# On your doorstep!!!



## Tony W (Aug 23, 2009)

You don't have to travel miles to get nice shots of wildlife...there's more on your doorstep than you think!!!









(Stag) Correction....Buck, thanks Kev... shot through my lounge window...:2thumb:









Bumble Bee....









Mute and young...









Whooper....not as close as the others...lol









Dunnock....









Jay....









Fledgling Mistle Thrush....









Caterpillar...Peacock??? Not sure....









Mallard Drake....









Robin....


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## kettykev (May 15, 2009)

Lovely pictures, don't want to be too pedantic but the Stag is a Buck.


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## Tony W (Aug 23, 2009)

You don't sound pedantic at all...if anything you sound learned...

*Definition:*
*STAG*
_1. mature male deer: an adult male deer, especially a male red deer_

I read especially...not exclusively....however, Buck will do nicely...or mature male deer...as you like!!


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## kettykev (May 15, 2009)

The males of some species are known as Stags, male Fallow deer are known as Bucks.


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## Tony W (Aug 23, 2009)

Thanks, as stated, a Buck will do nicely!!:2thumb:


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## emma90 (Jan 28, 2010)

really nice pics, can i ask what camera your using and what lens?


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## Tony W (Aug 23, 2009)

emma90 said:


> really nice pics, can i ask what camera your using and what lens?


Hi Emma,

The photos were shot with D300 and D700 can't remember which took which without looking at the photo info, little to choose between them for close subjects anyway IMO...Nikkor 80-400VR [the Buck], 70-300VR all others less the caterpillar and bumblebee shot with a Nikkor 105VR micro [if you're nikon, I've never worked that out] macro for everyone else....the Nikkor 70-300 is my favourite, it's cheap has good enough range for my needs and is quick enough in favourable light.


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## Testudo Man (Aug 3, 2005)

Some great shots here...vibrant colours etc.

Can I ask what editing you do for your photos? as in contrast/sharpness/levels etc....No offence is meant by this at all.


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## Tony W (Aug 23, 2009)

Testudo Man said:


> Some great shots here...vibrant colours etc.
> 
> Can I ask what editing you do for your photos? as in contrast/sharpness/levels etc....No offence is meant by this at all.


None taken...if the downloaded photo looks like an honest representation of what I've see, none....I'll work on a poorer image if I feel that a minor tweak is necessary to bring it to that standard.

I crop a lot of my photos, apply a little contrast to have a subject stand out or show detail a little more if required. Sharpness isn't really a problem, for me the image is sharp and focussed where you need it to be or it's not.... 

I don't know whether that answered your question or not really...if I feel I've blown the shot on the ground, I'll work on it if it's able to become representative of what I observed....the other thing that I do practise and advocate is taking as many pics as you can of a particular subject...odds are a few, maybe more, are bound to be acceptable out of say 15-20 odd photos...

How many shots of that super cool water vole did you take and how many from that batch did you think were worthy? If you only took 3-4 shots and posted whatever you took...:notworthy: you're on another level...I still need to take as many shots as I'm reasonably able to select an appropriate one or two....sometimes I surprise myself though and can turn in a goodish result first time:2thumb:

I was just going to post and I saw your vibrant colour comment...:lol2: my colour setting on the Nikon are set to VIVID for me this is great [as I'm a colour fan] and has produced great representative colour in most of my shots...Don't ask me to elaborate on my camera settings a good person to look up and read is Ken Rockwell...though some may disagree!!


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## Testudo Man (Aug 3, 2005)

Tony W said:


> None taken...if the downloaded photo looks like an honest representation of what I've see, none....I'll work on a poorer image if I feel that a minor tweak is necessary to bring it to that standard.
> 
> I crop a lot of my photos, apply a little contrast to have a subject stand out or show detail a little more if required. Sharpness isn't really a problem, for me the image is sharp and focussed where you need it to be or it's not....
> 
> ...


Thanks for your very informative reply mate...

Im all for taking as many pics of the subject as possible, because you will kick yourself, if you miss a good chance, through not getting enough shots in(especially when factors such as subject matter, distance, weather conditions etc) could influence the final outcome...
I think I took less than 10 shots for those water vole pics, in the space of a few minutes...I would say roughly 25% of all my shots are keepers, the rest will be deleted...Im only using a bridge camera, so I need to take those extra shots, especially if longer distances are involved:whistling2:...

My basic editing for the majority of my photos is- between 5 and 15% contrast(or I just use auto contrast) then sharpen, then noise, and most pics are cropped/resized...I only use auto contrast if there is a slight change in the outcome, it it changes the apperance of the pic too much, then i will do it manually...

The fact that your camera is set on vivid, might be why I asked you, because your pics really stand out colour wise.


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## xvickyx (Jul 21, 2009)

Beautiful shots 

Can't wait to get my camera back from repair & start snapping again...


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