Phal's house of pics

BuffetSlayer said:
Some absolutely brilliant work in this thread (but I guess you already know that, hah! :p ).

I would love to get into shooting wildlife. What system are you using?
Click to expand...

Thanks, I know that I've gotten better over the few years I've been at it but it always good to hear a compliment. That being said, I know there's no shortage of people out there producing equal or better shots so there's no need to get too proud just yet hehe.

I use a Canon 7dmk2 now and it's pretty much always bolted on my EF 200-400mm F4L lens. Failing that I've got a 100mm macro lens, a Sigma 18-35mm, an EF-S 10-22mm and a little EF-S 24mm STM pancake lens that occasionally gets an outing.
 
Album with a few more pics:https://www.flickr.com/photos/phal44/albums/72157657613566215










Pretty sad day overall. The Hunter was just getting going after flying in to the area and I got a few shots from the initial lowish pass




Low pass just before the loop by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr




Low pass just before the loop by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr







And then from a few year's experience there, I've learnt that most of the long distance pics when the plane is over the airport itself suck due to distance/heat haze etc so I'd stopped tracking the plane. Then I noticed he seemed to getting pretty low after his long high loop so I wanted to start tracking again and before I knew it I was looking at this through the lens




Hawker Hunter Crash by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr




It seemed like a long time but in reality, it wasn't that long before the nearby Fire Brigade guys turned up




Fire Fighter at the scene by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr




The first Air Ambulance did a pass over first and then landed nearby. Another arrived not long after and a Coastguard Rescue helo also appeared near the end




First Air Ambulance passing over the scene by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr







The aftermath of the jet hitting the westbound lanes of the a27 doesn't look great event from a mile or two away.




Aftermath 2 by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr




Aftermath by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr
 
I went to Arundel Castle yesterday and since you can't photograph inside the castle, I made the most of the gardens in the nice weather :) I had my 100mm macro in the bag but I decided to stick with the 18-35mm. It works quite nicely for flowers as long as you don't want to get too close.

1
Bright Flower by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

2
Not entirely sure this works all that well but I like it nonetheless
Flower Satellite Dish by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

3
Flower in the corner by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

4
Flowers by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

5
Not quite a closer up but it has flowers in it ;) Arundel Cathedral from a location in the gardens.
Arundel Cathedral and garden by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

6
It's a Fly! by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr
 
I'm assuming this is a Hornet (I'm too lazy to confirm) because it was large and angry.

I got a bunch of other shots of a few of them chewing up the bark on the small branches of this tree. Not sure if they're eating it or just collecting material for a nest?

On a few occasions it reared up and faced me when I got close and looked at it. Not sure if it recognises that the face of something is close or whether it just acts like that towards anything nearby but it definitely seemed worse when I showed my face. When I was behind the camera it would often just ignore me but then I'd drop the camera down a bit and I'd get this reaction. I did it a few times for shots but after that I figured I'd stop pushing my luck lol.

There's more to process but this one stands out (imo)

Angry by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr
 
Thanks :)

Well the main shot got Explored on Flickr which is always good for some email spam :D Here's a few more from that day

This is what I meant by rearing up at me lol

Come At Me Bro Hornet by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

When it felt safe enough then it carried on chewing up this bark... Not sure why? Food or building material?

Munchy Hornet by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

There were a few milling around rather than chewing stuff and occasionally they seemed to annoy each other but here they're ok lol. In some shots they were mouth-to-mouth so I don't know whether they transfer the material chewed up?

Hornet Got Friend by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr
 
So I decided that I hadn't gotten anywhere near enough good Dragonfly pics this summer like I had hoped so I decided to make the most of some of my holidays and go get some.

I forked out a decent amount of cash for the Canon drop-in CPL filter for my 200-400 so I decided to use that too. I'd originally got it for the airshows this year but I hadn't received it in time for Airbourne/Eastbourne and Shoreham didn't quite go as planned either as most people know.

Sometimes it made life a bit more difficult with my exposures etc but it did help a lot with the colours since a lot of these were shot pointing up into the sun a little and still fairly early in the afternoon.

Up until this shot I'd forgotten to rotate the CPL so I wasn't really getting the full polarising effect. This was the first one where I remembered to do so and I definitely noticed the difference in the colours I was seeing in the viewfinder. It was a little under exposed but not too bad.

1
Oak Tree Rest by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

My lens was on my monopod for once which made it easier to get a hand over to rotate the CPL. It's in a stupid spot IMO as you can barely get to it under the part of the camera body that sticks out at the front/top but it's ok with a left hand. I sat in this same spot for a while getting shots of the Dragonflies which were around

2
Spangly by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

This isn't the best shot in the lot of them but it shows the effect I was getting with the wings in the light. Without the filter the wings were a lot more blown out due to reflections but the CPL cut that considerably and added these gold coloured glints.

3
Sparkly Wings by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

4
Ready To Pounce by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

5
Rear View by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

6
On A Ribbon by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

The CPL also allowed me to shoot straight into the reflected sun on the water which gave me this which I quite like :)

7
Light Balls S by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

I wasn't sure whether the shot would turn out ok with that much light in the shot so I adjusted my angle a little and got this one too

8
Green S by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

The filter definitely helps you get nice rich colours from the leaves which might normally be a little bleached from the afternoon sun

9
In The Reeds by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

The filter also allowed me to retain a little of the sky blue here even though I had to expose for the shaded side of the Dragonfly.

10
Blue Sky by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

The filter does mean you need to use longer exposures or higher ISOs but I definitely like it :)

11
Bridge Crossing by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr
 
Some sunset shots from a week or two ago. These are HDR and I was going to use my usual method (Photoshop) but I wasn't like the results I was getting with the sky not being blended properly.

I took a bit of a break and decided to try Photomatix and it seems to do the job :) There's plenty of settings which can make the whole thing look pretty mental but I can't say I'm a huge fan of that so I've kept it fairly normal but with a little more contrast/colour.

The view is just from nearby on the beach so there's nothing fantastic there to look at. This means the shots are pretty much more about the sky than anything since it was pretty spectacular... I still wish there was something better in the foreground though! A slightly lower tide would have been awesome.

Shoreham Beach Sunset by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

Shoreham Beach Sunset Portrait by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

Shoreham Beach Late Sunset by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr
 
First some fairly standard shots. First is a HDR but kept subtle and the second is a single exposure

The last two are something a little different. Number 3 is a single exposure with a shallow DOF (F1.8) at 18mm of a spot where water was rising up through the sand to create a little whirlpool.

Number 4 is the same whirlpool thingy but with two shots stacked to try to give me a backdrop that's in focus. I could have probably gotten enough shots to get everything fully in focus but stuck with the two handheld shots.


1
Hidden Light by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr


2
Light Sandwich by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

3
Whirlpool by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

4
Whirlpool With A View by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr
 
smr said:
Since when did you get a macro lens dude? Awesome shots.
Click to expand...

I've had a macro lens for ages, the 100mm F2.8L was one of my first lenses. A lot of the shots that look 'macro' might have been taken with my 200-400 though :) A lot of the Butterfly and Dragonfly shots are taken with that instead since it gives me a bit more range but I do use my 25mm tube with it to get a bit more magnification.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom