Day 254: jays, sunset, lake and starry night Northern Lights

At breakfast on our first morning we are still buzzing from our Northern Lights experience. The group that were here with Rob this time last year didn't get a Northern Lights showing until the last few hours of the very last night. We have got some Aurora photographs in the bag, so any further shots are just a bonus. Though we still want to experience them again tonight. It's rather addictive!

Today we are going to explore the Autumn colours in and around Muoni, we'll be looking out for the Siberian jay, lakes, trees, plenty of mellow fruitfulness.

 

 

 

 

We drive to a large park just bursting with browns, oranges, yellows and golds. We make camp around the fire pit. Dirk, our resident firestarter starts gathering wood whilst we point our lenses at lichen, trees, sparkling water, and those elusive jays. I'm really trying demonstrate the Siberian jay's beautiful plumage, back-lit, but it's do tricky! We compare notes over reindeer soup sat around the fire and after what transpires to be over 350 shots of jays, I hope I have some keepers after all that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After we're all jayed out we return to our wonderful log cabins and then gravitate to the lake to wait for sunset. It's so tranquil by the lake, it's not long before a Finnish couple stroll over, light the ubiquitous fire and produce sausages from about their persons. We learn over the next few days that this just happens in these parts; a fire is for sharing, and for sausages.

 

 

 

 

 

After the gorgeous sunset, including the surprise of an almost naked man running from between the trees and leaping into the still, cool, lake, we wrap up for another foray to photograph the Aurora.

This time we go up into the hills to get a different angle and almost immediately start spotting green streaks over our heads. It's not so dark yet so we find a different spot where the tree line will add an extra dimension to the photos we are hoping to capture. And then we wait.

We're out earlier tonight so we have more hanging around time. A couple start to feel too chilled and decamp to the van for some respite. The rest of us hang on just for a little longer, and then maybe a little longer more.

Then in the wee small hours the light show happens. Suddenly the green streaks across the sky over our heads and it's so bright. Much brighter than last night and vivid, like a child has grabbed a neon crayon and is scribbling across the inky black. For some reason Van Gogh's Starry Night is evoked by the Kermit green swirls.

Eventually we tear ourselves away and crawl back to our beds sated, but very tired, fingers crossed, another set of Northern Lights photographs hopefully secured.

 

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Day 228: snail party!

If I happen to passing the end of the road after a rain shower, I have to look to see if the coniferous hedge is host to any snails. And today there is a veritable carpet of the gastropods all slithering around the spiky needles. I have no idea I'd they live inside the hedge and mainly emerge after a dousing. Or perhaps they live closer to the ground and after rain, for fear of being drowned, they crawl up to the top of the hedge.

As a non-gardener I don't feel extreme hatred for snails, and rather like them so produce a little photo montage of today's favourites. Now if they had no shells, and were merely slugs, absolutely no photos, ever. Yuck, yuck, yuck!

 

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Day 227: spidey senses!

Some days the first thing I spot on leaving my house is the subject of my daily photograph. And today it is a spider in her web that I sense after I've closed the front gate.

I am using close-up filters as this isn't a giant spider, thankfully. If it was a scarily enormous spider, I wouldn't be standing there taking a photograph, I'd be running!

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Day 220: outfoxing the fox!

The urban fox is a wily creature; we have many around the streets where I live, especially as many years ago the next door neighbours used to put food out for them every night. So either old foxes have very long memories or the legend of the nightly feast has been passed down through the foxy generations. But they are tricky to photograph, they cross your path in the dark and the moment you've raised your camera, they have slunk off into the shadows.

I'm approaching home much earlier than I do on a normal school night, and I'm surprised to see Mr Fox isn't waiting for the dark to explore the gardens in the vain hope there's an early evening snack for his troubles. He runs across my path and then across the road to hide behind the parked cars. But a neighbour is grabbing something from their boot which makes the fox feel uncomfortable, so he's on the move again. I was hoping if I stood on the pavement where I last saw him, he would saunter back. And for once he did.

It’s not the best of fox shots, but by far the most legible I’ve achieved yet. And then another one of my neighbours, sporting a most unflattering day-glo lycra outfit, rather gets in the way of my photo but on the other hand, he kind of makes it! I often see him at the bus stop in the morning, and his business attire is definitely way slicker!

 

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Day 206: I saw a mouse...

If I'm catching one of the last tubes on the Westbound Jubilee line you can often spot dark mice scurrying across the platform. But only if there's not too many people wandering about. Despite the mice being super speedy they don't like to be out if the passengers are standing around or a tube is approaching. I'm always trying to get a photo, but they are wily and normally the moment you might just have been able to sneak up on one, some heavy footed passenger stomps up behind you and the rodent scarpers. But it's past midnight and I'm sat on a bench clutching my camera hoping one might emerge if I stay still. I can see a tail twitching enticingly from beneath the Jubilee line barrier and wait. It's lurking too close to the the shadows for a decent photo and then suddenly it makes a run for it and a fire off a quick shot. It's not the perfect London tube mouse picture, but it'll suffice until I can get a better one. And knowing my predilection for late night tubes, I'll have other opportunities.

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Day 201: pointing at snails

The coniferous hedge at the end of my road is a snail haven. Especially if there has been rain, the snails emerge and bask amongst the needles. Today I spotted the tiniest of baby snails and I passed by; the shell was so delicate and translucent. I thought I should try and show the scale of said snail by pointing at it in a "look, here is a miniature snail" sort of way!

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Day 193: Bertie the bee

I do like photographing flowers and particularly like catching a bee (with a musical buzz?) visiting a flower in search of pollen. This vibrant pink flower is host to two busy bees. I am rather surprised that my enthusiasm for such a shot hadn't gotten me stung yet. I do get pretty close, but I'm hoping the delicious pollen is more alluring than me!

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Day 168: happy ducks

I'm back at Canary Wharf and killing some time in Jubilee Gardens checking up on my email. There are a couple of raised water features adding to the peaceful atmosphere. My only niggle is that someone on a bench out of my sight is puffing on a cigar. Yes it's an open space but cigar smoke is so pervasive and is marring the tranquillity. I think it might be time to move.

As I walk past one of the brick fountains I espy a pair of ducks enjoying a water bath. It seems a perfect photographic moment so I whip out my Leica. I'm able to get pretty close as they're happily preoccupied. The female of the pair kept trying to tuck her head under her wing and left me with an alarming picture of a headless duck. I have some great shots with the drake waving its webbed foot in my direction but its decapitated mate in the background rather ruined it for me. So I hung around until they both revealed their glossy eyes again. Some others behind me brandishing their iPhones also trying to get a nice angle on the couple and we're pondering why they are both standing on one leg. My understanding is that ducks (and other feathered friends) stand on one leg in the water to regulate their temperature. As there seemed to be a queue forming behind me, I thought I better leave the ducks, and the other photographers, to it.

 

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Day 157: very safe baby snails

A-A told me last week that her son S has taken to rescuing any snails that are slithering along in their path. He fears that if they don't painstakingly round them up, someone might inadvertently step on one. This morning I spotted the hedge at the bottom of my road was host to a multitude of baby snails. They really do seem to enjoy this conifer hedge especially after a downpour. I was trying to capture a shot with three little snail but the third zoomed away (yes, baby snails can zoom) before I had a chance. I thought that S might enjoy a photograph of happy and very safe snails!

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Day 132: more extreme close-up

I found a pair of Tiffen 43mm close-up filters but they didn’t arrive in time for the macro photography workshop at Kew. I have kept my stack of 39mm B+W close-up filters from my previous Leica but the need to step down really causes a vignetting problem sometimes. When I have time I will set up a tiny subject, a tripod and run a comparison test between the superior optics, smaller filters with the new larger (both in stature and close-up ratio) Tiffens. It will be interesting to see how marked the difference is.

I wanted to try them out on something small so this insect on a daisy seems as good as subject as any. With such magnification my thoughts turn to focus stacking that Heather taught us about last week. That means a foray onto the wen seeking reasonable focus rails to sit on top of your tripod and give you the precision for the focus slices.

 

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Day 123: busy chasing bees

I'm preparing for the Heather Angel macro flower workshop in Kew Gardens on Tuesday and thought I'd get my eye in stalking the blooms on my doorstep. Now I know these are called fairy bells I'm even more drawn to them and today the bees are pretty keen too. I am rather aware that screwing on a couple of close-up filters means I have to get awfully close to a bee getting busy and hope the abundant pollen is way more appealing that me.

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Day 122: run squirrel, run!

There I am minding my own business crouching down photographing some flowers and a large rustling sound above my head catches my attention. There's a serious squirrel rumpus going on in the tree next to the flower bed. I whip my close-up filter off, open the aperture and see if I can capture (photographically) the noisy grey perpetrators in action. They were wily but I saw a possibility of a silhouetted image. It's not black and white but almost seems so.

 

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