A Broglake Break with Foilers

There seemed enough wind to consider that there would be those who would take the opportunity to do some windsurfing, so I got together the camera, long lens and tripod and headed for the Lake at Brogborough — on arrival I was not sure my surmise was correct as the number of cars here were fewer than I had hoped.

I parked up and walked towards the shoreline, and I spotted a single sailor out on the water, but as I reached the trees, I realised there were a few more, and Sam was among the number, so I headed back to the car and opened the boot to get the camera onto the tripod. I had also noted that one of the sailors on the front was sporting an upturned board with a hydrofoil, and I recognised him as an experienced windsurfer that I had not seen before with one. After chatting with him as he began preparing his sail on the mast, I set the tripod up on the jetty ready for when  anyone took to the water.

Here was a chance to see more people taking to foiling on the lake and, with different types of hydrofoil; even Sam was on a different design from what I had seen before. It was not long before I was shooting, and watching Sam do his best to keep airborne whilst gybing despite a fickle wind. Since much of the activity took place a good distance out, it was fortunate that I had opted for using the additional 1.4x Converter on the Sigma 60-600mm Sports lens, and increasingly I was using the Acrotech Long Lens head in preference to a gimbal, which was smoother, but did require me to lock it firmly when not shooting.

Although I was not there for long, I was tending to attempt to get sequences, so the amount of shots taken soon mounted, and this coupled with the heat adversely affecting my computer has meant it has taken way longer to get these images up, which is a shame.

A Photographer and Two Lakes

Many photographers tend to avoid others of a similar persuasion, I have noted this from my own career, that is not to say it is a characteristic of all, but certainly a goodly number. The irony is that several photographers with whom I can call friends, and with whom I can relate predominately avoid the company of those with whom you would consider they had the most in common, and therefore the greater chance of sharing interests. On Friday, one such came out to meet up with me, and in general he would admit that he tends not to seek out the company of other ‘Smudgers’ — a term historically used to describe early photographers, however I am tolerated. Perhaps I am too thick to perceive that he humours me and does not wish to hurt my feelings.

I will not embarrass him by giving his name, but he accepted my invitation to venture into the environs of Marston Moretaine, and I just wanted to take him to some of the venues I attend in pursuit of photography now that Social Media has largely decimated our careers as practising photographers. It meant that when discussing places I frequent in my insatiable desire to preserve in images that capture places, atmosphere, beauty, creatures, sports, curiosities, buildings, people, whatever… there would be at least some idea of where or what these might be.

Having travelled from London, we first had a sociable cup of tea, then drove to Marston Lake, where I wanted to see whether the bird life had returned after the apparent visit from some Mink, but there was a single swan, so the Grebe pair I had earlier captured on a nest in the reeds, had left, as had fortuitously, the Cormorants which must have pleased the Anglers.

This was as much a check on whether the birds had returned, as enlightening my colleague. We then drove on to my more frequently visited lake which was home to the Windsurfers — Brogborough Lake, and I was pleasantly surprised that despite only a mild breeze, did have a few sailors visiting. What was even more encouraging was that Jeff, a seasoned windsurfer had finally been tempted to give hydrofoiling a go, and Sam who runs the place had updated his hydrofoil, and both were due out on the Lake. This meant our trip was about to go up a gear, and I tentatively got my friends acceptance to take a few pictures. Yes, I had brought along my gear, but only on the off chance, so readied my tripod, EOS R and 60-600mm Sigma with its 1.4 x Converter for action. After some shooting, mainly of Jeff and Sam, I felt my time was up, and started to pack it all away, when suddenly it looked as if both hydrofoilers were actually going to be reasonably close together for me to get both in one shot, but that decision to stop had made I missed a fabulous shot of both aloft, and with one sweeping in arc behind the other, but I did get some with both in close formation, so with that I did dismantle everything and we left.

We headed back to my place and then walked to the local church with its separated tower, and its legend of the Devil separating each! We had some more tea and biscuits before my successful photographer friend headed back for London, and I set in motion the task of creating a gallery of images to put up on the blog, which went live in the early hours of Sunday morning after I had completed this narrative of our time together. One thing we did discuss was to rekindle our effort to produce photographic images that graphically display puns or ‘double entendres’. In the past we had created ‘A Glass Half-full’ and ‘Burning the Candle at Both Ends’. Back then I had made a list of ‘Bon Mots’, but since at the time we both had plenty of work these all fell by the wayside. However, I would very much like to rekindle the idea, as photomontage is something I enjoy.

Another Lake Visit — Weston Turville

The lake is a reasonable distance away, but I took a chance on driving over since it is fairly wide, meaning some birds tend to be a distance from the shore. I therefore immediately put on the 1.4 Converter to give me a better chance. It never came off because, as anticipated the subjects of my greater interest all kept their distance! This was a day for the EOS R, and the 60-600mm Sigma Sports. One immediate proof of this came when I moved location, and from the raised walkway I spotted a young Coot alone, out of the water, wandering close to one of the small fishing piers. Here, despite the 1.4 Converter I was able to use the close focussing distance offered by this superb Sigma optic — The earlier 150-600mm version I once owned, had it had on, the Converter I simply would not have been able to capture the shot! So, Sigma, thank you, thank you.

The long lay-by where I was parked had scarce few cars, so the visitors were limited, and many were young mothers and their children, and a couple of healthy joggers, but on two separate occasions I met up with fellow photographers, two Nikon devotees who I had spotted across the water, who had equally clocked me, and with whom we shared ‘chimped’ images (I did not ascertain that snippet from afar, but later when they arrived at the same jetty!) l later met a husband and wife photo team and chatted about our shared interest in image-taking. So it was both a productive shooting experience as well as being social.

Although I was using the Sirui gimbal head, I think on this occasion I should have used the lighter Acrotech Long Lens head. I tried some short bursts late in the day of some peculiarly aggressive behaviour between two Grebe.

Two Swans had a family of seven Cygnets, and they literally came towards me with total equanimity, however their behaviour towards a larger group of Coots was far more threatening; making deliberately aggressive lunges towards them to keep them away, which I found unusual since the gap in the reeds by the small jetty had been occupied by the Coots!

The gulls spent much of their time swooping in and skimming the surface for fish, but not once did I see a successful outcome. A Heron which had been stationed for some time on a distant buoy, took off and lazily flew low along the distant reeds, before diving left into an inlet and disappearing from view. Later, the lone Grebe came up at the end of a series of dives with a substantial fish for its efforts, making short shrift of downing it within mere seconds. After a chat with the married couple, I was about to pack everything away when I spotted an oddly aggressive chase between the Grebe and a second one but cannot be sure which one had been the successful one  I had just been shooting.

I closed the tripod legs and followed my companions out to the car; packed everything away, grabbed a welcome cold drought from my flask, and headed homeward.

Sunshine! Marston Lake — Alive!

It was great to get another day to check out just what kit works best in a typical situation. I was assessing the use of the gimbal versus the Long Lens Head. Both require a leveller to avoid adjusting individual Benbo tripod legs. It is always better to be taking shots that are meaningful rather than just a theoretical test, hence my delight in good light after a dull week.

I have used a Manfrotto leveller, but it was never really smooth, whereas using the Acrotech version that I have recently purchased from Bob Rigby proves to be both lighter and far better, allowing me to adjust the tension separate from locking it fully, and this becomes obvious instantly by the tensioner being far smaller, so once set it can be ignored.

I drove to the opposite side of the lake to a swim fortunately not occupied by an Angler, to a spot where there are both reeds and two beds of lilies frequented by both damselflies and Dragonflies, with only the damselflies on the lily pads, whereas both landed on reeds. I set two of the tripod legs in the water.

Sunlight not only provides better lighting, but meant there was more birdsong to be heard, and the Swans were on the lake, but still no sign of the Grebe, but the departure of the Cormorants was welcome. There were sounds of cars circling the nearby Millbrook Testing Ground, but this was only sporadic on this afternoon.

I captured some odd behaviour of a male damselfly which was almost like fitting, in that it would arch its body then go rigid and straight, then double up again. There were a few coupled damselflies being mobbed by presumably jealous males, and similar activities amongst dragonflies where females were being chased in flight, mostly, though not exclusively by single males.

The dragonflies also landed in the shoreline bushes and even the ground for their rest, whereas the damselflies were most abundant amongst sunlit rushes. The banks slope steeply from the shore, but at this spot in sunshine the vegetation underwater was clearly visible beneath the surface, which added interest to some of the backgrounds beyond the lilies.

I managed to get a good shot of a dragonfly in flight which is always a challenge, especially when, as it was on this occasion, quite breezy. On several occasions I spotted a dragonfly land on a reed only for it to dip crazily due to its weight, or be suddenly tossed around in a sudden gust.

There were two distinct species of Dragonfly; gold-bodied and dusty blue, and the pair of swans were very independent on this visit to the lake, and one did come over towards my position to check me out.

Although most of my time was spent at two swims either side of the lilies I did go to two further ones beyond where my car was parked when activity slowed by the lilies as the sun cast its shadow over them. altogether a very satisfactory couple of hours spent lakeside, in the brightest day for some days.

Windless Brogborough Sunny Afternoon

Sunny afternoons with little wind gives Brogborough Lake a different feel, for some it offers relaxation on a paddle board for their dogs, for others to watch their partners on the water trying to make the most from what little wind was on offer, but for a few to try their hand with foiling boards — two such were experienced windsurfers new to this extension to their kit who were joining Sam Barnes to explore this latest addition to their windsurfing boards.

It was this group that held my interest on this occasion, Richard and Geoff were taking the opportunity to explore this new addition to their sport, and I wanted to capture their exploration of this kit as they learned the nuances of this feature. It was not without its mishaps, but that was not my motivation, I wanted to capture their early successes as they added to their experience. The nature of the surrounding hills and trees meant that the best wind tended to be quite far from the main shoreline and jetty were, and this was handy for me to get the best out of my EOS R camera body with its Sigma 60-600mm Sports lens and its 1.4 x Converter.

In addition, I was also using a different head on my Benbo tripod; the Acratech Long Lens Head and Leveller, in place of my gimbal head, I have been assessing different options of kit, for when I need to keep weight down, and this was the second time I had checked this option out, but since I have no distance to travel the weight saving is insignificant and the gimbal head is probably better.

The combination of the Sigma Sports lens and 1.4x Converter with the EOS R is a really good mix for this type of work, because the camera body allows for excellent quality at high ISO speeds often necessary due to the light levels encountered, and the quality and range of this lens and body is superb.

I hope these results please the subjects of this day’s galleries, as I feel some have captured the essence of what they were experiencing.

Marston Lake Visit — Fleeting Sunshine — Using a Different Head

Having given the car a long drive to ensure the new battery was fully charged, and with the first rays of sunshine for several days, I gathered a slightly different set items to use on this visit to the nearby lake. I had bought a long lens Acratech head and levelling plate in place of the gimbal to see how it would perform. I knew that I would have to be careful to always lock its movement, when letting go of my hold, but I am trying to keep the weight of my kit down, and this was the latest trial I was making.

I certainly found that it was smooth in operation, and it was easy enough to lock it before removing my grip on the camera and lens, and loosen it when back to using it again, but clouds rolling in to cover the sun would immediately ground all my flying subjects, so I did spend quite a lot of time locking and unlocking! My subjects needed the sun for energy so this was inevitable, but it did mean I was gaining the experience of locking and unlocking!

Because I was once again using the Sigma 60-600mm with the 1.4 Converter, I was also stopping down further to keep a good depth of field, which did mean that I, like my subjects needed the sunshine. On this occasion, I also got some shots of a few Water Boatmen as they nipped around on the surface. Altogether, it was a useful exercise for me, with a few shots of interest, and useful experience.

Marston Lake Visit — Lily Pad Insect Life

Flying insects such as Damselflies and Dragonflies have the power to intrigue, when you stop to watch their behaviour, the warmth of the sun gives them the power to stay on the wing for some time, and when that empowering sun is removed by the coverage of clouds, it is a signal for Flight Control to say: “Land as soon as possible, and head for cover!” For those insects still flying or landing the sad thing is that even though they might be interesting or rare, that sunlight they shun makes it harder to capture them photographically, and yesterday intermittent cloud cover was abundant, as were the denizens of the lily pads that were the backdrop when the light was good, but invariably the floating pads lost their attraction both to the flying insects and myself!

I persevered, hoping that I might capture either species in flight, and whereas the the damselflies would hover long enough for me to obtain focus, not so the dragonflies! They had far more energy, and were able to sap mine attempting to keep them in frame, or frame them in the first instance. I was hoping there might be some degree of repetitive behaviour, but their only repetitive behaviour was to fly erratically, and at high speed!

It did not stop me from trying, and ‘trying’ was definitely a good description of how I described the frustration! I spotted a behaviour that I found slightly disturbing; one pair of coupled damselflies either accidentally or deliberately seemed to drown his female partner whilst they were on a closed lily bud — their combined weight slowly pushed her beneath the surface, but he made no attempt to select a new spot above the water. I did not see the end result, but he seemed to make no attempt to rise higher for at least three minutes that I observed.

I have no doubt that as more buds open, I will pay another visit to this spot, and hope that I might capture shots of dragonflies on the wing. Ironically, the very first outing with my 300mm prime lens, I was close by an island of reeds, and could wait, as it flew circuits around it, for it to come back into view, and click. But here, there was no such opportunity, so all my dragonfly images are static (within reason — as there was quite a breeze, meaning the reeds were often swaying — the one they were on, or others where the reeds between them and myself would obscure them).

Breezy at Marston Moretaine, Less so at Brogborough

Upon arrival at the Car Park at Brogborough Lake, it had become obvious there was far less wind here than where I had just left, so I did not immediately go to the boot and pull out the tripod or camera to set up for shooting, I simply walked to where several of those who would be out on the lake were chatting. There was no sense of urgency to be out on the water, since the prerequisite for windsurfers lies in the name! I did learn that here a while there had been a reasonable blow, but it had dropped, hence the relaxed atmosphere.

I did spot that Richard McKeating was now with a hydrofoil on his board, which prompted me to forego the chatting and get back to the car and set the Benbo tripod up, and mount the EOS R with the 60-600mm Sigma Sports and 1.4x Converter attached.

By the time I reached the shoreline, he was out on the lake. However the wind had not the enthusiasm needed for lift-off, but if anyone could make the most of what wind was on offer, I was going to be ready to capture that separation of air between surfboard and water! What I did notice was that Sam Barnes was no longer the sole sailor with a hydrofoil, and so though I never captured  three foilers airborne in the same frame, I did find them in the same shot; all on the surface!

By the end of the time I was lakeside, I had captured two out of three aloft, which considering the conditions was a good proportion, and with the possibility  of wind forecast later in the Bank Holiday weekend, I may well be making a further visit later…

To show just how versatile this Sigma lens is, not only was I able to capture action close to the Bank as well as close to a distant shore, but I turned the camera towards the reeds, and was able to get a shot of a mating pair of damselflies by swivelling through 90 degrees, (and a tight crop admittedly!) It does however point to the incredible versatility of this lens, and on this occasion because there was good light, the Sigma 1.4x Converter was in place throughout; a real tribute to the designers at Sigma, and also Canon for their full-frame mirrorless body.

Breezy at Marston Moretaine, Less so at Brogborough

Upon arrival at the Car Park at Brogborough Lake, it had become obvious there was far less wind here than where I had just left, so I did not immediately go to the boot and pull out the tripod or camera to set up for shooting, I simply walked to where several of those who would be out on the lake were chatting. There was no sense of urgency to be out on the water, since the prerequisite for windsurfers lies in the name! I did learn that here a while there had been a reasonable blow, but it had dropped, hence the relaxed atmosphere.

I did spot that Richard McKeating was now with a hydrofoil on his board, which prompted me to forego the chatting and get back to the car and set the Benbo tripod up, and mount the EOS R with the 60-600mm Sigma Sports and 1.4x Converter attached.

By the time I reached the shoreline, he was out on the lake. However the wind had not the enthusiasm needed for lift-off, but if anyone could make the most of what wind was on offer, I was going to be ready to capture that separation of air between surfboard and water! What I did notice was that Sam Barnes was no longer the sole sailor with a hydrofoil, and so though I never captured  three foilers airborne in the same frame, I did find them in the same shot; all on the surface!

By the end of the time I was lakeside, I had captured two out of three aloft, which considering the conditions was a good proportion, and with the possibility  of wind forecast later in the Bank Holiday weekend, I may well be making a further visit later…

To show just how versatile this Sigma lens is, not only was I able to capture action close to the Bank as well as close to a distant shore, but I turned the camera towards the reeds, and was able to get a shot of a mating pair of damselflies by swivelling through 90 degrees, (and a tight crop admittedly!) It does however point to the incredible versatility of this lens, and on this occasion because there was good light, the Sigma 1.4x Converter was in place throughout; a real tribute to the designers at Sigma, and also Canon for their full-frame mirrorless body.

An Interesting Visit to Tring Reservoirs

 

On my arrival at the Car Park at Tringford Reservoir,  I noted several cars already there, so rather than immediately set up the camera and tripod, I decided to check out who was at the lakeside. It was good to have a chat and one outcome was that I was treated to a privileged trip through the woods to visit one swan on her nest. Before that, I recorded the gathering of the circular bales from the now otherwise bare field, by tractor with twin spikes. These early shots were handheld on my EOS 5D MkII using the 24-70mm lens.

I then set up the Benbo tripod and Gimbal head and mounting the Sigma 60-600mm with the 1.4x Converter on the EOS R, and headed over the road to the Marsworth Lake, where I met up with a new young family of Greylag Geese. The new Season’s youngsters were in evidence for Swans, Geese and Ducks, which is always a welcome sight, and in the sky above the Lakes were black headed Gulls, Tern and Pigeons, and on the banks were luckless anglers, one of whom had put out bread and bait to attract fish, which only attracted the gulls which demolished every last scrap as if their lives depended upon it!

Much to my regret, I saw no sign of Kingfishers and precious few Grebe, though I spotted two Herons, they were at a distance, and as if to rub sand in the wound, upon my return to my car a lone heron was in the middle of the very field the car was in, but too distant even for my lens, but I did attempt to lessen the distance but in vain, for I had barely reduced the distance between us by five feet, it took off into the distance!

Another Marston Lake Visit – Dragonflies

Initially, I set off to consider another lake to find birdlife, but having got it surrounded, It became obvious the one I had been considering was a non-starter, as there was neither a handy car park nearby, nor did it seem to be publicly accessible. So, after twice parking up and taking short investigative walks to try to find ways to reach the lake, I turned back and headed for the nearer lake at Marston. On arrival, l keyed myself in, and sought out the Water Bailliff, so that I could show him the images I had of the Woodpecker that we had heard first from the farther shore of the lake.

I stopped off at the swim where I spotted his car, and hearing him on his phone, took the time to dig out the Woodpecker prints from the previous visit to let him take a look. When the call ended,  I showed him both the Grebe couple on the nest in the reeds and a couple of the Woodpecker, before moving further round the lake to see what I might come upon, though thus far the lake was both calm and with no sign of any aquatic birds, despite an abundance of birdsong from the surrounding trees.

I headed further around the lake, and initially, since the water was bereft of any birds, I simply put my long lens and EOS R on a monopod to take a look at far margins. I did find a lone coot, but almost as I was about to consider packing up and leaving I spotted a Grebe, so decided it might be worth putting up the Benbo tripod and the EOS R with the Sigma Sports 60-600mm and 1.4x Converter.

On my return to the bank, I spotted a lone dragonfly, so despite the challenges of a lone and elusive subject, I did at least have the prospect of capturing some of the life on this small area of water. In my favour also was the light which gave me a better chance of  getting the shot with the extra depth of field and a higher shutter speed. I thought for a moment the dragonfly might be doing a circuit around the reeds, but it only happened the once. Why that was something that I relished was that if that were to happen regularly enough, I might capture an image in flight, because there would be a chance to prefocus at a spot along its path, and pick it up and pan it. That was how I had succeeded much earlier, on the very first day I used my 300mm after its purchase, but the dragonfly did not oblige on this occasion!

I had several long gaps in shooting this day, so also went and got my DSLR and the 85mm f/1.8 lens to capture other shots, such as an unusual red-winged butterfly, or maybe daytime moth, some of the springtime blossom abundance, and also the mirrorless EOS R with the 60-600mm and 1.4x Converter atop the Benbo tripod and Sirui Gimbal head.

This gallery shows the main kit I was using, a daytime moth and a small butterfly that visited me from the tunnel of trees that led down to the Swim I was at.

Marston Lake – Grebe on Tamron 150-600mm–EOS R +1.5x

This week was not going to give me many chances for an early start to visit a lake, so Tuesday was one that allowed me that opportunity and it was fortunately not overly cold. There were two purposes for this visit, the obvious one was do my best to get some more shots of the resident Grebes, the second was get a further idea of how effective the lighter Tamron lens was, now it could be married effectively with the Canon EOS R mirrorless body. I knew it worked very effectively with the Sigma 60-600mm, and I knew there were times when a lighter lens was essential purely due to the distance I might have to travel with a long lens, and the Tamron had proved to be a good sharp lens before I had bought the early equivalent Sigma, what I was less sure was how it might perform overall with the EOS R.

This trip put my mind at rest on at least that score, but  I still have to master how to deal effectively with placing of the cursor on the screen speedily and consistently. Several times I have lost the focus square to the top edge of the screen when I need to place it more strategically to follow my subject, especially off-centre.

I am improving my success with panning, and living with the slightly stuttering movement as I follow a bird especially if in flight as opposed to on the water, The incentive to polish this aspect is because with the larger pixel count of the EOS R compared to my EOS 5D, if I get the shot it is definitely cleaner, lacking noise in comparison under similar circumstances when light is borderline.

I stayed only long enough to give me sufficient time thereafter in processing the images I managed to capture. I was unable to see a successful fishing foray with the Grebe, but did get a shot of a black-headed gull with a small fish it had just caught, and a lone Grebe, searching and calling for its mate, as it swam to every corner of the lake.

Brogborough Lake & Gusty, High Wind

Tamron have just updated their 150-600mm lens that I still own - so on this day I decided I would check it out by shooting with it on my EOS R now that I have it back with me and, I am very impressed!

A bit of back history — I have had this long focal length zoom for some time, and kept it, even after buying the later equivalent from Sigma, because of the weight difference; it is far lighter than the Sigma, and when later still, Sigma brought out the even longer range 60-600mm lens, I still hung onto it when deciding how to finance the Sigma purchase. After doing some testing with a sample kindly lent me by Sigma, it so impressed me, I sold their earlier version for the two reasons that it was largely duplicating the former Sigma and, two heavy similar lenses made no sense. The far lighter Tamron was no slouch in the quality stakes, and the clincher was selling the Sigma gave me the funds to buy its big brother! If the Tamron could benefit from the use of the EOS R and function fully when coupled with a 1.4x Converter, I would have a very handy, far lighter lens when having to carry it any distance.

Having had a dry run at home, the combo seemed just fine, but I needed a proper trial and Brogborough provided just what I needed, and I have not been disappointed, so I shall be passing on my further thanks to Tamron on Monday.

I arrived at the lake with a few sailors already on the lake and after a brief check on who was out there, I assembled the EOS R, the simple conversion ring for my earlier Canon lenses, but added the 1.4 Converter and the Tamron 150-600mm lens, and mounted the combo onto my weighty Benbo, and headed for the jetty, but after only a handful of shots, I decided that in the wind and on there, it was way too risky! Terra firma beckoned! I have already had one accident too many with my camera this year, and should disaster befall me whilst on grass, then the kit will survive.

I was hoping that on this visit despite the wind direction being less than ideal for jumps, some of the fearless amongst the sailors would at least give me a chance encounter. I was not to be disappointed except I missed one completely due to my focus point jumping to the side of the screen thereby meaning I missed the whole action, and what I viewed looked like the best and clear jump of the day. I am glad there were no ladies present, because. I admit I swore loudly! I have since washed my mouth out.

I stayed less long than normal as I knew it was going to be a lengthy time at the Mac’s screen, and I had other chores clamouring for my attention, so I may well have missed some of the later action for which I apologise for not being able to record any of those masterful manoeuvres that were performed in my absence. Another day, perhaps.

For anyone contemplating the use of  the Tamron 150-600mm in combo with or without a 1.4x Converter on an EOS R, or possibly the lesser RF, I can say it worked fine for me.

Another Visit to Weston Turville Lake

  

I took a swift look at the nearest lake just down the road, but without a camera, and I walked all the way to the water’s edge; there was not a single bird on the lake and only two anglers on the far side, and sadly no sign of the water bailiff whom I had hoped to contact.

I returned to the car, after I had spoken to the Water Bailliff for Tringford Reservoir who told me that it was already packed out down there, so I decided to drive down again to the lake at Weston Turville. I had no idea whether it would be equally packed at this lake, but felt it was worth a try, and if it was then I could take a look at how easy it would be to park close to the nearby canal, as I had learned that there were kingfishers along that stretch.

It was a pleasant surprise to find that the long lay-by was far from crowded, yet once I had got through the entrance and climbed the Bank steps to the top, I found numerous groups either walking or gathered at some of the jetties. Out on the lake the main species of bird were Mallard and Coots, and in the distance Swans; at first I saw nothing of the Grebes, but then I spotted a flash of white in the distance, and took a look through the camera, and it was one, but way too distant. I spotted its mate after a bit, and they spent a lot of time diving, and then I had to scan far and wide whilst counting to 35 to 45 seconds — I have never been able to predict where they would reappear! Occasionally they would come closer, sometimes    further out.

On this lake visit there were also a couple of dinghies out on the water, only one glider was soaring above in the warm sunshine. Occasionally I would get into conversation with some of the other visitors, with my enquiring into where I might catch sight of kingfishers either here or on the nearby canal. Today’s different subject was a brief encounter with a radio controlled speedboat. And later I even met up with the parents of the boy whose speedboat it was!

I had earlier thought that the far shore was only accessible to anglers, but. Learned there was a higher level path that led behind the reed beds, and the last images were taken from a hide. I cannot claim this gallery of shots were exciting, but I was using the 1.4x Converter and some of the Grebe shots would haven impossible without it.

Brogborough Windsurfers – EOS R, 60-600mm Lens + 1.4x

For those windsurfers hoping to see what I had managed to capture, I apologise for the delay, but other priorities occurred, and also I learned a hard lesson, bigger files, especially without a fully compliant profile with which to process them, also adds to the delay. The files are now over twice the size, so when you also add into the mix that I have yet to be able to understand just the best way to process the subsequent files, it has taken me way longer to prepare the gallery.

In the recent past, I have used the smaller-chipped 7D MkII to both gain the extra throw of the lens, and to maintain a high burst rate when shooting the Brogborough windsurfers and the Stewartby powerboats. On this occasion, I was using the full-frame EOS R, and to give me extra focal length using the new much longer range of the 60-600mm Sigma Sports lens, I added the 1.4x Converter. It had the effect of making the 600mm become 840mm and in place of 60mm that was now increased to 84mm; which was not too bad a loss when the windsurfers came close – compared to the closest focus of my previous 150-600mm used alone which meant if my subjects came close the cropping was obvious. On this afternoon I had little difficulty keeping the whole sail in frame when I was approached closely, yet equally able to get a good size when they were a good distance away!

I still have to find an effective solution to placing the cursor where I need it for both autofocus and exposure, so that I can vary the focal length to achieve effective framing and composition. Getting the ring that provides in my instance the means by which I can make quick changes to exposure compensation was essential to give me the level of control I need to work efficiently and speedily.

I apologise to those who feel there were too many shots of Sam and the hydrofoil board, but I was trying to see whether he might complete a successful gybe aloft, and I was impressed he was getting close; I think it was as much due to the fickle wind conditions. I was pleased to have captured some shots of multiple sailors spanning the width of my frame, especially as now the quality details of the individuals in such frames is so much better. I did not stay as along as I might have, because I knew I had little available time to get this gallery up, and now it is late Tuesday as I write this narrative to get the gallery up tonight. I hope it was worth the wait.