New Year's Eve

 The last day of 2012. I will need to start a new folder on my computer for my photos tomorrow and catch up on all my cataloging so I can find images when I want them. This morning I was up early, the sun was shining, the birds were chirping and the camera was sitting begging me to pick it up. So I did.  I love that I can take nature shots without even leaving the house, it is such a treat!

The next week will be an intensive photography week for me, my mother is coming to stay and being a keen photographer herself, she wants to go to all my local haunts to see what she can capture. So visits to Zealandia, the Zoo, Matiu/Somes Island are but a few of the places we will be going to. By the end of the week I am going to be ready to go back to work for a rest!

I hope you all have a happy and safe New Year!

Pekapeka Wetlands - Hastings

Last time I was up Hastings way I passed what looked to be a new walkway of some sort that was in the process of being built. This time I was able to stop and visit. The Pekapeka Wetlands have been turned into a place to be with nature. You can walk across the board walks, sit and relax in the sunshine and enjoy the birds going about their daily tasks around you.

Juvenile black swans feeding on the weeds.

The Welcome Swallows were doing their best to chase us away from one area. It was near a bird watching hide that had been built in the middle of some really tall vegetation making it impossible to see any birds, but I suspect the swallows had a nest in their somewhere. They were dive bombing us trying to move us on. It worked, we moved.

Welcome Swallows

The Australian Coots were a delight to see because this family was a bit older than the ones we photographed in Palmerston North. The chicks were at their juvenile stage where they had lost their ugly faces and orange feathers and now looked sleek and black like the parent birds, just missing the white front plate.

Australian Coots - parent and four juveniles

It was also the first time I had photographed a Dabchick. While I got to see it quite a bit as it motored away from us all the time then dove into the water, it was very hard to get a good shot of. I think it was underwater as much as it was on top. Cute little guy though.

Dabchick

There is obviously more development happening in and around the wetlands and I am sure it is going to get better and better from a photographer's point of view. I loved that there was seating where we could just sit and wait for the bird life to grow accustomed to our being there with them and move closer to us. Bird photography often requires a huge amount of patience and this is a place I will go back to.

Australian Coot - adult

Australian Coot - Juvenile

Goldfinch at the carpark of the wetlands

I always read with interest just how much effort people go to when it comes to watermarking their images, and how upset they get about the possibility of them being 'stolen'. I am of the opinion that if you don't want your images used anywhere else then just don't put them online. Simple really. I have recently started watermarking my images but in a discrete way as I don't like watermarks that detract from the image itself. I post my photos online because I like to share them, I like that other people are looking at them and and hopefully enjoying them as much as I do.

There was an article in the news today about images that people had pinched from other sites and tried to have people think they were images of the storm over New York. They went into detail about how you can check if an image is the real deal or if it has been grabbed from elsewhere. I got to thinking about my own images and decided to have a look and see if any of mine have made it out into the rest of the internet world.

So I fired up google images and did a search or two of images from my most popular posts according to the site stats. Immediately I found one of my tiger images on about four other sites. Not only had they taken the image but they had altered it by adding text etc to the image. I am flattered that they think it is good enough to use on their sites but I would like credit for the photography. So I have politely asked for them to link back to my site. I doubt it will happen but there is always a chance that they will respect wishes.

None of the images I post online are suitable for use for anything other than a website as the resolution is way to low for print work. I have no intention of providing anyone with a printable image until silver has crossed my palm. I am not doing photography to make money, I am doing it because I enjoy it, but that doesn't mean I am going to give it away either. If anyone is interested in purchasing a print of any of my images feel free to contact me.

Goldfinch

Sometimes when you are focused on a single bird you often forget to look around you. I was chasing a heron, trying to find a good spot among the boat sheds to photograph it when I came across a bush covered in goldfinches. By the time I realised what they were most had flown off. I did manage a couple of shots tho.