements can be catered for.
If you want more information please feel free to email me at scotttilley6@gmail.com or Mob: 07791426742.
All The Best.
Scott
If you want more information please feel free to email me at scotttilley6@gmail.com or Mob: 07791426742.
All The Best.
Scott
Back to the Wild Life!
After years of concentrating heavily on wildlife photography I took the decision in 2018 to move away from this genre of photography and concentrate on landscape photography with some candid/street photography thrown in for good measure. It was at this time I made the switch to Sony with the Sony A6000 and then moving on to the full frame A7ii.
Red Fox - Sony A7ii, Sigma 100-400
All the decisions I took at the time where re-enforcing my position of moving away from wildlife photography, the A7ii in particular is a full frame sensor so would lose me any advantage of reach provided by a crop sensor. Now I do not regret my switch to Sony as I love the system, however, i recently found that when out with the camera I would still find myself getting pulled on occasion towards wildlife shots that might present themselves. In particular when on holiday in the Scottish Borders there happened to be many opportunities to photograph Red kites had I had a suitable lens to do so.
I came back from that holiday with a problem. I wanted the ability to shoot some wildlife but had to find a lens within my budget that would do the job. I also wanted the lens to double up as my telephoto landscape lens so that probably ruled out anything too big. As you can imagine this is not an easy task. The Sony E mount system does not have the lens depth from third party manufacturers that Canon and Nikon does, consequently the native lens which fit the bill, the Sony 100-400 GM retails for around two thousand five hundred pounds. At this stage I didn’t see this as an option.
After months of looking at every option available, and I mean every option (see list below)
Canon 100-400 mk1 with adaptor (slow autofocus if it worked at all)
Canon 100-400 mk2 with adaptor (as expensive as the native Sony with adaptor cost)
Tamron 150-600 with adaptor (perhaps too big for landscapes, autofocus performance?)
Sigma 150-600 with adaptor (same issues as above)
Sigma 120-400 with adaptor (contacted Sigma old lens not sure would work with adaptor)
Tamron 100-400 with adaptor (possible)
Sigma 100-400 with adaptor (possible)
As you can see I explored a number of possibilities. In the end I went with the Sigma 100-400 and sigmas own MC-11 adaptor. I think the reason I went for this over the Tamron was down to the fact that the adaptor is considerably cheaper than the equivalent metabones, and being from the same manufacturer and designed to work and be up-gradable with firmware, it gave me a little more confidence that the two would work well together.
Performance so far?
I have to say that so far the lens and adaptor combination is working a real treat on the Sony A7ii. Image quality has been fantastic which is the main issue you worry about. There are a few points I will raise which are in no way a criticism but more an understanding that with any lens there are issues you have to work around to get the best performance.
Brown Hare - Sony A7ii Sigma 100-400
Autofocus performance. This is not the fastest when the lens is set to focus over the full range. I combat this by preparing in advance if I can and switching to 6m-infinity or 1.6-6m. This speeds the process up and is a method you can use on most occasions. I have had a few instances where the lens has just failed to focus but this is rare and I have remedied by re-focusing on something else before moving back to the original subject.
Lens Construction/Ergonomics. For the price this lens feels very solid, not on a par with the native 100-400 but certainly much better than something like the Tamron 150-600 which I have also owned and incidentally also took excellent images. the biggest issue I have found is the lack of a tripod mount. As one of my uses for this lens is to be able to shoot telephoto landscape images this is almost essential. I also really find the tripod foot is an invaluable carry handle when out shooting wildlife. Luckily I did my research before getting the lens and these can now be bought as third party items. I have yet to get this delivered but I will update this post when its arrived and in use.
Maximum Aperture. At 400mm the maximum aperture of the lens is F6.3 so it falls a little behind some of the competitors that tend to be slightly wider at F5.6. Because the Sony A7ii has such a fantastic ISO performance I have not found this an issue. As a photographer I have just adjusted a shot that i previously took at ISO320 to ISO400.
Reach. I suppose this was always going to be a challenge for me having come over from a cropped sensor camera to full frame. But I did not want to go for a longer lens for a number of reasons. As stated earlier I also needed the lens to double up as my telephoto landscape lens so the 100-400 range fitted the bill nicely. I also wild camp with the camera equipment so size and weight is also an issue. It is a compromise but one i am willing to live with and one with a possible solution.
The Future. As I indicated above I do have a plan that I think will give me everything I need to make this system perfect for my needs. As is often the case it involves the purchase of more kit, so whats on the cards, well I am looking at the possibility of getting a Sony A6300 to use as a backup. This will work with all my current lenses and with the added advantage of a crop sensor giving me extra reach if I need it for certain wildlife situations. I can also use the camera for vlogging when my youtube channel gets back up and running in the autumn.
Toad -Sony A7ii, Sigma 100-400. Reasonable Macro capability.
In conclusion I think this lens is capable of providing pin sharp images with fair if not dazzling autofocus performance. For me it does everything i need it to do and will become part of a pretty perfect setup. As with all equipment it is a balancing act of compromise and using your knowledge and skill as a photographer to work around those little eccentricities that all lenses have. As always your comments are welcome and I would be particularly happy to hear from other photographers using this combination and there thoughts on its performance.