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Well, 850mm actually as these are with the 1.4x TC on.

Went down to my local nature reserve and spent a couple of hours in the only hide thats big enough to photograph from. Unfortunately its quite high up as all hides tend to be so reflections were the name of the game!

It was a pretty quite afternoon but as I was walking along the hide from the furthest of the 3 windows back towards the first, this Cormorant came up from under the water right in front of me! He was far too close for 850mm and he cuaght me off gaurd so I had to pretty much hand hold this to get a couple of shots off before he dived again looking for fish. It was all over in seconds and he never came close again!



And this Duck was having a rest, fairly ordinary shot but I really liked the colours of the water around him as the far off tree's and blue sky gave a nice split tone to the image.

Nice work Richard! I like them both.

Richard Peters wrote:Went down to my local nature reserve and spent a couple of hours in the only hide thats big enough to photograph from. Unfortunately its quite high up as all hides tend to be

That's probably a statement more about the hides near you than hides in general...

hey..using mirrors is cheating

thats an amazing reflection shot there!

I quite like this shot as he is coming up, much like a submarine rising!

Given the few seconds you had to get the shot I think you have done very well...

The first one is amazing; the mirror image is near perfect.

The composition of the second does not seem quite right, perhaps its because the focus of the image doesn't lend itself to sitting in the middle of the photo. The water is great looking though.

The first image of the cormorant struck me as being picture perfect reflection. It's really nice in that regard.

Thanks for the replies all. The Cormorant reflection is very nearly perfect, there is just a slightly blurred area at the top of his neck but I'm happy with it given the circumstances

I know what you mean about the duck, I did a couple of crops of it but the change in water colour didn't look right with the duck placed in a better position so in the end decided to go for almost centre, with just a tad more water above the duck.

With regards to hides, when I say they are too high...all the ones I've been to in the UK, your looking through windows that are at head height whereas I'd like to see some that are built low so you are at eye level with your subjects. That would be great for photography but not so good for bird watchers and that's who the hides are built for

love the first one. the reflection is incredible.

spend some time looking thru your site and can i say just quietly that this shot of yours...



may very well be the best animal shot i've ever seen. seriously its just superb.

may very well be the best animal shot i've ever seen.

Many thanks

Have to agree with Rooz above. Some absolutely stunning captures on your web site Richard.
That mirror reflection of the cormarant is truly amazing -- love it!!!