Castle beach dive & Sand lizards

Castle beach

I did a shallow dive along castle beach on monday not really knowing what to expect, having done numerous rockpool studies there is was interesting to find what lied just that little bit further

a few days later my other great love in photography, reptiles came to my attention as i went looking at my sand lizard site to see how many i could find. it was incredible with over 12 different sitings showing a healthy population.

Male sand Lizard

Male Common Lizard

Hints -

- When doing a shallow dive buoyancy is key so you dont stir up the bottom (i'll be the first to admit mine isn't perfect!) the 'backscatter' can really hinder a otherwise great image

- Try to visualise what your going to find, in this case a fisheye lens wasn't the best choice as most of the subjects were quite small but i made do with what i had.

- Timing is key! the lizards are super charged with energy by midday however in the morning they are slow and more accommodating the photograph!

www.jackperksphotography.co.uk

Bristol for a week

for the past week i have been exhibiting my work in Bristol along side fellow course mates show casing  projects we have been working on for the past year or so.

 over the course of the week we had well over 400 visitors and was a great learning curve for future exhibitions.

i couldn't resist the chance while in bristol to bring the camera along have a quick shoot.

Hints -

- Even if your staying somewhere for a short time it doesn't hurt to take your camera because you never know what you may encounter

- Waiting for better conditions if you have the option is always a good idea, this was the only day over the week that had clear blue skies which are ideal for fisheye.

- seeing a interesting photo opportunity in the building i took the shot, its something i don't normally do but quite like the out come.

Sharpham, Devon

crossing the boarder from Cornwall to Devon i soon entered Totnes where i would be spending the next few days shooting a variety of subjects.

Sharpham is a trust that owns a large amount of land with diverse habitats like estuaries, woodland, ponds and farmland. the wildlife is even more diverse and this is what attracted me to the area with otters, badgers, seals, egrets and owls all present.

i started out using a hide for most of the time then wondering around to find certain species.

With the increasingly bad weather I couldn’t use the infrared trigger with all the wet weather (I’ve already had a couple of run ins wit H2o & equipment) so I planed the next day for landscapes and smaller species.

The visit was a great chance to do aspects of photography I don’t do very often as well as practicing the ones I do a lot

Heres a trail cam shot of one of the otters at the site not far from where i set the hide up foxes and badgers are also present in this location. 

Hints –

-       Be prepared to try things you don’t’ normally do, I mainly like underwater photography but the chance to try out landscape and mammals gave me a better understanding of them

-       Ask and you shall receive! A simple email to the reserve and I was able to stay I would recommend sending emails to locations you may wish to do work with

-       Know your equipment! One of the main aims was to use infrared camera traps for badgers, otters and foxes (all of which are present) but the wet weather prevented this so I didn’t want to risk breaking the trigger.

-       Try to have a clear objective the trouble (or pleasure depending on your mind frame) I found was there was so much to photograph here I kept getting distracted so next time I’ll try for a more focused target!