Finally today a hint of sunshine – and what a difference it makes. Although bitterly cold (a driving easterly made it feel like -6ºC on the snow-covered North Norfolk coast) I managed to get out for an hour or so to shoot Black-headed Gulls wheeling on the wind. I have enormous respect for wildlife photographers who manage to capture their subjects in such fine detail and in such pristine conditions that it is as if viewing a facsimile. On the rare occasions when I actually manage something close to this, I'm delighted. But I do think there is a place for another kind of wildlife photography; the kind that coveys more atmosphere, more feeling, more context. I think the first of these images might fall into that category. Yes, the lead bird is sharp, but the picture is much more about the character of the subjects; the sense, for example, that a squabble is never far away
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| Canon 1Ds MkII, Canon 100-400mm IS L lens, 1/2,500th sec, f/5.6, 400mm at ISO 250 |
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| Canon 1Ds MkII, Canon 100-400mm IS L lens, 1/2,500th sec, f/5.6, 310mm at ISO 250 |
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| Canon 1Ds MkII, Canon 100-400mm IS L lens, 1/2,500th sec, f/5.6, 310mm at ISO 250 |
Lovely images Tim; some of my local BH gulls have completed the transition to mating plumage. I think they are so elegant in flight.
ReplyDeleteWe have a little sun presently but it is icily cold still.
As I was shooting these, the division between winter plumage and not was about 50/50.
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