Now I know that I like to point the camera at almost anything that eats, shits and breaths but the amount of cameras at these wildlife spectacles is frankly getting out of hand. I'm not talking about hoards of little old ladies rattling off a couple of shots on the digital equivalent of a box brownie, I'm talking about 'wildlife enthusiasts' carrying serious amounts of quality gear. Don't get me wrong I am by no means jealous of their back breaking equipment, I'm more than happy with my 4 year old D50 and ancient sigma 50-500mm but one photographer was stood a couple of yards from a group of seals toting three Canon bodies each with a high spec Canon Lens i.e. 500mm, 300mm and a 100-400 zoom just in case. For Christ's sake why? They were 6 feet away. The point I was in the process of making is the fact that these lens carrying fiends were everywhere and up just about every orifice that the seals offered, to the point where they were hanging over the fence to get the money shot. This is the first time that I've seen such inappropriate behaviour here, usually the wardens would usually intervene perhaps today they were just looking the wrong way.
Further along the coast things weren't much better when a lone 'photographer' was watched kicking the Shorelarks at Theddlethorpe from pillar to post instead of settling down and letting them come to him. Even more amazing was his total lack of common sense. Whilst I was sat down photographing them he marched towards them flushed them then marched straight off to flush them again! I was going to post another blame and shame photo (as last November in Lincs) but I know who he is (it wasn't any of the well known Lincs birders/photographers though) and next time I might be quite so patient!
Following a fish and chip break in Mablethorpe (still as shit as it was in the old days when my gran used to take me) we headed to Barton for Far Ings. Eventually finding the right spot I was amazed to find the Red-necked Phalarope almost feeding at the feet of the already present birders. There was no danger of disturbing this bird but despite it being just a few feet away my photos were on the disappointing side in fact they were a right pile of wank!
We finished the day off at nearby Worlaby Carrs where at least 4 Barn Owls provided the entertainment until near dark.
3 comments:
I very much enjoy following this blog, but could really do without all the "wank & shit" comments (I swear as much as the next fucker, and don't mind admitting it, but not in a public medium).
Some of your images are very good but could be improved immensely with some post-processing (do you have PS Elements 8? - very cheap and well worth the money, as is the "Neat Image" noise reduction program).
The phalarope and Shore Lark come up a treat with a bit of tweaking.
Hi Colin.
I am very sorry if you have been offended by my use of such fould language. I consider myself proper told off now. In my defence I picked them up from a recent episode of Tracey Beaker - Television has a lot to answer for the decline in modern society.
I use the GIMP for my photos, that's a free photo shop type donload and not some deviant in a rubber mask! I didn't use it on the Lincs stuff as I couldn't be arsed, sorry I mean bothered of course.
Hello Mark,
GIMP is crap - if you are going to take and publish images on your excellent blog then invest in a few quids's-worth of software (trivial compared to your new kitchen!!).
Those pies are mouth-watering.
Best,
Colin
P.S. Gave up smoking seven years ago to the day, put on almost 4 stone in weight, and now trying to keep away from the local "chicken & mushroom" and "steak & ale" jobs - fucking impossible!!!
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