autumn
Autumn past
With autumn now past I thought I would share a few images I took over that period, in particular, during a walk around a nature reserve near Canterbury in Kent. The conditions were (as any photographer could wish for when shooting autumn colour in the woods) still, overcast and ever so slightly misty. Aside from the vegetation remaining perfectly still the soft light muted the colours and give it more of an autumn feel. The first subjects I came across were these fly agarics. Autumn came incredibly late this year and ordinarily these would have been showing at least a month earlier. As it turned out, it worked in my favour as the woodland colours were at their peak the same time as the mushrooms themselves! I have dozens of images in my library of this species but the two together were irresistible. I like to work in a methodical fashion when shooting plants, especially when encountering a new species as I then feel I have covered all the bases. I’ll start with one of two straight record shots then, possibly, a wide-angle and finally I’ll look for something unusual. An angle that had, perhaps, initially elluded me. Anyone that shoots these subjects will appreciate how time consuming it can be, especially the “gardening.” Taking out bright leaves and the like that detract from the subject.
Fly agaric mushrooms
Even though my tripod goes to ground level, it still wasn’t low enough to create the vantage point I wanted. Ordinarily I would have used a beanbag but Ididn’t have one with me on this occasion so I used what I had. Gloves, hat, filter case and a lens cap!
Nikon D300, 12-24mm @ 14mm, iso 200, 1/8 sec f16, tripod, mirror lock-up, angle-finder.
A little further on I came across this attractive little area of birch and bracken and spent the next while shooting a panoramic which consisted of 5 upright images stitched using PTgui software. One of the biggest problems encountered when doing this work is parallex error and unless you have a head which corrects this you will be restricted to the closest you can be be to the nearest point of focua. The one I use is made by Nodal Ninja. Beautifully engineered, lightweight and compact, it makes the whole process that much more enjoyable.
I ventured deeper into the woodland, off the beaten track, and there were pictures all around. The colours were breathtaking. The task was not as simple as I first thought, to make sense out of nature’s chaos!
Nikon D300, 70-200 @ 98mm, iso 200, 1/6 sec f8, tripod, mirror lock-up.
The sun threatened to burn through the mist but it never did. Sometimes, it would clear marginally, but mostly it remained so.
Another panoramic. Sometimes, there is no other format that will do the scene justice. In order to gain the perspective I was after (telephoto “stacking” effect) shooting with a wide-angle then trimming the top and bottom wouldn’t have achieved this so, several upright images stitched was the only answer. Quite a simple composition yet, typically me, I still managed to make a mountain out of a mole hill and spend close to an hour taking it. It’s a good job I work alone!
Parasol mushroom
The two below were taken in woodland in a nearby village. A break from the computer was in order and fortunately I live near such places. As the previous image, the panoramic format lent itself to the two scenes, especially the last one when mist becomes more pronounced the more you shoot through.
Beech tree in coppiced woodland.
With the marshes being but a short distance away, they are never far from my mind. Such a dry autumn resulted in dry marshes and the result is there were few birds within photographable range. That doesn’t stop me from going over there however and on a morning such as this, who can blame me!
A week in The Peaks….well, almost!
Once again I found myself in the Peak District ready to give a landscape photography workshop. This was my fifth in the last 18 months concentrating primarily on 3 Edges. Stanage, Curbar and Baslow. Although, on previous occasions, I had explored much of the Dark Peak (North) area, there was still a number of places I wanted to visit, not least as I am planning on holding a two day workshop in the autumn of 2012.
I arrived at the campsite late in the afternoon, 2 days before the workshop. It was raining. That incessant, drizzle where you can see no end in sight. I got out of my car and surveyed the site looking for a suitable place to pitch my tent. The site was on a slope so clearly the lower fields were out of the question since these would become progressively waterlogged and, of course, somewhere flat! Most importantly of all was not to be too near to other tents but there was no fear of this as on the whole site there could have been only around half a dozen. I found where I wanted to pitch, got back inside the car and again, waited. It wasn’t going to stop so, with a sigh, I got on with it. There is no fun putting up a tent in the rain especially when you have one where the inner has to go up first! Who, in their right minds, designs a tent where you put up the inside first?!
North Lees campsite, Hathersage.
I don’t camp often, perhaps only a few times a year (mainly in the early spring and autumn, when campsite’s are most quiet and the countryside is at its most photogenic) and, although it may seem like a cold, inconvenient way to spend 6 days, I am always glad I did. You not only save yourself a fair bit of money but you can eat as and when you please and not endure finding somewhere to eat after you’ve had a long day shooting. Instead, I can return to my tent, prepare dinner and put on the radio or read a book. The best part, if you have chosen your campsite well, is that you can just lay there and listen to nature. I always choose those sites with the most basic of amenities and far from shops etc. This invariably stops families with children, barking dogs and teenagers and attracts hardened hill walkers with a respect for their fellow campers. I may sound like an old misery but really, who wants to spend the night in the tent in earshot of chattering families or hoots of laughter at 2 in the morning! Instead, I had a pair of vocal tawnies and pheasant in the adjacent woodland.
On my first morning, I headed for Curbar Edge in the hope of shooting a misty sunrise. I arrived at dawn and spotted a stag and hind just 50m away. It was still too dark to take pictures but wonderful to see, all the same. The sun did appear, at intervals, and the mist/fog cleared and thickened for the next hour or so.
View from Curbar Edge towards Baslow Edge, at sunrise.
Silver birch in mist
I scouted a couple of other locations and that evening walked up to Higger Tor. It was a relatively clear evening and shot until dusk. I also bumped into a couple of other photographers and chatted about the kind of things photographers talk about, cameras and the weather!
Higger Tor
View from Higger Tor
Photographer on Higger Tor at sunset
The following day’s workshop went very well with, unfortunately, periods of more cloud than sun! As we met, we were greeted with the sight of a lenticular cloud overhead. It was a great day and the group were really good fun.
Lenticular cloud
The morning after, I returned to Higger Tor in the hope of a decent sunrise but the fog put pay to any landscape work. Places such as this, in this kind of weather, take on an otherworldly character and as I wandered amongst the heather and boulders, I took this image of a carrion crow.
The fog didn’t look as though it was going to budge so waterfall and woodland photography it was going to be! I drove to the north east of the Dark Peak region where, earlier in the year, I stumbled upon an incredibly photogenic area where, it seemed, not too many others were aware of and this is where I stayed for the next 3 hours. I was looking for something different other than the usual waterfall shots so I turned my attention to this pool which had “captured” fallen leaves that slowly swirled within. It was barely visible to the eye but with the aid of an ND filter and resulting shutter speed of 8 seconds, the motion was exaggerated. With images such as this, it really is a matter of trial and error to get the desired effect. How time flies when you are immersed in photography as I spent close to an hour and half shooting these three compositions.
I rarely change the WB, preferring to do this in the post-processing stage but, on this occasion, I tweaked the setting in cloudy to accurately replicate the colour of this dark, peat-stained water.
Wanting to reach another site some distance away, in time for sunset, I slowly walked back to the car and noticed the play of light on the rocks and water produced by the late afternoon sunlight on a distant hill side.
I then drove to Curbar edge and enjoyed an hour of glorious red light.
Once the sun had set, I laid on a soft patch of heather, with not a soul to be seen, and took in the silence. The sound punctuated, only, by a Train of Jackdaws flying overhead.
The following day was forecast as being cloudy so once again, into the woods I headed. This time it was to be Padley Gorge. The colours of the beech were amazing and I spent an enjoyable few hours shooting foliage and waterfalls.
On my final morning, with clear skies forecast, I visited Mam Tor which has wonderful views across the Hope Valley. I arrived in the dark, stars overhead and walked to the summit full of optimism. But, as dawn broke, I breathed a heavy sigh as the landscape was clothed in heavy fog. I stayed an hour in the hope it would clear but alas, it never did completely.
I headed back to the car and began the drive to the campsite to pack up when I noticed this view. I was drawn to it by the graphic lines of the stone walls and subtle shades of autumn colour. A nice end to a thoroughly enjoyable and productive trip.
I will be leading a 2 day workshop in Autumn next year to the Dark Peak region, taking in some of the places mentioned here. If you would like to attend, please register your interest by contacting me at rmcanis@msn.com or tel: 07939 117570. Numbers will be limited to just 6 participants.
Misty Moodiness
There is, in my opinion, no better place to blow the cobwebs away and relieve you of the daily stresses and strains, than a walk in the woods. Couple this with completely still, misty, ”golden” conditions and you have the perfect tonic. As a professional photographer, I am always on the look-out for exciting (commercial) images and occasionally lose touch with why I love nature photography so much. Those four hours I spent, a few days ago, wandering and losing myself in the intoxicating solitude, reminded me so and was one of the most rewarding forays I have ever had. Oh, and as I retraced my steps along that woodland path, a fox walked across it, right infront of me!
This time last year
Those of you that have been following this blog for the last year or so may recall the trip report I posted on my visit to north west Lapland last September. It’s hard to believe that it was exactly a year ago that myself, my dad, brother and brother-in-law stayed in a small log cabin on the banks of the River Konkamaeno on the Finnish/Swedish border. It all stemmed from the fact that my dad had always wanted to stay in a cabin by a river in the wilderness. Quite a tall order but I knew Finland well and already had a number of contacts and colleagues living there that could help. After many weeks searching for the ‘perfect’ cabin, I eventually found it.
My brother-in-law Jim, my dad Roger, my 'daft' brother Malc and yours truly cooking sausages on an open fire infront of the cabin. Daytime temperatures were around 10 deg.C and at night would occasionally drop to minus 5.
Cabin at twilight.
50 metres from the cabin.
The cabin was basic, had an outdoor loo and no running water. Inside was comfortable with cooking facilities, no electricity (except for very weak solar lighting) and wood burning stove….perfect! The site of the cabin was fantastic. Just under a kilometre from the road down a track, you really did feel in the middle of no-where. To have a wash and brush your teeth, a short walk to the river was needed but this was all part of the experience. To add to this there was an adjoining sauna and rowing boat. The colours of Lapland at this time are absolutely stunning. The bright yellow of birch and aspen and the red of bilberry all combine to produce a kaleidoscope of colour. A day was spent exploring the Norwegian fjords (the size of which just blew us away) and to top it off, on the 2nd night, we had a full 45 minutes showing of the northern lights, all viewed just metres away from the cabin.
This was my sixth trip to Finland, the second during this season. In the past, in spring and summer, I have photographed bears, wolverine, orchids and owls but for landscape photography, nothing beats Lapland in autumn. Click here to see a temporary web page of many of the images taken on last years trip.
Frosty morning down at the river.
River Galggojohka, Norway.
Lapland Photography Holiday
I am looking at potentially running a Lapland Photography Holiday in Finland with a visit to Norway the same time next year and at this stage I am simply seeing what the interest is for something like this. The accommodation would be at a lodge not far from where I stayed where meals etc would all be taken care of. If, however, you would like to experience the basic, wilderness version then this may also be possible. As I said, I am merely ascertaining interest at this stage and would very much welcome your thoughts. Price-wise, you are looking at approximately £1200 for 7 days though this is just a ballpoint figure. This would exclude flights but include everything else, including transport.
One thing is for certain, this is quite unique. An adventure. There are no companies that do trips of this kind, anywhere. I will be putting up more details on this blog shortly but if you can’t wait till then and would like to register your interest, please contact me at rmcanis@msn.com or telephone, 07939 117570.
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.
Wader roost
The forecast didn’t look promising but I decided to go anyway knowing just how quickly it can change here on the north Kent coast. A few weeks ago I headed off to a wader roost I know of and since there is public access there was no chance of me erecting a hide. I therefore kept myself patially hidden some distance away and shot a few general scenes. Some with the 300mm and others with either the 1.4x or 2x attached. The camera was mounted onto a tripod and due to the sometimes slow shutter speeds I used to convey movement I would often employ the mirror lock-up.
I chose to only tweak levels and curves a little in an effort to retain its painterly quality.
It was very windy so as a result the clouds kept moving until eventually the sun appeared and lit the scene with dark, brooding clouds in the distance. The tide was still rising and the roost consisting of knot and dunlin couldn’t settle thereby giving me several chances of getting lift-off and landing shots. The sun would appear and disappear over the next hour or so and as the day dew to a close the weather improved further until as if on cue the tide receded exposing the huge ‘bird-table’ that is the mud-flats as the sun was setting.
Grey Seals
I spent a wonderful few days photographing grey seals last week. Referring to the previous post, I have been searching for a new site since the other, well known one has become too popular for my liking. I had no previous experience with this new one so decided to just go and see for myself. There was a window of good weather forecast last week in Norfolk so I packed and went. Sometimes you can prepare too much and since the weather can never be fully guaranteed I tend to just go and see how it goes. I arrived at the site Wednesday afternoon and walked to the where the seals were which entailed a walk of about a mile. However, I wanted to work on the edge of the colony to avoid disturbance which required a further half mile. I didn’t do much that afternoon as the light was quickly fading and much of the beach was cast in shadow by the enormous sand dunes. But it was good to know where to go and what to expect the following day. It was getting dark and I hadn’t booked any accommodation. Before I left however I wrote down a couple of phone numbers of B&B’s I had found on the net and booked into one just around the corner from the beach. Perfect. I’m not a great lover of these I have to say. A small part, well a large one actually, sort of resents spending £50 a night when all I want is somewhere to lay my head. For this reason I would usually use a tent, regardless of season. However, most campsites shut down during the autumn and winter except for a few, largely in National Park areas so I had no choice. I guess I could have slept in the car which I have done during the summer months but in the autumn and winter when it gets dark around 4, that leaves a rather long night of doing nothing. I’ve also had some wonderful experiences camping, none more so when in March of 2008 while in the Peak District, a storm very nearly had me looking up at the stars instead of nylon! In the end however I was quite glad of the accommodation for after the first full day I was exhausted. These seals were more skittish than those I had previously encountered and had me crawling along the sand and making wide detours climbing the dunes so as not to disturb them. They are after all very sensitive at this time when females (cows) are giving birth or lactating and the males (bulls) are competing for space near a female so that as soon as she finishes lactating he can mate with her.
Cow and pup
What I liked about this location is the different perspective the terrain offered me.
On the equipment side I tried to carry as little as possible. One camera, a Nikon D300, 300mm f2.8 AFS VR, 1.4x tele-converter, 12-24mm and flash unit. For support I toyed with taking the beanbag instead of the tripod but due to the uneven terrain I opted for the lightweight Manfrotto 190 with the large but low profile Gitzo pan and tilt. This in the end proved to be the best choice. Low angle with great stability. I took an 8gb and 2x4gb cards and at the end of the day downloaded them onto a portable Smartdisk Flashtrax. For clothing I didn’t have to dress too warm since the beach was well sheltered by the towering dunes. I wore waterproof leggings which were useful against the sometimes damp sand, thin, thermal gloves and hat kept me comfortable. After that first day, boy did I ache. I’d spent close to 7 hours crawling around getting my body and head into very awkward, un-natural positions. I just hoped it would be worth it. Come the evening a nearby pub kept me fed and watered and a comfortable bed made me reasonably fresh for the following day.
It was a glorious dawn. As I walked the mile and a half to the seals I could hear the call of geese leaving their roost for their feeding grounds. Norfolk being very flat is in many ways similar to the North Kent Marshes where I do much of my photography. It has a feeling of wildness and big skies The final morning was reserved for pups, in particular the continuation of locating one on the edge of the colony on its own away from other seals, where I could slowly crawl up to it to get a wide-angle shot showing its habitat. Through scanning with binoculars I eventually found one, fitted the body with the 12-24mm and polariser and slowly, very gingerly made my way. I kept a constant watch for any signs of stress by the pup but it took no notice whatsoever. Rolling over, sunbathing, occasionally scratching its nose. Adorable. After 15 minutes or so I got to within a meter and obtained the images I was hoping for. I have to stress that getting the image was just a bonus. I had left it to the final day of searching before I was satisfied I had located a suitable pup. If it had shown any signs of distress, I would have backed off immediately.
I hardly saw a soul during my stay and only one other photographer who turned up as I was leaving. I will most certainly return. Perhaps later in the season when the pups are a little older.
Seal Circus
I have only been to this location once, in 1992. Those of you that are familiar with seal photography will know where Iam talking about and for those of you that don’t, all I will say is that it is on the Lincolnshire coast. Please read on to find out why I do not give it’s exact whereabouts. Back then, it was hardly known of and indeed all I wanted to do as a 22 year old was photograph grey seals that autumn. I understood through popping into my local library (this was, after all before the days of the web) that they come ashore from October to February to breed and give birth along the Norfolk and Lincolnshire coast and further. So, I first wrote a letter that summer to the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust who gave me the address of the warden who I also then wrote to. All this communication by ‘snail-mail’ took several weeks but in the end I was given details of where I should be able to find them.
I was advised by the warden to only go there at the weekend, for a very good reason. I drove up on the Friday with my dad, booked into a B&B then went to the local pub for lunch. Whilst at the pub we chatted to locals who gave us directions as to where the best spot is for seeing them so later that afternoon we parked the car where they suggested and walked along the dunes where lo and behold there they were! What a sight I thought. All the letter writing and driving had finally paid off. I remember taking quite a few shots but at the same time being mindful that I only had a certain amount of film with me. Seems funny looking back on it in this digital age that you had to consider things like that.
The following dawn we both walked across the beach, which took around half an hour to where the main colony was. The early mist cleared and I began shooting with seals all around. But, the images I was really after were of the seals swimming, perhaps with their heads bobbing in the water, typical of this species. But the North Sea didn’t play ball. It was very rough and they were concealed most of the time by the waves. In my concentration I forgot about the waves and all of a sudden my wellington’s were filled with ice cold sea water. Not very pleasant I can tell you! My dad however, in typical fashion, came prepared with spare socks and bags which I slipped my feet into and then back into the wellies. Arh, warm and dry again. On the Sunday however a kind of estuary occurred between the sea and main beach which the seals seemed to be enjoying. It was like a mill pond. I set up the camera on the tripod and just sat there while cows and bulls swam close by, sometimes so close they filled the frame too much. I looked behind me to see my dad with two pups that had come up to him. Looking back I wish I’d taken a photo of that moment but was too focused on the job in hand. How many others were there to share this? Three at the most. Colleagues tell me it’s a very different matter these days. Donna Nook is a ‘must’ for nature photographers fuelling their need to photograph these animals and for pro’s to further saturate the market with identical looking images. On Alamy alone there are 2746 images if you type in the location and my own agent has 186 images and I’m sure they have a lot more taken here which the author has omitted from the caption. Many thousands now go there and every year there seems to be stories about irresponsible behaviour by photographers, getting too close and stressing the animals.
Nikon F4, 500mm f4P, Kodachrome 64.
I don’t think there were many photographers that knew of that site at the time as within months of me submitting the images to my then agent Planet Earth Pictures they were were being used in newspapers, calendars and magazines and even Getty took a few. Certainly images of them were few and far between and unlike others I didn’t immediately start doing workshops there to make a few quid, one of the main reasons I believe for the surge, even before internet forums. I’m personally very reluctant to give away subject locations these days of those areas that may attract large numbers of photographers and indeed only do so to a few like-minded friends and colleagues. This isn’t because I’m worried that they may take similar or better images and put them in the market place in competition with me but that ultimately the subject may become stressed by the sheer number of others in that vicinity. And anyway, surely by doing your own homework you will benefit from producing your own set of fresh images and the personal satisfaction that comes from doing so.
Last year I worked on a site for several weeks photographing a short-eared owl from my car. Using a hide wasn’t an option as it hunted in a field adjacent to a road. I would sit there patiently most afternoons observing and photographing until one afternoon I turned up and there were at least 8 photographers semi-blocking the road with their cars, standing next to the field, cameras on tripods, noisily chatting to one another. The owl did appear but of course headed for the far end of the field and eventually crossed to another some distance away. A perfect example of inconsiderate behaviour by those that were acting as though they were on an outing, comparing lenses and tripods than actually taking into account the well-being of the bird and observing from a discreet distance, inside their vehicles.
I have to say that I’m reluctant to go back to the same seal colony as I fear it will tarnish the perfect memory of spending two whole days with the seals and my dad on an almost empty beach. Instead, I’m looking for a fresh venue and I think I may have just found one.
Brents
Although north Kent in autumn and winter has an influx of waders and wildfowl, geese, to a certain degree don’t tend to come this far down in the kind of huge numbers you can experience in Norfolk. So every year I look forward to the arrival of the brent geese with its far carrying call of the north. Brent geese are the most northerly breeding geese in the world and every autumn travel over 2,500 miles from their tundra breeding grounds in Siberia. Their route follows the coastline of northern Russia, through the White Sea and Baltic Sea and along the North Sea coast and the English Channel. That’s quite a trip for the smallest goose to visit our shores!
There are two races of brent goose. The dark-bellied form as pictured here, which winters in western Europe, with over half the population in southern England and the pale-bellied race. The latter breed in Greenland, Svalbard and Canada and winter in Denmark, north-east England, Northern Ireland and the Atlantic coast of the U.S. from Maine to Georgia.
Brent Geese (dark-bellied form) in flight.
Brent Goose (dark-bellied form) landing to feed.
Brent Geese (dark-bellied form) feeding on mud-flats.
Brent Goose (dark-bellied form) in flight.
Brent Geese (dark-bellied form) flying over mud-flats.
Over the years I have ammased quite a number of images of this species but I’m unsure I will ever truly be able to do this bird the justice it so deserves, but I’ll have fun trying, that’s for sure. And who knows, perhaps I’ll even get to see them at their breeding grounds one day.
Yet more mushrooms
As I sit here preparing images for my agent and website I’m remembering the glorious autumn colours we HAD! For outside, it’s belting down and what with the strong winds we are expecting over the next 24 hrs Ican’t imagine there’ll be much colour left.
I’ve really enjoyed photographing fungi this year. There has been lots to shoot and locating a few new sites reignited my enthusiasm for these organisms. I always try to pack light but always fail. I’m only after mushrooms and the odd woodland scene but ultimately that means I need everything from a wide-angle 12-24mm to a 300mm plus tripod, reflectors, filters, small umbrella and lunch. Can’t concentrate when I’m hungry! I just know that if I leave something in the car that I’ll need it.
Photographing them is one thing, identifying another. Sure I have books but there are often such subtle differences that if I am at all unsure I generalise….Mycena sp or Coprinus sp for example. Put yourself out there with a firm ID and you get it wrong then someone will always correct you. Well, I’m going to do just that and welcome anyone that wishes to prove me wrong with these two!
Glistening Inkcap
Saffrondrop Bonnet
About Robert Canis
Robert Canis is a professional photographer specialising in the natural world.
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