Griffon Vulture (9 foot wingspan and an attitude to match)

Griffon Vulture (9 foot wingspan and an attitude to match), a photo by TheApertureMan on Flickr.

still a few places left for the first of this years Photography evenings.

15th June 2013 at 17.30

There will be posed and flying birds and full instruction on how to get the best shots possible.

Call 01845 587522 or alternatively email booking@falconrycentre.co.uk

Red Deer Stag

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Originally uploaded by TheApertureMan

The Deer of Studley Royal

Spend a day here with a good friend of mine Dave Phillips. The light and the weather were superb after the early morning clouds cleared.

HDR Photography

Have a look at this website if you are into HDR.

Trey Ratcliff is an acomplished travel photographer and his free tutorial on how to do HDR the right way is a great introduction to HDR photography.

highly recommended.

Just click on the title of this post and it will take you straight to Trey's website, there are some great photographs on these aswell.

Gannets at Bempton Cliffs

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Originally uploaded by TheApertureMan

I took the opportunity of the god weather we had over the weekend and went back to the Gannets at Bempton Cliffs.

the wind direction was not really favourable and most of the birds were flying around at below cliff level so i shot static bahavioural shots instead of flying shots this visit.

Red Grouse

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Originally uploaded by TheApertureMan

I was up on the North Yorkshire Moors the other day photographing Red Grouse.

Reed Buntings

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Originally uploaded by TheApertureMan

At last we got some great light and a lovely cold crisp winter morning and the snow has receded enough to be able to get out in the car.

I went to a local reserve to photograph the Reed Buntings and was not disappointed. I knew the shot i wanted, one of a Reed Bunting on a reed. the light and the background diffusion just made it even better.

Happy New Year

Happy new year to everyone and all the best for 2010.

best wishes

Colin.

Lots of Snow

We finally got alot of snow over here in the UK this last week and the conditions were excellent for some serious photography. Unfortunately due to the amount of snowfall shooting locations were restricted to within walking distance of home.

Here are a few of my favourite ones and i've posted links to galleries where i've posted quite a few more.

Merry Christmas everyone

links to additional photo galleries:

Guisborough Snow

Roseberry Topping in the snow

Slideshow

Hi everyone

just added a slideshow made with animoto, a web based slideshow program where you just upload some photos, a piece of music and animoto sends you back a completed slideshow.

here you go, let me know what you think

best wishes

Colin.

Florida Holiday

Hi everyone,

just got back from a family holiday in Orlando, Florida.

The weather was great and I managed to get out a few mornings to a few places to photograph the birds. I never took my 500VR with me on this trip but the Nikkor 300 F4 AF-S works great with the 1.4x and 1.7x Nikkor Teleconverters.

i've posted a few of my favourite shots on flickr if anyone would like a look.

Just click on the post title to go straight to my gallery.

British Superbikes - Croft

Well its been a few weeks since i posted last time, nothing much been happening really.

But last weekend (September 11-13th) was the British Superbikes event at Croft Circuit.

Last year Mike Nicholas and Myself were there shooting some promotional shots for one of the teams but this year i went just to capture some shots for myself and to have a good day out.

The weather was fantastic and it was, as always a great day out.

Last year i took my 500 Vr lens and a Gitzo GT5541Ls tripod / gimbal setup, but this year i travelled light with my D3, 300F4 AF-S and 1.4x / 1.7x teleconverters.

this Nikkor 300F4 AF-S is rapidly becoming one of my favourite lenses, its super sharp, very fast autofocusing and works great with the 2 teleconverters i mentioned above.

the shot above is one of my favourites for the day. If you would like to see some more please click on the title of this post and it will take you to my flickr gallery where i will be adding more photos over the coming days.

thanks for reading

best wishes to all

Colin

Barn Owls

Well, tonight's trip to the Barn Owl site finally paid off. It was a lovely evening with great light when the Barn Owl finally decided to show its face. The flying shots were taken when the Adult Owl was attacking a cat getting too close to the nesting site. The Owl kept diving and swooping until eventually the cat disappeared into the undergrowth.

if you would like to see some more images, just click on the Title of this post "Barn Owls" and it will take you to my gallery.

thanks

Colin

Butterflies and Moths

Just a heads up, my latest butterfly and moth photos are up on my website.

just click on the heading for this post, have a look and leave some comments.

thanks and i hope you like them

best wishes and good shooting

Colin.

Least Bittern

Weather has been lousy here for the last few days so no chance to get out shooting.

I thought i would go back through my shots i took in Florida back in March this year(2009).

This shot of a Least Bittern is one of my favourite. It was taken at a place called Viera Wetlands in Melbourne Florida. Its full name is Ritch Grissom Memorial Wetlands at Viera. Its a great place for wildlife and is on the Great Florida Birding Trail Guide routes. You can take your car around and drive very slowly watching out for birds and other wildlife.

This shot was taken out of the car window with my Nikon D300 Camera and Nikkor 500mm F4G AF-S VR lens with 1.7x teleconverter. Least Bitterns are elusive little birds usually hunting between the reeds so im pleased that I was able to capture this little guy out in the open.

thats it for now, catch you all soon

Colin.

F16 Fighting Falcon

One of my favourite images from Sunderland Airshow 2009

more photos can be found by clicking on the post title above

Sunderland Airshow 2009

Well Sunderland Airshow was great yesterday, (Saturday 25th July 2009). The sun was shining and the aircraft performed well for us.

please click on the title of this post to view some of my favourite shots from the day.

It looks like we picked the best day to go, as im looking out the window today and its very gloomy and overcast.

hope you like the photographs

best wishes

Colin

Sunderland Airshow - 25th-26th of July 2009

Well the time has come around again for the UK's biggest free airshow, Sunderland Airshow 2009. After last years event which was completely shrouded in thick fog for both days the weather, this year, is looking more promising.

I am hoping to be there covering the event on both days so look out for some photos posted on this blog and my other websites at the beginning of next week.

Its a great event, so if your looking for something to do this weekend, get yourself to Sunderland.

here is a link to the site with all the details and schedules

http://www.militaryairshows.co.uk/ven20.htm

Photographers Online Magazine

Just a heads up everyone, Raymond Barlow, a good friend of mine and a superb wildlife photographer from Canada, has just created a new site called Photographers Online Magazine.

Take a look, its going to be a great place for tips, articles and news.

just click on the title of this post and it will take you right there

Flickr Galleries

Hi Everyone,

Well is pouring down here in the North East of the UK at present so i was a little board and decided to add somethings to the blog.

Ive added a direct link to my Flickr Galleries on the left side of this blog, just click on one of the photos to be taken to that gallery or click on the "Go to the Apertureman's Photostream" icon under the photos to get straight to my Flickr Homepage where you can view all my galleries.

Hope you like them

best wishes

Colin.

North Yorkshire Moors Trip

Just got back from a quick trip up onto the North Yorkshire Moors, about a 10 minute drive from where i live. The light was really nice and we found this Red Grouse posing for us.

The main aim of the trip was to test out Mike's new Canon 1dmk3 which Canon have just sent him as a replacement for his previous Mk3 which he has had nothing but problems since he bought it 2 years ago and has been back to Canon 4 times for fixing. Basically it was a £3000 doorstop, it was rubbish. I'm happy to report that the new one looks much better.

Click on the post title above for more photos from the same trip