DGPix Wildlife & Nature Photography

Swallow Arrivals The swallows make their way here every year from South Africa where they spend the winter - on the way back here they can cover 200 miles a day, not bad for a wee bird!  You can get some great shots of these birds as they gather nest materials and mud, or later as they feed the fledgling young outside of the nest. Gear This image was created using the Canon 7Dmk2 and Sigma 150-600mm C lens, rested on a beanbag on the hide window ledge.  The shot This one was awfully underexposed coming out of the camera, a mixture of low ISO, and total lack of sun at the moment of shutter click!  As always, its easier to save an under exposed shot than an over exposed one. But in an ideal world, the sun would have stayed and I would have little to do in Lightroom: This image was shot at 1/250s at F/6.3 with ISO160 @600mm.  Under exposure was inevitable with the sun just dipping behind cloud before firing off the shot - aperture priority was used ...

Migrant Arrivals Lots of visiting birds arrive this time of year, and it's good to see the numbers steadily increasing. Wheatear, Blackcap, Willow warbler, Sedge Warbler, Blackcap, Common Tern to name a few, gave great views the past week.  I spent some time with my relatively new lens, the Sigma 150-600mm Contemporary snapping the birds as they arrived out on the point of Oxford Island.  Oh, and some of the natives feature too 😉 We've had some decent weather and light too, giving the chance for ideal over-the-shoulder sunlight. Female Wheatear Not often seen on my local spot, the wheatear is always a pleasure to photograph, with fine wing bar details and striking supercilium through the eye.  The female is predictably drabber than the male, but no less beautiful. Raw to JPEG Workflow : Using the central focal point as almost always, the below image was created using the Canon EOS 7DMk2, Sigma 150-600m Contemporary lens, handheld with OS set to 1 on the le...