nature photography – Page 2

Favourite Images from 2020

A New Year! A fresh start! – Well, I feel it’ll take a bit longer but we can all hope for an improvement in our circumstances as 2021 progresses. I wish you all peace, prosperity and good health for the coming year. While the last year has been hard, I’m very clear that others have had a truly dreadful time and I feel I’ve been very lucky.

Bracken in Winter

Well, the sun is out today … at least a little, but recently we’ve had some dark days. The days are shorter nearing the solstice. Even the recent news about vaccines hasn’t lifted the mood much. And my outing to the country park didn’t produce much in the way of photographic opportunities either. I still saw something I hadn’t seen there before – a large grey heron gliding down the centre of the narrow river staying one metre off the water surface with barely a flap of its wings, and disappearing round the bend. It appeared all too suddenly and much too fast to capture.

Swan Sculptures

My last post about the Long-tailed Duck, that unexpected visitor to our local park, led me to recall one of my earliest visits to the park pond with a decent DSLR camera.

Making my Day Unique

Nature Spot – linked to Friendly Friday

So, just yesterday, my good friend Donald (not that one, another one) said “Why don’t we go to the pond at the park and take some bird photos?…… socially distanced, of course”. It may not sound a truly attractive suggestion but in the middle of lock-down when we’re not supposed to go out of our local area, it seemed a good idea just to get out the house.

Focus on Nature

Generally, a nature shot focusses on a particular subject, perhaps a bird, an insect, or a flower. To get a good image, it’s best that the subject in sharp focus, and often the use of automatic camera focussing is essential.

But even if it is a sharp image, there are some other strategies to help ensure the viewer will not simply glimpse at it and move on to the next image, but instead to linger and examine the image more closely.

More Images

A Quiet Place

It’s a place we often go to chill out and look at the sea. It’s over at the rocks behind Troon harbour – that’s Troon, best known for its championship golf course. We pass the harbour and stop in the small car park, looking out over the waves towards the Isle of Arran.

Green-veined White

Nature Spot

Another image

Coal Tit Capers

I’ve managed to get images of most of the common small birds around, but the Coal Tit was particularly problematic. Trouble is they are so fidgety; they move so fast; don’t stay still for a second. I’ve had several shots of them disappearing off the side of the frame, or a clear shot of their rear end as they turn so quickly.

Goldfinches

Nature Spot

Just a few shots of the most colourful wee bird in our area. Goldfinches visited our feeder recently and they seem to be more common here in recent years.

These images were taken from a hide around this time last year.