Taken during a trip to Scotland and Mull with Steve Kaluski last year, I thought I'd lost the images I had taken of what I consider to be the most wonderful of British birds (together with the Red Throated of course). My Jobu was not my best friend for a while !
I watched this bird for an hour along a loch side until it finally let out a haunting call and flew off.
Light wasn't great, and this is quite a crop, but I feel the image conveys the markings and how well the BTD blends with it's surroundings.
1D MKIII, 500mm + 1.4x
Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/640)
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO Speed: 800
Exposure Bias: -2/3 EV
Posted by Andy Gregory on March 27, 2010 at 12:09 PM
It certainly shows the markings well. Could do with a bit more light around the head to show the eye. I would be happy with a shot like this though as I never got to see one on my last trip north.
If you all could see Graham (The Panther) stalking this bird, Simon King eat your heart out. He had spotted it from quite some distance away as it patrolled the loch, slap bang in the middle. The day was gloomy, dark and this really was shot in poor conditions, however putting in both time & fieldcraft Graham you managed to a achieve a reasonable shot. Notorious for being both shy & difficult to photograph you did well under all the circumstances to get an image of this bird. Well done.
Well done Graham. There's a great deal of satisfaction to be gained in capturing a target like this. It certainly looks great in its breeding plumage.
We were spoiled in Somerset this winter with both red and black-throated divers visitng local reservoirs and allowing shots from about 50yards. Much less exciting in winter plumage however.
Tim
Posted by Calum Dickson on March 27, 2010 at 2:03 PM
It's pretty well canouflaged so you did well to even spot it. Looks to have some beautiful colour on the back of it's head.
Thanks guys - I'm just happy to have found the RAW's that I thought had gone to the waste bin
Posted by Lewis Thomson on March 27, 2010 at 4:34 PM
Hi Graham,
I'm glad you found the images, its always nice when that happens. I agree its little dark, but I guess that just shows the gloomy conditions described and it really does blend in well with the water. The call is fantastic isn't it, and to have an image to go with the memory is priceless.
Cheers,
Lewis.
Posted by Philip Newman on March 28, 2010 at 5:04 AM
Very typical and just how you see them in Scotland.
Phil Newman
Posted by Craig Jones on March 28, 2010 at 3:41 PM
Colours of the habitat and bird make this image for me,composition is very good,saw them too last year but never got close,so well done on this image
Discussion
8 repliesI watched this bird for an hour along a loch side until it finally let out a haunting call and flew off.
Light wasn't great, and this is quite a crop, but I feel the image conveys the markings and how well the BTD blends with it's surroundings.
1D MKIII, 500mm + 1.4x
Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/640)
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO Speed: 800
Exposure Bias: -2/3 EV
Steve
We were spoiled in Somerset this winter with both red and black-throated divers visitng local reservoirs and allowing shots from about 50yards. Much less exciting in winter plumage however.
Tim
Calum
I'm glad you found the images, its always nice when that happens. I agree its little dark, but I guess that just shows the gloomy conditions described and it really does blend in well with the water. The call is fantastic isn't it, and to have an image to go with the memory is priceless.
Cheers,
Lewis.
Phil Newman