Make the best of a bad day
You organise your trip well in advance, book a hide and look forward to a day photographing birds. You picture a beautiful day with soft light and perfect conditions … and those rare birds arrive and pose perfectly. The reality is often different. The weather doesn’t play ball, and this is often the case in England. On some days out I have come home with little worth processing on the computer – the light was dull, the clouds thick and dark and the wildlife didn’t fancy showing up. We take this as part of the challenge, and in some ways it makes those gorgeous days when all the elements come together so memorable. But what to do when the day is poor? Improvise. Practice techniques, take a risk and do something different …
I had booked a small hide in Wiltshire, England for February this year well in advance. As I drove the 100 or so miles through the emerging dawn, I didn’t hold up much hope for a good day. The weather forecasted was appalling, and it turned out to be correct. It was raining heavily, the strong breeze was bending the trees along the road and the thick dark clouds were prolonging the night.
To add insult to injury the hide was north-west facing and the strong wind was bearing down straight at me. The flimsy mesh provided no protection and the rain was almost horizontal and in my face. It was also only 4 degrees Celsius. Well – I was still hoping to spot a Tree Sparrow which the area is known for, and which is on the Red list in the UK and hard to find. I had discounted any great shots due to the conditions, but if I could capture a new bird the day wouldn’t be totally lost.
The Tree Sparrow never appeared, and the conditions did not improve. The Starlings were out in force and as the above picture illustrates, they found it hard to battle against the wind. With little to photograph apart from a few Starlings and Chaffinches I sat back and observed the birds and their patterns as they flew from the hedges to the feeders put out to entice birds to come close to the hide. The Chaffinches had a particular favourite feeder, which was swinging wildly in the wind. To get to the food they had to hover for a few seconds before managing to land on the feeder perch – getting the timing right with the movement of the feeder.
Here was an opportunity to try something different. To try to capture a hovering Chaffinch with the head in focus but with extensive wing blur. I attached my remote cord, focused the 700mm (500mm f4 with 1.4 converter) on a spot in front of the feeder, and set a slow 1/200s shutter. A shutter speed which would be enough to freeze the head of the bird as it hovered for a second or so, but slow enough to create extensive wing blur as the wings flapped at speed to hold the bird still in the strong wind. With the poor light this shutter speed allowed an acceptable ISO 1600 wide open at f5.6. The DoF was tiny at around 2-3cm (1 inch) so predicting the hover spot and hitting the shutter at the right time would be key. The remote shutter release is important here as it is difficult to react fast enough by looking through the viewfinder.
Every 5 minutes or so a Chaffinch would dive from the hedge and fleetingly hover before attempting to land on the feeder bopping around in the wind. And I would hit the remote shutter to try to capture the action. By trial and error, I would refine the lens position and the focus point and after a few attempts I got a few acceptable shots.
So, the day wasn’t one of those I will remember for a long time, but it was still a good day out. Trying something different in the wet and cold was worth it, and I did manage to add a new bird to the list. Not the elusive Tree Sparrow, but a sole Brambling which was part of the flock of Chaffinches braving this somewhat miserable February day. So, it was worth the trip – never give up on a less-than-promising day out in nature! … and I have to go back for the Tree Sparrow!