Gone Owling

 

 

With the dodgy weather and rain disrupting night hunting, I had a wander out on Thursday to see if I could spot any Barn owls out in daylight hours.  Luckily there are two nesting about a mile away from home which I spotted hunting in a field that was reasonably accessible.  Unfortunately there was no late burst of sunshine to light them up, but I did get a few high ISO, 400mm photos of them in the overcast light. 

 

We had a lovely burst of sunlight Friday evening, but no sign of the owls anywhere.  Unfortunately, although I have time to waste at the moment, I have injured my foot, so my fledgling owl shooting project is already put on hold - hopefully for just a couple of days - until I can sneak around again.

 

 

 

Thailand - Environmental

 

Photos from our wanderings on the motorcycles we hired in Chiang Mai, after taking an overnight train from Bangkok.  Much of the north is at higher altitude, is cooler and less humid than the south, full of jungle valleys and beautifully winding roads.  From the farmland and paddy fields, to the night bizarres, street food stalls and vibrantly lit evenings, it was a fantastic tour. 

 

From the far north, near the recently opened up Myanmar (Burma) border, to the amazing Laos border, to Phayao lake - flooded 70 odd years ago for irrigation, submerging a 15th century temple (!?), to the flower markets of Chiang Mai and then down to the islands of the Gulf of Thailand.  Hopefully the photos below give glimpses of the memories I collected along the way.



Farmland in the north west of Thailand with irrigation gullies and corrugated shelters
ISO100, 160mm, f/14, 1/125s, -0.6ev

Reflected temples and food stalls in Mae Hong Son, NW Thailand
ISO1600, 35mm, f/2.8, 1/30s, -1ev, noise reduction

Unloading flowers at Chiang Mai flower market
ISO2000, 200mm, f/5, 1/160s, -0.6ev, noise reduction

Thatched huts near Pai at Sunset
ISO320, 16mm, f/14, composite of bracketed images, cropped

Water buffalo with customary White Vented Myna birds on board
ISO100, 400mm, f/5.6, 1/640s, -0.6ev

Sunset overlooking the border village of Phu Chi Fa in the mountains near Laos
ISO100, 32mm, f/8, 30s, camera resting on our balcony (where "balcony" describes a rickety old overhanging ledge with creaking wooden railings)

Sunset fisherwoman in a canoe on Phayao lake
ISO100, 120mm, f/4.5, 1/400s, +0.3ev, cropped

Suitably tropical looking pontoon on Koh Wai island
ISO100, 35mm, f/11, 1/200s, -0.6ev, cropped

Thailand - People

 

One of the things I love about travelling is the bustling markets, vibrant stalls and fascinating repair shops to be found, wonderfully free of the shackles of health & safety or conformism.

 

I'm certainly not a regular of candid portraits (besides wedding photography), but I did try hard on the Thailand trip to push myself in this direction a little more.  Thai people were certainly more willing to agree to be photographed than in Morocco, certainly without asking for payment/compensation, which was handy and less disheartening.

 

Top photo - probably one of my favourite of the tour - mending electric motors in a small alcove filled with useful trinkets and hand tools.  I got in nice and close to shoot through the foreground gadgets, took a handful of shots and left with a reciprocated smile, a thank you and a wai.

 

2nd row left - Mountain girl with puppy - taken in a remote mountain village on the Laos boarder, full of traders and visitors to the regional Miss Hill Tribe contest.  I have shots of that which may make it into a "rejects" post, but this was my favourite of the day, taken in a quieter part of the village.

 

2nd row right and 3rd row - stall owners in Chiang Mai's Chinese new year celebration market, full of all kinds of delicacies, most complete with legs, wings, beaks or shells .. but (mostly) very delicious and we ate as much as we physically could.

 

2nd from bottom - a craft shop, in the back streets of Bangkok.  This guy was a bit shy (jaded?) and I had to settle for a back shot, but the lighting and variety of nik-naks are great.  The un-intentional placement of my reflection in the mirror top right really elevates it for me (didn't even notice it at the time until I was processing it).

 

Bottom shot - trying to capture the wider vibe of a street flower market. I had popped out to photograph the scooter rider with the tablet, with the market in the background, then noticed the senior gent pulling a hand cart up the road, so waited for him to join the scene.  Unfortunately I didn't compensate for the lens distortion that I've inherited while using my 16-35mm on the 5D3 (full frame) and the correction took him a bit close to the edge of the frame, however I still love the framing of all the mini-scenes in one shot, all the details and elements that make it up.  Shade from stalls out of shot on the left made a vignette looking shadow on one side, so I've tried to balance that up .. it perhaps looks a little odd, but believe me an apparent one sided vignette looks stranger.

 

 

ISO2500, 27mm, f/2.8, 1/40s, -0.7ev

ISO4000, 27mm, f/4, 1/40s, +0.7ev

ISO2500, 23mm, f/9, 1/40s

ISO640, 18mm, f/6.3, 1/30s

A day in the garden

 

 

Too hot to run, move furniture or do much DIY .. time for a chilled out day spent in the garden with the 105mm macro lens.  The goal: to produce a montage to summarise the summer colours.  No butterflies or anything from the pond, but still pretty colourful.

 

 

Thailand - Temples

 

Ok .. so to say that these Thailand photos are a little over due is like saying it took a while to build the Taj Mahal!  .. but here they are anyway, at least the first batch.

 

Taken from all around Thailand during our 4 week tour of Bangkok, northern Thailand and a couple of the islands in the south east.  Thankfully none from Tiger Temple - I love Tigers, which is the reason why we didn't go there.

 

More Thailand photos to come soon ..

 

As far as actually using my camera lately, things have been a little sparse still, thanks to DIY, garden projects etc etc .. blah blah blah .. usual excuses.  It is hopefully approaching a period of a bit more balance and I can get back into the groove of going out some more, processing and blogging a bunch more shots.  I have a few from a trip to Savernake in May to process, as well as a couple of snaps from Cornwall to do too, which will hopefully get done soon .. or at least before I go on the next bike tour to the Alps for another three and a half weeks.