Happily Ever After
Life in The Rural Retreat with a beautiful wife, three cats, garden wildlife, a camera, a computer – and increasing amounts about running
Earlier posts can be found on Adventures of a Lone Bass Player, where this blog began life. Recent entries can be found here.
Quicker Than The Human Eye
by admin - 17:46 on 06 March 2011
Today I persevered with my attempts to catch in flight some of the squabbling tree sparrows that fill the garden of The Rural Retreat. If I'd been using film I'd have shot more than four rolls to get the three snaps I thought worth keeping. Hats off to digital cameras.
As you may have guessed, it's not easy. The little blighters move so fast that focussing is impossible, so I estimate where they'll be, tighten all the screws on the tripod, turn off the autofocus, stand with my finger on the shutter button (I must invest in a remote) and hope I'm lucky. I can't even give myself a chance with a big depth of field, for on a dullish day like today it slows the shutter speed so much that all I get are blurs.
But the effort's worth it when I manage a sharp head above furiously beating wings, or an artistic total blur. A big crop's involved, so whether they'll be printable is another matter, but I'm happy for now.
Of today's snaps, the hovering sparrow is just about to push another one off the feeder; the other two are what happens when this provokes retaliation. To see them a bit bigger, click on them to go to Flickr.
My current avian obsession doesn't mean I've forsaken pine martens. Miss Marten continues to eat heartily, and early enough for us to watch her, although I wish she'd not come when The Killing is on TV – it's impossible to watch her and read subtitles at the same time.
Some people get round this by inviting the visitors into their home, as the video I found on YouTube demonstrates. Marten James will be outraged, for he's understandably against anything that makes wild animals lose their caution for humans.
It's very tempting though...
Add your comment
© Russell Turner 2008-2024