Phal's house of pics

Phal · 8 Mar 2015 at 20:07

mrk said:
Cool pics, those action bird ones especially!

Thanks

Those little Turnstones are cute and quite entertaining to watch

Phal · 9 Mar 2015 at 20:25

It's not a bird!

Bridge Required by Phal44, on Flickr

Phal · 21 Mar 2015 at 12:54

Out on a stroll earlier today and saw my first Bumblebee and Butterfly! Seems quite early for those lol

Also saw a couple of Buzzards which frequent the area as well as a Kestrel. Here's a couple of shots of one of the Buzzards flying by

Buzzard Flyby 2 by Phal44, on Flickr

Buzzard Flyby 1 by Phal44, on Flickr

Phal · 25 Mar 2015 at 20:45

For some reason I quite like doing portrait landscapes! Just focusing on the water here so the scenery is quite soft

Then again I've shot this direction plenty on the beach so it doesn't really matter lol

Upright Stream by Phal44, on Flickr

A slightly more landscapy version and shot at F1.8 but wider at 18mm which kept the stuff in the distance at about the same softness

Beach River by Phal44, on Flickr

Slightly different foreground as the sun disappears

Stony by Phal44, on Flickr

Phal · 26 Mar 2015 at 20:33

Managed to do something productive over lunch

Eyes Left by Phal44, on Flickr

Phal · 27 Mar 2015 at 19:36

More good weather so more lunchtime Kestrel

Hoverflap 2 by Phal44, on Flickr

Hoverflap 1 by Phal44, on Flickr

Dive Dive Dive by Phal44, on Flickr

Over The Shoulder by Phal44, on Flickr

Phal · 29 Mar 2015 at 17:34

It was a bit windy!

Blue Flight by Phal44, on Flickr

Black Flight by Phal44, on Flickr

Phal · 2 Apr 2015 at 19:50

My first ever not great shots of a Stoat (I think!). They're not great since he/she is too far and the light was rather dim (last shot was at 1806) etc after work but it's still quite cool to see one! Let alone two

I think I even saw a glimpse of a 3rd

All handheld shots with my 200-400mm with 1.4x tc engaged so 560mm on my 7d2. I say handheld... I was sat down and using my knee as a support

Sneaky Stoat by Phal44, on Flickr

Second one I saw later

Eye contact Stoat by Phal44, on Flickr

Perky Stoat by Phal44, on Flickr

Phal · 6 Apr 2015 at 15:35

Finally got some better shots of these stupid Buzzards which never come close enough! Well I'd had my doubts when I was taking the pictures and when I got home I saw it wasn't... Damn you Buzzards!

Anyway, here is what might be (I suck at ID'ing birds) a Juvenile Red Kite

Whilst I was tracking it, it did a weird thing in the air where I thought it might swoop down onto something and then didn't

Buzzard Red Kite by Phal44, on Flickr

The was the first decent shot

Wings Up Red Kite by Phal44, on Flickr

Then it flew away a little and came back over me a few times whilst it spiralled upwards

Wonky Tail Red Kite by Phal44, on Flickr

Eyes Down Red Kite by Phal44, on Flickr

Buzzing Red Kite by Phal44, on Flickr

Stary Red Kite by Phal44, on Flickr

Flyover Red Kite 3 by Phal44, on Flickr

Flyover Red Kite 1 by Phal44, on Flickr

Phal · 7 Apr 2015 at 21:06

dr_volki said:
i'd love to have this as my wall paper! stunning shot

That was the kind of look I was going for with the processing

Something you'd see in a magazine to advertise something or similar (I wasn't going for realistic with those colours lol).

Phal · 12 Apr 2015 at 12:30

I don't normally bother with Robins but this guy almost insisted I take his picture! Came and sat on a fence about 1m away from me. I had to back up a little to get the picture lol

Then went looking for butterflies! The 200-400mm lens with a 25mm tube on is quite good for those since I don't have to get too close but it's a little hefty! Good exercise I guess

Friendly Robin Closeup by Phal44, on Flickr

Robin by Phal44, on Flickr

One Of Those Butterfly Things by Phal44, on Flickr

Bee Bokeh by Phal44, on Flickr

Phal · 13 Apr 2015 at 23:13

A few more shots from the same outing on Saturday. Some Flutterby shots and one of those flappy feathered things

Taken handheld with a rather large lens

well apart from the bird where the lens was resting on something

Stinging Butterfly by Phal44, on Flickr

Wings Up by Phal44, on Flickr

Wings Down by Phal44, on Flickr

Chaffy by Phal44, on Flickr

Phal · 14 Apr 2015 at 23:26

Couple more from the weekend

Dunnock by Phal44, on Flickr

Great Tit by Phal44, on Flickr

Phal · 15 Apr 2015 at 09:32

peige said:
Nice photos Phal, I live just along the coast from you in Lancing so some of the beach shots are very familiar

Yeah most of those are from near the lagoon so practically in Lancing

Phal · 19 Apr 2015 at 16:15

A first for me! I've been in this country since 89 and this is the first wild snake I've seen. Ironically I saw part of one earlier on the same day before it disappeared under some branches but this guy/girl was out for a swim so it was much easier to see!

No idea what type it is lol

We had heard some rustling in the reeds but assuming it was a little bird hiding or something and then it swam out where we could see it so I jumped up and got my camera since we'd been sitting down having a drink

Wet Snake by Phal44, on Flickr

Slurpy Snake by Phal44, on Flickr

Swimmy Snake by Phal44, on Flickr

I managed to get those shots and then I got ahead of it along the side of the pond it was swimming in. It was quite hard to get the shots in focus since the AF was struggling a bit with the small head and reflective surface. Luckily this one got locked on fairly well! Not long after that it disappeared back into the reeds

It's coming for meeeeeee by Phal44, on Flickr

Phal · 19 Apr 2015 at 17:11

Handheld because I'm very manly! lol

All at F8 and 1/800th exposure with auto ISO

Pole dancer by Phal44, on Flickr

Orange-tip by Phal44, on Flickr

Slurp by Phal44, on Flickr

The next shot had the Orange-tip making a run for it in a blurry mess lol

Like the Bat signal but a Bee by Phal44, on Flickr

Phal · 25 Apr 2015 at 13:17

Some shots of one of the local Buzzards I saw on Thursday evening

Wonky neck!

Wonky Neck by Phal44, on Flickr

Straighter this time!

Soar by Phal44, on Flickr

Mid flap

Folded Flap by Phal44, on Flickr

Underwing

Sun Bleached by Phal44, on Flickr

I've got more shots of this Kestrel when it was closer but the weird haziness made this shot quite nice I thought

Hazy Hover by Phal44, on Flickr

Phal · 25 Apr 2015 at 20:14

Few more from this afternoon :/

Didn't realise there were two subjects in this shot until later!

Hidden Danger by Phal44, on Flickr

Not the bestestesttest shot in the world but about as good as I've managed so far with diving shots. Bit of a heavy crop here.

Dangly Legs by Phal44, on Flickr

Buzzard descending to look closer at potential lunch

Swooping Down by Phal44, on Flickr

Phal · 25 Apr 2015 at 21:35

I was just showing a friend where I'd seen this silly Robin that got really close and then it showed up... Either that or it was another overly attached Robin

The morning light was starting to get a bit bright but was still quite nice

Say "ARFGHGHGHGH" Robin by Phal44, on Flickr

Leaning Over Robin by Phal44, on Flickr

Peering Robin by Phal44, on Flickr

Head Tilt Robin by Phal44, on Flickr

Phal · 26 Apr 2015 at 19:31

Wasn't holding out much hope for anything worth keeping today with the light but this guy turned out alright. I caught him a bit further down river and got a few shots of him diving in but those weren't so great

Then he swam up a bit and got out on the other side where I got these

I got a few handheld shots with higher shutter speeds as he climbed out but then I rested on a nearby fencepost for these slower shots. This particular shot still had a slightly blurry face due to the whole 'shaking itself dry' thing so this is actually a frankenbird. I've taken the sharp head from another shot in this sequence and used it on this one

The more you look at the shot and the more it stands out but then again I'm sure if I hadn't said it then people wouldn't know lol

Self Drying by Phal44, on Flickr