Wedge-Tailed Eagle

Wedge Tailed Eagle - Aquila audax

The Wedge Tailed Eagle is the largest bird of prey found in Australia. I've been trying to capture a set of decent images of this bird for over 3 years but have had very little luck in terms of good sightings. We spent last weekend (a 5 day long weekend!) in the Barrington Tops region of northern New South Wales. We stayed in a log cabin, which was nestled in a small valley on a 2000 acre property. Most of the property was bush and the terrain was hilly. It was perfect country for seeing Wedge Tailed Eagles.

More images inside.

Wedge Tailed Eagle - Aquila audax

I was fortunate enough to have sightings of the birds on all three mornings. The first morning's sighting wasn't the greatest as the Eagle was quite far away. However, I did manage to get a few shots of it. The second morning's sighting was probably the best. I actually drove past two eagles perched on a fallen log by the side of the road before I realised what they were. I just assumed they were part of the log!

Wedge Tailed Eagle - Aquila audax

Once the car stopped the two Eagles flew off onto separate trees which were close by and were soon joined by a third Eagle. I was able to approach the trees and fire off a number of frames and the birds seemed least interested in my presence.
 

Wedge Tailed Eagle - Aquila audax

I had good sightings of one of the Eagles on the third day as well. It was feeding on a bone (see the first, third and seventh images) at the time and again wasn't bothered by the fact that I was around.

Wedge Tailed Eagle - Aquila audax

The light was best for photography on the third day as I was able to position myself with the sun behind me. Shooting into the sun on the first and second days wasn't the best as the birds are dark and exposing them without blowing the highlights wasn't the easiest.  Fortunately the final images were sharp (although a bit washed out) and that was good enough for me. I'll upload more shots form the trip over the coming weeks.

Wedge Tailed Eagle - Aquila audax

Wedge Tailed Eagle - Aquila audax

Wedge Tailed Eagle - Aquila audax

Wedge Tailed Eagle - Aquila audax

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26/52 - Wall-e Sees Red

Wall-e Sees Red

This week's entry for the project was a bit hurried. I just got back to Sydney after a five day long weekend and realised that I hadn't taken a shot for this week. I thought of shooting something relating to Easter but ditched the idea and went for Wall-e instead. I hadn't used the red gels for a while and thought I'd give them ago. I created the bokeh for this shot using marbles.

Setup shots after the jump.

Lighting setup - Wall-e Sees Red

Wall-e was lit using a CTO'd Canon 580 EX shot at 1/128th and zoomed to 105mm. I placed a white book on the left side of Wall-e to bounce the light back onto him from the opposite direction.

A Canon 430 EX II was fired at 1/32 through a Red gel at the black foam-core board to create the red background and light some of the marbles to create bokeh.

Macro Bee

A Bee settled on a Jasmine

I pulled out the macro lens a few days ago to try my hand at photographing live insects. It was interesting to say the least. I had been photographing flowers with the lens earlier and had the extension tubes on. I was lazy and didn't bother taking it out which made photographing insects a bit harder. 

More shots after the jump.

A Bee settled on a Jasmine

I first tried to pre-focus on a flower and wait for the Bees to settle on it. Half an hours wait without a single Bee landing on the flower was quite frustrating. Having got sick of waiting, I changed my approach and decided to move close to the Bees once they settled on a flower. Lighting was a bit more difficult as I had to hand hold the flash ( I didn't want on axis light so couldn't mount the flash on the camera itself).

A Bee settled on a Jasmine

This time I was able to ask my sister-in-law to help me out by holding the flash (she didn't seem to mind). I need to find a long term solution for this as it can become a bit of a problem. My options are getting a macro flash or looking for some sort of bracket to hold the flash.

25/52 - Whisk

Whisk

This weeks subject was a whisk which I found in the kitchen. I wasn't sure how I was going to use it initially and started experimenting with it to create bokeh. After shooting a number of frames with it, I decided to use the whisk itself as the main subject but shoot it with a shallow depth of field to try and make it look a bit "different". I had the macro lens on at the time and this made things a bit easier.

Lighting info after the jump.

 Lighting Setup - Whisk

This was another two light setup.

The Canon 580 EX II was fired at 1/32 at the background from in front of the subject on camera left through a CTB gel. This light bounced off the handle of the whisk to create a bit of blue bokeh.

The Canon 430 EX II was fired at 1/64th through a CTO gel from behind the subject on camera right. this light lit the inside of the whisk and the handle. This flas was zoomed to 105mm.

I used two black foam-core boards for the background and to place the whisk on. I hadn't used black boards to absorb the light before so it turned out to be a good excuse to try it out.

Let me know what you think in the comments.

Pink Gazania

A Pink Gazania

I played around with the macro lens and the extension tubes over the weekend to get used to using them. I found this Pink Gazania in the garden and decided to use it as a subject. It's actually quite a small flower and I was relatively happy with the results of my first macro shoot. However, I must admit, it took me a lot longer to find the name of the flower than to photograph it!

More photographs inside.

A Pink Gazania

I used a tripod for these shots but didn't have a light stand for the flash and had to hold it with my right hand while releasing the shutter with my left. It wasn't the best position to hold the camera steady but a shutter speed of 1/250th helped. These were taken at an aperture of f/11 and the flash was fired form very close to the lens.

A Pink Gazania

I'm not sure if I actually needed the extension tubes for these shots but I wanted to use them anyway. In the coming weeks I want to use the macro a fair bit and really familiarise myself with apertures, lighting and when to use extension tubes! In other words, watch out for a whole bunch of macro shots on this blog. 

24/52 - Eton Mess

Eton Mess

We had Eton Mess over the weekend and it was a no brainer as far as what this weeks shot was going to be. The dish has been known by this name since the 19th century and is traditionally served at Eton college's annual cricket match against Winchester College.

Lighting info and setup shots after the jump.

 Lighting setup - Eton Mess

I used a two light setup for this shot.

A canon 580 EX II was fired at 1/4th from behind the subject on the left of the camera. The light from this flash was bounced onto the front of the subject using a white foam-core board. 

I used the Canon 430 EX II, fired at 1/64th, from the right of camera to create the highlight at the botto of the glass and create some separation from the background.

Although a sheet of glass is visible in the setup shot, I didn't use it when I captured the final photograph.

If I was shooting this again I would like to fire the 580 EX into a reflective umbrella from the right of the subject and use a white A4 paper to bounce light onto the bottom of the glass. I'm still quite happy with this shot.

Doraemon Christmas Wallpaper

Doraemon Black Wallpaper

The Roman Forum - Rome, Italy

The Temple of Saturn and the Forum - Rome, Italy

While in Rome, we joined a walking tour of the Roman Forum, the Palatine Hill and the Colosseum with the hope of getting to know a bit more about the history of the area. We joined a tour which was recommended by the people running the B&B we stayed at. We got off to a bad start as the guide got half an hour late and unfortunately things didn't get any better. The whole tour felt as though the guide was just regurgitating a script which she had memorised.

More photographs after the jump.

The Forum with the Colosseum in the Background - Rome, Italy

Since the tour was a massive disappointment, we bought a book which documented the forum and, using it as a guide, walked around the Forum again the next day. It was a bit like walking around in Anuradhapura but with a hell of a lot more people!

The Temple of Antoninus & Faustina - Rome, Italy

Walking around the forum on our own gave me the opportunity to take a bit more time to do a bit of photography. We were there close to midday so the light wasn't the best. I had a circular polariser on the camera which let me capture deeper shades of blues and greens. Although I lost 2 stops using the polariser, I didn't need to use the tripod. The hardest part of photographing the Forum, in my opinion, was getting photographs without people being included in the frames.

A Marble Carving in the Forum - Rome, Italy

I'm planning on heading back to Sri Lanka for a holiday in July. I'm hoping to do a fair bit of wildlife photography while I'm there. I am also planning on heading back to Anuradhapura and probably traveling in the hills as  well. I'm sure the photographs will find their way onto the blog eventually!

Lucifer Anime Wallpaper

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Lucifer Wallpaper

The Angle Wallpaper

Lucifer Anime Wallpaper

23/52 - Longines

Longines

I decided to use the macro lens to photograph my wife's watch as this week's shot for the project. I still haven't used the tripod for macro shots and it's pretty tough without it. The depth of field is so shallow that the slightest movement blurs the image. I used a straight-forward one light setup for this shot.

Setup shot, inside.

Setup - Longines

I used a Canon 430 EX II fired at 1/8th from camera right to light the watch. The light was bounced off a white foam-core board placed just out of frame on the left of the camera. The shot was taken from directly above the watch.

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