Bokeh

Bokeh, also known as “Boke” is one of the most popular subjects in photography. The reason why it is so popular, is because Bokeh makes photographs visually appealing, forcing us to focus our attention on a particular area of the image. The word comes from Japanese language, which literally translates as “blur”.https://photographylife.com/what-is-bokeh
To achieve the blurred background effect , I find setting the camera between F5.6 -F8 gives best results . Trial and error of these settings will give you the effect you want . Picking the right background is important  , foliage , grass , fairy lights are all good . Check the area infront and behind where you are taking the image . Remember to focus on your subject , single focus point is best , so the camera understands what you are wanting to capture , without it trying to get everything in focus Set up Nikon D7000, Tamron 70-300 mm , F8 , 1/320 , 300 mm

Graveyard Atmosphere

Welford Road Cemetery is one of the biggest in Leicester.
Many famous people are buried there , such as Thomas Cook . A graveyard in the daytime can be just as creepy as in the dark.. Walking through the trees , an oppressive  darkness hangs over us . Out the corner of your eye you see movement . The hairs on your body stand up and you shiver as though someone has walked over you .
Setup Nikon D7000 , Nikon 35 mm , F7.1 ,

ISO 200 , 1/100 , 35 mm

Busy Bees

Curious Swan

Sitting at the Weir with my daughter in the sun . A beautiful summers day , so much to see and take in . Listening to the rushing water over the Weir , there's nothing more relaxing . Swans were patrolling along the top of the Weir , when I noticed a swan popping its head up and down as though it was playing peek-a-boo . It was comical watching . As it moved along the edge of the platform we were sitting on , up pops it's head . I waited for the right moment to catch it , just when it peeked over the edge . Setup Nikon D7000 , Nikon 55-200 mm , F8 , 1/100 , ISO 200 , 165 mm .

Time on The Weir

Ork Boyz

It's been awhile since writing on my Blog struggling to find things to write about. I have a new model interest , Warhammer 40k . Reminding me of my childhood , spending many hours playing said game. The casting of these new plastic models is simply amazing . Building and painting said models is very therapeutic  . Taken on my Samsung S5 SM-G900F
f/2.21/8424.8 mmISO40

Fog in the morning

There is something quite primeval about fog on water . An eerie atmosphere of not being quite sure what will come out of it. Getting up early is not an issue for as I don't sleep well . Walking along the canal path listening to the sounds of life waking up is reassuring. Selecting a particular spot is exciting for me , a place where it captures the feeling of the fog settling on the water , covering some parts and exposing others . My setup was Nikon D7000 , Tamron 70-300 mm , F11 , 1/640 , ISO 400 , 70 mm .

Bird Take off

At the Weir I see many different birds , one of my favourite is the Grey Heron . https://www.rspb.org.uk/discoverandenjoynature/discoverandlearn/birdguide/name/g/greyheron/
It's such a beautiful bird , I can spend hours watching it fish . I am fascinated by the way it gently moves its feet in the water to disturb the fish below , with it's eye's focused on the area , before it strikes the water with lightning speed , to catch it's prize. My picture today was taken just as it launched itself into the air. Setup Nikon D7000 , Tamron 70-300 mm , F 5 , 1/320 , ISO 100 , 260 mm.

Portrait

Definition A likeness of a person, especially of the face, as a painting, drawing, or photograph . 
Faces can express and give away our feelings . Look into someone's eyes and you can see into their soul . Humans from the very first breath recognise faces , a bond is immediately formed when you see your mother or father for the first time . It is programmed into us to feel safe with that person and know they will protect us . 
My recent picture of my daughter hopefully captures the feelings she had at that moment. Setup Nikon D7000 , Nikon 35 mm , F5.6 , 1/40  , ISO 100 .

Flash Capture

As a rule I rarely use the Flash . Not sure why I don't possibly because I capture nature , a flash will probably distress them . On this occasion the Swan was under the bridge and the light was pretty poor
 So I used the Flash and was pleasantly surprised with the result . The Flash was set to fire at the end of the exposure or Rear Flash I believe its called in the settings of my camera . REAR (bolt and REAR icon)

Normally the flash goes off the instant the shutter opens. With long exposures and blurred ghost images you ordinarily get the ghost streaming out in front of the subject. Think about it: if a car is driving, the flash goers off and freezes it, then the car moves forward. You'll have a ghost image ahead of the car, which usually looks stupid.

Select REAR mode to have the flash go off instead when the shutter closes. Now you'll have motion blurring behind the frozen flash image.

REAR doesn't do anything noticeably different with short exposures

I used this mode to cause the Swan as little stress as possible. The effect of the light on the bird is quite striking .Setup Nikon D7000 , Nikon 55-200 mm , F5 , 1/80 , 130 mm , ISO 500 .

Nature's Disguise

If you have ever seen a Chameleon change colour to match it's surroundings , it fascinates me how and why they do it. Special disguises are also seen in the insect world . For instance the Peacock Butterfly has two large rings on its wings which from the air , a predator would think a large animal was looking at them as they mimic eye's . It's such a clever way of deception  . Nature is full of such amazing things if you take the time to look and absorb what is around you . Set up Nikon D7000
Nikon 55-200 mm , F8 , 1/100 , ISO 100, 200 mm .

The Weir

My local walk takes me to the Grand Union Canal in Leicester . It runs through the city winding its way to join other major Canals in the country . At the Weir you can see so many different birds and along the banks many types of insects live . Many boats use the lock at the Weir , it's fascinating watching the waters rise and fall as the boat either comes up the canal or down the canal , Across the canal runs the railway used mainly by goods trains . Bats can been at night flying through the arches of the bridge . Badgers forage in the meadows and small deer have been seen in the meadows too .
Setup Nikon D7000 , Tamron 70-300 , 1/25 , F16 , ISO 400 , 78 mm .

Colour

Days of choosing the right colour film for the occasion is long passed . Today's cameras  have the most amazing Metering systems which can produce awesome pictures in most lighting situations . I like to use natural light rather than flash . A subject backlit pops out the picture to my eyes . Colour is dependant on the type of sensor you have , you can find out in your camera specs . With the ability to shoot a RAW image over a jpeg , you are able to increase the amount of information available in the picture , without loss due to compression . In this photo I tried to show the wonderful colours and movement as she twisted in the breeze . Setup Nikon D7000 , Tamron 35-70 mm , F3.5 , 1/100
ISO 100 .

Keeping Things Simple

With my photography I try to keeps things simple. I use Manual mode as much as possible which gives me the freedom to adjust settings on the fly .My subject matter is mainly wildlife , this has meant many hours waiting for action to happen . When it finally does I get great satisfaction from knowing that my patience has paid off . Knowing your location makes life a little easier as you have a pretty good idea of the types of wildlife you are going to see. Obviously you have days that throw an odd ball , on such days you chalk it up as just getting out of  the 4 walls. Setup Nikon D7000
Nikon 55-200 mm , 1/1000 , F4.8 , 200 mm, ISO 100

Dull Days

In any given week in the UK we have dull days . They are overcast , grey and not particularly inspiring . That being said you can capture flowers in all their glory , insects , butterflies all pop on such days . What I am trying to say is get out even when the day looks sad and boring . You will always capture a surprize . A bright lens can be an advantage but not necessary . Visit your garden centre or local park and capture nature in all its splendour . Setup Nikon D7000 , Tamron 70-300
(FLOWER)F5.6 , 1/400 , 105mm , ISO 100 . (BUTTERFLY)F5.6 , 1/1000 , 300mm , ISO 100

The Elusive One

Since taking up photography and choosing to capture nature in all it's forms , I have one particular bird I would love to capture . The Kingfisher is an iconic little bird , fishing in our canals and rivers . Everyday I walk the same path with people passing telling me the Kingfisher is just around the corner The flash pass of blue lets me know it's here , they very rarely stop . On this day he did stop , for a few tantalising moments he sat on a tiny branch . Typically I had the wrong lens on and I was having trouble focusing , I snapped away hoping that I might capture it . Looking at the picture it was in a dark patch under trees , the day was dull and overcast so wasn't holding out of seeing anything .I cropped the picture and saw a grainy Kingfisher the best I've been able to capture . To me it's pretty bad but at least I know now I can capture him . So each day I walk my trusted path along the canal and maybe one day i'll get a better picture. Setup Nikon D7000, Nikon 55-200 , F5.6 , 1/320,
ISO 100 , 200mm .

Focus

With the introduction of auto focus on our digital cameras , it is sometimes difficult to select the right amount of focus points on a subject . The Nikon D7000 has 39 Focus points , you can select from 1 point to various settings in between up to 39  . With the press of the focus select button you can cycle through the options . It is important to take a breath and look at what you are shooting , a flying bird may need tracking focus selected using all 39 points while a standing subject may only need 1 focus point . The books tell us to focus on a subjects eye whether it be an insect or a human , this rule applies , try it out and you'll be amazed by the results . The picture of the horse focused on the eye .
Set up Nikon D200 , F5.3 , Tamron 70-300 , 1/60 , ISO 200 .