Through The Windowpane Pt.1
With lockdown in full effect, I had to find something to do with myself to pass the time while I was incarcerated, so I began documenting what was going on outside my window. Below are the images I was able to capture in the first few weeks of the lockdown, as I stared out into the glorious spring sunshine from inside my home.
All the images taken were with one lens, the 400mm F/5.6 lens on my original cropped sensor camera, the 7D Mk 1 which gave me that additional crop factor of 1.6x that my other full frame cameras do not have being full frame bodies. This made my focal length the equivalent of around 640mm on the cropped sensor body of the 7D which allowed me to get additional reach when capturing images around me.
Spring Magnolia flowers - 400mm F/5.6
Spring Magnolia Flowers - 400mm F/5.6
It was also interesting to document the lives of people in other gardens around me, going about their own lockdown lives in their own ways, and enjoying the sunshine while social distancing the best they could.
Social Distancing - 400mm F/5.6
Outdoor Ironing - 400mm F/5.6
Photographer - 400mm F/5.6
Photographer - 400mm F/5.6
As well as stalking my neighbours like James Stewart in rear window, my main focus and attention was drawn to the comings and goings of the animals and birds that inhabit the area where I live. It was amazing to see and photograph the variety that came and went as I looked on. After a while I was able to build up a few interesting images of some of them as they went about their lives, oblivious to me watching on.
Dozing Wood Pigeon - 400mm F/5.6
Wood Pigeon - 400mm F/5.6
Spring Couple - 400mm F/5.6
Jackdaw - 400mm F/5.6
Jackdaw - 400mm F/5.6
Spotted - 400mm F/5.6
Goldfinch - 400mm F/5.6
Grey squirrel - 400mm F/5.6
Some of the animals were having far too much fun in the sun like these two squirrels below.
Grey Squirrel’s getting it on - 400mm F/5.6
Lesser black-backed gull - F/5.6
Lesser black-backed gull - F/5.6
Common Crow - 400mm F/5.6
On the occasions I was able to get out of the house for my one daily exercise, I am lucky enough to live close enough to woods where I could take my camera. I was particularly lucky to find a hole high up in a tree, which after stalking it for a bit found out that it was being used by a breeding pair of nuthatches.
Over the course of the next few weeks I was able go come back to the same spot on my walk and get a few images of the pair visiting the new nest. Usually they were bringing nest materials or mud to shape the entrance to the hole.
Nuthatch at nest with mud - 400mm F/5.6
Nuthatch at nest with mud - 400mm F/5.6
Nuthatch at nest with mud - 400mm F/5.6
The images was particularly hard to get as I was having to look directly up as the hole was on the underside of the branch. This meant holding position to get a useable image was tricky.
Both nuthatches at the nest - 400mm F/5.6
While photographing the nuthatches I became aware of a sound I was unfamiliar with so my attention was drawn away from the nest to a nearby tree where I found a willow tit foraging away. I tried to photograph it for several minutes but it was just too small and high up for a decent shot. I had used my phone to identify its call originally as they are very similar to a Marsh Tit, so I played its call back to the bird as it flitted around high up in the trees. After a while the sound seemed to interest the bird and it finally came down to a level that I was able to get a few shots of it before it took off. As you can see from the shots below, it was looking down at me, listening and then calling back to the call i was playing.
Willow Tit looking down - 400mm F/5.6
Willow Tit listening - 400mm F/5.6
Willow Tit calling - 400mm F/5.6
Willow Tit - 400mm F/5.6
Photographs like all these above have kept my mind occupied through these crazy times stuck indoors, which I hope come to an end soon. In the meantime I will continue staring out my window at the world as it carries on without me and take more photos to pass the time.
FIN
