Mrshutterbug Wildlife Photography

MrShutterbug Wildlife Photographys Big Cat Facts

noreply@blogger.com (mrshutterbug.com) — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 15:19:00 +0000

As many of you know MrShutterbug loves Big cats, so to lighten the mood on a wet Sunday afternoon ,I thought it might be fun to list some big cat facts. Some well known and others not so well known. Let me know of any others and enjoy.

the cheetah is the world's fastest land mammal. It can run at speeds of up to 70 miles an hour (113kilometers an hour). An adult lion's roar can be heard up to five miles (eight kilometers) away.
Long, muscular hind legs enable snow leopards to leap seven times their own body length in a single bound.
A tiger's stripes are like fingerprints—no two animals have the same pattern.

The strongest climber among the big-cats, a leopard can carry prey twice its weight up a tree.
The Amur leopard is one of the most endangered animals in the world.

In one stride, a cheetah can cover 23 to 26 feet (7 to 8 meters).
The name "jaguar" comes from a Native American word meaning "he who kills with one leap."
In the wild, lions live for an average of 12 years and up to 16 years. They live up to 25 years in captivity.
The mountain lion and the cheetah share an ancestor.
Cheetahs do not roar, as the other big-cats do. Instead, they purr.
Tigers are excellent swimmers and do not avoid water.
A female Amur leopard gives birth to one to four cubs in each litter.
Fossil records from two million years ago show evidence of jaguars.
Lions are the only big-cats that live in groups, called prides. Every female within the pride is usually related.
The leopard is the most widespread of all big-cats.

Mountain lions are strong jumpers, thanks to muscular hind legs that are longer than their front legs.
Tigers have been hunted for their skin, bones, and other body parts, used in traditional Chinese medicine.
Unlike other big-cats, lions have a tuft of hair at the end of their tails.
After humans, mountain lions have the largest range of any mammal in the Western Hemisphere.

What is Wildlife Photography?

noreply@blogger.com (mrshutterbug.com) — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 21:25:00 +0000

Happy New Year and best wishes for 2011 from the team at MrShutterbug Wildlife Photography.

My new years resolution is to try an blog more about photography so here goes!

WHAT IS WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY MRSHUTTERBUG?

When I am out in the great outdoors -weather it be a forest, savannah, wetlands or mountains or just the local nature reserve - and especially if I am alone, I very often experience a sense of awe at the beauty of the natural world around me, and the life that is so active yet is not always appreciated and that to me is what wildlife photography is about and is one of the reasons I became a shutterbug, to combine my passion of photography with that of my passion for wildlife. To me it is more than the dictionary defines it as “Wildlife photography is the act of taking photographs of wildlife”.

Wildlife photography is regarded as being one of the more challenging forms of photography and indeed one of the hardest forms of photography to make a professional living in.

Whether you’re out hiking in the Cotswold’s or sightseeing from your car, having a chance encounter with wildlife is often a magnificent and treasured moment. Watching red Kites soar on the Thermals over head or glimpsing a Lion munching on a captured wilder beast on the African Savannah are sights that captivate and inspire us all.

For many however, this experience is often overpowering and many lose sight of the fact that the subject of their admiration is in-fact a wild creature.

To capture any of it photographically is a special treat. And once you have done this once you will want to do it again and again, hence a shutterbug is born. So remember to pack along your camera the next time you’re out exploring and get shutterbugging.

Some people say there are a number of requirements to succeed as a wildlife photographer, such as being

• A technically sound photographer, being able to expose correctly and making sure your shutter speed matches that of the situation.

• The need for advanced photographic equipment like long lenses. While wildlife photography can be taken using basic equipment it is made easier with advanced equipment. A 600mm lens in conjunction with the latest auto focus camera bodies is generally required for bird photography of wildlife photography.

• As an alternative, less expensive super-zoom bridge cameras (with focal lengths exceeding 500mm, 800mm+ with a tele-converter) can produce excellent results, despite being far less expensive and more portable than a SLR body with a super-telephoto lens.

• Wildlife is usually difficult to approach thus knowledge of the animals behaviour is needed in order to be able to predict actions. An ability to stalk is often also required, put yourself in animal mode and pretend to stalk your prey .A hide may be required when photographing more timid subjects as these conceal the photographer and make the job a lot more easier.

I personally think anyone can be a wildlife photographer; it just helps get better shots if you have the right equipment or more advanced lenses. In My kit bag I have A Sony Alpha 900. A Sigma 50-500 mm telephoto lens affectionately known as the Bigma, a Sony 70-300mm telephoto G lens which is great for shutterbugging big cats, a 24-70mm Sonar Vario Carl Ziess lens and a 105 mm Macro Lens.

Exploring the great outdoors and viewing wildlife in all its varied forms is a thrilling experience to shutterbugs. You have the opportunity to witness the intricacies of our natural environment and the interplay of species and habitats.

If you carry your camera with you at all times then you too can share in these special intricacies and class yourself as a wildlife photographer no matter how great your equipment is. Wildlife photography is all about capturing those special moments and shooting the wildlife in their every day surroundings.

Happy Shutterbugging from MrShutterbug Wildlife Photography

A Recuring Theme...... How to Stop Population Growth?

noreply@blogger.com (mrshutterbug.com) — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 13:19:00 +0000

It strikes me having read numerous articles in the past few weeks that there is a common theme on the tip of the tongue, be it from environmentalists, wildlife agencies or Countries themselves .... how to stop global population growth???

Why would we want to do this..... quite simple The UN believes the world is facing the worst losses of animal and plant species since the dinosaurs vanished 65 million years ago. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) found wildlife in the tropics has declined by 60 per cent since 1970 and The ‘Living Planet Index’ found that the numbers of 2,500 species in 8,000 populations around the world has fallen by 30 per cent. One shocking statistic states that overall the world is using 50 per cent more of the planet’s resources than the world can supply........ 50%

This paints a dire picture, Iconic species like tigers, turtles, gorillas and hundreds of birds species are in danger of going extinct, as well as thousands of lesser-known animals. What would MrShutterbug Wildlife Photography have left to photograph?

And the culprit to this dire loss of animal and plant species....you guessed it Man, Homo Sapiens, You and I.

Not to continually Quote Chris Packham of Autumn watch but his current words echo those of one that is respected worldwide and synonymous with wildlife and the natural world,Sir David Attenborough, he called for governments around the world to start “regulating the population”.

Further quotes from Chris include “The human population is sowing the seeds of a mass extinction event,” he said. “The fact is there is not enough space.” The excessive demands of the growing population is having a disastrous effect on biodiversity. There are too many of us taking too much too quickly.

I have to say this guy is rapidly becoming a voice for the natural world and one i am willing to listen to. Some people may think he is out spoken but i think his voice is one of reason and truth. How we do it is another question all together

Rich countries like Britain are using three times the amount of resources than the planet can sustain, while countries in Africa use a fraction of what they are entitled to. As populations in what were once considered third world countries grow natural habitat of many animals and birds is being destroyed as local populations grab land to sustain themselves or grow "crops" for the developed world.

More than 190 countries will gather in Japan later this week for the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity to discuss the best way to stop the loss of wildlife around the world. The CBD will come up with a series of targets to try and protect wildlife such as putting aside a certain amount of land for nature reserves, cracking down on invasive species and bringing in subsidies to encourage more environmentally ways of farming and fishing. For the first time the focus will be on the billions of pounds worth biodiversity provides maintaining water cycles, air quality and food security and how this can be factored into economic decisions.

It seems to me there are two important summits to keep your eye on The united Nations convention and the Tiger Summit in St Petersberg in November

Sorry to sound cliche but the world is in our hands, especially the wildlife we all acclaim to love and cherish.

The Annual Deer Rut

noreply@blogger.com (mrshutterbug.com) — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 19:41:00 +0000

Its Mid October, 6am in the morning and the temperature has dropped to 3degrees Centigrade. MrShutterbug is wondering just why he did not bring his gloves for this morning’s photo shoot.

As many MrShutterbug Wildlife Photography Fans will have noticed over the past few weekends I have been getting up early to witness what I consider to be a wonder of British Wildlife. The annual deer rut.

October in the UK sees the start of the rutting season for red deer. From October until early November strange groaning and belching sounds will echo from clearings in the woods and parks. The clash of antlers can be heard as males show off their virility to potential mates and, like gladiators entering an arena, they parade around showing off their armory of antlers, Quite a sight to behold. The rut is a period when the biggest and strongest male (stag) rounds up a group of females (hinds) for mating. Of course every other male deer wants to do the same, but there's only so many females to go around. And this is where testosterone fuelled males battle for the prize of harem of females.

In order to maintain control over a group of females the stag must constantly drive away rivals. The stag announces his superiority over other males by constantly bellowing out an echoing roar, which sounds something like a cross between a chainsaw and a burp. Its a very loud sound which makes you wonder if you really do want to get any closer with all these antlers around.

Sometimes bellowing is not enough, and when contenders approach the females they need to be seen off. Occasionally fights between males can break out, and this can lead to some serious clashing of those magnificent antlers. This from my own standpoint is usually spectacular but very short lived.

Red deer are our largest native land mammals. They can weigh up to 190kg. In fact they're one of only two native species of deer in the UK, the other being the Roe deer.

If you go to watch the rutting deer make sure you keep at a safe distance. You definitely DON'T want to get between a stag and his females. Getting charged by an angry stag can be bad for your health. Those antlers are sharp! Just see the pictures from my last two weekends

The best time to catch the rut is very early in the morning (dawn) (hence my recent early rising weekends) or dusk

For all those MrShutterbug Wildlife Fans who would like to witness this yearly event here is a list of local areas where you may be able to see this magnificent Wildlife spectacle.

But Hurry only a few weeks left to enjoy this annual spectacle.

The Highlands, Perthshire, Scotland.

Exmoor National Park

Lyme Park, Cheshire.

Galloway Forest Park, Scotland.

The Ashridge Estate, Hertfordshire.

Explore forests such as Epping, Thetford, Forest of Dean.

Parkland herds Richmond Park, Bushy Park, Surrey.

Woburn Abbey Bedfordshire.

Calke Abbey, Ticknall, Derbyshire.

Petworth House and Park, West Sussex.

Knole Park Sevenoaks, Kent.

Windsor Great Park and Windsor Forrest Berkshire.

National trust properties such as:-

Belton House in Derbyshire

Castle Drogo in Devon

Dunham Massey in Cheshire

Two Scottish wildcat kittens have been filmed by a BBC

noreply@blogger.com (mrshutterbug.com) — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 08:51:00 +0000

As Mrshutterbug Wildlife Photography is a huge fan of Big Cats i thought it might be nice to highlight one of the smaller wildcats
The elusive,yet stunnnig Scottish Wildcat.

Having had the chance to photo some of these cats before this is rather exciting.

Wildcat kittens filmed by the BBC
Those chaps at the bbc natural history unit have gone and done it again, not satisfied with tracking down tigers in the himalyas in the brilliant lost land of the tiger. they have now venturede into the scottish higlands and got some beautiful footage of baby scottish wildcats.
The notoriously shy animals were filmed at night in the highlands of Scotland.
One of the Kittens even had a rare dark coat.
For all animal lovers you can catch more footage on BBCs Autumn watch this evening at 8pm on BBC
Autumn Watch

For the international MrShutterbug Wildlife photography fans i'm afraid you will just have to follow the link to the BBC and watch the 2 videos online or view my wildcat photos on my website under British Wildlife.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9085000/9085644.stm

http://mrshutterbug.com/

Happy Shutterbugging

An Inspirational book and photographer - Nick Brandt

noreply@blogger.com (mrshutterbug.com) — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 12:41:00 +0000

4 years ago i went skiing to America with my wife (then fiancee) whilst there we happened into a bookshop of famed name.
In one of the displays was a book with a black and white photo of a beautiful elephant throwing sand over her back. This book has since become my inspiration and something that i aspire to.

The book was called ON THIS EARTH and was a beautiful hardback bound 132 page book of quite simply stunning photos.The Book was by a Photographer called Nick Brandt. My Fiance bought me the book when she saw the sparkle in my eye knowing how much i love wildlife.

The book now takes pride of place on my coffee table and is a constant reminder of where one day i would like to be in terms of my photography. Many MrShutterbug fans will notice that i very rarely post Black and White pictures.... the reason is quite simple i don't think i could ever do the animals justice like Nick Brandt.

Sadly It now appears that many of the subjects in this book especially the Elephants are dead. This is due to poaching.But in a very short space of time, most of the large-tusked elephants featured in his books have been killed by poachers for their ivory.

Since 2008, there has been a huge increase in demand from China and the Far East for ivory, and as a result, elephants are being wiped out at an alarming rate. The numbers are apocalyptic : it’s estimated that as many as 35,000 elephants are being poached a year, 10% of the entire population of Africa's elephants each year alone.

And it’s not just elephants. The lions are being poisoned at an incredible rate too. It’s become so bad that there are next to no lions left outside the national parks in Kenya. Giraffes are also being killed at a faster rate for bush meat. There are even contracts out on zebras, as their skins are the latest fad in Asia.

This sad news was pointed out to me by another photographer Tom Hadley from Hadley Wildlife http://www.hadleywildlife.org.uk/ who also shares in the inspiration that Nicks books offer.

Its is a great shame that the animals that i and other Photographers be they professional or Amateur yearn to photograph are being killed.
It strikes me that China and Asia have a constant theme in my recent blogs, and that is because they are the beneficiaries of poaching and usually the instigators. Animals seem to be worth more dead than alive.

I wanted this post to highlight a source of inspiration and share with my fans the book and photographer which has given me this inspiration.

Sadly it seems i have once again had to resort to talking about the needless death of the wildlife that we all love and cherish. As humans we have an inbuilt instinct to constantly want more, it seems that inbuilt instinct is the main reason many species find them selves in the predicament they are now in.

Please visit Nicks Website learn about the elephants and other animals and about the crime that is being committed.
http://www.nickbrandt.com/

Rant Over

Price tag set for tiger conservation... wow that a lot of money

noreply@blogger.com (mrshutterbug.com) — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 12:45:00 +0000

Price tag set for tiger conservation

The cost of keeping tigers alive in the wild has been estimated at about $80m (£50m) per year, according to a study by conservationists - but only about $50m (£30m) per year is being pledged by charities and groups aimed at saving the tiger.

This vast amount of money reminds me of a comment made by Springwatch / big cat diary star and photographer Chris Packham who earlier this year in May stated donating money to tiger conservation ¬charities is a waste of time.

His comments came less than a year after he said endangered pandas should be left to die out. In an interview with the Radio Times, Packham blasted environmentalists working to save them.“Tiger conservation is a multimillion-pound business that isn’t working,” the 49-year-old said.“If it were in the FTSE 100, it would have gone bankrupt. I’m not saying the conservation agencies don’t have their hearts in the right place, but the results are disastrous.”

I think Chris was mis-interpretated as is always the case with the media and something I myself have been the victim of in the past, over exuberant, sensationalist hyperbole reporting.

Chris’s comments actually hold true but in the sense that the charities for all their efforts would fail if they were a normal business. Is the money that we are all donating actually helping get to the crux of the problem? Sadly at present it seems Tigers are worth more dead than alive and this is all down to poaching and the need for dead tigers from china for their supposed herbal medicine!!

I think for all the critics Chris was actually trying to say Tiger conservation results over the past 10-20 years are disastrous. For those that have watched him on TV or read his blogs he is a very keen environmentalist and loves the natural world and its creatures around us. As stated earlier I feel it was reporter sensationalism.

So just what is the price of saving the Tiger? The St Petersburg Summit in November will no doubt have something to say...... lets hope that finally there is a united voice to help save this most beautiful of big cats.

For more on the price on tiger conservation please see the link from BBC below.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11304611

For more on Chris Packhams interview please see this link to the Telegraph

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/7760147/Tiger-conservation-is-disastrous-says-BBC-wildlife-presenter-Chris-Packham.html

Continuing the Save the Tiger theme on MrShutterbug Wildlife Photography

noreply@blogger.com (mrshutterbug.com) — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 15:07:00 +0000

This 1 minute tiger advertisement was created by WWF office in the US to promote the fact that we can double the number of tigers by the next year of the tiger in 2022.

MrShutterbug Wildlife Photography Tiger Calendar 2011

noreply@blogger.com (mrshutterbug.com) — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 11:45:00 +0000

Finally got round to working on my calendars for 2011

first up the 2011 MrShutterbug Wildlife Photography Tiger calendar.

Its seems the tiger holds a place not just in my heart but all the fans.

Any purchase goes to helping these magnificent cats, just click on the following link

http://www.redbubble.com/people/mrshutterbug/calendars/6049533-4-mrshutterbug-wildlife-photography-tigers-2011

As always let me know your comments and enjoy

All the best

MrShutterbug

Save the Tiger

noreply@blogger.com (mrshutterbug.com) — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 11:52:00 +0000

Many MrShutterbug Fans know that one of my favourite cats to photo is the majestic tiger.

However the tiger’s plight is being highlighted on an almost daily basis at present.

It is no coincidence that recently the BBC had a 3 part special on building a tiger corridor through Bhutan and the lower Himalayas to help link up isolated pockets of this most beautiful endangered cat.

A Summit is taking place in St Petersburg in Russia to highlight the Tigers plight on November 21st and will be hosted by Vladimir Putin.

Prime ministers and wildlife experts from across the world will travel to Russia's second city of St. Petersburg to discuss urgent steps to be taken to preserve the tiger population during the Tiger Summit.

At the end of the 20^th century there were an estimated 100,000 wild tigers across Asia and the Russian Far East. Poaching, illegal trade, and habitat loss have steadily pushed tigers to the verge of extinction. Today, there are perhaps 3,500 wild tigers living in their natural habitat in tiger range countries - Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Poaching for fur and destruction of habitat have been major causes of the extinction of tigers. Russia is striving to protect and recover its own Amur tiger population. The Russian Far East is the home to the Amur (or Siberian) tiger, the biggest cat species in the world, which inhabits the temperate taiga forest near the country's border with China.

Tigers in Russia have experienced a significant decline recently, after a recovery from less than 30 individuals in the late 1940s to almost 500 animals in 2005

How can these world leaders help?

What is new is the scale of money being discussed, in some cases billions of dollars over the next twenty years, this has all been supported by a programme headed up by World Bank President Robert Zoellick. This is welcome, as for too long conservation has been forced to operate on the cheap, with budgets that would be laughable in most other sectors. But all resources will need to be pulled together and tougher action will need to be taken against the poachers and makers of Chinese medicine. Perhaps the Chinese Government would like to get involved???
Lessons need to be learned from the reintroduction of the Rhino in Kenya.

Somehow we have to make this Year of the Tiger different. The Global Tiger Initiative is helping to do this along with leading naturalists like Doctor Alan Rabinowitz, the World Bank and several partners, including GEF, the Smithsonian Institution, Save the Tiger Fund, and International Tiger Coalition and World Wildlife foundation to try and achieve one aim. Its overarching goal is to reverse the precipitous decline of tigers in the wild and to double their numbers by 2022.

I wish them luck and hope the politicians listen and react in a positive manner as I for one would had to see the extinction of what can only be described as one of the most magnificent and powerful animals on the planet.

If you would like to do your bit then please sign the petition at

https://support.wwf.org.uk/tiger_campaign/

Tiger killing ‘a crime against nature’ | Wildlife | Safeguarding the natural world | WWF UK

noreply@blogger.com (mrshutterbug.com) — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 21:26:00 +0000

Tiger killing ‘a crime against nature’ Wildlife Safeguarding the natural world WWF UK

A Story which i find most upsetting and the poachers deserve everything they get

Zoo Photography MiniGuide By MrShutterbug Wildlife Photography

noreply@blogger.com (mrshutterbug.com) — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 21:26:00 +0000

A couple of MrShutterbug Wildlide Photography fans have asked about Zoo photography as it is the only opportunity they get to get up close and personal with so many exotic animals.So here it is MrShutterbugs Mini Zoo Photography Guide. Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago is where i first got the experience of photographing larger animals and is always somewhere i make the time to visit when in Chicago.

Zoos are one of the best places to photograph wildlife. They have the largest concentration of wildlife per acre anywhere. The animals are not spooked by humans; they have limited range and usually are set in scenic surroundings. On the downside there are a lot of humans present and the range of shots is limited, and it is often very hard to get the wild effect.

Things you should check prior to visiting the zoo are the zoo’s feeding schedules, shows and keeper interactions, these often offer great times to photograph the animals in action instead of in a stationary position.

• Time of day. Early mornings and late afternoons are always best. Mid-day shots tend to be harsh and wash out the colors. Depending on the exact direction of the sun, it can shadow portions of the face, especially the eyes on many species. Early mornings and late afternoons are also the times of day when wildlife is most active resulting in opportunities to film the species in active modes.

• Foggy and rainy days. When the sky is clouded and moisture is in the air, many times shadows are eliminated. It also diffuses light, making for some special and unique photos.

• The animal. With wildlife photography, when capturing images of single animals the face is the focal point. On the face, the eyes become the most important feature. They capture the expression of each individual. Make sure they are not shadowed.

• The context. What do you want to shoot and how will it be framed. Do you want a shot of the face, the whole body, or the exhibit itself? Whatever you are photographing should represent at least 80% of the picture. If you are attempting to do a head or face shot, zoom in until it fills most of the viewfinder. If you are doing a whole body shot, make sure the feet or tail is not cut off.

• Angles. Once you have taken the shot you want, move to the other end of the exhibit and see what can be captured in your viewfinder. If you are photographing through a glass or acrylic display, NEVER attempt to clean the display. Also, never allow any part of your camera to touch the display. Scratches are very expensive to remove.

• Camera settings. If the animal is stationary, a long exposure can be used provided you can keep the camera still. If the animal is moving, you will want to use the fastest setting possible. Before bringing a tripod or bipod, please check with the facility first. Many facilities DO NOT allow their use.

• Take the camera’s instruction book with you. Use it until you have all of the proper settings for each situation memorized.

• Patience is an essential quality with both the animals you are photographing and the other visitors who will get in your way.

• Look for flash restrictions. Some animals get spooked or agitated by camera flashes and as a result you will occasionally see “No Flash” displays.

Essential etiquette while photographing at the zoo.

• Animal photographers do not have priority or special preference over other guests. Don’t expect special treatment or become annoyed when visitors walk between you and your shot.
• Do not do things to get the animal to look directly at you. This includes yelling, throwing objects, or teasing with food.
• Respect the barriers. Do not climb any fences for a closer shot.

Back at your Home and computer

• Download and view your photos as soon as possible. This will give you the best chance to remember what the circumstances were at the time each photo was taken, helping you to improve your future photos.

• Delete at least 90% of your pictures. Honestly evaluate your photos for content, light, and overall quality.

• Take pride in your work.

Birds in Flight- The MrShutterbug Wildlife Photography Guide

noreply@blogger.com (mrshutterbug.com) — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 21:45:00 +0000

Capturing images of birds in flight evoke far more emotions than photographing them in a stationary position perched in a tree. A continual failure to capture an image of a bird in flight can easily wear down the most persistent and experienced photographer. Success lifts the sprit and gives one what can only be described as a photographic high for capturing that one single momment of motion on film (or memmory as it is now!)

The purpose of this Blog is to help you succeed and not preach about the dos and don'ts, after all each photographer develops his or her own style and this article is meant as a mere pointer.

Most important camera feature when trying to shoot a bird in motion (thats shoot as in take a picture) is speed
Aside from having a positive attitude, there are a few items and activities necessary to increase the chances of capturing successful in flight photos.
First on the list is having an appropriate camera. A bird in flight is progressive continous motion so the most important camera feature needed is simply speed.
Any digital camera that has a high shutter speed than (1/500th a second or upwards) is suitable even if it doesn’t have image stabilization even though most cameras now a days do.A long zoom capability is preferred to crop in on your subject, but a standard 3 times zoom can be used on a more limited scale.

If a camera has a manual mode, use it. If not, shutter priority should be used with a minimum shutter speed of 1/500th of a second. Fast shutter speeds will easily freeze body movement of birds in flight, but can still show a desirable blur of the wings and capture the flapping motion to give your image an artistic edge.

I tend to shoot in Shutter priority mode to control the speed and stick the apeture wide open for smaller brids whilst one stop down for bigger birds.

Depending on the kind and tones of the bird, my usual settings are 1/500th to 1/1300th second for shutter speed and f4.0 to f7.1 for aperture. For focusing setup, I use spot or single area focusing. These are usually faster than multiple point focusing.
The best condition to photograph birds in flight is when there is lots of light. You can use the lowest possible ISO available from your camera for the least amount of noise. You can also use the Sunny white balance setting for optimum in-camera color rendition.

When tracking flying birds, I find it easier to follow them with my eyes by using the viewfinder rather than the LCD. Using the LCD is tough as eyes tend to follow the display rather than the actual flight path and this hinders synchronization of the flight and usually results in failed photos!

Once the in-camera settings are sorted, it’s time to practice. Pick a place and the type of bird you want to photos. Its easier to start big on Geese or swans, bigger birds are easier to track but they are not as abundant as gulls or some of the smaller birds. Gulls are acyually a great bird to practice on they are not too small, not too fast and have predictable flying patterns.... (and you don't need to go to the seaside to find them!

Track your chosen subject with your lens making sure you keep the subject in focus as you track... this is often the hardest thing. Tracking medium-sized bird like a Gull in low zoom is a brilliant tracking exercise. You can crop and still have an acceptable image. Once you are used to tracking your subject start to increase your zoom to capture a bigger bird size in photo. Once you have got the Gulls sorted its easier to photograph much larger sized birds. Large birds are actually slower and therefore easier targets.

I nearly forgot...dont forget to press the shutter button when you have perfected your tracking. Remember even the best photograpers don't get it right all the time, its the one area i really need to practice myself and continually try to test myself.

So here is the bullet guide in case these paragraphs are to hard to understand...

-Shoot shutter priority. A fast shutter speed is essential to capturing birds in flight. Unless you want to blur the subject for creative reasons, a shutter speed of 1/1000th of a second should be your preferred shutter speed.
-Use the lowest ISO you can and still get a fast shutter speed.
- Make your aperture wide open for small birds and stop down by one stop for larger birds.
-Shoot hand held. It’s too hard to make a tripod work.
-Spread your feet shoulder width apart to get a firm stance.
-Aim slightly ahead of the bird and estimate its trajectory.
-Use high speed continuous shooting mode.
-Select a lens in the 300-400mm range. These are hand-holdable and will get you close enough to fill the frame in most cases.
-Try to make sure the subject is front lit. Keep the sun behind you.
-for a really professional look try and have the bird flying into space.
-Practice, practice and practice some more. Don’t get frustrated and don’t give up. If I can do it you can do it.

Happy Shutterbugging

An assult on the senses - That will be Bass Rock

noreply@blogger.com (mrshutterbug.com) — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 12:26:00 +0000

Last Weekend I had the pleasure of experiencing being marooned on an island with 170,000 birds! Lucky man male readers may think..... Sadly not it’s a colony of Gannets.

To anyone who has never had the pleasure, it’s an experience that is difficult to convey except it is an overwhelming assault on the senses, sight, sound and smell. Something that can only be achieved by visiting a major seabird colony.

The Bass Rock is the largest single island gannet colony in the world and described by Sir David Attenborough as “one of the Twelve Wildlife Wonders of the World”. It is home to an incredible 170,000 gannets at last estimate, the UK's largest seabird, and turns white from February to October when the gannets are in residence.

The Bass Rock is situated in the Firth of Forth, two miles east of North Berwick and one mile off the mainland, It is a huge trachyte plug rising 313 feet, with three sides of sheer cliff, and a tunnel piercing the rock to a depth of 105 metres, in other words it’s a big piece of volcanic rock sticking out of the ocean.

The Gannet is Britain's largest seabird with a wing span of just under two meters. When hunting for fish they slam into the sea like a living missile, descending at speeds of over 90 mph and diving to depths of 30 feet below sea level. The impact as it hits the water is so violent it can stun the fish, swallowing their prey whole before returning to the surface. The gannets are designed for high speed impact with more safety features than a modern vehicle. It has a skull like a crash helmet and its throat pouches swell like a driver’s air-bag as it crashes into the sea. The colony consumes 200 tons of fish every day and the birds can travel up to 540 kilometres or 330 miles in search of food. Gannets from the Bass have been satellite-tracked as far as Norwegian waters on hunting expeditions. One of the pairs has to remain on the nest while the other is searching for food. If the nest site is abandoned even for a short period another gannet will occupy their spot. It is not unusual for the bird to remain on the nest for 30 hours while their mate is searching for fish. The real fun comes when the birds return from their fishing trips. The gannet may be very graceful in the air and like a torpedo in water, but when it comes to landing on dry land think of it as a plane crash landing on an aircraft carrier. Time after time you hear a thud and see another gannet end up face in the dirt as it tries to land amongst the swathes of its kind. To make matter worse gannets are fiercely territorial and aggressive so crash landing on a neighbour can be an unpleasant and painful experience as the photos show.

The gannets lay their eggs within a comparatively short period, around the middle of May, when the newly hatched chicks weigh around 60g, but within 11-12 weeks, reared on the parents' catches of fish; they will have grown to an astonishing 4,500g. This early hatching and fast growth is to allow the young fledgling to be self sufficient by the time the autumn gales hit the Rock. In August and September the young gannets will tumble off the rock, hopefully learning to fly on the way down in this ultimate school of hard knocks. Three quarters of the young perish before reaching independence.

In October, most of them will travel south to the Mediterranean and many as far as the equator, to the Gulf of Guinea. The Gannets arrive back each year in January to re-establish their nesting territories on the cliff faces or on the rocky and grassy slopes of the island. Surprisingly, Gannets return each year to the same nest site to enable them to meet up with their mate of the previous year. The flat top of the island has fields of densely packed nests, about 3 per square meter, just beyond pecking distance, as Gannets are fiercely territorial and can be very aggressive to neighbours and even their mates. Gannets prefer windblown rocky stacks, as they allow the birds to make vertical takeoffs and landings. Any Gannet attempting to walk to its nest is battered by host of heavy dagger-like beaks from neighbouring birds.

The gannets use their head and beak to display various messages to others in the colony. When they lift their head upwards, known as 'Sky Pointing' accompanied by a curious strangled call, this displays a signal that they are about to fly off. Another posture is called 'Throat Gapping' when they open and close their beaks to warn of a predator; this display has a ripple effect throughout the colony as each bird passes on the message.

Home to a splendid array of seabirds the Bass Rock is well worth a boat trip out to see. Several boats sail out to the island from North Berwick including trips organised at the Scottish Seabird Centre. Guillemots, razorbills and parrot like puffins vie with shags, gulls and kittiwakes.

Lording it above them all is the majestic gannet.

These are Britain’s largest seabird and watching them plunge dive for fish is a truly unforgettable experience.

The Most Important thing for a wildlife photographer??? PATIENCE

noreply@blogger.com (mrshutterbug.com) — Thu, 13 May 2010 22:18:00 +0000

The Most Important thing for a wildlife photographer??? PATIENCE

A good portion of MrShutterbug fans also photograph wildlife / nature / birds , so I'm going to write this in terms of wildlife photography from my experience.
When it comes to wildlife photography, patience is literally the most important thing you as a photographer can bring with you when you leave the house, I Bet if you surveyed the top ten professional wildlife photographers in the world what the most important tool for their photography is, nine out of ten would tell you it is patience.

Be patient with wildlife it is your subject after all
In wildlife photography, being patient with wildlife is just as important as being patient with light.
Often people ask wildlife photographers how to locate reclusive wildlife species like owls, foxes and other elusive creatures that are rarely seen. If you can think of a park or nature reserve near your home, I can almost guarantee it has a more extensive array of wildlife than you could ever imagine. British Wildlife is literally everywhere you just need to stop look and listen. Something I see regularly while out shooting is photographers who walk into an area, look around for a split second, and move on. These are the photographers who go home with pictures of squirrels, robins and other common species that are quite unafraid of humans and usually out in the open making a racket or can be found hanging around the garden bird table. In order to spot and photograph the other species, you need to patiently stop and examine an area from a more in-depth point of view.
Scan the trees from the bottom slowly up to the top. Are there groups of sparrows feeding on the fallen seeds? Is there a well camouflaged woodpecker clinging to the truck? Is there a hawk or owl perched above? These are examples of things to consider when scanning a location. Even if you don't see any wildlife after scanning, don't move. The wildlife will eventually come. Also, once you find an animal, don't just shoot it a few times and move on. If the animal gives you the opportunity to observe it, do so. For example, if you locate a perched hawk overlooking a field, have a seat a watch. Chances are if you watch long enough it's going to hunt, and think about the photograph opportunities then. How much more fulfilling would a hunting shot be, than one of the hawk just perched?

Be patient with light it is your best friend or your worst enemy
As everyone knows, the best light of the day is around dawn and dusk. I prefer dawn because the air is clear and crisp, and there is usually less haze than in the evening. Anyway, the weather and sky often will not cooperate with a photographers sunrise shooting plans. When this happens (and it will), don't be discouraged, and don't settle with a photograph shot under less than ideal conditions. Be patient and keep at it. Keep going out, and eventually you will find yourself with the perfect light.

You may not get good shooting conditions the first time you wake up for the sunrise, or even the second time, but if you are patient with nature, it will eventually reward you. Although you may think your favorite nature photographer always seems to find him or herself up on a mountain or down on a beach with the perfect light every time, what they don't mention is the five other days that week they woke up, hiked all the way up that damn mountain only to find haze and rain.

Just to prove there is method in my madness I am taking a trip to bass rock soon and have a boat chartered for 5.30in the morning so i can get early morning light photos of the 50,000 ganett colony as they dive into the sea. I will post pictures when complete and hopefully prove my point ;o)

Once you start using patience, you can seriously take most of the luck out of wildlife photography. If you wait patiently long enough, you will eventually be rewarded.

One of the most common things I hear is "some people just have all the luck!," or "wow you were in the right place at the right time!" It is a frustrating thing to hear. If you really start to patiently wait for things to happen, they will, and you can start to forget about luck. As I said before, wildlife will reward you if you wait and appear part of the background. Its the constant movement that puts them off!

Happy Shutterbugging

Wildlife Photography ethics By MrShutterbug.com

noreply@blogger.com (mrshutterbug.com) — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 11:01:00 +0000

This is a blog I have wanted to write for a while, and I finally found the time to do so whilst stranded in Portugal thanks to the Icelandic Volcano.

Wildlife Photography - There are many reasons wildlife photography is so addictive and fulfilling. We all love the challenge of locating and successfully photographing the wildlife, and we love nature and the wildlife in it.
Wildlife photography can be the most rewarding medium one minute, and then the most frustrating and disappointing the next. Some days yield no useable photographs, while some yield plenty. Wildlife photography takes studying locations and the species within them, and little to no sleep if you are a professional.

Your Responsibility - Giving yourself the opportunity to photograph creatures normally not seen by many people, comes with an important responsibility, a responsibility to have little to no impact on the wildlife while photographing them. We are out there to enjoy these animals in their natural settings, not to interrupt their lives or manipulate their surroundings. Negative practices, although they may yield impressive looking results, could physically harm the animals, cause them to abandon feeding locations and young, or become dangerously habituated to humans. There is definitely a right and wrong way to go about wildlife photography.

The Right Way - Observe wildlife from a distance. Don’t attempt to interact with, feed, distract, taunt, or spook the animals. Keeping to these rules is much more fulfilling in the long run. You know your photographs aren’t contrived in any way, and the animals in them are going about their business undisturbed. Because distressed animals or animals in retreat look different from undisturbed animals, a keen observer can usually spot an unethical wildlife photograph. In the end, an undisturbed animal in a natural setting will look much better than a captive wild animal or a frightened animal in retreat. The goal of a wildlife photographer is to photograph animals in their nature habitat, capturing their natural behavior. The unethical practices listed below may yield the exact opposite.

The Wrong Way - There are many types of unethical things some photographers do in order to get the shot they want. I will list some of the most common unethical behavior I have seen and heard about.

Intentional Spooking - By far the most common unethical behavior I have seen in the field is intentional spooking. This is when a photographer intentionally scares an animal out of a location in order to get an action shot, or make the animal move to a more photogenic location. Every time I see this, it infuriates me. Examples I have witnessed are photographers throwing rocks in the direction of hunting herons to make them fly, honking a car horn under a Red Kites nest for a flight shot, and running through a tern colony on the beach. Spooking a mammal or bird away from a location can cause it to abandon young or give up on a feeding location, abandoned young don't last very long in nature!

Cornering - Cornering an animal is all too common, and one of the worst things a photographer can possibly do to stress out a wild animal. This is when a photographer gets way too close to an animal and either is so close that the animal is afraid to move, or has cut off all the animal's possible escape routes. Different species of animals have different responses to fear and being cornered. Don’t get too close, and don’t corner an animal.

Capturing - Reptiles, amphibians and insects, are small, skittish and difficult to photograph. Some photographers think it is okay to literally capture them, and pose them how they like. This is disrespectful and unethical, as the strain and distress it puts on these creatures is not worth the photograph. Would you trap a wild fox or bird and pose it for some photos? It's the same thing.

Dens and Nests - This is a simple one. If you know the location of something like an owl nest or fox den. Enjoy it from a considerable distance and keep the location of it to yourself. The absolute last thing you want is hordes of photographers stressing out the animals.

Exaggeration - Don’t exaggerate your settings or methods. If an animal was very cooperative and didn’t make you work for the shot, don’t say you stalked it for 3 hours and climbed eleven thorny trees barefoot to get the shot. Finally, don’t exaggerate the elusiveness or skittishness of an animal. Don’t say a common and easily approachable animal is seldom seen, and that it was a once in a lifetime chance that you managed to find it. An animal’s rarity does not determine its beauty. As another photographer once told me, although a specific species may be common in your area, it may not be common in others. Appreciate the time you have with any animal, not just the rare ones.

Local Laws and Regulations - Most locations have rules and boundaries that dictate where you can and can’t go. Follow them! Also, some locations have rules as to how close you can get to wildlife. These are important also, as the people who made these rules, made them for a reason. Just because no one is looking, doesn’t mean you’re allowed to do whatever you’d like. I know sometimes the, “area beyond this sign is closed” signs throughout our national parks can be frustrating; but remember, they are there for your safety, as well as to protect the wildlife. Remember, the more people that break the rules, the more strict the rules get in following years.

Exceptions to the rule.

Feeding - Feeding wildlife or luring them with food in order to get them close enough to photograph is a dangerous but accepted practice. Some of the most famous photos in the world are taken this way but you would not know it! Just think about the long term impact on the animal when using these methods, an animal that has been habituated to humans is much more likely to strike at a human rather than flee.

Zoos and Specialist breeding Centres
Many of us will never get the chance to photograph animals in the wild and this is where a trip to your local safari park, Zoo or specialist breeding programmes like the WHF in Kent come into play. I am proud to be associated with ALTA the Amur Leopard conservation group but with only 35 of these magnificent animals in the wild a captive Amur Leopard will probably be the only chance I get to photograph these beautiful creatures.

Don’t bang on cages or viewing glass this will only frighten the animals and make them more afraid and stressed than they already are.

Photography Workshops
Many photographs now use companies to get them closer to rare animals and capture that perfect shot. The company I have worked with always makes sure that the animals welfare comes first before the photographers picture. Respect the animals and you will get far better photos.

Birds of Prey

noreply@blogger.com (mrshutterbug.com) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 17:14:00 +0000

Greetings fellow shutterbugs.
Friday was a special day for me as I finally got some crisp clear flying bird images!
Its only taken me 3 attempts but think i have finally cracked it.

I'd like to say a big thanks to my friend John at Photographers on Safari for arranging the day and Simon for bringing along our subjects. Images will be appearing in a gallery soon but in the mean time here is a sneaky peek!

Happy shutterbugging

New British Wildlife Gallery

noreply@blogger.com (mrshutterbug.com) — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 23:13:00 +0000

MrShutterbug Wildlife photography is pleased to anounce that a British Wildlife gallery has now been added to the MrShutterbug Wildlife Photography Website

Here you can find some fabulous images of our indigenous species.

Happy shutterbugging

noreply@blogger.com (mrshutterbug.com) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:27:00 +0000

I'm pleased to announce that MrShutterbug Wildlife Photography is now working with the Snow Leopard Trust to help bring more awareness to this highly endangered species.
Founded in 1981, the Snow Leopard Trust is the world's leading authority on the study and protection of the endangered snow leopard.

10% of all sales of MrShutterbug Wildlife Photographys Snow Leopard Prints and Products will be donated to the Snow Leopard Trust!

MrShutterbug Wildlife Photography is up and running!

noreply@blogger.com (mrshutterbug.com) — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:22:00 +0000

Greetings and welcome to the new Blog of MrShutterbug Wildlife Photography.

After months of hard toil I am pleased to announce that MrShutterbug Wildlife Photography is up and running. To coincide with setting up my new venture i have also re launched my website www.mrshutterbug.com with a whole new look and feel.

MrShutterbug.com now has flash galleries and useful information all about the photographer as well as a well designed shopping cart (even if i do say so myself).
So get surfing, Sit back and enjoy the eiree tunes of Sigur Ros whilst enjoying the new automated galleries.

Stuned to the MrShutterbug Wildlife Photography Blog and Keep and eye out for posts in the Learning Zone, offering top wildlife photography tips, photoshoots and workshop reports which will hopefully be informative and useful to new and old photographers alike.

Happy Shutterbugging folks.