Starling Silhouette

Have I mentioned that Starlings are my favourite garden birds? I believe that the art of taking a good photograph lies firstly in the ability to be able to spot the photograph oportunity. Something different, out of the ordinary. This juvenile Starling decided that the ball finial top of next-doors bird table was an ideal place to sit and soak up some sunshine. I decided that it was an ideal opportunity for a great picture. It's normal to see birds perched on objects for short periods of time before they fly off just as you focus your lens. Less common I find to have the opportunity to catch them so comfortable with their surroundings that they feel happy to squat down and ignore you. Seperated by a garden fence I was only about ten feet away for this shot. Juvenile Starlings are beautiful birds with their muti-layered brown plumage, but the silhouette made it stand out.

Patience is the key

Firstly, please forgive the focus. Like many people, we were lucky to have a couple of Sparrow nests in the eves of our roof. It was difficult to avoid the constant chirping of the male standing guard and marshalling the female back and forth collecting food for the chicks. I sat and watched the too and fro from the nest for a while taking the odd snapshot of the female in flight. All of a sudden there was a mighty ruckass. The male had obviously caused upset and the female was quick to let him know who was in charge around the chicks.

Hello my S'tarling

Starlings have to be my favourite garden birds here in the UK. Their young give new meaning to the term juvenile. I'm often alerted to their presence in the garden by the loud squabbles of the young birds as they jostle for position on the feeder or bird bath. With patience and the right lighting conditions, this shot was taken. I'm pretty sure it was probably taken through the panes of our double-glazing. I love the variety with young starlings and the beautiful irridescence of the adult birds. Long may they choose to visit my garden, I can't get enough of them.

Sunset on an era

A word about my father. My current camera, my first DSLR, was a combined present from my wife and mother, on my birthday following the unexpected death of my father in 2006. It was much more than I would have expected as a birthday present. In my mothers words, "Your father would have wanted you to have it." My father was a proud self-assured man who grew up in North London. He wasn't a high flyer. He was a grafter. He worked hard all his life in labour intensive jobs to provide for his family. He was never out of work and proudly boasted having three different jobs in one day on one occasion in his youth. Writing this reminds me how much I miss him. I take great pleasure from photography and while it was never a hobby for my father, I spoke of getting a decent camera before he died and I know from my mum that he wanted to see me pursue this interest. When I'm taking pictures, I am reminded of my father and this makes me happy. I dedicate this image to John 1931-2006. Husband, father, greatly missed, fondly remembered. My dad.

Bee that as it may

This shot was also taken in my back garden and follows on from the last in the respect that I was still experimenting with the new camera. I have a reasonable income, as does 'the wife' but I find it difficult to justify large expence on my hobbies, and I tend to try to find the compromise when it comes to laying out cash on new equipment. Satisfied with the camera (who wouldn't be, it is after all my very first DSLR) I wanted to get in closer to the action. I resorted to ebay and those wonderful chinese who seem to be able to sell quite adequate stuff for not a lot of cash. I purchased a set of Macro lenses and ventured into the garden to see what was camera worthy. The above bee duly obliged. A few minor tweeks and here is the result. Don't even think of asking me what kind of bee this is or what kind of flower he's busy collecting from. As for the flower, the wife will know. I have no interest in plants. As long as the garden looks colourful I'm a happy bunny.

It's fair to say that most of my photographs are either critter or landscape oriented. I find as I'm getting older I appreciate the world around me a lot more than I used to. I've started walking a lot and the camera always comes with me. If only I could go back 20 years and tell my younger self that I would turn out to be a twitcher and rambler!! I think my face would have made the best picture ever :-)

The first post

Welcome to my new blog. This site has been produced so that I may share with you some of my best photographs. Firstly, let me say that I do not in any way profess to be some kind of professional photographer. I like to think I can take a good shot, but you will be the judge of that. I am restricted by the equipment available to me so please bear this in mind when reviewing my work. Currently I have an Olympus E-500 digital SLR camera with the standard two lens package. This consists of an Olympus Digital 14-45mm lens and the Olympus Digital 40-150mm lens. Frustrated with the zoom capabilities but restricted by finances I have recently purchased an OM zoom lens and suitable adapter but you gets what you pay for and the results are mediocre. Anyhow I hope you enjoy what I think are some quite good photographs given the restrictions I have described.

The above shot is one of the first taken with my Olympus in my back garden. This Hummingbird Hawk Moth caught my eye sipping nectar from a Buddleia. To say the least, I was very pleased with my new camera.