Natural Selection

Called Natural Selection, this one does well because all the judges are 70 year old blokes from Smethwick.

Bradgate Park and Cards Commission

Well, not been blogging for a while, but on a cold, wet, January morning, it seems like a good idea to tell you what I've been doing over the last couple of weeks or so.

It all started on a walk round Market Bosworth with the Leics and Rutland Gardens Trust.  We had a magical day and it also left room for further exploration.  One of the things we wanted to find was the statue of Hercules.  Paul, me and Saff returned and found him, much to our amazement, in the middle of a large arable field.

I was having to shoot on the hoof with no time for a tripod, otherwise Saff starts eating grass and Paul rolls in fox poo (as I'm sure I've stated before).  So there he was, and yes I could have done a lot better with the sky.  There's a pub over there called The Hercules, so a return trip is called for with a better sky and a pint or two.

The pic above has been used by the LRGT for a blank greeting card, and much to my suprise they have nearly sold the 300 that were printed.  I've donated my copyright as I'm on the board and we are a charitable organisation.

So, on to Bradgate early one morning.

I was commissioned, some would say commanded, to produce some pictures that could be used for further print runs.
The brief was, it had to be in Leicestershire and fit onto an A5 card.  My own intent was to get better skys and light and to make a start into landscapes with maybe a go at Mono.

There had been a hard frost and it stayed very cold, but I was starting to get that feeling I was getting some reasonable shots.  The problem arises that excitable breathing coupled with unfitness was steaming up the view finder.

The fallow deer were much tamer than at Calke and more used to having things pointed at them that didn't go bang.

I was using my D700 with Nikon 70-200 f2.8 with a 1.7 converter which takes me to a of max 340mm at f4.8.  There were loads of deer, getting separation without half deers was difficult.

The reds were also amazing.

I spent quite a bit of time trying to get rid of what I thought was a blob of snot off the lens and viewfinder display and then realised the stag had got a cataract.

This is probably my favourite shot from the morning, but I often look back at a set of pics and completely change my mind.  I'm trying some Mono and have printed this, but I've lots to learn as yet.  All comments welcome.

My fascination with bird photography continues and the proposed last picture for the cards is in a Leicestershire garden that looks a right mess at the moment. Its a female Black Cap on a crab apple tree.

When the choices are finalised, the cards sell at £1.50 each contact me if you'd like some.