River Avon

Bleedin’ Taters*

| paulamyes
The secret to time lapsing is having a comfortable chair to sit in while you wait for the shoot to finish.

Got up at “stupid o’clock” the other morning to try out a new bit of time lapsing equipment. Streuth it was cold, and as I drove down to Monger’s Crossing I mused that the brass monkey would be tucked up at home in bed if he was sensible. A Swedish friend of mine once told me that there’s no such thing as cold weather just poor clothing choices. Well I took Matts’ advice to heart and I had more layers  than an onion.  On reaching the river it was dark and foggy, not the most photogenic conditions, but I thought for the purpose of this test it would be OK.  So I set  up the camera and sat down to wait for it to shoot one frame every twenty seconds for one hour.

The Canon EOS 550d and Sigma 17-50mm f2.8 OS on the Syrp Genie Mini pan and tilt kit.The observant will have noticed that the camera is held together with gaffer tape.

I tried watching a video on my iPod but it was so cold that the battery ran flat real quick so I thought I’d take a few pictures of my companions on the river bank.

 

A yellow billed spoon bill searching for food on a cold and misty morning on the banks of the River Avon. York, Western Australia.

 

A white-faced heron wading on the banks of the River Avon on a misty winter’s morning. York, Western Australia.

As to the time-lapse, well bearing in mind it was just a test to see how it worked, well it was a reasonable first attempt. The only downside was that the camera sensor was filthy and that meant a lot of cloning in Photoshop.

 

 

* English is pretty confusing at the best of times for non native speakers. “Taters in mould” is Cockney rhyming slang for cold.

Autumn On The Avon

| paulamyes
Eastern Great Egret
An eastern great egret (Ardea alba modesta) waiting patiently in the morning mist on the Avon River. York, Western Australia. Sony A7r with Sony FE 28-70mm F3.5-5.6 OSS lens. Exposure: 1/160 sec, f8 at ISO 400.

How the seasons have changed. It was the height of summer when I posted Tales From The River Bank and now we are at the end of autumn. We’ve had a lot of foggy mornings which always makes me think of Captain Mark Phillips the ex-husband of Princess Anne. Rumour has it that Prince Charles nicknamed him Foggy because he was thick and wet. Well the fog has certainly been thick and wet here lately.

 

Autumnal Morning
The autumn mist on the Avon River in York, Western Australia. Olympus OMD EM-1 with OLYMPUS M.40-150mm F2.8 lens. Exposure: 1/160 sec, f8 at ISO 1600.

 

Tales From The Riverbank

| paulamyes
Yellow-billed Spoonbill (Platalea flavipes) on the banks of the River Avon in York, Western Australia. Olympus OMD EM1 with OLYMPUS M.75-300mm F4.8-6.7 II lens. Exposure: 1/250 s at f/6.7 ISO 800.

 

There’s no denying that summer and autumn here in the Wheatbelt of Western Australia is hot. The best time of day is just after sun up – the air is cool and refreshing. That is when I take Frida for her daily walk. Sometimes I also take a camera as well and on this morning I was rewarded with this yellow-billed spoonbill backlit by the sun.