|
I set up this website to show some of my better
wildlife photos. Mostly these are shots of birds but insects, mammals
and plants also get a look in. For me a well composed image of a common
species is probably more pleasing than a record shot of a rarity and you
will find something of both here. There are over 400 images including
over 200 species of birds on the site.
I am based in Peasedown which is just south of
Bath in the south west of the United Kingdom. I get about almost always
by bicycle so the closest 'wetland' reserve, Chew Valley Lake is where
the majority of my photographs are taken. Chew is a large (4 X 2.5km)
artificial reservoir managed for water, fishing, wildlife and sailing.
Its interest for birdwatchers is centered around wildfowl, gulls and
given low enough water waders. However its reedbeds hold good
populations of reed and cetti's warblers and some sedge warblers. See CVL
Birding website for more details and up to date news. For more info
about this area see the Somerset
Ornithological Society Also the county summaries at Fat
Birder. The Somerset Ornithological Society also has links to other
bird photographers in this area.
Equipment:
Nikon D2h digital SLR camera
Nikon D1h digital SLR camera
Nikon 300mm f2.8 AFS Lens
TC-20EII 2X teleconverter
TC-14EII 1.4X teleconverter
Monopod & Monopod Head
Having to take everything about by
bicycle means that I do not use a tripod for any of the photos I take.
The extra weight of a tripod sturdy enough to be useful would be too
much. I find that using a fairly lightweight monopod tucked into a pouch
on the belt that holds up my camera bag, shutter speeds of down to
1/250s yield reliably pixel sharp images. And if it is possible to take
repeated shots much slower can still work. This is with a focal length
of 600mm. For an fairly extreme example of a slow shutter speed (1/45s) see
this
photo of a rufous-tailed shrike.
All of the shots on this site are
presented at reduced size and/or resolution from that taken by the
camera. An example of this can be seen in this
photo. For many of the more recent shots hold your mouse over either
the thumbnail link or the image itself to get technical details.
If you want to use any of my pictures
please get in touch (e-mail at bottom of page). For conservation or
educational use I generally allow free usage.
Paul Burrows
|
