Phal's house of pics

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
 
Some more shots from one of my local haunts! I've been heading up there a lot since its 5 mins from work and from where I live! Been trying to practise my handheld shots. I also gave mode 3 IS a test since some people online reported good results (I find it's about the same as mode 2 with the added difficulty of having to track without IS which is about what you'd expect I guess).


This guy/girl has turned up recently when I've been up there for some target practise. On both occasions I've ended up with these shots without really knowing I'd gotten them! I'm just there trying to get better with my handheld shots so I just for anything that moves and is reasonably close.

Peregrine Falcon by Phal44, on Flickr


The good thing about this place is that it's the top of a steep hill so you can get some eye level shots of the birds in flight...The bad thing is that the wind is usually coming from down the hill so birds are pointing away and you're shooting into the sun for the afternoon.

Caught Eye by Phal44, on Flickr



These guys are quite fond of this area too and they do their best Buzzard impressions then I'm around by trying to glide about in the breeze as much as possible. This one looked especially tatty!

Flying Scarecrow by Phal44, on Flickr


I got the answer to that age old question - How does a Kestrel poo mid-flight? With it's little legs dangling down out of the way of course!

Bombs Away by Phal44, on Flickr



Saw it land to hunt quite a few times but this was the only catch I saw :)

Eye Contact Lunch by Phal44, on Flickr
 
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Couple of old shots I hadn't processed from last year at Duxford. I'd missed the Lancasters all summer due to a holiday and the breakdown of an engine on the Canadian one so I wanted to get them! When I did it was a bit of a let down since the weather was so meh so I didn't process too many shots apart from the later ones when it perked up a bit.

There's a couple I've decided to go back and sort and here's two (both taken with my old 70d)

Bigbirds by Phal44, on Flickr

Lancaster flyby by Phal44, on Flickr
 
Bumper crop today!

Some flappy things!


Orange-tip

Orange-tip by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

Something I found hiding in the grass

Mothy by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

This thing was pretty small but very shiny! Seems to be a moth or at least that's what I'm guessing! Has a long curly wurly tongue like a butterfly :)

Shiny Moth thingy? by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr


Spotted Wood

Spotted Wood Butterfly by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

Another unknown moth?

Mothy Moth by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

Brown Wall

Brown Wall Buttery by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

Finally got some of these guys! Brimstone :)

Brimstone by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr
 
Hover Kestrel with a slowish exposure

Surprising Hover by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

Wings out straight for some gliding

Gliding Kestrel by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

What is this? Something that likes hiding in the reeds and the beak almost looks silver

Birdy by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

Birdy by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr


Birdy by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

Moody looking Jackdaw

Moody by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

The best is last... Had rather unsuitable settings set from when I was shooting Butterflies but managed to get this shot handheld which was a pleasant surprise :D

Poor little furry fella doesn't look like he's enjoying the ride

Come With Me by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr
 
I got some nice shots of a Kestrel hunting last night and had a little fun with one of the shots and the processing. I couldn't quite decide on something more natural or something a little more stylised and then I also realised that my more heavily processed shot worked well as a B&W shot :)

Here they are


#1 Fairly natural looking

Looming Kestrel 1 by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr


#2 Processed to accentuate the sun which was almost in shot

Looming Kestrel 3 by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

#3 B&W version of the above with a few tweaks

Looming Kestrel 2 by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr
 
Here's the link to the album with a 'few' more pics. Flickr tries to arrange them in a nice mosaic but the quality suffers in some of the sizes so I find it's better checking each individually but maybe that's just me!




https://www.flickr.com/photos/phal44/sets/72157653786470561




Here's a few random shots picked from the list. There's better shots in there but I can't be bothered looking for them lol




1

JE5A8858 by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr




2

JE5A9070 by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr




3

JE5A9198 by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr




4

JE5A9221 by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr




5

JE5A9255 by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr




6

JE5A9587 by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr




7

JE5A8760 by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr
 
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