As a motorist I hate it when it snows but as a photographer I love the effect that the 'white stuff' has on the landscape. Last week, after some snow had fallen two days before, I took the opportunity to head off into the Vale of Belvoir and started at Redmile, just 5 miles from Grantham.
Things didn't start so well as the Vale was shrouded in mist and the light was grey and flat. Walking along the Grantham Canal I decided to look for some details to focus on while I waited for the fog to lift. I spotted some footprints in the snow left by a Moorhen or Coot that led through the reeds to the frozen canal. Putting the legs on my Slik tripod on their lowest settings I was able to get a series of shots looking along the line of footprints.
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| Nikon D300S - Sigma 10-20mm f4/f5.6 at 14mm - 1/25 @ f11 |
Meanwhile the mist had begun to lift and the church spire at Redmile could now be seen. I set the tripod up with the canal and reeds in the foreground and a ND grad filter to tone down the brightening sky.
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| Nikon D300S - Sigma 10-20 f4/5.6 at 10mm - 1/25 @ f16 |
As I headed back to the bridge and the car I spotted some very bright coloured Lichen on the fence and on a tree in the hedge. Out came the 60mm macro lens and a series of close up shots were taken, recording the detail and colour of the lichen 'Xanthoria' including this shot which is my personal favourite from the sequence.
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| Nikon D300S - Nikon 60mm f2.8 Micro - 1/160 @ f8 |
As these shots were being taken, a inquisitive Robin decided to sit on the fence just beyond the effective range of the lens I was using so a quick change to the 50-500 telephoto but the Robin flew off before I could take a shot. However a few minutes later he was back and three shots were taken before he was off again. However, I forgot to increase the ISO rating on the camera and the shutter speed was at a lowly 1/80s and when I looked at the pictures all but one of the shots were blurred. However luckily I braced myself against a tree and this shot was perfect.
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| Nikon D300S - Sigma 50-500 f4/6.3 at 320mm - 1/80 @f6.3 |
I headed back to the car to drive to the next location I'd picked out on the map at Stathern, but more on that next week. Here is a selection of the other images I took at Redmile
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| Nikon D300S - Sigma 10-20 f4/5.6 at 10mm - 1/100 @ f16 |
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| Nikon D300S - Sigma 10-20 f4/5.6 at 10mm - 1/500 @ f11 |
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| Nikon D300S - Nikon 80-200 f2.8 at 160mm - 1/200 @ f11 |
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| Nikon D300S - Nikon 60mm f2.8 Micro - 1/250 @ f8 |
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| Nikon D300S - Nikon 60mm f2.8 Micro - 1/60 @ f5.6 |
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