Phal's house of pics

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.

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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

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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.

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Sparkly Wings by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

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Ready To Pounce by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

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Rear View by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

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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 :)

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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

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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

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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.

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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 :)

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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.


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Hidden Light by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr


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Light Sandwich by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

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Whirlpool by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

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Whirlpool With A View by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr
 
smr said:
Since when did you get a macro lens dude? Awesome shots.
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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.
 
snips86x said:
I'm stunned mate! You've got a superb collection of incredible shots. You should be very pleased, they're amazing.

You thought about printing a few out for a 2016 calendar?
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Thank you very much :) It crossed my mind but haven't really researched the logistics of it!

{SAS}TB said:
Loving the whirlpool and beach shots mate - lovely :)

Cant believe I wasn't following on Flickr so am now !
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Hah thanks :) I liked those whirlpool shots too but they're both a little flawed imo.

The first is a single exposure and I know the DOF wouldn't be deep enough to give me sharp scenery but since the water was the focus I thought I'd give it a go.

The second is two shots stacked but they were handheld so were a bit fiddle to stack and I needed more shots to do it properly. It was a bit half-assed and I kinda wish I'd done a better job of it so there wouldn't be a blurry out of focus bit in the midde of the shot where neither exposure was in focus hehe.
 
Around a year ago I went to this beach and saw a Heron on the beach for the first time. It was nice to see one in a different environment to the usual reeds/freshwater etc. I went back there recently (around a year later) and saw two. I guess they can make use of the rockpools at low tide but the low tide sandy beaches nearer to where I live would be useless.


Trying to hide from me a little it seems...

Sneaky by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

I got a bit closer but eventually he flew around me and back behind me in the direction where I'd come from. At least he/she was considerate to fly east so I wasn't shooting into the sun any more!

Braking Hard by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

I starting heading back where I came from to get closer. It's not easy walking on seaweed covered rocks that have 2-3 foot deep holes etc when I consider what I'm carrying in my hands lol.

I got closer but he decided to get more distance again

Lift by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

He/she and I exchanged looks as it went past

Low Pass & Glance by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

Side-on by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

This last little jaunt of the Heron seemed to get the attention of a grumpy Seagull because it made one angry pass at it lol

Incoming 1 by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

Incoming 2 by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

Incoming 3 by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr


Then it landed somewhere further than the last place and I almost stopped shooting but I saw the Gull come in again so I took more shots. It wasn't till I got hom that I noticed it had been a bombing run instead of just a flyby hehe


Bombing Run 1 by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

Bombing Run 2 by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

Bombing Run 3 by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

Bombing Run 4 by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr
 
Great images above, seagulls really are the coasts rats of the sky, though even rats probably have more class haha! How did you capture them, where you shooting on a high speed mode or just constant opening and closing of the shutter manually?
 
These are all handheld whilst I was walking around on the exposed rock at low tide.

The exposure is about as quick as I tend to use generally (1/1600) and my Canon 7d2 shoots at 10fps so that's what I use for wildlife :)
 
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