ptgui
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!
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.
About Robert Canis
Robert Canis is a professional photographer specialising in the natural world.
Read more about Robert Canis