Through The Windowpane Pt.2
Well here we are again, back in our homes for lockdown 2.0 in this chaotic, confusing and mainly just boring year. The colours of the seasons may have changed since my first lockdown blog post (through the windowpane Pt 1) back in April, but the circumstances have not, so here we go again with some photos taken from my window or nearby my home.
Before I come onto these images however, I did manage one last photography trip before lockdown, and with autumn in full swing, it was time to head down to a place I have wanted to go back to for a long time now…
Westonbirt Arboretum was a place I visited as a child, usually in the summer months with school. I knew of its reputation for its autumn colours, yet for whatever reason had never gotten around to take advantage of this spectacle of nature. I finally had the chance to change this oversight, so with lockdown looming large in the rear view mirror, I finally got my chance to see what all the fuss was about.
Westonbirt Bench - 24-70 F/2.8
Maple Leaves - 100mm Macro f/2.8
Autumn leaves floor - 100mm Macro F/2.8
Lone leaf - 70-200mm F/4
Autumn Colours - 400mm F/5.6
Westonbirt Pathway - 24-70mm F/2.8
Maple tree - 400mm F/5.6
Colour change Panoramic (click to enlarge) - 24-70mm F/2.8
During the days leading up to lockdown I was also able to take advantage of my new Polaroid camera for the first time, which I had acquired over the summer before lockdown hit. It is a great camera to get out when you have guests, so halloween was the perfect opportunity to get some fun images with it. Being fully automatic, it’s very much a point and shoot affair that produces some great results on the spot. The camera also gave me the opportunity to use my new scanner but more on that in the near future…
Polaroid Fujifilm Instax 210
Halloween 2020 Plague Doctors - Fujifilm Instax 210
Oh and I finally got the sparklers out for bonfire night for some long overdue light painting action….
Light painting with Sparklers - 35mm F/1.4 on tripod + timer
And then, just like that it happened again…….Lockdown 2.0 hit, bringing with it some awful weather to boot meaning it was back to window watching and short walks for the next month for me. With the windy, wet weather even keeping my drone grounded, it was the 400mm lenses time to shine again, with the new bird station and my garden taking centre stage.
Starling - 400mm F/5.6
Starlings on feeder B&W - 400mm F/5.6
House Sparrows on feeder B&W - 400mm F/5.6
Starlings on feeder - 400mm F/5.6
Robin - 400mm F/5.6
Female House Sparrow - 400mm F/5.6
I also met my new nemesis for lockdown 2 in the form of a small squirrel, who discovered the bird table and proceeded to feast upon it until I had to finally squirrel proof it. Only time will tell if he is able to outsmart me and get back onto the nuts.
Cyril the Squirrel - 400mm F/5.6
Traveling out for daily exercise was again kept local with lockdown in full effect. After several failed walk attempts due to horrendous weather, the lake nearby was fast becoming an ever increasing source of entertainment for me.
Although usually very busy with the human comings and goings of dog walkers, cyclists, photographers, runners, families and the elderly, the wildlife on the lake is (as previously mentioned in my last post), quite impressive for such a small area. So back I was again, jostling for position with all the other long lenses and binocular wearing gawkers that seem to frequent this small lake, to try and get some more interesting images of the birds that live here.
Grey Heron - 400mm F/5.6
Juvenile Grey Heron - 400mm F/5.6
Black Headed Gulls on branch (winter plumage) - 400mm F/5.6
My main target on these lake walks however was something a little special, so for the grand finale of this blog entry, a nice little kingfisher story….
I had seen a fleeting glimpse of one on my very first visit to this artificial lake, a flash of electric blue as it darted across in front of me as I walked. It surprised me to see it due to how busy the area was with people, so when returning, I wasn’t too optimistic of seeing one again despite the optimistic looking ‘Kingfisher Island’ sign on one of the two small islands in the centre of the lake. After not bringing my camera with me on one such walk, I managed to miss out on a kingfisher literally sitting on said Kingfisher Island sign! Furious with myself for leaving home without my camera and possibly missing one of the best photos of the year, I was back again the next day, testing my luck and hoping the kingfisher would be there waiting for me, posing politely as before. Luckily for me this little guy clearly got the memo and allowed me to photograph it in and around its small island home.
Kingfisher by sign - 400mm F/5.6
Kingfisher - 400mm F/5.6
Kingfisher - 400mm F/5.6
Kingfisher - 400mm F/5.6
Kingfisher Deep in the dark woods - 400mm F/5.6
Using youtube to bring up the kingfishers call, I was able to draw the bird out of the dense, dark wooded islands undergrowth, and capture some images of it as it tried to find the source of this new call. I would have loved to have gotten that little bit closer with more reach however, and a faster 500mm or 600mm lens would have been fantastic in this situation, but the 400mm F/5.6 on the 5d MK iii still did a great job of capturing the kingfisher as it sat on its little island home even when cropping into the image was required.
FIN
*SIDE NOTE:
You may also have noticed I am currently going through a refresh of my website, with some changes coming over the next few months hopefully which will expand my photography work into the future in a slightly different direction. this will take some time and planning but hopefully will be made more clear in the new year so fingers crossed!
