Happy Easter

I have a few images that have been hoarding and now it is time that they make it onto here.  These are from the last month or so... there could be a lot of images here and they're not all wildlife.

Greylag shake down

 One weekend before heading home for Easter, the light was just perfect and the opportunities for backlight were plentiful.  This Greylag had a bathe and shake down in front of me.  In post production, I dropped the darks, increased contrast, added a vignette, increased the warmth of the light and used a few local exposure adjustments.

Angel wings

Before the Greylag bathed in front of me, I was watching these Gulls flying about and the way the light passed through their feathers was captivating.  This image had a similar treatment to that above and I was pretty pleased with the result.

Blue morph Snow Goose

The lake has some very tame wildfowl on them and this Snow Goose is probably one of the tamest.  In fact, a day or two earlier, this guy came walking up to me expecting food.  On this occasion, the light had just dropped so I thought I would try this out while I waited for the light to improve.  However, I wish I had tried it before the light had dropped.  This is an exposure blend for the sky and buildings followed by local adjustments, image warmth and detail.  Not something I have done before but maybe something I will have to try again.


A fellow photographer has captured a stunning image of this guy and it can be seen here.

Now for something different...

York Minster

I was inspired to some extent by Elia Locardi and the Fstoppers behind the scenes videos of his tutorials.  He had been photographing buildings and cityscapes and I wondered whether I could try this too.  But what to photograph?  We don't have big skyscrapers like those he was photographing.  Then it struck me, why not try and photograph the Minster with some stars above it?

Well, the stars may have been too much to ask but I found myself wandering around the Minster area at night looking for compositions.  I found this little old road and I liked the light on in the house and the dominant presence of the Minster.  Bracketing a few images (still hoping for stars at this point!) and, in post production, blending them together, adjusting contrast and adding a vignette, too, produced this image.  Quite a fun little excursion!

Flying Scotsman

This engine seems to have really captivated so many hearts and after getting some "intel" that it was going to be in York station before heading off to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, I, too, rushed down to the station to see it.  I quite liked this image with the electric wires overhead and the railway lines leading the eye through to the station and the engine.  In post production, I did some exposure blending using the original image to balance the smoke and the engine.  I also added a warming filter to enhance the winter evening light.

I actually went the North Yorkshire Moors to try and photograph it steaming through the valleys but, err... well, lets just say I misjudged distances and walking times...

Flying Scotsman

My one issue with the above image is that she was only pulling one coach.  However, in this image, it's difficult to spot that.  I did some exposure blending as before for clouds/smoke and engine.  A warming filter enhanced the winter light, a vignette helps to focus attention on the engine and a small railway line artefact was removed for aesthetics.

Redpoll

I have been getting up early(ish) during my holiday so far and heading out to the reserve at home to photograph Marsh Harriers and other wildlife.  I was fortunate one morning to spot these Redpoll in the newly budding willows and managed to get relatively close to them.  This image had local exposure and saturation adjustments on the bird and, of course, a vignette.

Redpoll silhouette

There is something about backlighting that I am drawn to.  When I saw the Redpoll against the overcast skies, my mind immediately shouted, "Backlighting!  Silhouettes!"  Making sure I had a properly exposed image like that above, I moved onto silhouettes.  The images were a little underexposed to begin with but some levels and curves produced this.  I also cloned a willow bud out which, in silhouette just didn't look right.  Finally, a little saturation increase in the reds and a vignette to finish off.

Marsh Harrier patrolling

 As I said above, the Marsh Harriers have been on the target list, so to speak, and it has been a real pleasure to watch them nest build and defend their territory (see below!).  One morning,  I was watching the male drift over the lakes before climbing in front of some wonderful cloud formations.  I heard "Silhouette!" again and so this image was born.  Post production required underexposing to regain cloud details and a vignette helped out a little, too.

Red Kite and Marsh Harrier dog fight

A particularly memorable morning watching the Harriers was when a Red Kite drifted into their territory and came to pay the Harriers an unwelcome visit.  Boy, did the Harriers make their intentions clear.  The Kite was, on the whole, more nimble and avoided most attacks but you can see the talons were drawn for attack in this image.  In post production, I increased saturation of Harrier and Kite colours and did a little local exposure adjustments on the Kite, too.

Harrier escorting the Kite off the premises

In this image, the Kite was starting to leave the Harriers alone and you can see the way the Harrier was following closely behind after the Kite evaded another attack.  This image had similar treatment to that above.  A wonderful sight to see!

Male Marsh Harrier

Just thought a shot of the male Marsh Harrier in colour would be nice to see.  This image shows him patrolling his reedbed where he and the female have been nest building.  On this occasion, he had left the nest and was heading for nesting material.  This image needed levels, curves, vignette, saturation boost to reds, oranges and yellows and local exposure adjustments, too.  Isn't he handsome.

Tufted Duck

On route to the Harrier hide, I had been spotting these Tufted Ducks through the Hawthorns but didn't really think I could make anything of it.  But, I saw this male through a gap in the trees and shooting through the branches to create a frame (something that I have been trying on and off for a while).  In post production, I needed to crop to really show the frame and increased contrast etc. to enhance the dark frame.  Just something a little different...

Swan

On the same lake as the Tufted Duck are 3 Swans.  Walking past , I decided to pop into the little hide for a few minutes but decided not to stay long as I was being dazzled by the reflections of the sun.  However, this Swan swam through a gap in the backlit reeds and looked very serene.  In post production, I needed some cropping, exposure adjustments on the Swan, and increased yellow/orange saturation.

Juvenile Male Sparrowhawk

Sparrowhawk

We had a back garden visitor a few days ago.  This juvenile was determined and adamant he was having Sparrow for lunch.  But despite his tenacity, after ten minutes of trying to flush the Sparrows out the hedgerow, he gave up.  In post production, this image needed a lot of levels adjustments after shooting through the windows.  Red/orange/yellow saturation was increased, being careful not to affect the greens, before a vignette provided the finishing touch.  What a sight!


I realise that this is probably the longest post in the history of this blog and if you have read this far, you deserve a single malt whisky or a measure of your preferred poison.







Finally, I do hope you like these images and Happy Easter.

Matt


P.S.  These images may be best viewed on my Flickr page if you wish to see higher resolutions.