Do you learn from your mistakes?

Learn from your mistakes or if you can someone else’s mistakes is even better to save yourself some time.

Yesterday I had planned to shoot images of a tree that have started to bloom, it has many red flowers on them that look like a bottle brush (You’ll understand what I mean once you look at the images).

On my drive down to the Golf Club where the trees are I saw a Grey Heron in the water trap on hole 3 I stopped by the side of the road, quickly changed my lens from my 100mm 2.8f to my 70-200mm 2.8f so that I at least would have a chance to get a decent shot of the Heron. I ran across the road, at the same time I check what ISO I have the camera set on to see if I need to change it or not I have it on 200 and I decided that was good, by this time I was almost certain that the bird would have flown away. The bird was still standing in the water looking about I first shoot a few images then I dare go a bit closer to get a better vantage point so that I can get the bird and the flag on hole 3 in the same shot it looks great in my view finder. I fire away a few more shots the bird gets spooked and flies away I continue to shoot it while it flies away to my luck it flies towards me so it is actually coming closer and closer great! It can almost not have choreographed it any better. I stop shooting and to take a quick look at the images before I go back to the car. That is when I realize I have been shooting without a memory card in the camera. Just Great!

So the moral of this story today is to ALWAYS check all your camera gear before you leave your house since you never know when that money shot will appear!

So try to save yourselves some future grief and learn from my mistake!

Enjoy the images below the ones I had planned to shoot all along and the only ones I did shoot yesterday!

They are all taken with my Canon 5D, Canon 100mm 2.8f I did manual focus on all of them hand held some and some are taken on my tripod.

Twitchering not Twittering.

A King Fisher.

This week I was inspired by a couple of twitchers that was walking around here I live. I had seen them around for a week and spoken to them a few times, their enthusiasm for birds were a bit contagious. They spoke so passionately about the different kinds that they had seen and I on occasion could add a few birds that I had seen through out the year that are not here at the moment like the beautiful eagles that we have had here all summer that sadly now have moved away. But I must admit that I am very novice when it comes to bids and their names. So I was very keen on learning a few new ones from the twitchers. It was a couple that was here solemnly to bird watch! They were staying at a nearby hotel for two weeks. They did think that the weather was a bit hot and I can imagine that it was for them since they were out in the sun all day walking around and sitting still waiting for the birds to come to them. They had proper twitcher gear so they did come prepared with tripod, binoculars, camera with a proper zoom for those far away birds, and of course a bird book so that they could double check what it was that they saw at every turn. They showed me some beautiful photographs that they had taken throughout their weeks here and it got me inspired to go out and take some of my own.

So I geared up one afternoon with my camera and my 70-200mm IS f.2.8 and headed to hole 3 that has a fresh water lake. While playing golf I have seen that birds are there feeding I had also seen the twitchers there a few times earlier in the week so it should be a good place I thought. I had before in the week also been thinking whiles driving by in my car that, ah that would make a great photograph. But of course I never had my camera with me at the time.

What I had seen was several swallows sitting on a rope all in one long row. So I headed towards this rope and sure enough there were several swallows sitting on that rope and also sure enough once I got close they all flew away! I was not too surprised and thought if I scout out a good vantage point for me to take my photograph and then I just sit down and wait till they feel secure again with me there to come back. I sit down on the grass and wait after what feels like a life time, I get bored and start to think that this is not for me I do not have the patience. As if the birds felt that I was about to go they started to come back and my boredom was gone in an instance and I started to shot frame after frame. The swallows came and went a few times while I was there so I got a few different shots I was even brave enough to change vantage point a few times. After a while my new twitchers friends arrived to the same lake. I was happy because I was just about to go I had had enough, the birds were not to overly exciting they came and went a few times and all I saw was swallows so not too exotic really but still very beautiful in their own right. I walked over and joined them and from where they were they showed me both a king fisher, hawk and herons that are all the birds that I remember the names of I am quite sure they mentioned a few more that I had not heard of before. I must say without them showing me these different kinds of birds I would never have been able to take a picture of them because I could not see them. I guess you have won half the battle when you know what you are looking for and at. My first pictures of the swallows I took only because I could see that it would look very nice esthetically and I was not thinking at all of what kind of bird it actually was in the picture only at that they were sitting in a row on a rope with many different lead in lines going in the picture.

I must admit that even I did not think it was for me taking pictures of birds since I do not really have the patience but I thoroughly enjoyed it but I also think half of it was the company that I had it was great to listen to their knowledge of the different kinds of birds.

Here you can see some of my bird photographs, keep in mind this are the first bird photographs I have taken. I must say that from viewing them in the office later I have learned a lot so for next time I will take a slightly different approach towards which aperture to use while photographing birds especially several in a row. Who knows maybe I will start to take more bird photographs… well I am not promising anything but it is definitively not impossible that you might see more bird photographs here so stay tuned to see my progress.

Part from my dabbling as a twitcher this week I have also taken pictures at the Hyatt Regency Hotel and sent some photographs to a local magazine that should go to print some time in Nov.

A Heron.

Swallows.