Friday, June 29, 2012

Sparrows

The cold weather has kept me inside and the new lens hasn't been getting much of a work out. I wanted to have a bit of a play before heading to the butterfly house so I tossed some bread out the front of the house and sat inside with the camera looking out the window. All that was willing to brave the cold were sparrows, but there were a lot of them :) These images have been shot through a not so clean window on a freezing cold winter day.









Sunday, June 24, 2012

A touch of Science Fiction...

Things to do with a 44 gallon drum and a full body zentai suit. This shoot was a whole lot of fun!










Thursday, June 21, 2012

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Another sunny Sunday

Just had to get out and make the most of the fine weather while it lasted today. A friend and I went to Pauatahanui Inlet (which is fast becoming a favourite place of mine) in search of birds. We found white faced herons eating a meal of crabs, pied stilts and a pair of paradise shelducks.















Sunday, June 10, 2012

Zealandia

The sun was shining and we had a few hours to spare so we headed off to Zealandia. I have a membership there so to get the most of the pass, I need to visit often. This was the first time I have taken my big lens to Zealandia and while I am still getting used to using the monopod, I did have some success. However by the end of the day I was shooting with it hand held. I need more practice at this but I did get a couple of sharp shots of the Takahe using this method.









Sunday, June 3, 2012

Waikanae Estuary - Little Black Shag

Went back to the estuary this morning to see what was there. Unfortunately the tide was in and there were more people and dogs than there were birds. We had a bit of a look around and found some shags, seagulls and a few ducks. None of them really excited me but I am happy with these images of the little black shag.





Waikanae Estuary - White faced heron

While wading in the mud at low tide I met up with two guys and who had cameras way bigger than mine. One of them was concentrating on getting his shots, the other was really chatty. He gave me lots of advice on where to go and how to photograph the birds in the estuary. He was very helpful and we even compared some of our photos (in camera). These guys had seriously expensive gear and I felt like an amateur next to them. It is amazing just how intimidating a big white lens can be!


As they left they stopped by where my husband was sitting reading his book and commented that they hoped he had lots of money, because once the bug bites it bites hard and can be extremely expensive. Ha ha they are too late already!


The one piece of advice I remember the most was "If your feet aren't wet then you aren't close enough!" Not only were my feet and shoes wet but my nice white socks are now an icky brown! When these images were shot the light wasn't great and neither was the weather but I made the best of it and am happy with the results.