Trip to London

We took an evening trip down to London to a reception at the House of Commons celebrating 400 years of Bible translation last week. Unfortunately, photography is forbidden in the actual chamber, but here is a shot of the evening light catching the top of the tower at the opposite end to Big Ben. Very patriotic!

Canon 60D with Canon EF-S 18-200mm at 70mm, 1/1600 sec at f/14, ISO 200

Red Kite at Fermyn Woods

Was this after the mouse? It was circling over the play area and car park, quite oblivious of the crowds of people there that day.

One tricky thing photographing birds in flight is getting anything other than a silhouette. For one thing, the camera tries to average out the exposure, and the sky is very bright, plus the bird is often between you and the sun. But on this occasion, the sun shining through the feathers actually makes the shot for me.

Canon 60D with Canon EF-S 18-200mm at 200mm, 1/4000 sec at f/5.6, ISO 200

Baby mouse

Not sure if this is a Field Mouse or a Wood Mouse, but it was very cute, and seemed quite unafraid. It hopped out of the undergrowth as we were having a picnic at Fermyn Woods.

Canon 60D with Canon EF-S 18-200mm at 200mm, 1/125 sec at f/5.6, ISO 200

Muntjac at Lackford Lakes

Here's a change - a deer! This Muntjac wandered out in broad daylight onto the banks of the lake where the geese graze the grass short. Maybe it likes the fresh growth there.

Probably my crispest digiscope shot so far.

Canon 60D with Celestron Ultima 80 at 1/200 sec at f/6.3 (fixed), ISO 400

A rather damp nesting site

These Great-Crested Grebe were on the Plover Lake at Lackford Lakes recently. They had found a very shallow spot about 20 metres off shore, and were piling it up with weed, apparently to see if they could build a nest there. They only did this for a while, so maybe they decided it would not work, or perhaps they just called it a day.

This is another digiscope shot. The Grebe were about 50 metres from the hide, and filled the frame at minimum zoom on the scope. There is pretty obvious softness at the edges of the frame at this setting.

Canon 60D with Celestron Ultima 80 at 1/400 sec at f/6.3 (fixed), ISO 320

Ely Cathedral - the Ship of the Fens

Here's why Ely Cathedral is sometimes called the "ship of the Fens". It stands tall above the lakes and wetlands, for all the world looking like a great ship docked beyond the trees. Here it is beyond the Fishing Lake at Roswell Pits.

This is a High Dynamic Range (HDR) picture, made with the assistance of Photomatix Pro. It is built from three shots at different exposures (+- 2EV on this occasion, as it was extremely contrasty into the evening sun). The software then combines the images, adjusting brightness levels in different parts of the picture, and preserving detail in both highlight and shadow areas.

Canon 60D with Canon EF-S 18-200mm at 18mm, 1/100, 1/200 and 1/400 sec at f/23, ISO 200

Bird spotting, train spotting

This Grey Heron seemed to be looking for somewhere to settle down for the night on the edge of the Sailing Lake at Roswell Pits. It stood here for a while, but when a train went by on the nearby Ely to Peterborough line, it stood tall and watched the train go by. It soon decided this was perhaps not the best spot, and moved off to the corner of the lake.

Canon 60D with Canon EF-S 18-200mm at 200mm, 1/320 sec at f/5.6, ISO 250