Posted by John Robinson on September 30, 2009 at 6:40 PM
One of the few birds that looks OK in the moult.
Got about 20 of these coming down to pool no.2
Sigma 50-500
Nikon D 200
Posted by eric weight on October 1, 2009 at 1:00 AM
Good to see you back John. I have to admit that I find starlings to be handsome and interesting subjects all the year round and you have caught this one at an interesting stage. Nice one. Eric
Posted by Danny Green on October 1, 2009 at 3:54 AM
Hello John
Thats nice great pose.
Danny
Posted by Ben Gardner on October 1, 2009 at 4:09 AM
nice little chap. moving house so might have to build myself a few scrapes around the garden.....well thats if my fiance lets me
Posted by Craig Jones on October 1, 2009 at 5:25 AM
A lovely pose and I too love the colours of starlings,very nice and welcome back
Na, sorry, although a nice portrait, I do feel the Starling is rather large in the frame, and the habitat isn’t what I would expect for a scrub/grassland species, looks like a pool in a gravel pit. The “earth” could also do with a bit of cleaning
Posted by John Robinson on October 2, 2009 at 9:53 AM
Thanks all.
CM- Doesn't matter what habitat the birds lie in mate- when they drink or bathe its usually in water.!
Its not a pool in a gravel pit -it's a pool in a sand quarry - there is a bit of gravel about though.
The "earth" is earth. I liked the blanket weed for a bit of colour..
Cheers
all
JohnR
Sand or gravel, doesn't make one jot of difference, both are manmade and with a little thought the pool could, I suspect, be considerable improved photographically, as there is much to be learnt from this image.
Sorry for delay in replying but I only visit this forum, once or twice a week
Posted by Robin Tanner on October 5, 2009 at 9:00 AM
Carl
I’m relatively new to wildlife photography, and I am thinking of building a pool, to photograph the local birds and animals.
Reading between the lines of your contributions to this thread, I think that there is more than what is immediately apparent.
So if you do not mind, I will send you a private email
Robin
Posted by John Robinson on October 5, 2009 at 8:22 PM
Carl
I am indeed intrigued by your sudden appearance and your comments on my pictures - especially regarding the mechanics and methods of pool photography. I have only been doing it for a mere 54 years so I suppose I need more time to get it right. It would really be good to see some of your "pool" stuff as, by your comments you seem to have done a lot of it- possibly in locations such as Lesvos for example where in my opinion salt pans are about as "man made" as you can get. In fact some of my pool shots you have commented on have been natural so there,s a bit of embarassment for you. ! It appears it's not that easy to tell the difference.
So come on - lets see some of your shots. I and many others are dying to see some.I feel its only good manners to give us the chance to comment on your work considering the number of negative ones you make with alarming regularity on those of others. There are statements you make which we all feel would be advantageous to all were they explained.
Maybe you need a private e mail to do so, but I do not feel that is any good for the forum where we all need the advice which your long experience can give.
Best wishes
John
It is by no means a sudden appearance. I was told of this site two years ago when I was a guest at a photographers convention in Horncastle if I recall. Subsequent to this, I would visit this forum, be it on a rather irregular basis. I was impressed by some of the comments being made, which showed more of an insight into N.H. photography than just the usual spouting off about Photoshop, made me think about my own photography, but that appears to have now ceased.
Regarding my comments re your pools, well to be perfectly honest, apart from a change in the main subject, they are all effectively the same, even down to viewpoint.
You say you have been doing it for fifty-four years, and you also mention your age. Neither of these equates to me to competency, it is current work and comments being posted which does that. You must have learnt by now, that there are some people who just come to grips with certain aspects of life, for example, some people have an eye for a photograph and others never do, they just copy others.
Since I first started to visit this site, I have noticed that it is very common that assumptions are made, as when you mention “Salt pans”. I have constructed a number of pools, and helped with quite a few others, but they have all been in the UK.
Your comment intrigued me so I did some research. You are right, Salt Pans are frequently man made, particularly around the med. As I believe many of them can trace their origins back to the Romans, if not before, but they do occur naturally, the most famous being, the Kalahari Desert and the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans in Botswana. A cursory search also revealed, other natural Salt Pans, for example, in South Africa and Israel, you might have heard of the last on, the Dead Sea. How far back can you trace your pools ??
I am not in the least embarrassed, quite the contrary. If I was working a pool regularly, which was either a gravel pit, sand quarry, or yes, even a salt pan, on a regular basis, you wouldn’t be able to discern this from my images, which is not the case with yours. If I recall, there was a recent post of a Wren bathing, one of the comments made was that they thought it was from one of your pools, that in itself should tell you a lot.
You ask about posting some of my shots, personally I do not see the need, as I post them elsewhere. If my comments do not stand up on their own, and are inaccurate, then all you have to do is ignore them, if they are not, then that is a different story.
I am quite sure that a few eyebrows have been raised, by my use of the word “SLURRY”, I would draw their attention to the following:
The Oxford Dictionary of English, ISBN 0.19-861347-4, page 1669, SURRY: A semi-liquid mixture, typically of fine particles of manure, cement, or coal and water. Origin: Late Middle English: related to dialect slur “thin mud”, of unknown origin.
It is upto the individual to decide which definition is appropriate, I personally tend towards the original, thin mud.
You say that I use negative comments, I would disagree, I would say that they are hopefully constructive, and they are what I think. But taking your comment one step further, does that mean that images posted on this forum are done so, only for praise and plaudits, and if anyone comments differently, then their comments are unwelcome ??
You are the first to question my comments, or participation on this forum. So if you, or anyone else, wish to email me on any subject, then they are more than welcome to do so.
I do not think for a moment, that you are doing anyone any favours when you post a comment, which is anything but the truth as is seen, so I do not bull shit.
Finally, thanks for the compliment, in that you say that I have “long experience”, much appreciated, all I do is think about my own images and try to progress my own technique, by leaning for others. I have only been seriously doing N.H photography for around ten years, nothing like your fifty four.
Regards.
Carl
Posted by John Robinson on October 8, 2009 at 10:41 AM
Interesting reply .
Where do you post your pictures? -it would be great to see them.
Cheers
JohnR
Discussion
18 repliesGot about 20 of these coming down to pool no.2
Sigma 50-500
Nikon D 200
Thats nice great pose.
Danny
A very under photographed bird,looks great look forward to seeing them once they've moulted
out!
Craig
www.craigchurchill.co.uk
A well executed image John, I like his speckled waistcoat too.
Andy...
Fran
CM- Doesn't matter what habitat the birds lie in mate- when they drink or bathe its usually in water.!
Its not a pool in a gravel pit -it's a pool in a sand quarry - there is a bit of gravel about though.
The "earth" is earth. I liked the blanket weed for a bit of colour..
Cheers
all
JohnR
Sorry for delay in replying but I only visit this forum, once or twice a week
I’m relatively new to wildlife photography, and I am thinking of building a pool, to photograph the local birds and animals.
Reading between the lines of your contributions to this thread, I think that there is more than what is immediately apparent.
So if you do not mind, I will send you a private email
Robin
I am indeed intrigued by your sudden appearance and your comments on my pictures - especially regarding the mechanics and methods of pool photography. I have only been doing it for a mere 54 years so I suppose I need more time to get it right. It would really be good to see some of your "pool" stuff as, by your comments you seem to have done a lot of it- possibly in locations such as Lesvos for example where in my opinion salt pans are about as "man made" as you can get. In fact some of my pool shots you have commented on have been natural so there,s a bit of embarassment for you. ! It appears it's not that easy to tell the difference.
So come on - lets see some of your shots. I and many others are dying to see some.I feel its only good manners to give us the chance to comment on your work considering the number of negative ones you make with alarming regularity on those of others. There are statements you make which we all feel would be advantageous to all were they explained.
Maybe you need a private e mail to do so, but I do not feel that is any good for the forum where we all need the advice which your long experience can give.
Best wishes
John
Taking your comments in order.
It is by no means a sudden appearance. I was told of this site two years ago when I was a guest at a photographers convention in Horncastle if I recall. Subsequent to this, I would visit this forum, be it on a rather irregular basis. I was impressed by some of the comments being made, which showed more of an insight into N.H. photography than just the usual spouting off about Photoshop, made me think about my own photography, but that appears to have now ceased.
Regarding my comments re your pools, well to be perfectly honest, apart from a change in the main subject, they are all effectively the same, even down to viewpoint.
You say you have been doing it for fifty-four years, and you also mention your age. Neither of these equates to me to competency, it is current work and comments being posted which does that. You must have learnt by now, that there are some people who just come to grips with certain aspects of life, for example, some people have an eye for a photograph and others never do, they just copy others.
Since I first started to visit this site, I have noticed that it is very common that assumptions are made, as when you mention “Salt pans”. I have constructed a number of pools, and helped with quite a few others, but they have all been in the UK.
Your comment intrigued me so I did some research. You are right, Salt Pans are frequently man made, particularly around the med. As I believe many of them can trace their origins back to the Romans, if not before, but they do occur naturally, the most famous being, the Kalahari Desert and the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans in Botswana. A cursory search also revealed, other natural Salt Pans, for example, in South Africa and Israel, you might have heard of the last on, the Dead Sea. How far back can you trace your pools ??
I am not in the least embarrassed, quite the contrary. If I was working a pool regularly, which was either a gravel pit, sand quarry, or yes, even a salt pan, on a regular basis, you wouldn’t be able to discern this from my images, which is not the case with yours. If I recall, there was a recent post of a Wren bathing, one of the comments made was that they thought it was from one of your pools, that in itself should tell you a lot.
You ask about posting some of my shots, personally I do not see the need, as I post them elsewhere. If my comments do not stand up on their own, and are inaccurate, then all you have to do is ignore them, if they are not, then that is a different story.
I am quite sure that a few eyebrows have been raised, by my use of the word “SLURRY”, I would draw their attention to the following:
The Oxford Dictionary of English, ISBN 0.19-861347-4, page 1669, SURRY: A semi-liquid mixture, typically of fine particles of manure, cement, or coal and water. Origin: Late Middle English: related to dialect slur “thin mud”, of unknown origin.
It is upto the individual to decide which definition is appropriate, I personally tend towards the original, thin mud.
You say that I use negative comments, I would disagree, I would say that they are hopefully constructive, and they are what I think. But taking your comment one step further, does that mean that images posted on this forum are done so, only for praise and plaudits, and if anyone comments differently, then their comments are unwelcome ??
You are the first to question my comments, or participation on this forum. So if you, or anyone else, wish to email me on any subject, then they are more than welcome to do so.
I do not think for a moment, that you are doing anyone any favours when you post a comment, which is anything but the truth as is seen, so I do not bull shit.
Finally, thanks for the compliment, in that you say that I have “long experience”, much appreciated, all I do is think about my own images and try to progress my own technique, by leaning for others. I have only been seriously doing N.H photography for around ten years, nothing like your fifty four.
Regards.
Carl
Where do you post your pictures? -it would be great to see them.
Cheers
JohnR