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OPHRYS
PHOTOGRAPHY
Kent
UK- Wildlife and nature photography- High-quality wildlife prints
& stock images |
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Image(s) of the month 2010
(All images copyright © Ophrys Photography)
December - Kingfishers and Common frog
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No description needed really -
this of course is a kingfisher on a bulrush stem. The picture
was taken from a hide on private land in Warwickshire. Many
thanks to Peter Preece for his hospitality and very enjoyable
company for the day. The water where the kingfisher was fishing
was frozen in parts - as were my fingers and toes by the end
of the day !
- Image taken with Canon 1D mkIV, 300mm f2.8 lens plus
2x converter (600mm), 1/200th sec at f10, ISO 400, exposure
compensation +1/3. Gitzo tripod/Wimberley gimbal head. |
The kingfisher (a male - it has a black beak
where females have a red/orange lower mandible) was diving
after fish, as they do - and he tolerated a few changes of
diving post to provide some nice varied shots. To see the
rest of the kingfisher series, please see my kingfisher
gallery.
- Image taken with Canon 1D mkIV, 300mm f2.8 lens, 1/1600th
sec at f5.0, ISO 1000 , exposure compensation +1/3. Gitzo
tripod/Wimberley gimbal head. I also used liveview and a cable
release. |
I haven't had a frog in my garden for several
years. I suspect this is due to what is known as Red leg disease
which swept the country a few years back. I was therefore
absolutely delighted to find this frog hopping around on my
lawn. A trough of water and a lump of sphagnum moss made a
temporary home for it while I took my pictures.
- Image taken with Canon 1D mkIV, 100mm f2.8 lens, 1/125th
sec at f9, ISO 1600, exposure compensation +1/3, tripod.
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November - Mating deer
This month's image
of the month carries an x-certificate warning ! The first
is of a mating pair of red deer. The stags round the hinds
up into harems by calling them with loud bellowing, running
around and sparring with each other. The stag keeps checking
the does to check if they have come into season and when they
do, mating soon follows.
- Image taken with Canon 1D mkIV, 300mm f2.8 lens, 1/400th
sec at f5.6, ISO 400 monopod. |
The second image
is of a mating pair of fallow deer. The stags make a very
different call to the red deer. They do repeated short barks
as opposed to the reds long bellowing roar. The fallow does
make a a more surprising noise - a gentle cat-like mew.
- Image taken with Canon 1D mkIV, 300mm f2.8 lens, 1/400th
sec at f5.6, ISO 400 monopod. |
October - Marsh frog, cheetah portrait
and bee-eater.
This
months image is of an alien invader to Britain - the
Marsh frog. Unfortunately they displace the native
frog, but they are providing a lot of food for birds
such as herons. I witnessed several grass snake attacks
on the young frogs while I was there so they are serving
a purpose. This one looked pretty comical and I love
the colours in the image.
- Image taken with Canon 1D mkIV, 500mm f4 lens +
1.4x extender, 1/1250th sec at f5.6, ISO 400. Tripod. |
I'm still
sorting through my last Kenya images and came across
this cheetah. Modern cameras have so many pixels they
allow hard cropping which is what I did to obtain
this portrait.
- Image taken with Canon 1D mkIII, 500mm f4 lens ,
1/800th sec at f5.0, ISO 400 beanbag. |
Finally
a dazzling European bee-eater with an insect in its
beak.
- Image taken with Canon 1D mkIII, 500mm f4 lens ,
1/1250th sec at f5.0, ISO 500 tripod. |
September - Brown mouse lemur
This
cutey is a brown mouse lemur taken in the rainforest
at night in Madagascar. I had to use the batteries
from my head torch to power my exhausted flashgun.
This made for an interesting walk back to camp in
total darkness ! It was worth it though to get this
shot. The mouse lemur is one of the smallest lemur
species and is a primate like ourselves, not a bushbaby,
rodent or a monkey as you might think.
- Image taken with Canon 1D mkII, 100-400mm f4-5.6L
lens, 1/250th sec at f6.3, ISO 500 using Canon 420ex
Speedlight Flash as sole light source. |
August - Wood white butterfly
This
month's image is a rare wood white butterfly. They
never land with their wings open so I used backlighting
to shine through the wings - which reveals the grey
spots on the wing tips. A whiff of fill-flash was
then used to illuminate the shadow side of the butterfly.
- Image taken with Canon 1D mkIV, 100mm f2.8mm macro
lens 1/160th sec at f11, ISO 640. Fill flash 2 stops
underexposed from MT24 ex twinflash. |
July - Clouded yellow on early spider
orchid
This was
a rare opportunity. The early spider orchid was
not only a fortunate perch but it is very unusual
to get a clouded yellow in the UK in May when the
orchid flowers. Clouded yellows are migrants from
Europe and usually arrive in late summer. This shot
was taken on the 6th May. The weather was bright
but cold so the butterfly was lethargic and gave
me all the time I needed to get my shot. Just as
well as the wind was strong and I had to wait for
a short lull.
- Image taken with Canon 1D mkIV, 100mm f2.8mm macro
lens 1/800th sec at f8, ISO 640. Reflector used
to provided some fill light.Camera on Gitzo tripod
and a short stick used as a prop to brace the orchid
against the wind. |
June 2010 - Lady orchids and Duke of burgundy butterfly
This
months first image is of an Lady Orchid - Orchis purpurea.
The woodland where this picture was taken has been
cleared to allow more light in and the orchids have
responded fantastically well.
- Image taken with Canon 1D mkIV, 100mm f2.8mm macro
lens 1/40th sec at f10, ISO 200. |
The second
image is also of a Lady Orchid - a very variable species
as you can see. You will notice that the background
is far more diffuse than in the first image as I used
a much longer focal length - what a difference a lens
makes.
- Image taken with Canon 1D mkIV, 180mm f3.5 macro
lens plus 1.4x converter (252mm effective focal length)
1/60th sec at f11, ISO 200. Fill flash under-exposed
by 3 fstops. |
Finally,
in the same wood as the lady orchids there is a good
colony of rare Duke of Burgundy butterflies. Previously
known as "Duke of Burgundy Fritillary" it
now appears to be known as just "Duke of Burgundy"
as it is not related to true fritillaries (nymphalidae)at
all - but is a member of the Riodinidae family. They
lay their eggs on primrose and cowslips. The adults
are small - about 30mm and fly when the sun shines
and land when the sun goes behind a cloud. Best chance
for a picture is to follow one when the sun is about
to go in and catch it basking on a leaf.
- Image taken with Canon 1D mkIV, 180mm f3.5 macro
lens 1/320th sec at f16 (camera set to manual), ISO
200. ETTL flash as sole light source - Canon MT24
twinflash plush Stofen diffusers. The black backgrounds
caused by fall-off of light when flash is not combined
with daylight was avoided as there were leaves close
behind the subject. |
May 2010 - Indian Roller and Orange Tip egg
This months
image is of an Indian Roller taken last year in February
at Kanha tiger reserve last year. What a fabulous
and exotic bird.
- Image taken with Canon 1D mkIII, 500mm f4 IS lens
+ 1.4x converter. 1/1250th sec at f5.6, ISO800. |
My second
image is the egg of an orange tip butterfly. The female
lays a single egg on the flower of a hedge garlic
flower. The egg is less than 1mm high, so this is
quite a challenge to photograph, particualrly in the
field.
- Image taken with Canon 1D mkIV, MPE 65 lens 1:4,
1/300th sec at f8, ISO400. Twin flash with stofen
diffusers, handheld. |
April 2010 - Hare and Ophrys kotschyi
I have
been trying to get some shots of hares boxing, but
they just don't seem the sparring type. I was shooting
from the car on a narrow track and couldn't get far
enough from my subject with the 500mm lens. This one
was so close that I thought I would just have to make
some head shots of it. The detail in the original
image has to be seen to be believed !
- Image taken with Canon 1D mkIV, 500mm f4 IS lens
1/400th sec at f5.6, ISO800. |
The end
of March should still be a good time to find ophrys
orchids in Northern Cyprus. However a very mild winter
this year resulted in a very early flowering season
and a dry March put paid to most of the remaining
flowers. This is one of the last few Ophrys kotschyi
I could find growing in the shade behind a ruined
monastery. Although closely related to Ophrys cretica,
this beautiful species is endemic to Cyprus.
- Image taken with Canon G11 compact camera handheld
1/60 f4 ISO 200 in low light. |
March 2010 - Robin and Great-spotted
woodpecker
Apparently
the winter of 2009/10 has been the coldest in 30 years
in the UK. Plenty of chances to take birds in the
snow and I think this robin looks like it will have
to be next year's Christmas card. The image looks
as though it has been cut out with scissors - but
is just as it came out of the camera.
- Image taken with Canon 1D mkIII, 500mm f4 IS lens
1/400th sec at f7.1, +1.33 exposure compensation,
ISO640
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A male
great-spotted woodpecker on a birch tree in late afternoon
light. I used the shadow/highlight tool in photoshop
to retain maximum highlight detail and bring out the
maximum shadow detail in the bird's feathers.
- Image taken with Canon 1D mkIII, 500mm f4 IS lens
+ 1.4x extender 1/640th sec at f7.1, ISO200. |
Febuary 2010 - Long-tailed
tits
Two takes
on the cutest bird there is this month - the living
ball of fluff with a tail - the long-tailed tit. A
party of 12 have been briefly been visiting my feeders
each day. This first shot was taken against a backdrop
of snow in overcast weather. It will make a great
Christmas card for next year I think.
- Image taken with Canon 1Ds mkII, 500mm f4 IS lens
1/400th sec at f7.1, +1.33 exposure compensation,
ISO640
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The next day, the sun shone and the snow
melted and produced a very different image to the
first one in lovely warm late afternoon light.
- Image taken with Canon 1D mkIII, 500mm f4 IS lens
1/640th sec at f5.6, +1/3 exposure compensation, ISO400
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January 2010 -
Birds in action - Fieldfare, blackbird and great-spotted
woodpecker. |
Snow came
early this winter - a heavy fall before Christmas
is very unusual. I decided to push the autofocus on
my Canon 1DmkIII camera to try and get some action
shots in the good light. This fieldfare has just leapt
into the air, its feet already tucked in and it is
about to make its first downward wingbeat to gain
lift.
- Image taken with Canon 1D mkIII, 500mm f4 IS lens
1/2500th sec at f5.6, +1 exposure compensation, ISO400
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Another
action shot, this time of a blackbird. The blackbirds
were very aggressively protecting some apples that
I had put out to attract fieldfares.
- Image taken with Canon 1D mkIII, 500mm f4 IS lens
1/3200th sec at f6.3, +1 exposure compensation, ISO640
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Finally,
a great-spotted woodpecker. It is fluttering up the
birch trunk to get higher by using both its feet and
wings.
- Image taken with Canon 1D mkIII, 500mm f4 IS lens
1/3200th sec at f6.3, +0.67 exposure compensation,
ISO400.
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