panorama
Hothfield Common
A 3.15 alarm call and a half hour drive took me to a favourite reserve near Ashford this morning. I’ve been visiting this site on and off for close to 20 years now though the last time I did any photography was probably 5 years ago. It’s the kind of habitat that yields the best opportunities for photography in late spring and summer when such plants as common sundew, heath-spotted orchid, bog asphodel and heather are in bloom as well as the many insects that inhabit the heath. These include leafhoppers, damselflies, dragonflies (including the scarce keeled skimmer) and sand wasps.
Stitched panorama incorporating 5 upright images and processed using PtGui.
Hothfield Common covers an area of approximately 150 acres making it Kent’s largest area of acid heathland. As you would imaging, it is generally an open space of heath with lowland valley bogs and around the perimeter, woodland of predominantly birch with some mature beech to the south.
Cotton grass. Another stitched panorama. This technique is perfect for this kind of image when the interest lies across a single plane when foreground and background interest become irrelevant.
Due to the invasion of such species as bracken and birch leading to the loss of the heathland habitat, certain measures were necessary to reduce this risk and consequently highland cattle and Koniks are now a feature.
A 'normal' shot taken with a 12-24mm and a 0.9 ND grad to tone down the sky and sunlit heath.
Hothfield Common really is a great place for everyone. There’s a large car park and trails of varying distance and even a road-side snack bar! Be warned however, with the current hot weather we are experiencing, come prepared with a hat and sun cream or if you prefer, like me, get yourself there at dawn. Trust me, it’s worth it.
Nodal Ninja
I’ve been shooting panoramic images for quite some time now by taking a series of pictures and stitching together using software. However, unless you use a specialised tripod head, shoot anything closer than a couple of metres away and you come across a problem known as parallax. This is when subjects in the foreground move in relation to the background as the camera is rotated. To illustrate this, place your finger a foot or so away from you and move your head from side to side. You’ll notice that the background alters as you move. To correct this, the camera needs to be set back to it’s nodal point. In order to obtain the highest resolution as well as ‘depth’ to your image, you will need to shoot a series in portrait format and for this you will need a specialised head. There are several on the market and arguably, no, unarguably the best for single-row panorama’s, is the Nodal Ninja 3 MK11. Why is it the best? (By the way, I’m not being sponsored!) Because it’s incredibly compact, lightweight, and really easy to set up. Paramount if you just add it to your kit as an aside if you are looking for other subjects as well. For those of you interested, click here to be directed to the UK dealer.
Here’s one I did last week on the North Kent Marshes at sunrise. 5.15 to be exact. How I love getting up for spring/summer sunrises! Always worth it when you get there though. Six upright images, stitched using PtGui software.
Nikon D300, 28-105mm at 55mm, iso 200, 1/30th sec. f16, ND Grad 0.6.
Damp morning
I headed out yesterday, pre dawn, to a favourite bluebell wood about 30 mins from where I live, in the hope of getting some panoramic images with the morning sunlight filtering through the trees. But, the weather forecast wasn’t quite as accurate as I had hoped and instead of clear(ish) skies, it was cloudy and rain threatened.
As I entered the Forestry Commission car park, I was greeted by the sight of a rather large herd of fallow deer, that are wild here and totally unlike the park deer of nearby Knole. I hoisted the pack on my pack and headed to the spot where I hoped to get the pictures. But, as you can see from the results, although it brightened a little, it remained heavily overcast turning to heavy rain. Thank goodness I brought my umbrella! In the first image it was so dark, I needed to use the AF on the 28-105 to focus!
Beechwood at dawn
Both images were taken in portrait mode, the first requiring 7 images and the second, 5 and were then stitched using PtGui.
Bluebells in beechwood
Although I didn’t get the pictures I wanted, it is always good to be out early, especially at this time of the year. Seeing the deer in the woodland and listening to the dawn chorus made me forget, albeit only for a short while, just how wet I was!
Birds and hares
Readers of this blog will know that for the last 5 months I have been regularly feeding birds at a feeding station a few miles away from where I live. On the edge of the field are a number of old hazel trees that hang low and heavy with catkins. There’s only a window of a week at the most, after which they start to turn brown so everything needs to be crossed in the hope of getting good weather! I got lucky and spent several enjoyable mornings in my hide photographing the birds as they perched a few metres away prior to coming down to the feeders. Aside from the usual suspects in the form of blue, great, coal and marsh tits, the star of the show turned up on a number of occasions, being the goldfinch.
A very early start was needed since the site was in shadow after 12 so I would be there half an hour or so after sunrise when the light was just gorgeous and the birds more active than later on. Ordinarily, I would use a semi-permanent wooden hide, they are warmer and don’t flap around, but for this I used a dome hide from WWS which can be moved around the site as the light changes. They are so light that they most certainly need pegging down! They are great for the job though.
Goldfinch. Nikon D300, 300mm f2.8, iso 400, 1/800 sec f4.
The North Kent Marshes are steadily coming alive with the wonderful displays of lapwing, just as the many ducks and waders head north to their breeding grounds.
Marsh sunrise
On just one of several mornings spent looking for boxing hares, where there was quite a bit of chasing and boxing, I came across this individual who happened to pose close and long enough for me to grab a couple of shots. The light could have been better but you take what you can get when they stand up like this.
The light was extremely flat on this particular morning but there was so much chasing going on that it was great just to be there, watching. I followed this individual through my lens as it moved across the flooded marsh, avoiding as much as it could, having to jump over the water. I liked the connection between it and wetland and waited until it was in silhouette. Producing it as a black and white panoramic image simplified the composition further.
An unproductive week
It’s been a week of processing images with bouts of popping to the feeding station to top up the feeders and generally to stretch my legs. I know there is always something to do on the computer but I’m a photographer and as such NEED to be out taking pictures. The good news is that here in north Kent we are expecting more snow!
Robin in snow
Robin in oak
With it’s bright orangey/red breast (can’t decide which), the robin needn’t be prominent in order to stand out.
Elmley Marshes
Panorama of Elmley Marshes consisting of 8 upright images stitched together using PTGui.
Oaks on Elmley Marshes
It’s in conditions like this that whenever I’m out on the marshes I think of how farmers of yester-year used to cope in such a challenging environment.
Autumn stroll
The last week has been a complete wash-out, photographically. I don’t need glorious wall to wall sunshine to feel inspired but a glimmer would be nice! Even on the dreariest of days I force myself out, even if it’s just to give me a break from the computer. I’m quite lucky in that I can hop in my car and in less than 10 minutes be in woodland. It’s good for the soul and always gives me inspiration for new images. It’s also important as a nature photographer I think to keep regular contact with what’s going on out there. This is particularly true in the spring when it seems that each day something new appears, whether it be a bird or a flower.
I’ve had a bird feeding station set up in a local woodland for the last 6 weeks but hardly anything is turning up at the moment, a testament to the mild weather we have been experiencing of late. I understand it’s due to change in the next few days. I’m hoping for goldfinches this winter and with niger seed feeder in situ I have my finger’’s crossed that they notice it.
The image below is a reminder of the wonderful autumn we had here in Kent. I went out one afternoon for a stroll to some private woods I have access to and as usual took my kit with me. Leaving it at home only means one thing…that a great photo opprtunity will be missed! As it turned out I had quite a productive few hours, shooting some tiny mycena sp. fungi amongst others and this. I liked the feeling it gave of being at a junction. Left for the woods or right along a hard track. You can guess which path I chose! The colours, light and depth cried out to be shot as a panoramic. One of the most useful pieces of kit that I have purchased over the last 18 months is a camera leveller made by Acrotech. Having read various reviews I opted for this model and have found it to be indispensable for this kind of work. It’s beautifully made and makes levelling the camera a breeze. They were then stitched using PTGui.
Fungi
It’s been a great season for mushrooms….mild weather, not too wet and so far, at least here in the southeast, only one day of frost. They are therefore lasting longer as indeed are the fantastic colours. I feel very lucky this year having gone through 2 autumn’s. One in Lapland in mid September and of course the other here. Both very different from one another in that in Lapland it is much colder and the forests are primarily spruce and birch whereas here it is broadleaved. And there is the added bonus in Lapland that you may get to see the northern lights.
So this year in Kent I have, much like orchids last spring and summer, concentrated on fungi. I always find myself out there shooting them anyway at this time but I really felt like I needed to update the library with the classic specimens such as Fly Agaric and the more unusual like Giant Polypore. I would visit one woodland in particular about 40 mins from my home many times as on each visit different types presented themselves. I also ran a couple of photography workshops there which went down well as we had good weather and different varieties to keep us occupied.
Panorama of broadleaved woodland
Fly Agaric
Porcelain or Beech Tuft fungus
Fruit of Sweet Chestnut
Aside from this I spent a memorable morning watching Fallow Deer rutting. These were completely wild, not in a park, and as I stepped out of my car at dawn I could hear the unmistakeable ’grunt’ of the bucks. It was quite dark and raining so I knew photography wouldn’t be an option but the thought of me seeing them drove me on. I walked slowly wearing dark, silent clothing along the forest tracks and stopping every 50 metres or so to listen for the bucks whilst at the same time checking wind direction. I got closer to the sound some 30 minutes later and proceeded towalk into the coppice woodland, the rain muffling my footsteps. I crouched and there about 20 mtres away I could see the buck through the trees patrolling up and down the length of his stand grunting continuously. And then, as if out of nowhere, another buck sat up only 10 metres away and looked at me. The wind was in my favour and he couldn’t make out what I was. He grew more curious and made a few steps toward me. 30 seconds later he stepped even closer and did the same a gain shortly after. He eventually circled me to get my scent and when he eventually did so, scampered through the wood. I remained still and over the next 30 minutes or so carried on watching the buck on his stand with others all around me periodically grunting. I didn’t take any pictures but it was a great experience non the less.
About Robert Canis
Robert Canis is a professional photographer specialising in the natural world.
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