Tuesday 29 April 2014

A few from RNAS Culdrose

Blue skies for a change and Culdrose seemed busy so I took the opportunity to get out and test some settings on the camera. Seems to be an open debate on whether the VR mode is of any benefit in aviattion photography. I was checking it out on the helicopters which were transiting down and left/right so changing height and direction at the same time. Some exceptable results and some way of but none actually nailed it. So further testing to be done which should eliminate any human error on my part and provide results so I can decide whether it is VR on or off for prop aircraft! Anyhow some images:







Common Buzzard and Long Tailed Tit

Managed to grab these two whilst out testing some settings on the camera for aviation pictures.

Common Buzzard

Long Tailed Tit

Common Buzzard

Common Buzzard

Sunday 27 April 2014

Montagu's Harrier at Croft Pascoe

Managed to get some record shots of Montagu's Harrier at Croft Pascoe. Cracking sight of a rare bird. Somewhat distant and some images a bit hazy. Distant, shot with a 500mm 1.4x converter and cropped hence "record shots"







Saturday 26 April 2014

Blog and Website Update

Well I have finally caught up on the blog and website both of which are now fully updated. Couple of new albums added from a Heart:Beats fund raising festival in the Blue Anchor in Cornwall which raised an incredible £2500+ in just one day!And some aviation low level stuff from Wales. Brought the Blog up to date with a new header and favourite images of the month. On the website a few new images/slides on the homepage: www.bobsharplesphotography.co.uk an an update to the news section detailing events I hope to photograph in the near future which are:

May 5th Flora Day Horse Show Helston
May 8th Flora Day
May 10th Troon Horse Show (at Stithians) TBC
June 29th Low Level Aircraft Photography in Wales
July 5th/6th Red Kite Photography
July 8th Royal International Air Tatto
July 13th Low Level Aircraft Photography
July 25th Helstonbury
July 31st Culdrose Air Day

August/September Exhibition in conjunction win Jan Phaeton (local artist) where I will be displaying images and Jan will be displaying paintings of the recent winter storms.

So quite busy, and hopefully I can fit some more wildlife stuff in addition to the Red Kites in.

As you can see I have now embedded my general photography and wildlife work all under one blog, just makes things a whole lot easier and hopefully it will not put to many off you off following the blog.  There will be times when there are more wildlife, more aviation more general events etc. So please stay with the blog and just ignore the bits your not keen on! (Although you might be missing out, lol)

And to end with here is a Tornado GR4 aircraft departing the LFA7 in Wales:



Friday 18 April 2014

Low Level Aircraft Photography

Well I finally got to visit the Low Flying Area 7 (Mach Loop) in Wales to attempt some low level flight photography. Didn't really know what results to expect from the visit as in addition to not been to the area or done this type of photography before I was also armed with a new camera Nikon D4s which I had not used!

My first day was spent exploring the area, there would be no flying weather was awful until about 3pm and we saw a solitary Hawk aircraft fly past our cottage at around 6:30pm.

Next day weather had improved but still heavy cloud and generally crap light. A hill climb of about 450ft to the first location was hard work, lol.  However manged to get there eventually! Arrived at 8am and the first aircraft, a hawk flew through around 9:20am. I was set up with a 300mm lens and 1.4x, the closeness off the Hawk to my camera during the flyby, quickly prompted removal of the 1.4x. Next aircraft was a typhoon which flew past around  10am. And then nothing until around 3pm when a formation of four F15 Eagles came through and did two passes.

So that was the routine set up pretty much every day, climb a hill, wait often long periods hoping for a few seconds of thrilling jet action and hope you get the shots when the aircraft show. Aircraft are not guaranteed some days there are none, and some days are busier than others, but the spectacle of the aircraft flying past when they do makes you forget about the hill climbs, cold and wet and hours of waiting in anticipation.

There are many fellow photographers up there also all willing to offer advice and friendly banter during the lulls.

The D4s was tested on various settings using auto-iso, new group area focus, with some custom settings I placed in, most shots were with a 300mm with/without 1.4x and a 500mm hand held (which might need more practice, lol) I am quite pleased with the results and the experience, and next time I visit, I would hope to get some improved shots.

I have also read up on post processing flight images, but there is so much stuff on the web it's like information overload.  This is another area where I still need to find a workflow I am happy with to get the best from the raw files using Lightroom/Photoshop CS.

An awesome experience which I intend to revisit in June or July this year!

Ok I expect you all would like to see some images, so here goes:













Wednesday 2 April 2014

Scottish Nature Photographer of the Year Awards

Well one of my images Moon Jelly Fish gathering reached the final stages of the competition. No awards were won but the image will be featured in the Portfolio Yearbook 2013 to be published later this year.

More information and the award winning images can be found here: http://www.scottishnaturephotographyawards.com/

On a separate note, there has been a lack of images from me due to the persistent grey murk and rain holding onto Cornwall.  This seemed to appear by coincidence when I got a new camera,lol.  I will be in Wales next week hoping for some fast Jet photography weather permitting. Then when I get back hopefully there will be better weather and more opportunities for some wildlife photography


Moon Jelly Fish Gathering, Isle of Mull