Red Deer Stag

Another shot from my trip to Richmond park in London. This shot is one of only two that i was actually happy with by the end of the day and proof that you don't put your camera away until you are in the car. My first memory card had filled up. As we were near the car i thought about putting the camera away then my dad started taking photos of a small group of stags being kept company by the Jackdaws you can see in the back ground. So instead i put in my spare card and took three or four shots, and i am glad i did :).

f/7.1

1/500

ISO-1000

500mm

Richmond Park

This weekend i took a trip up to London with my girlfriend to visit family. On Sunday me, India (my girlfriend) and my dad got up before sun rise and drove to Richmond park (a little tip for anyone planning on visiting early like we did, the gates don't open for cars until 7:00am). Luckily, whilst waiting outside we met an amateur photographer who visits Richmond park the same time every year and showed us all the good spots and gave us some helpful tips.
The reason we were there was to see the Red and Fallow deer that Richmond park is famous for. We were a little late to see the rutting so all the deer were relatively inactive apart from the bellowing, telling the other deer who is in charge. To give it some perspective the big stags like the one in the image below can reach more than 170kg. So they are pretty large.

f/7.1

1/400

ISO-1250

500mm

Busy Bee's !

My girlfriend and her family keep bee's in order to generate their own honey. I didn't realise the amount of upkeep required if i'm honest, the hives are regularly being maintained. Yesterday i was invited to join them as they needed to find the queen before winter, sadly we didn't find her but it was a memorable experience and i was at least able to get an interesting photo :).

f/6.3

1/320

ISO-2500

300mm

Finally ! A kingfisher !

Having spotted the kingfisher on a few early morning outings i was aware that one was around. So yesterday afternoon as i was rather excitedly trying (and failing) to get a good photograph of the notoriously hard to spot Snipe, i heard their unmistakable call. So, i positioned myself where i could see several posts (possible perches for fishing) and waited. After about an hour i saw a flash of blue, and was able to see this little guy for about 30 seconds. Then he was gone. I would say is worth it, i have never seen such intense colour on any animal.

f/8

1/2000

ISO - 800

500mm