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617 results for “autolycus”
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Another #daytime #photograph of the #Moon, this time in its #WaxingGibbous phase. Like the other #day image, this one was taken with #AutoFocus and #AperturePriority mode.
#MyWork #MyPhoto #CCBYSA #DSLR #Nikon #D7000 #BackyardAstronomy #AmateurAstronomy #Gibbous
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Viltrox Adds Compact 40mm f/2.5 AF Lens to its Full-Frame Nikon Z Lineup https://petapixel.com/2024/04/25/viltrox-adds-compact-40mm-f-2-5-af-lens-to-its-full-frame-nikon-z-lineup/ #viltrox40mmf25 #autofocuslens #nikonzmount #Equipment #primelens #viltrox #nikonz #zmount #nikon #News
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🔥 Tests en cours du Falcon A1 PRO de Creality !
20W de laser, autofocus IA, caméra intelligente…
Premières découpes bluffantes, verdict complet bientôt sur www.framboise314.fr
#FalconA1PRO #Laser #Makers #Creality #Tests -
Viltrox AF 56mm f/1.7 XF Review: Fantastic Images at a Budget Price https://petapixel.com/2024/05/29/viltrox-af-56mm-f-1-7-xf-review-fantastic-images-at-a-budget-price/ #viltroxaf56mmf17 #affordablelens #fujifilmxmount #autofocuslens #fujifilmlens #Equipment #primelens #fujifilm #Reviews #viltrox #xmount
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Viltrox AF 56mm f/1.7 XF Review: Fantastic Images at a Budget Price https://petapixel.com/2024/05/29/viltrox-af-56mm-f-1-7-xf-review-fantastic-images-at-a-budget-price/ #viltroxaf56mmf17 #affordablelens #fujifilmxmount #autofocuslens #fujifilmlens #Equipment #primelens #fujifilm #Reviews #viltrox #xmount
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Viltrox AF 56mm f/1.7 XF Review: Fantastic Images at a Budget Price https://petapixel.com/2024/05/29/viltrox-af-56mm-f-1-7-xf-review-fantastic-images-at-a-budget-price/ #viltroxaf56mmf17 #affordablelens #fujifilmxmount #autofocuslens #fujifilmlens #Equipment #primelens #fujifilm #Reviews #viltrox #xmount
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Viltrox AF 56mm f/1.7 XF Review: Fantastic Images at a Budget Price https://petapixel.com/2024/05/29/viltrox-af-56mm-f-1-7-xf-review-fantastic-images-at-a-budget-price/ #viltroxaf56mmf17 #affordablelens #fujifilmxmount #autofocuslens #fujifilmlens #Equipment #primelens #fujifilm #Reviews #viltrox #xmount
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Have to say I am quite happy with the auto focus on both my Nikon D850 and Z9 (These were shot with the D850. In one there was a power line running through and the other a cyclone fence and wires and it still stuck to the fast moving plane #camera #cameratalk #AF #autofocus #nikon #photography
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Have to say I am quite happy with the auto focus on both my Nikon D850 and Z9 (These were shot with the D850. In one there was a power line running through and the other a cyclone fence and wires and it still stuck to the fast moving plane #camera #cameratalk #AF #autofocus #nikon #photography
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Have to say I am quite happy with the auto focus on both my Nikon D850 and Z9 (These were shot with the D850. In one there was a power line running through and the other a cyclone fence and wires and it still stuck to the fast moving plane #camera #cameratalk #AF #autofocus #nikon #photography
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Should You Get a Nikon Zf or Nikon Z6 III? The Difference is More Than Just Styling https://petapixel.com/2024/09/21/should-you-get-a-nikon-zf-or-nikon-z6-iii-the-difference-is-more-than-just-styling/ #autofocuscomparison #wildlifephotography #analogphotography #sportsphotography #streetphotography #retrophotography #sportsandaction #hybridcameras #versusbattle #Comparisons #comparison #nikonz6iii #Equipment #Reviews #nikonzf #vintage
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Holographic imaging meets innovation! A PGD-based method reduces artifacts, while model-matching autofocus enhances precision, both tested at PETRA III @DESYnews, Hamburg.
Read about these breakthroughs in our latest CONNECT blog post 👉 https://connect.helmholtz-imaging.de/blog_gallery/blogpost/10
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Holographic imaging meets innovation! A PGD-based method reduces artifacts, while model-matching autofocus enhances precision, both tested at PETRA III @DESYnews, Hamburg.
Read about these breakthroughs in our latest CONNECT blog post 👉 https://connect.helmholtz-imaging.de/blog_gallery/blogpost/10
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Holographic imaging meets innovation! A PGD-based method reduces artifacts, while model-matching autofocus enhances precision, both tested at PETRA III @DESYnews, Hamburg.
Read about these breakthroughs in our latest CONNECT blog post 👉 https://connect.helmholtz-imaging.de/blog_gallery/blogpost/10
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Holographic imaging meets innovation! A PGD-based method reduces artifacts, while model-matching autofocus enhances precision, both tested at PETRA III @DESYnews, Hamburg.
Read about these breakthroughs in our latest CONNECT blog post 👉 https://connect.helmholtz-imaging.de/blog_gallery/blogpost/10
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Nikon Z6 III’s First Major Firmware Update Adds Bird AF, Auto Capture, and C2PA https://petapixel.com/2025/08/26/nikon-z6-iiis-first-major-firmware-update-adds-bird-af-auto-capture-and-c2pa/ #contentauthenticity #nikonz6iiifirmware #nikonimagingcloud #nikonz6iii #Equipment #autofocus #firmware #wildlife #remote #birds #News #C2PA
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Nikon Z6 III’s First Major Firmware Update Adds Bird AF, Auto Capture, and C2PA https://petapixel.com/2025/08/26/nikon-z6-iiis-first-major-firmware-update-adds-bird-af-auto-capture-and-c2pa/ #contentauthenticity #nikonz6iiifirmware #nikonimagingcloud #nikonz6iii #Equipment #autofocus #firmware #wildlife #remote #birds #News #C2PA
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The second Ballroom walker had the most incredible hair! Unfortunately, my camera’s autofocus struggled, and many shots turned out blurry. But luckily, I captured this one that shows off those vibrant hues! #GatherRoundKikiBall #KikiBall #Vogue #Kiki #Ballroom #BallroomCulture #NYCEvents #ManhattanWest #ManhattanWestNYC #ManhattanWestPlaza #SonyCamera #SonyA7RV #Sony35mm14gm #AdobeLightroom #ShortstacheEverydayFilter
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Birds in the Bluebells
Bluebell season is in full swing right now. Anywhere I go at the moment there are swathes of bluebells, whether that’s in gardens, along the verges of the Brighton Main Line, or – yes – even along the heritage railway named after them. I love the bluebells. There is little I love more than seeing a massive carpet of them in a field or across the floor of a forest.
Kit ListCanon EOS R6 Mk IICanon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM Jump to GalleryFor Christmas my wife bought me an assortment of photography experience days. I’ve already been on one – the photos of which are waiting patiently to be posted – but for my second I discovered that a bird of prey centre near me holds photography workshops of owls amongst bluebells. The idea of beautiful owls – especially any with gloriously contrasting orange eyes – amongst a sea of bluebells was hard to resist. So last week I headed over to the UK Owl and Raptor Centre for a morning of owls and bluebells.
The setup for the day was pretty simple. There were only three of us attending the session, as well as a bird handler or two, and a professional photographer who was on hand to help out with settings and guidance. We saw four birds, each of which did a mixture of flying and posing, depending on their temperament. And, almost as if they knew me, after the session was over they sent details of the birds with their names and species, which means for once I can state confidently what these birds are. Given the nature of what we were shooting, I exclusively used my super telephoto lens. A quick note on that – throughout this post you will see my aperture changing a lot. Sometimes that was a manual choice, but most of the time it’s because this lens doesn’t have a constant aperture – it’s f/4.5 at the widest zoom, and f/7.1 and the maximum zoom.
We started with Kofi, a Verreaux’s eagle owl. With them we started out posing.
1/1600sec, f/5, ISO 3200, 200mmThe main piece of general advice we were given was to set our shutter speeds pretty high – in Kofi’s case, it was around 1/1600th of a second – in order to ensure that once they flew around, which they were liable to do with little warning, you’d still get a sharp image. This did lead to some reasonably high ISOs, even in daylight (although we were in the mottled light of a wooded area).
Almost on queue we got some flight.
1/1600sec, f/5, ISO 4000, 186mmKofi was keen to fly around, hopping between branches and fallen logs, which meant I ended up with some nice dramatic takeoff and flying shots.
1/1600sec, f/6.3, ISO 10000, 400mm 1/1600sec, f/6.3, ISO 5000, 200mm1/1600sec, f/5, ISO 2500, 254mm1/1600sec, f/5, ISO 2500, 159mm1/1600sec, f/4.5, ISO 2000, 100mmEventually he sat still long enough for a shot of him on a log.
1/1600sec, f/5, ISO 2500, 254mm… but not for long.
1/1600sec, f/5, ISO 3200, 167mm1/1600sec, f/4.5, ISO 2500, 123mmOne of the challenges was the mottled light. It looked fantastic, but you had no control over when a bird would land in a patch of light or in shade – or worse, where their head was in shade but their tail was in sun.
1/1600sec, f/5.6, ISO 4000, 300mmIn reality though, Kofi spent most of his time flying between various perches, showing off his impressive wingspan.
1/1600sec, f/4.5, ISO 5000, 135mm1/1600sec, f/4.5, ISO 3200, 135mm1/1600sec, f/4.5, ISO 2500, 109mmAs you might expect, I found it very difficult to select shots from this bird, who gave so many impressive flybys. Sometimes it was almost a relief to get shots that were out of focus and so easy to cut. There are, admittedly, even more options in the gallery at the end of this post.
Next up was Haze, a barn owl. And, if you look really closely, you might be able to spot her handler.
1/1600sec, f/5.6, ISO 2000, 343mmTo be honest, Haze’s flybys caused me a lot more trouble. Time after time my camera struggled to focus, and really the only decent shots of her flying captured by my camera were taken by the pro photographer as she tried to help me dial in settings and figure out why I was struggling. All sorts of settings were changed to try to get the autofocus to play balls, but to little avail. It was only later on, when we were shooting the last bird of the day, that I think I figured out what I was doing wrong: I was framing too wide, giving the autofocus doubt as to what I was trying to focus on. By being overly cautious to not mess up my framing, I ended up missing the shots entirely. I’m glad I figured it out, but it was a bit annoying it happened so late in the day.
Which is in many ways a long-winded way of saying, expect more shots of this bird posing, rather than flying.
1/2000sec, f/5.6, ISO 800, 159mmThe advice we were given when shooting Haze was a faster shutter speed of 1/2000th, because as a smaller owl she moved faster, and to underexpose by at least a full stop to ensure she didn’t blow out as her white plumage moved from shade into the light.
This next shot is one of the few ones I got of her in a proper flight.
1/2000sec, f/5.6, ISO 1000, 135mmThe last time I photographed a barn owl, I found a really good preset that helped bring out the brownish details in their feathers. I didn’t use it much here, because the preset emphasises brown hues whilst dialling back other colours, which robbed the bluebells and green foliage of all their beautiful colour. I did use it once or twice when she landed places where there weren’t too much colour to be lost anyway.
1/2000sec, f/5.6, ISO 320, 186mmI did manage to get a few decent shots of Haze in flight as she took off from spots, including when she took off from the spot above.
1/2000sec, f/5.6, ISO 1250, 128mmIt was still tempting to use the preset, even given it turned the lovely spring leaves into something more autumnal. Definitely one that’s more use in autumn and winter. In this next shot she’d flown off into a more distant tree, requiring me to use all of my zoom range.
1/2000sec, f/7.1, ISO 250, 500mmI did not end up with that many shots of Haze, on account of my issues focussing on her whilst she flew.
Our third bird was a southern white faced owl called Zazu.
1/3200sec, f/7.1, ISO 8000, 500mmZazu was my favourite of the birds we saw this day. She was titchy, but with light grey feathers and those glorious orange eyes. Being smaller still, the shutter speed went another notch faster, up to 1/3200th.
For a few shots I couldn’t resist using the same preset as before, sacrificing the colour of the bluebells in order to bring out those lovely eyes.
1/3200sec, f/6.3, ISO 10000, 400mmAs you can see, whenever she landed in a shady spot, my ISO crept into five figures. Luckily she often landed in less-shady locations.
1/3200sec, f/6.3, ISO 2000, 428mmIt was very easy to get carried away shooting this bird. How could you not?
1/3200sec, f/7.1, ISO 16000, 500mmA few times when she landed on the fallen tree next to her trainer, I broke out the brown preset for some deep oranges.
1/3200sec, f/6.3, ISO 5000, 363mmWhenever she flew, she looked like a dart.
1/3200sec, f/5.6, ISO 2000, 254mmZazu’s colours – various shades of grey with those eyes – matched perfectly with the bluebells and the brown of the logs she would land on.
1/4000sec, f/7.1, ISO 2500, 500mm1/4000sec, f/5.6, ISO 6400, 270mmAs you can see, I decided that 1/3200th wasn’t quite enough, so upped the shutter speed to 1/4000th.
She briefly landed on her trainer’s hand within a reasonable camera range, so I can give you an idea of her diminutive size.
1/4000sec, f/6.3, ISO 3200, 400mmZazu was happy to flit between several different spots, giving us some variety in our shots.
1/1600sec, f/6.3, ISO 1000, 254mmSometimes, he landed in the only little bit of light in an otherwise shady spot.
1/4000sec, f/7.1, ISO 3200, 500mmAlthough I’ve mostly tried to keep the trainers out of these shots (and to be fair, they did an excellent job of staying out of the way), I couldn’t resist this one as a trainer helped Zazu find a piece of food she was missing.
1/4000sec, f/7.1, ISO 3200, 500mmSoon, though, it was time to say goodbye to little Zazu, who stood in one last little spot of light as her swansong.
1/4000sec, f/7.1, ISO 4000, 500mmFinally it was time for the fourth and final bird, a long eared owl called Eileen.
1/2500sec, f/7.1, ISO 8000, 500mmEileen also had a decent knack of flying about and landing in patches of light.
1/2500sec, f/6.3, ISO 4000, 324mmOccasionally, quite close.
1/2500sec, f/8, ISO 3200, 363mmIt was only when we got to Eileen that I finally got the hang of shooting the owls in flight. As I said earlier, it just required the courage to frame closer to the bird so that the autofocus knew what I was actually trying to photograph.
1/2500sec, f/5.6, ISO 4000, 300mmAlthough I was obviously mostly after shots of Eileen flying low over the bluebells, giving a nice colourful backdrop, sometimes the shots with the large trees in the background worked just as nicely.
1/3200sec, f/7.1, ISO 10000, 500mmEileen had no trouble flying. In many ways it was harder to keep her still, she had bags of energy and so was happy to constantly fly up and down the bluebell-strewn area of the wood for us to fill our memory cards. Which obviously gave me the problem in the edit of selecting which shots to keep and which to bin (not that I bin many shots unless they’re a technical write-off – that is, motion blurred, out of focus, or framed so I completely miss the subject).
1/3200sec, f/7.1, ISO 8000, 428mmWhich is to say, here’s a lot of flying photos of an owl.
1/3200sec, f/5.6, ISO 4000, 300mmOn at least one pass she let out a hoot and I captured her with her mouth open.
1/3200sec, f/5.6, ISO 4000, 167mmThe light on Eileen was often uneven – she was probably in the shade in many of the shots above – but sometimes she caught the light.
1/3200sec, f/6.3, ISO 5000, 363mmOccasionally I was able to get away with slightly wider framing to get more bluebells in the shot.
1/3200sec, f/5.6, ISO 4000, 238mmAfter a while, Eileen was more open to the idea of sitting still for brief moments.
1/3200sec, f/6.3, ISO 2500, 451mm1/3200sec, f/7.1, ISO 3200, 500mmWhich also led to some dramatic takeoff shots.
1/3200sec, f/7.1, ISO 3200, 500mmAlthough most of my shots of Eileen in flight are her with spread wings, because that generally looks better, there is also something quite impressive about seeing her wings in a downward position.
1/3200sec, f/6.3, ISO 2500, 400mmWe closed the day with Eileen sitting at the base of a tree, poking her head around. She was, to be fair, a little bemused by the assignment, but eventually we got something workable.
1/3200sec, f/6.3, ISO 3200, 451mm1/3200sec, f/5.6, ISO 2500, 343mmWe got one last post in a spot of light and one last flyby, and then it was time to go home.
1/3200sec, f/7.1, ISO 2000, 472mm1/3200sec, f/5.6, ISO 3200, 128mmThis experience suitably scratched my itch for bluebells and wildlife. It is a little frustrating that it took me a little while to warm into it but I do feel out of the photography ‘zone’ at the moment for reasons I can’t quite fathom. It did also feel nice to photograph something other than trains, because although I love doing that, I’ve not been flexing my other photography muscles much recently.
That said, I am pretty pleased with myself that I’ve been able to take the 1,100 photos I took on this day, edit them, select the best (albeit perhaps with not as much selectiveness as I should have) and post them in the space of only a week.
May is going to start out as a bit of a blue month, because my next post will also feature some sizeable patches of bluebells.
As ever, although moreso in this post than most, there are a lot more shots in the gallery below.
#birds #birdsOfPrey #bluebells #nature #Photography #sussex #travel #wildlife -
Birds in the Bluebells
Bluebell season is in full swing right now. Anywhere I go at the moment there are swathes of bluebells, whether that’s in gardens, along the verges of the Brighton Main Line, or – yes – even along the heritage railway named after them. I love the bluebells. There is little I love more than seeing a massive carpet of them in a field or across the floor of a forest.
Kit ListCanon EOS R6 Mk IICanon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM Jump to GalleryFor Christmas my wife bought me an assortment of photography experience days. I’ve already been on one – the photos of which are waiting patiently to be posted – but for my second I discovered that a bird of prey centre near me holds photography workshops of owls amongst bluebells. The idea of beautiful owls – especially any with gloriously contrasting orange eyes – amongst a sea of bluebells was hard to resist. So last week I headed over to the UK Owl and Raptor Centre for a morning of owls and bluebells.
The setup for the day was pretty simple. There were only three of us attending the session, as well as a bird handler or two, and a professional photographer who was on hand to help out with settings and guidance. We saw four birds, each of which did a mixture of flying and posing, depending on their temperament. And, almost as if they knew me, after the session was over they sent details of the birds with their names and species, which means for once I can state confidently what these birds are. Given the nature of what we were shooting, I exclusively used my super telephoto lens. A quick note on that – throughout this post you will see my aperture changing a lot. Sometimes that was a manual choice, but most of the time it’s because this lens doesn’t have a constant aperture – it’s f/4.5 at the widest zoom, and f/7.1 and the maximum zoom.
We started with Kofi, a Verreaux’s eagle owl. With them we started out posing.
1/1600sec, f/5, ISO 3200, 200mmThe main piece of general advice we were given was to set our shutter speeds pretty high – in Kofi’s case, it was around 1/1600th of a second – in order to ensure that once they flew around, which they were liable to do with little warning, you’d still get a sharp image. This did lead to some reasonably high ISOs, even in daylight (although we were in the mottled light of a wooded area).
Almost on queue we got some flight.
1/1600sec, f/5, ISO 4000, 186mmKofi was keen to fly around, hopping between branches and fallen logs, which meant I ended up with some nice dramatic takeoff and flying shots.
1/1600sec, f/6.3, ISO 10000, 400mm 1/1600sec, f/6.3, ISO 5000, 200mm1/1600sec, f/5, ISO 2500, 254mm1/1600sec, f/5, ISO 2500, 159mm1/1600sec, f/4.5, ISO 2000, 100mmEventually he sat still long enough for a shot of him on a log.
1/1600sec, f/5, ISO 2500, 254mm… but not for long.
1/1600sec, f/5, ISO 3200, 167mm1/1600sec, f/4.5, ISO 2500, 123mmOne of the challenges was the mottled light. It looked fantastic, but you had no control over when a bird would land in a patch of light or in shade – or worse, where their head was in shade but their tail was in sun.
1/1600sec, f/5.6, ISO 4000, 300mmIn reality though, Kofi spent most of his time flying between various perches, showing off his impressive wingspan.
1/1600sec, f/4.5, ISO 5000, 135mm1/1600sec, f/4.5, ISO 3200, 135mm1/1600sec, f/4.5, ISO 2500, 109mmAs you might expect, I found it very difficult to select shots from this bird, who gave so many impressive flybys. Sometimes it was almost a relief to get shots that were out of focus and so easy to cut. There are, admittedly, even more options in the gallery at the end of this post.
Next up was Haze, a barn owl. And, if you look really closely, you might be able to spot her handler.
1/1600sec, f/5.6, ISO 2000, 343mmTo be honest, Haze’s flybys caused me a lot more trouble. Time after time my camera struggled to focus, and really the only decent shots of her flying captured by my camera were taken by the pro photographer as she tried to help me dial in settings and figure out why I was struggling. All sorts of settings were changed to try to get the autofocus to play balls, but to little avail. It was only later on, when we were shooting the last bird of the day, that I think I figured out what I was doing wrong: I was framing too wide, giving the autofocus doubt as to what I was trying to focus on. By being overly cautious to not mess up my framing, I ended up missing the shots entirely. I’m glad I figured it out, but it was a bit annoying it happened so late in the day.
Which is in many ways a long-winded way of saying, expect more shots of this bird posing, rather than flying.
1/2000sec, f/5.6, ISO 800, 159mmThe advice we were given when shooting Haze was a faster shutter speed of 1/2000th, because as a smaller owl she moved faster, and to underexpose by at least a full stop to ensure she didn’t blow out as her white plumage moved from shade into the light.
This next shot is one of the few ones I got of her in a proper flight.
1/2000sec, f/5.6, ISO 1000, 135mmThe last time I photographed a barn owl, I found a really good preset that helped bring out the brownish details in their feathers. I didn’t use it much here, because the preset emphasises brown hues whilst dialling back other colours, which robbed the bluebells and green foliage of all their beautiful colour. I did use it once or twice when she landed places where there weren’t too much colour to be lost anyway.
1/2000sec, f/5.6, ISO 320, 186mmI did manage to get a few decent shots of Haze in flight as she took off from spots, including when she took off from the spot above.
1/2000sec, f/5.6, ISO 1250, 128mmIt was still tempting to use the preset, even given it turned the lovely spring leaves into something more autumnal. Definitely one that’s more use in autumn and winter. In this next shot she’d flown off into a more distant tree, requiring me to use all of my zoom range.
1/2000sec, f/7.1, ISO 250, 500mmI did not end up with that many shots of Haze, on account of my issues focussing on her whilst she flew.
Our third bird was a southern white faced owl called Zazu.
1/3200sec, f/7.1, ISO 8000, 500mmZazu was my favourite of the birds we saw this day. She was titchy, but with light grey feathers and those glorious orange eyes. Being smaller still, the shutter speed went another notch faster, up to 1/3200th.
For a few shots I couldn’t resist using the same preset as before, sacrificing the colour of the bluebells in order to bring out those lovely eyes.
1/3200sec, f/6.3, ISO 10000, 400mmAs you can see, whenever she landed in a shady spot, my ISO crept into five figures. Luckily she often landed in less-shady locations.
1/3200sec, f/6.3, ISO 2000, 428mmIt was very easy to get carried away shooting this bird. How could you not?
1/3200sec, f/7.1, ISO 16000, 500mmA few times when she landed on the fallen tree next to her trainer, I broke out the brown preset for some deep oranges.
1/3200sec, f/6.3, ISO 5000, 363mmWhenever she flew, she looked like a dart.
1/3200sec, f/5.6, ISO 2000, 254mmZazu’s colours – various shades of grey with those eyes – matched perfectly with the bluebells and the brown of the logs she would land on.
1/4000sec, f/7.1, ISO 2500, 500mm1/4000sec, f/5.6, ISO 6400, 270mmAs you can see, I decided that 1/3200th wasn’t quite enough, so upped the shutter speed to 1/4000th.
She briefly landed on her trainer’s hand within a reasonable camera range, so I can give you an idea of her diminutive size.
1/4000sec, f/6.3, ISO 3200, 400mmZazu was happy to flit between several different spots, giving us some variety in our shots.
1/1600sec, f/6.3, ISO 1000, 254mmSometimes, he landed in the only little bit of light in an otherwise shady spot.
1/4000sec, f/7.1, ISO 3200, 500mmAlthough I’ve mostly tried to keep the trainers out of these shots (and to be fair, they did an excellent job of staying out of the way), I couldn’t resist this one as a trainer helped Zazu find a piece of food she was missing.
1/4000sec, f/7.1, ISO 3200, 500mmSoon, though, it was time to say goodbye to little Zazu, who stood in one last little spot of light as her swansong.
1/4000sec, f/7.1, ISO 4000, 500mmFinally it was time for the fourth and final bird, a long eared owl called Eileen.
1/2500sec, f/7.1, ISO 8000, 500mmEileen also had a decent knack of flying about and landing in patches of light.
1/2500sec, f/6.3, ISO 4000, 324mmOccasionally, quite close.
1/2500sec, f/8, ISO 3200, 363mmIt was only when we got to Eileen that I finally got the hang of shooting the owls in flight. As I said earlier, it just required the courage to frame closer to the bird so that the autofocus knew what I was actually trying to photograph.
1/2500sec, f/5.6, ISO 4000, 300mmAlthough I was obviously mostly after shots of Eileen flying low over the bluebells, giving a nice colourful backdrop, sometimes the shots with the large trees in the background worked just as nicely.
1/3200sec, f/7.1, ISO 10000, 500mmEileen had no trouble flying. In many ways it was harder to keep her still, she had bags of energy and so was happy to constantly fly up and down the bluebell-strewn area of the wood for us to fill our memory cards. Which obviously gave me the problem in the edit of selecting which shots to keep and which to bin (not that I bin many shots unless they’re a technical write-off – that is, motion blurred, out of focus, or framed so I completely miss the subject).
1/3200sec, f/7.1, ISO 8000, 428mmWhich is to say, here’s a lot of flying photos of an owl.
1/3200sec, f/5.6, ISO 4000, 300mmOn at least one pass she let out a hoot and I captured her with her mouth open.
1/3200sec, f/5.6, ISO 4000, 167mmThe light on Eileen was often uneven – she was probably in the shade in many of the shots above – but sometimes she caught the light.
1/3200sec, f/6.3, ISO 5000, 363mmOccasionally I was able to get away with slightly wider framing to get more bluebells in the shot.
1/3200sec, f/5.6, ISO 4000, 238mmAfter a while, Eileen was more open to the idea of sitting still for brief moments.
1/3200sec, f/6.3, ISO 2500, 451mm1/3200sec, f/7.1, ISO 3200, 500mmWhich also led to some dramatic takeoff shots.
1/3200sec, f/7.1, ISO 3200, 500mmAlthough most of my shots of Eileen in flight are her with spread wings, because that generally looks better, there is also something quite impressive about seeing her wings in a downward position.
1/3200sec, f/6.3, ISO 2500, 400mmWe closed the day with Eileen sitting at the base of a tree, poking her head around. She was, to be fair, a little bemused by the assignment, but eventually we got something workable.
1/3200sec, f/6.3, ISO 3200, 451mm1/3200sec, f/5.6, ISO 2500, 343mmWe got one last post in a spot of light and one last flyby, and then it was time to go home.
1/3200sec, f/7.1, ISO 2000, 472mm1/3200sec, f/5.6, ISO 3200, 128mmThis experience suitably scratched my itch for bluebells and wildlife. It is a little frustrating that it took me a little while to warm into it but I do feel out of the photography ‘zone’ at the moment for reasons I can’t quite fathom. It did also feel nice to photograph something other than trains, because although I love doing that, I’ve not been flexing my other photography muscles much recently.
That said, I am pretty pleased with myself that I’ve been able to take the 1,100 photos I took on this day, edit them, select the best (albeit perhaps with not as much selectiveness as I should have) and post them in the space of only a week.
May is going to start out as a bit of a blue month, because my next post will also feature some sizeable patches of bluebells.
As ever, although moreso in this post than most, there are a lot more shots in the gallery below.
#birds #birdsOfPrey #bluebells #nature #Photography #sussex #travel #wildlife -
Birds in the Bluebells
Bluebell season is in full swing right now. Anywhere I go at the moment there are swathes of bluebells, whether that’s in gardens, along the verges of the Brighton Main Line, or – yes – even along the heritage railway named after them. I love the bluebells. There is little I love more than seeing a massive carpet of them in a field or across the floor of a forest.
Kit ListCanon EOS R6 Mk IICanon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM Jump to GalleryFor Christmas my wife bought me an assortment of photography experience days. I’ve already been on one – the photos of which are waiting patiently to be posted – but for my second I discovered that a bird of prey centre near me holds photography workshops of owls amongst bluebells. The idea of beautiful owls – especially any with gloriously contrasting orange eyes – amongst a sea of bluebells was hard to resist. So last week I headed over to the UK Owl and Raptor Centre for a morning of owls and bluebells.
The setup for the day was pretty simple. There were only three of us attending the session, as well as a bird handler or two, and a professional photographer who was on hand to help out with settings and guidance. We saw four birds, each of which did a mixture of flying and posing, depending on their temperament. And, almost as if they knew me, after the session was over they sent details of the birds with their names and species, which means for once I can state confidently what these birds are. Given the nature of what we were shooting, I exclusively used my super telephoto lens. A quick note on that – throughout this post you will see my aperture changing a lot. Sometimes that was a manual choice, but most of the time it’s because this lens doesn’t have a constant aperture – it’s f/4.5 at the widest zoom, and f/7.1 and the maximum zoom.
We started with Kofi, a Verreaux’s eagle owl. With them we started out posing.
1/1600sec, f/5, ISO 3200, 200mmThe main piece of general advice we were given was to set our shutter speeds pretty high – in Kofi’s case, it was around 1/1600th of a second – in order to ensure that once they flew around, which they were liable to do with little warning, you’d still get a sharp image. This did lead to some reasonably high ISOs, even in daylight (although we were in the mottled light of a wooded area).
Almost on queue we got some flight.
1/1600sec, f/5, ISO 4000, 186mmKofi was keen to fly around, hopping between branches and fallen logs, which meant I ended up with some nice dramatic takeoff and flying shots.
1/1600sec, f/6.3, ISO 10000, 400mm 1/1600sec, f/6.3, ISO 5000, 200mm1/1600sec, f/5, ISO 2500, 254mm1/1600sec, f/5, ISO 2500, 159mm1/1600sec, f/4.5, ISO 2000, 100mmEventually he sat still long enough for a shot of him on a log.
1/1600sec, f/5, ISO 2500, 254mm… but not for long.
1/1600sec, f/5, ISO 3200, 167mm1/1600sec, f/4.5, ISO 2500, 123mmOne of the challenges was the mottled light. It looked fantastic, but you had no control over when a bird would land in a patch of light or in shade – or worse, where their head was in shade but their tail was in sun.
1/1600sec, f/5.6, ISO 4000, 300mmIn reality though, Kofi spent most of his time flying between various perches, showing off his impressive wingspan.
1/1600sec, f/4.5, ISO 5000, 135mm1/1600sec, f/4.5, ISO 3200, 135mm1/1600sec, f/4.5, ISO 2500, 109mmAs you might expect, I found it very difficult to select shots from this bird, who gave so many impressive flybys. Sometimes it was almost a relief to get shots that were out of focus and so easy to cut. There are, admittedly, even more options in the gallery at the end of this post.
Next up was Haze, a barn owl. And, if you look really closely, you might be able to spot her handler.
1/1600sec, f/5.6, ISO 2000, 343mmTo be honest, Haze’s flybys caused me a lot more trouble. Time after time my camera struggled to focus, and really the only decent shots of her flying captured by my camera were taken by the pro photographer as she tried to help me dial in settings and figure out why I was struggling. All sorts of settings were changed to try to get the autofocus to play balls, but to little avail. It was only later on, when we were shooting the last bird of the day, that I think I figured out what I was doing wrong: I was framing too wide, giving the autofocus doubt as to what I was trying to focus on. By being overly cautious to not mess up my framing, I ended up missing the shots entirely. I’m glad I figured it out, but it was a bit annoying it happened so late in the day.
Which is in many ways a long-winded way of saying, expect more shots of this bird posing, rather than flying.
1/2000sec, f/5.6, ISO 800, 159mmThe advice we were given when shooting Haze was a faster shutter speed of 1/2000th, because as a smaller owl she moved faster, and to underexpose by at least a full stop to ensure she didn’t blow out as her white plumage moved from shade into the light.
This next shot is one of the few ones I got of her in a proper flight.
1/2000sec, f/5.6, ISO 1000, 135mmThe last time I photographed a barn owl, I found a really good preset that helped bring out the brownish details in their feathers. I didn’t use it much here, because the preset emphasises brown hues whilst dialling back other colours, which robbed the bluebells and green foliage of all their beautiful colour. I did use it once or twice when she landed places where there weren’t too much colour to be lost anyway.
1/2000sec, f/5.6, ISO 320, 186mmI did manage to get a few decent shots of Haze in flight as she took off from spots, including when she took off from the spot above.
1/2000sec, f/5.6, ISO 1250, 128mmIt was still tempting to use the preset, even given it turned the lovely spring leaves into something more autumnal. Definitely one that’s more use in autumn and winter. In this next shot she’d flown off into a more distant tree, requiring me to use all of my zoom range.
1/2000sec, f/7.1, ISO 250, 500mmI did not end up with that many shots of Haze, on account of my issues focussing on her whilst she flew.
Our third bird was a southern white faced owl called Zazu.
1/3200sec, f/7.1, ISO 8000, 500mmZazu was my favourite of the birds we saw this day. She was titchy, but with light grey feathers and those glorious orange eyes. Being smaller still, the shutter speed went another notch faster, up to 1/3200th.
For a few shots I couldn’t resist using the same preset as before, sacrificing the colour of the bluebells in order to bring out those lovely eyes.
1/3200sec, f/6.3, ISO 10000, 400mmAs you can see, whenever she landed in a shady spot, my ISO crept into five figures. Luckily she often landed in less-shady locations.
1/3200sec, f/6.3, ISO 2000, 428mmIt was very easy to get carried away shooting this bird. How could you not?
1/3200sec, f/7.1, ISO 16000, 500mmA few times when she landed on the fallen tree next to her trainer, I broke out the brown preset for some deep oranges.
1/3200sec, f/6.3, ISO 5000, 363mmWhenever she flew, she looked like a dart.
1/3200sec, f/5.6, ISO 2000, 254mmZazu’s colours – various shades of grey with those eyes – matched perfectly with the bluebells and the brown of the logs she would land on.
1/4000sec, f/7.1, ISO 2500, 500mm1/4000sec, f/5.6, ISO 6400, 270mmAs you can see, I decided that 1/3200th wasn’t quite enough, so upped the shutter speed to 1/4000th.
She briefly landed on her trainer’s hand within a reasonable camera range, so I can give you an idea of her diminutive size.
1/4000sec, f/6.3, ISO 3200, 400mmZazu was happy to flit between several different spots, giving us some variety in our shots.
1/1600sec, f/6.3, ISO 1000, 254mmSometimes, he landed in the only little bit of light in an otherwise shady spot.
1/4000sec, f/7.1, ISO 3200, 500mmAlthough I’ve mostly tried to keep the trainers out of these shots (and to be fair, they did an excellent job of staying out of the way), I couldn’t resist this one as a trainer helped Zazu find a piece of food she was missing.
1/4000sec, f/7.1, ISO 3200, 500mmSoon, though, it was time to say goodbye to little Zazu, who stood in one last little spot of light as her swansong.
1/4000sec, f/7.1, ISO 4000, 500mmFinally it was time for the fourth and final bird, a long eared owl called Eileen.
1/2500sec, f/7.1, ISO 8000, 500mmEileen also had a decent knack of flying about and landing in patches of light.
1/2500sec, f/6.3, ISO 4000, 324mmOccasionally, quite close.
1/2500sec, f/8, ISO 3200, 363mmIt was only when we got to Eileen that I finally got the hang of shooting the owls in flight. As I said earlier, it just required the courage to frame closer to the bird so that the autofocus knew what I was actually trying to photograph.
1/2500sec, f/5.6, ISO 4000, 300mmAlthough I was obviously mostly after shots of Eileen flying low over the bluebells, giving a nice colourful backdrop, sometimes the shots with the large trees in the background worked just as nicely.
1/3200sec, f/7.1, ISO 10000, 500mmEileen had no trouble flying. In many ways it was harder to keep her still, she had bags of energy and so was happy to constantly fly up and down the bluebell-strewn area of the wood for us to fill our memory cards. Which obviously gave me the problem in the edit of selecting which shots to keep and which to bin (not that I bin many shots unless they’re a technical write-off – that is, motion blurred, out of focus, or framed so I completely miss the subject).
1/3200sec, f/7.1, ISO 8000, 428mmWhich is to say, here’s a lot of flying photos of an owl.
1/3200sec, f/5.6, ISO 4000, 300mmOn at least one pass she let out a hoot and I captured her with her mouth open.
1/3200sec, f/5.6, ISO 4000, 167mmThe light on Eileen was often uneven – she was probably in the shade in many of the shots above – but sometimes she caught the light.
1/3200sec, f/6.3, ISO 5000, 363mmOccasionally I was able to get away with slightly wider framing to get more bluebells in the shot.
1/3200sec, f/5.6, ISO 4000, 238mmAfter a while, Eileen was more open to the idea of sitting still for brief moments.
1/3200sec, f/6.3, ISO 2500, 451mm1/3200sec, f/7.1, ISO 3200, 500mmWhich also led to some dramatic takeoff shots.
1/3200sec, f/7.1, ISO 3200, 500mmAlthough most of my shots of Eileen in flight are her with spread wings, because that generally looks better, there is also something quite impressive about seeing her wings in a downward position.
1/3200sec, f/6.3, ISO 2500, 400mmWe closed the day with Eileen sitting at the base of a tree, poking her head around. She was, to be fair, a little bemused by the assignment, but eventually we got something workable.
1/3200sec, f/6.3, ISO 3200, 451mm1/3200sec, f/5.6, ISO 2500, 343mmWe got one last post in a spot of light and one last flyby, and then it was time to go home.
1/3200sec, f/7.1, ISO 2000, 472mm1/3200sec, f/5.6, ISO 3200, 128mmThis experience suitably scratched my itch for bluebells and wildlife. It is a little frustrating that it took me a little while to warm into it but I do feel out of the photography ‘zone’ at the moment for reasons I can’t quite fathom. It did also feel nice to photograph something other than trains, because although I love doing that, I’ve not been flexing my other photography muscles much recently.
That said, I am pretty pleased with myself that I’ve been able to take the 1,100 photos I took on this day, edit them, select the best (albeit perhaps with not as much selectiveness as I should have) and post them in the space of only a week.
May is going to start out as a bit of a blue month, because my next post will also feature some sizeable patches of bluebells.
As ever, although moreso in this post than most, there are a lot more shots in the gallery below.
#birds #birdsOfPrey #bluebells #nature #Photography #sussex #travel #wildlife -
Birds in the Bluebells
Bluebell season is in full swing right now. Anywhere I go at the moment there are swathes of bluebells, whether that’s in gardens, along the verges of the Brighton Main Line, or – yes – even along the heritage railway named after them. I love the bluebells. There is little I love more than seeing a massive carpet of them in a field or across the floor of a forest.
Kit ListCanon EOS R6 Mk IICanon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM Jump to GalleryFor Christmas my wife bought me an assortment of photography experience days. I’ve already been on one – the photos of which are waiting patiently to be posted – but for my second I discovered that a bird of prey centre near me holds photography workshops of owls amongst bluebells. The idea of beautiful owls – especially any with gloriously contrasting orange eyes – amongst a sea of bluebells was hard to resist. So last week I headed over to the UK Owl and Raptor Centre for a morning of owls and bluebells.
The setup for the day was pretty simple. There were only three of us attending the session, as well as a bird handler or two, and a professional photographer who was on hand to help out with settings and guidance. We saw four birds, each of which did a mixture of flying and posing, depending on their temperament. And, almost as if they knew me, after the session was over they sent details of the birds with their names and species, which means for once I can state confidently what these birds are. Given the nature of what we were shooting, I exclusively used my super telephoto lens. A quick note on that – throughout this post you will see my aperture changing a lot. Sometimes that was a manual choice, but most of the time it’s because this lens doesn’t have a constant aperture – it’s f/4.5 at the widest zoom, and f/7.1 and the maximum zoom.
We started with Kofi, a Verreaux’s eagle owl. With them we started out posing.
1/1600sec, f/5, ISO 3200, 200mmThe main piece of general advice we were given was to set our shutter speeds pretty high – in Kofi’s case, it was around 1/1600th of a second – in order to ensure that once they flew around, which they were liable to do with little warning, you’d still get a sharp image. This did lead to some reasonably high ISOs, even in daylight (although we were in the mottled light of a wooded area).
Almost on queue we got some flight.
1/1600sec, f/5, ISO 4000, 186mmKofi was keen to fly around, hopping between branches and fallen logs, which meant I ended up with some nice dramatic takeoff and flying shots.
1/1600sec, f/6.3, ISO 10000, 400mm 1/1600sec, f/6.3, ISO 5000, 200mm1/1600sec, f/5, ISO 2500, 254mm1/1600sec, f/5, ISO 2500, 159mm1/1600sec, f/4.5, ISO 2000, 100mmEventually he sat still long enough for a shot of him on a log.
1/1600sec, f/5, ISO 2500, 254mm… but not for long.
1/1600sec, f/5, ISO 3200, 167mm1/1600sec, f/4.5, ISO 2500, 123mmOne of the challenges was the mottled light. It looked fantastic, but you had no control over when a bird would land in a patch of light or in shade – or worse, where their head was in shade but their tail was in sun.
1/1600sec, f/5.6, ISO 4000, 300mmIn reality though, Kofi spent most of his time flying between various perches, showing off his impressive wingspan.
1/1600sec, f/4.5, ISO 5000, 135mm1/1600sec, f/4.5, ISO 3200, 135mm1/1600sec, f/4.5, ISO 2500, 109mmAs you might expect, I found it very difficult to select shots from this bird, who gave so many impressive flybys. Sometimes it was almost a relief to get shots that were out of focus and so easy to cut. There are, admittedly, even more options in the gallery at the end of this post.
Next up was Haze, a barn owl. And, if you look really closely, you might be able to spot her handler.
1/1600sec, f/5.6, ISO 2000, 343mmTo be honest, Haze’s flybys caused me a lot more trouble. Time after time my camera struggled to focus, and really the only decent shots of her flying captured by my camera were taken by the pro photographer as she tried to help me dial in settings and figure out why I was struggling. All sorts of settings were changed to try to get the autofocus to play balls, but to little avail. It was only later on, when we were shooting the last bird of the day, that I think I figured out what I was doing wrong: I was framing too wide, giving the autofocus doubt as to what I was trying to focus on. By being overly cautious to not mess up my framing, I ended up missing the shots entirely. I’m glad I figured it out, but it was a bit annoying it happened so late in the day.
Which is in many ways a long-winded way of saying, expect more shots of this bird posing, rather than flying.
1/2000sec, f/5.6, ISO 800, 159mmThe advice we were given when shooting Haze was a faster shutter speed of 1/2000th, because as a smaller owl she moved faster, and to underexpose by at least a full stop to ensure she didn’t blow out as her white plumage moved from shade into the light.
This next shot is one of the few ones I got of her in a proper flight.
1/2000sec, f/5.6, ISO 1000, 135mmThe last time I photographed a barn owl, I found a really good preset that helped bring out the brownish details in their feathers. I didn’t use it much here, because the preset emphasises brown hues whilst dialling back other colours, which robbed the bluebells and green foliage of all their beautiful colour. I did use it once or twice when she landed places where there weren’t too much colour to be lost anyway.
1/2000sec, f/5.6, ISO 320, 186mmI did manage to get a few decent shots of Haze in flight as she took off from spots, including when she took off from the spot above.
1/2000sec, f/5.6, ISO 1250, 128mmIt was still tempting to use the preset, even given it turned the lovely spring leaves into something more autumnal. Definitely one that’s more use in autumn and winter. In this next shot she’d flown off into a more distant tree, requiring me to use all of my zoom range.
1/2000sec, f/7.1, ISO 250, 500mmI did not end up with that many shots of Haze, on account of my issues focussing on her whilst she flew.
Our third bird was a southern white faced owl called Zazu.
1/3200sec, f/7.1, ISO 8000, 500mmZazu was my favourite of the birds we saw this day. She was titchy, but with light grey feathers and those glorious orange eyes. Being smaller still, the shutter speed went another notch faster, up to 1/3200th.
For a few shots I couldn’t resist using the same preset as before, sacrificing the colour of the bluebells in order to bring out those lovely eyes.
1/3200sec, f/6.3, ISO 10000, 400mmAs you can see, whenever she landed in a shady spot, my ISO crept into five figures. Luckily she often landed in less-shady locations.
1/3200sec, f/6.3, ISO 2000, 428mmIt was very easy to get carried away shooting this bird. How could you not?
1/3200sec, f/7.1, ISO 16000, 500mmA few times when she landed on the fallen tree next to her trainer, I broke out the brown preset for some deep oranges.
1/3200sec, f/6.3, ISO 5000, 363mmWhenever she flew, she looked like a dart.
1/3200sec, f/5.6, ISO 2000, 254mmZazu’s colours – various shades of grey with those eyes – matched perfectly with the bluebells and the brown of the logs she would land on.
1/4000sec, f/7.1, ISO 2500, 500mm1/4000sec, f/5.6, ISO 6400, 270mmAs you can see, I decided that 1/3200th wasn’t quite enough, so upped the shutter speed to 1/4000th.
She briefly landed on her trainer’s hand within a reasonable camera range, so I can give you an idea of her diminutive size.
1/4000sec, f/6.3, ISO 3200, 400mmZazu was happy to flit between several different spots, giving us some variety in our shots.
1/1600sec, f/6.3, ISO 1000, 254mmSometimes, he landed in the only little bit of light in an otherwise shady spot.
1/4000sec, f/7.1, ISO 3200, 500mmAlthough I’ve mostly tried to keep the trainers out of these shots (and to be fair, they did an excellent job of staying out of the way), I couldn’t resist this one as a trainer helped Zazu find a piece of food she was missing.
1/4000sec, f/7.1, ISO 3200, 500mmSoon, though, it was time to say goodbye to little Zazu, who stood in one last little spot of light as her swansong.
1/4000sec, f/7.1, ISO 4000, 500mmFinally it was time for the fourth and final bird, a long eared owl called Eileen.
1/2500sec, f/7.1, ISO 8000, 500mmEileen also had a decent knack of flying about and landing in patches of light.
1/2500sec, f/6.3, ISO 4000, 324mmOccasionally, quite close.
1/2500sec, f/8, ISO 3200, 363mmIt was only when we got to Eileen that I finally got the hang of shooting the owls in flight. As I said earlier, it just required the courage to frame closer to the bird so that the autofocus knew what I was actually trying to photograph.
1/2500sec, f/5.6, ISO 4000, 300mmAlthough I was obviously mostly after shots of Eileen flying low over the bluebells, giving a nice colourful backdrop, sometimes the shots with the large trees in the background worked just as nicely.
1/3200sec, f/7.1, ISO 10000, 500mmEileen had no trouble flying. In many ways it was harder to keep her still, she had bags of energy and so was happy to constantly fly up and down the bluebell-strewn area of the wood for us to fill our memory cards. Which obviously gave me the problem in the edit of selecting which shots to keep and which to bin (not that I bin many shots unless they’re a technical write-off – that is, motion blurred, out of focus, or framed so I completely miss the subject).
1/3200sec, f/7.1, ISO 8000, 428mmWhich is to say, here’s a lot of flying photos of an owl.
1/3200sec, f/5.6, ISO 4000, 300mmOn at least one pass she let out a hoot and I captured her with her mouth open.
1/3200sec, f/5.6, ISO 4000, 167mmThe light on Eileen was often uneven – she was probably in the shade in many of the shots above – but sometimes she caught the light.
1/3200sec, f/6.3, ISO 5000, 363mmOccasionally I was able to get away with slightly wider framing to get more bluebells in the shot.
1/3200sec, f/5.6, ISO 4000, 238mmAfter a while, Eileen was more open to the idea of sitting still for brief moments.
1/3200sec, f/6.3, ISO 2500, 451mm1/3200sec, f/7.1, ISO 3200, 500mmWhich also led to some dramatic takeoff shots.
1/3200sec, f/7.1, ISO 3200, 500mmAlthough most of my shots of Eileen in flight are her with spread wings, because that generally looks better, there is also something quite impressive about seeing her wings in a downward position.
1/3200sec, f/6.3, ISO 2500, 400mmWe closed the day with Eileen sitting at the base of a tree, poking her head around. She was, to be fair, a little bemused by the assignment, but eventually we got something workable.
1/3200sec, f/6.3, ISO 3200, 451mm1/3200sec, f/5.6, ISO 2500, 343mmWe got one last post in a spot of light and one last flyby, and then it was time to go home.
1/3200sec, f/7.1, ISO 2000, 472mm1/3200sec, f/5.6, ISO 3200, 128mmThis experience suitably scratched my itch for bluebells and wildlife. It is a little frustrating that it took me a little while to warm into it but I do feel out of the photography ‘zone’ at the moment for reasons I can’t quite fathom. It did also feel nice to photograph something other than trains, because although I love doing that, I’ve not been flexing my other photography muscles much recently.
That said, I am pretty pleased with myself that I’ve been able to take the 1,100 photos I took on this day, edit them, select the best (albeit perhaps with not as much selectiveness as I should have) and post them in the space of only a week.
May is going to start out as a bit of a blue month, because my next post will also feature some sizeable patches of bluebells.
As ever, although moreso in this post than most, there are a lot more shots in the gallery below.
#birds #birdsOfPrey #bluebells #nature #Photography #sussex #travel #wildlife -
Birds in the Bluebells
Bluebell season is in full swing right now. Anywhere I go at the moment there are swathes of bluebells, whether that’s in gardens, along the verges of the Brighton Main Line, or – yes – even along the heritage railway named after them. I love the bluebells. There is little I love more than seeing a massive carpet of them in a field or across the floor of a forest.
Kit ListCanon EOS R6 Mk IICanon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM Jump to GalleryFor Christmas my wife bought me an assortment of photography experience days. I’ve already been on one – the photos of which are waiting patiently to be posted – but for my second I discovered that a bird of prey centre near me holds photography workshops of owls amongst bluebells. The idea of beautiful owls – especially any with gloriously contrasting orange eyes – amongst a sea of bluebells was hard to resist. So last week I headed over to the UK Owl and Raptor Centre for a morning of owls and bluebells.
The setup for the day was pretty simple. There were only three of us attending the session, as well as a bird handler or two, and a professional photographer who was on hand to help out with settings and guidance. We saw four birds, each of which did a mixture of flying and posing, depending on their temperament. And, almost as if they knew me, after the session was over they sent details of the birds with their names and species, which means for once I can state confidently what these birds are. Given the nature of what we were shooting, I exclusively used my super telephoto lens. A quick note on that – throughout this post you will see my aperture changing a lot. Sometimes that was a manual choice, but most of the time it’s because this lens doesn’t have a constant aperture – it’s f/4.5 at the widest zoom, and f/7.1 and the maximum zoom.
We started with Kofi, a Verreaux’s eagle owl. With them we started out posing.
1/1600sec, f/5, ISO 3200, 200mmThe main piece of general advice we were given was to set our shutter speeds pretty high – in Kofi’s case, it was around 1/1600th of a second – in order to ensure that once they flew around, which they were liable to do with little warning, you’d still get a sharp image. This did lead to some reasonably high ISOs, even in daylight (although we were in the mottled light of a wooded area).
Almost on queue we got some flight.
1/1600sec, f/5, ISO 4000, 186mmKofi was keen to fly around, hopping between branches and fallen logs, which meant I ended up with some nice dramatic takeoff and flying shots.
1/1600sec, f/6.3, ISO 10000, 400mm 1/1600sec, f/6.3, ISO 5000, 200mm1/1600sec, f/5, ISO 2500, 254mm1/1600sec, f/5, ISO 2500, 159mm1/1600sec, f/4.5, ISO 2000, 100mmEventually he sat still long enough for a shot of him on a log.
1/1600sec, f/5, ISO 2500, 254mm… but not for long.
1/1600sec, f/5, ISO 3200, 167mm1/1600sec, f/4.5, ISO 2500, 123mmOne of the challenges was the mottled light. It looked fantastic, but you had no control over when a bird would land in a patch of light or in shade – or worse, where their head was in shade but their tail was in sun.
1/1600sec, f/5.6, ISO 4000, 300mmIn reality though, Kofi spent most of his time flying between various perches, showing off his impressive wingspan.
1/1600sec, f/4.5, ISO 5000, 135mm1/1600sec, f/4.5, ISO 3200, 135mm1/1600sec, f/4.5, ISO 2500, 109mmAs you might expect, I found it very difficult to select shots from this bird, who gave so many impressive flybys. Sometimes it was almost a relief to get shots that were out of focus and so easy to cut. There are, admittedly, even more options in the gallery at the end of this post.
Next up was Haze, a barn owl. And, if you look really closely, you might be able to spot her handler.
1/1600sec, f/5.6, ISO 2000, 343mmTo be honest, Haze’s flybys caused me a lot more trouble. Time after time my camera struggled to focus, and really the only decent shots of her flying captured by my camera were taken by the pro photographer as she tried to help me dial in settings and figure out why I was struggling. All sorts of settings were changed to try to get the autofocus to play balls, but to little avail. It was only later on, when we were shooting the last bird of the day, that I think I figured out what I was doing wrong: I was framing too wide, giving the autofocus doubt as to what I was trying to focus on. By being overly cautious to not mess up my framing, I ended up missing the shots entirely. I’m glad I figured it out, but it was a bit annoying it happened so late in the day.
Which is in many ways a long-winded way of saying, expect more shots of this bird posing, rather than flying.
1/2000sec, f/5.6, ISO 800, 159mmThe advice we were given when shooting Haze was a faster shutter speed of 1/2000th, because as a smaller owl she moved faster, and to underexpose by at least a full stop to ensure she didn’t blow out as her white plumage moved from shade into the light.
This next shot is one of the few ones I got of her in a proper flight.
1/2000sec, f/5.6, ISO 1000, 135mmThe last time I photographed a barn owl, I found a really good preset that helped bring out the brownish details in their feathers. I didn’t use it much here, because the preset emphasises brown hues whilst dialling back other colours, which robbed the bluebells and green foliage of all their beautiful colour. I did use it once or twice when she landed places where there weren’t too much colour to be lost anyway.
1/2000sec, f/5.6, ISO 320, 186mmI did manage to get a few decent shots of Haze in flight as she took off from spots, including when she took off from the spot above.
1/2000sec, f/5.6, ISO 1250, 128mmIt was still tempting to use the preset, even given it turned the lovely spring leaves into something more autumnal. Definitely one that’s more use in autumn and winter. In this next shot she’d flown off into a more distant tree, requiring me to use all of my zoom range.
1/2000sec, f/7.1, ISO 250, 500mmI did not end up with that many shots of Haze, on account of my issues focussing on her whilst she flew.
Our third bird was a southern white faced owl called Zazu.
1/3200sec, f/7.1, ISO 8000, 500mmZazu was my favourite of the birds we saw this day. She was titchy, but with light grey feathers and those glorious orange eyes. Being smaller still, the shutter speed went another notch faster, up to 1/3200th.
For a few shots I couldn’t resist using the same preset as before, sacrificing the colour of the bluebells in order to bring out those lovely eyes.
1/3200sec, f/6.3, ISO 10000, 400mmAs you can see, whenever she landed in a shady spot, my ISO crept into five figures. Luckily she often landed in less-shady locations.
1/3200sec, f/6.3, ISO 2000, 428mmIt was very easy to get carried away shooting this bird. How could you not?
1/3200sec, f/7.1, ISO 16000, 500mmA few times when she landed on the fallen tree next to her trainer, I broke out the brown preset for some deep oranges.
1/3200sec, f/6.3, ISO 5000, 363mmWhenever she flew, she looked like a dart.
1/3200sec, f/5.6, ISO 2000, 254mmZazu’s colours – various shades of grey with those eyes – matched perfectly with the bluebells and the brown of the logs she would land on.
1/4000sec, f/7.1, ISO 2500, 500mm1/4000sec, f/5.6, ISO 6400, 270mmAs you can see, I decided that 1/3200th wasn’t quite enough, so upped the shutter speed to 1/4000th.
She briefly landed on her trainer’s hand within a reasonable camera range, so I can give you an idea of her diminutive size.
1/4000sec, f/6.3, ISO 3200, 400mmZazu was happy to flit between several different spots, giving us some variety in our shots.
1/1600sec, f/6.3, ISO 1000, 254mmSometimes, he landed in the only little bit of light in an otherwise shady spot.
1/4000sec, f/7.1, ISO 3200, 500mmAlthough I’ve mostly tried to keep the trainers out of these shots (and to be fair, they did an excellent job of staying out of the way), I couldn’t resist this one as a trainer helped Zazu find a piece of food she was missing.
1/4000sec, f/7.1, ISO 3200, 500mmSoon, though, it was time to say goodbye to little Zazu, who stood in one last little spot of light as her swansong.
1/4000sec, f/7.1, ISO 4000, 500mmFinally it was time for the fourth and final bird, a long eared owl called Eileen.
1/2500sec, f/7.1, ISO 8000, 500mmEileen also had a decent knack of flying about and landing in patches of light.
1/2500sec, f/6.3, ISO 4000, 324mmOccasionally, quite close.
1/2500sec, f/8, ISO 3200, 363mmIt was only when we got to Eileen that I finally got the hang of shooting the owls in flight. As I said earlier, it just required the courage to frame closer to the bird so that the autofocus knew what I was actually trying to photograph.
1/2500sec, f/5.6, ISO 4000, 300mmAlthough I was obviously mostly after shots of Eileen flying low over the bluebells, giving a nice colourful backdrop, sometimes the shots with the large trees in the background worked just as nicely.
1/3200sec, f/7.1, ISO 10000, 500mmEileen had no trouble flying. In many ways it was harder to keep her still, she had bags of energy and so was happy to constantly fly up and down the bluebell-strewn area of the wood for us to fill our memory cards. Which obviously gave me the problem in the edit of selecting which shots to keep and which to bin (not that I bin many shots unless they’re a technical write-off – that is, motion blurred, out of focus, or framed so I completely miss the subject).
1/3200sec, f/7.1, ISO 8000, 428mmWhich is to say, here’s a lot of flying photos of an owl.
1/3200sec, f/5.6, ISO 4000, 300mmOn at least one pass she let out a hoot and I captured her with her mouth open.
1/3200sec, f/5.6, ISO 4000, 167mmThe light on Eileen was often uneven – she was probably in the shade in many of the shots above – but sometimes she caught the light.
1/3200sec, f/6.3, ISO 5000, 363mmOccasionally I was able to get away with slightly wider framing to get more bluebells in the shot.
1/3200sec, f/5.6, ISO 4000, 238mmAfter a while, Eileen was more open to the idea of sitting still for brief moments.
1/3200sec, f/6.3, ISO 2500, 451mm1/3200sec, f/7.1, ISO 3200, 500mmWhich also led to some dramatic takeoff shots.
1/3200sec, f/7.1, ISO 3200, 500mmAlthough most of my shots of Eileen in flight are her with spread wings, because that generally looks better, there is also something quite impressive about seeing her wings in a downward position.
1/3200sec, f/6.3, ISO 2500, 400mmWe closed the day with Eileen sitting at the base of a tree, poking her head around. She was, to be fair, a little bemused by the assignment, but eventually we got something workable.
1/3200sec, f/6.3, ISO 3200, 451mm1/3200sec, f/5.6, ISO 2500, 343mmWe got one last post in a spot of light and one last flyby, and then it was time to go home.
1/3200sec, f/7.1, ISO 2000, 472mm1/3200sec, f/5.6, ISO 3200, 128mmThis experience suitably scratched my itch for bluebells and wildlife. It is a little frustrating that it took me a little while to warm into it but I do feel out of the photography ‘zone’ at the moment for reasons I can’t quite fathom. It did also feel nice to photograph something other than trains, because although I love doing that, I’ve not been flexing my other photography muscles much recently.
That said, I am pretty pleased with myself that I’ve been able to take the 1,100 photos I took on this day, edit them, select the best (albeit perhaps with not as much selectiveness as I should have) and post them in the space of only a week.
May is going to start out as a bit of a blue month, because my next post will also feature some sizeable patches of bluebells.
As ever, although moreso in this post than most, there are a lot more shots in the gallery below.
#birds #birdsOfPrey #bluebells #nature #Photography #sussex #travel #wildlife -
I went back to Salem Lake, and had my way with it for the day, walked about 1/3 of the 7 mile trek, realized what I had signed up for without any water or provisions, and turned around at that moment. One day... I'm gonna actually come here with the idea of completing the journey around the perimeter.
There are 1-2 ways to "bail out" if one gets too tired. There's road exits along the trail where you could hail an Uber or Lyft if things get too dicey. For me and my knee right now, dicey is kind of a given, but I did way better today than I had been.
I found a Quantaray lens at Macay's off of Jonestown road for $35. It's a Full Frame, 70-300mm F4-5.6 lens, with macro, and autofocus. It's EF mount and quite fun. It gave photos taken with it a definite 90's-2000's DSLR look, but the simple ability to catch birds now without having to struggle, even if they are a little rough is better than no bird at all.
Here's the four for this trip. There's a few others that survived, and one in particular that will get posted alone that I'll let trickle in through the week. Happy Thanksgiving!
>hey, that fisherman guy is at Oak Hollow Lake! That's not Salem Lake!
OOF! You got me! I also went to Oak Hollow Lake today, but there weren't many trails to walk along. The water fowl there and the fisherman were from there. The fungus and the sky shot was Salem.
Anyway, more geese and woods later. These were my favorites this time, so they get special treatment.
#photography #wildlifephotography #winstonsalem #northcarolina #cameras #camera #mirrorless #R8 #bofipho #photomontag #landscapephotography #canon -
Neues aus den Dimmerlanden
Ein Spielbericht
Der Dragonborn Fighter Moztith, genannt Moritz, die Halblingsschurkin Heike Kleinke und der Waldläufer Morven, der Greif von Heimford, starten das Abenteuer in dem Ort Eulenstein. Dem Sitz der Fürstin Cassandra.
Gerüchte besagen, dass wohl seit einiger Zeit Leute verschwinden. Vor allem Reisende und die Ärmsten der Armen, weshalb es ein wenig gedauert hat, bis dies aufgefallen ist. Fürstin Cassandra soll vor einigen Tagen einen Trupp von Spezialisten unter dem Kommando von Marcus Junius entsandt haben, von denen man nichts gehört hat. Als man sich weiter umhört kommt man mit einem Bettler ins Gespräch, der erzählt, dass Nachts Fischmenschen aus dem alten Dionysos Schrein kämmen und er gesehen habe, wie sie den armen Hütten Hugo, davon getragen hätten. Die Truppe entschließt sich am nächsten Tag bei der Fürstin vorstellig zu werden. Fürstin Cassandra empfängt die Gruppe, bestätigt, dass ihre Elite Truppe, die Vorfälle untersucht und seit einigen Tagen vermisst ist, obwohl sie den Ort nie verlassen hatte. Man bietet an, sich, gegen Bezahlung, darum zu kümmern. Die Fürstin bietet 200 Goldstücke an und gibt ihnen eine Warnung mit auf den Weg.
Der erste Abstieg
Der Dionysos Schrein stellt sich, als ein sechseckiger kleiner Tempelbau, aus der Zeit der Tempelritter dar, Fenster und Türen sind vermauert. Man entdeckt allerdings, über einem kleinen Anbau, ein Fenster das teilweise wieder aufgebrochen wurde. Mit vereinten Kräften klettert man erst hinauf und, nachdem man sich umgeschaut hat, hinein
Im Schrein liegt eine Menge Schutt und Gerümpel, es ist ein Loch im Boden und eine Tür auszumachen. Morven sucht nach Spuren und entdeckt, dass hier regelmäßig Menschen und andere Zweibeiner mit Krallen und Schwimmflossen durchkommen. Meist scheinen sie zum Loch zuführen, seltener zu der Treppe und eine Spur zu einem der Schutthaufen. Morven untersucht den Schutthaufen und findet einen kleinen versteckten Vorrat, ein Kletterset und zwei Tränke: Ein Heiltrank und Wasseratmungstrank. Hinter der Tür führt eine alte hölzerne Spindeltreppe in die Tiefe. Es ist eine Tür zu dem unteren Raum auszumachen, aber die Treppe führt noch tiefer.
Moritz geht die Treppe hinab, bis eine Stufe unter ihm nachgibt und er krachend in die komplette Treppe hinunter fällt. Morven rennt schnell hinterher, Heike kommt vorsichtiger nach. Moritz rappelt sich langsam und nur leicht verletzt wieder auf und macht im Dunkeln eine Tür aus. Als Morven ihn erreicht sehen sie, wie sich die Tür durch knöcherne Hände öffnet. Moritz stellt sich in die Tür, um die Skelette aufzuhalten. Morven positioniert sich mit seinem Bogen. Kurze Zeit später kommt auch Heike an, die Licht mitbringt und sich ebenfalls mit ihrem Bogen positioniert. Moritz kann die Tür halten, wobei ihn Schild und Rüstung gute Dienste tun und man kämpft die stumpf vorstürmenden Skelette nieder.
Da man schonmal hier unten ist (je tiefer man ist, desto weniger tief kann man stürzen) erkundet man hier weiter. Die Kammer aus der die Skelette kamen, schein ein Vorraum für eine Gruft zu sein, der Raum dahinter dann ein auch eine Gruft mit einigen Grabnischen, in denen man ein paar Wertgegenstände findet.
Der nächste Raum hingegen ist ein hohes Gewölbe, dessen Decke man nicht wirklich ausmachen kann. In der Mitte ist ein Schacht im Boden auf der anderen Seite führt eine Treppe ein paar Meter in die Höhe zu einer weiteren Tür. Auf dem Boden sind einige Knochen verstreut. Morven schaut sich vorsichtig um, hier es scheinen vor allem die Krallen- und Schwimmhautbewährten Füße hier öfters, vom Schacht aus, durch zu kommen und dass meist, rennend. Morven warnt seine Gefährten, die gehen aber, auch nach Nachfrage durch den DM, quer durch den Raum zur Treppe.
Auf dem Weg dorthin, lassen sich zwei Dark Mantle auf Moritz und Heike fallen. Heike geht schwer getroffen zu Boden. Moritz steht noch, mit festgesaugt Dark Mantle auf dem Kopf. Morven kommt seinen Kameraden zu Hilfe und hiebt auf das Monster an Heike ein, worauf es von ihr ablässt und sich ihm zuwendet. Moritz reißt sich sein Viech vom Kopf, wird aber von ihm angegriffen und geht auch bald zu Boden. Morven erschlägt einen der Dark Mantle, worauf hin sich der zweite, trotzt Aussicht auf verlockende Beute zurückzieht. Mit Hilfe von Heiltränken und guten Todesrettungswürfen gelingt es alle beteiligten zu retten. Man zieht sich erst einmal zurück und entschließt im faulen Hund zu rasten.
Der zweite Abstieg
Mit Wein Wahnsinn und GesangAm nächsten Tag steigt man wieder über den Dionysosschrein in die Unterwelt von Eulenstein. Diesmal schafft man es problemlos in den Raum darunter zu gelangen, in dem man neben einer weiteren Tür alte Dionysos-Fresken und eine Altarnische mit einer Dionysos-Statur findet, die ein Trinkhorn in den Händen hebt. Morven opfert etwas aus seinem Weinschlauch und hört daraufhin ein tiefes, freudiges Gelächter. Auf Nachfrage des DM gibt er an chaotisch zu sein, worauf hin er auch sieht, wie die Statur das Horn hebt und ihm zuprostet. Als er darauf hin das Horn berührt, verwandelt es sich ein echtes Trinkhorn. Welches Morven im Tausch gegen noch mehr Wein an sich nimmt.
Durch die, zunächst verschlossene, dann von Moritz aufgebrochene, Tür geht es weiter, man entdeckt einen Gang in dem es einen Treppenabgang nach unten gibt und am Ende noch eine weitere Tür. Ebenfalls verschlossen. Dort entdeckt Heike Zinken der Kinder Autolykos (der Diebesgilde). Man ist sich unsicher, ob man weitergehen soll. Moritz versucht, auch durch diese Tür zu brechen scheitert. Von drinnen sind Stimmen zu hören, die irgendwann auch nach Verstärkung rufen. Die Truppe zieht sich zurück. Über den Gang werden Verhandlungen mit einigen nicht sehr gut aufgelegten Kindern Autolykos geführt. Man einigt sich darauf, sich von einander fern zu halten und sich nicht gegenseitig umzubringen.
Die Gruppe beschließt darauf hin wieder ganz nach unten zu gehen und dort wieder ihr Glück zu suchen. Im Gewölbe angekommen, bemerkt man zunächst, dass sich der Dark Mantel in einer unnatürlich Dunkelheit an der Decke versteckt. Alles halten sich alle ganz dicht an der Wand und versuchen den Raum zu umrunden. Der Dark Mantle greift zwar Morven an, verfehlt ihn aber, da er gut positioniert ist. Am Boden und in überzahl schaffen es die Abenteurer kurzen Prozess mit ihm zu machen.
Durch die Treppe geht es weiter in einen ziemlich langen Gang. Man entdeckt einen Treppenaufgang, geht aber weiter und kommt an eine Tür. Im Raum dahinter scheinen sich erst vor kurzem Leute aufgehalten zu haben, er ist aber zu Zeit leer. An den Wänden findet man Apollo-Fresken, bei denen die Augen ausgekratzt und die Sonnen schwarz ausgemalt wurden.
Im Boden befindet sich wieder ein Schacht, man entdeckt in der Tiefe, einige Sarkophage, direkt unter halb des Loches einen Zugang zum Wasser, sowie einige Gestalten, die schnell außerhalb des Sichtfeldes verschwinden.
Da es noch eine weitere Tür gibt und man sich nicht in die Mitte von potentiellen Feinden abseilen möchte. Gehet die Gruppe durch die Tür.Dieser Führt zu einem weiteren Gang, wieder finden sie einen Treppenabgang, wieder gehen sie weiter und kommen an eine Tür, die mit einer Sonne geschmückt ist, mit einer dunklen, zähen Farbe übermalt wurde. Das Reinigen der Sonne bringt das goldene Strahlen zurück und Apollo segnet die Abenteurer.
Hinter der Tür findet sie ein prächtiges Gemach, es wird sorgfältig durchsucht, was neben einiger Abenteurerausrüstung, auch noch drei Heiltränke, die Kultkasse, Aufzeichnungen des Kultführers und eines alten Tempelritters auch noch eine Geheimtür zum Vorschein bringt. Man lässt sich einige Zeit beim durchforsten des Gefundenen und nach einiger Zeit, klopft es an der Tür. Die Gruppe bereitet sich vor und schafft es drei Kuo-Tao zu überraschen, die durch die Tür kommen. Diese sind schnell überwältigt.
Unser GoldjungeIm Anschluss geht’s durch die Geheimtür, dahinter führt eine Wendeltreppe in die Tiefe. An deren Fuß ist eine weitere Tür mit Gucklöchern. Dadurch können sie in einen Altarraum schauen, in dem sich ein kräftig wirkender Leibwächtertyp und zwei Kultisten in Roben um eine weitere Person in prächtigeren Roben versammelt haben. Der Altar ist besudelt, in einer Ecke hinter den Kultisten befinden sich drei gefesselte Personen.
Dann gibt es noch einen Ausgang und ein gewaltigen goldenen Apollokopf, der einen großen Teil der Wand hinter dem Altar einnimmt.Die Erstürmung des Apollotempels
Heike schleicht nun einmal um die Kultisten herum und befreit die Gefangenen und gibt ihnen Waffen, während zwei der gefangenen sehr verängstigt scheinen, versteht der dritte was passiert. Dann schleicht Heike weiter und eröffnet den Kampf mit einem hinterhältigem Angriff auf den Anführer. Darauf haben Moritz und Morvin gewartet und stürmen in den Raum. Moritz streckt den Anführer nieder und stellt sich dann zusammen mit Morven den restlichen Gegnern. Diese sind vom Tod ihres Anführers er erzürnt, als eingeschüchtert und liefern sich einen kurzen heftigen Kampf, der aber, auch wenn Moritz nochmal zu Boden geht, schnell entschieden ist.
Der befreite Kämpfer stellt sich als der gesuchte Marcus Junius heraus, dessen Kameraden alle einem Hinterhalt zum Opfer gefallen sind. Die beiden anderen sind Händler und sehr froh über ihrer Befreiung.
Um die Geretteten in Sicherheit zubringen und da der Spieler von Moritz langsam erschöpft und unkonzentriert war, ging es zurück an die Oberfläche. Der Fürstin wurde Bericht erstattet eine Belohnung kassiert, Erfahrungspunkte verteilt: Level up.
Bildquellen:
#DD #DD5E #Dungeon #pnpde #Rollenspiel #Spielbericht
Statue des Dionysos Sardanapal
Kopf eines Faustkämpfers -
Neues aus den Dimmerlanden
Ein Spielbericht
Der Dragonborn Fighter Moztith, genannt Moritz, die Halblingsschurkin Heike Kleinke und der Waldläufer Morven, der Greif von Heimford, starten das Abenteuer in dem Ort Eulenstein. Dem Sitz der Fürstin Cassandra.
Gerüchte besagen, dass wohl seit einiger Zeit Leute verschwinden. Vor allem Reisende und die Ärmsten der Armen, weshalb es ein wenig gedauert hat, bis dies aufgefallen ist. Fürstin Cassandra soll vor einigen Tagen einen Trupp von Spezialisten unter dem Kommando von Marcus Junius entsandt haben, von denen man nichts gehört hat. Als man sich weiter umhört kommt man mit einem Bettler ins Gespräch, der erzählt, dass Nachts Fischmenschen aus dem alten Dionysos Schrein kämmen und er gesehen habe, wie sie den armen Hütten Hugo, davon getragen hätten. Die Truppe entschließt sich am nächsten Tag bei der Fürstin vorstellig zu werden. Fürstin Cassandra empfängt die Gruppe, bestätigt, dass ihre Elite Truppe, die Vorfälle untersucht und seit einigen Tagen vermisst ist, obwohl sie den Ort nie verlassen hatte. Man bietet an, sich, gegen Bezahlung, darum zu kümmern. Die Fürstin bietet 200 Goldstücke an und gibt ihnen eine Warnung mit auf den Weg.
Der erste Abstieg
Der Dionysos Schrein stellt sich, als ein sechseckiger kleiner Tempelbau, aus der Zeit der Tempelritter dar, Fenster und Türen sind vermauert. Man entdeckt allerdings, über einem kleinen Anbau, ein Fenster das teilweise wieder aufgebrochen wurde. Mit vereinten Kräften klettert man erst hinauf und, nachdem man sich umgeschaut hat, hinein
Im Schrein liegt eine Menge Schutt und Gerümpel, es ist ein Loch im Boden und eine Tür auszumachen. Morven sucht nach Spuren und entdeckt, dass hier regelmäßig Menschen und andere Zweibeiner mit Krallen und Schwimmflossen durchkommen. Meist scheinen sie zum Loch zuführen, seltener zu der Treppe und eine Spur zu einem der Schutthaufen. Morven untersucht den Schutthaufen und findet einen kleinen versteckten Vorrat, ein Kletterset und zwei Tränke: Ein Heiltrank und Wasseratmungstrank. Hinter der Tür führt eine alte hölzerne Spindeltreppe in die Tiefe. Es ist eine Tür zu dem unteren Raum auszumachen, aber die Treppe führt noch tiefer.
Moritz geht die Treppe hinab, bis eine Stufe unter ihm nachgibt und er krachend in die komplette Treppe hinunter fällt. Morven rennt schnell hinterher, Heike kommt vorsichtiger nach. Moritz rappelt sich langsam und nur leicht verletzt wieder auf und macht im Dunkeln eine Tür aus. Als Morven ihn erreicht sehen sie, wie sich die Tür durch knöcherne Hände öffnet. Moritz stellt sich in die Tür, um die Skelette aufzuhalten. Morven positioniert sich mit seinem Bogen. Kurze Zeit später kommt auch Heike an, die Licht mitbringt und sich ebenfalls mit ihrem Bogen positioniert. Moritz kann die Tür halten, wobei ihn Schild und Rüstung gute Dienste tun und man kämpft die stumpf vorstürmenden Skelette nieder.
Da man schonmal hier unten ist (je tiefer man ist, desto weniger tief kann man stürzen) erkundet man hier weiter. Die Kammer aus der die Skelette kamen, schein ein Vorraum für eine Gruft zu sein, der Raum dahinter dann ein auch eine Gruft mit einigen Grabnischen, in denen man ein paar Wertgegenstände findet.
Der nächste Raum hingegen ist ein hohes Gewölbe, dessen Decke man nicht wirklich ausmachen kann. In der Mitte ist ein Schacht im Boden auf der anderen Seite führt eine Treppe ein paar Meter in die Höhe zu einer weiteren Tür. Auf dem Boden sind einige Knochen verstreut. Morven schaut sich vorsichtig um, hier es scheinen vor allem die Krallen- und Schwimmhautbewährten Füße hier öfters, vom Schacht aus, durch zu kommen und dass meist, rennend. Morven warnt seine Gefährten, die gehen aber, auch nach Nachfrage durch den DM, quer durch den Raum zur Treppe.
Auf dem Weg dorthin, lassen sich zwei Dark Mantle auf Moritz und Heike fallen. Heike geht schwer getroffen zu Boden. Moritz steht noch, mit festgesaugt Dark Mantle auf dem Kopf. Morven kommt seinen Kameraden zu Hilfe und hiebt auf das Monster an Heike ein, worauf es von ihr ablässt und sich ihm zuwendet. Moritz reißt sich sein Viech vom Kopf, wird aber von ihm angegriffen und geht auch bald zu Boden. Morven erschlägt einen der Dark Mantle, worauf hin sich der zweite, trotzt Aussicht auf verlockende Beute zurückzieht. Mit Hilfe von Heiltränken und guten Todesrettungswürfen gelingt es alle beteiligten zu retten. Man zieht sich erst einmal zurück und entschließt im faulen Hund zu rasten.
Der zweite Abstieg
Mit Wein Wahnsinn und GesangAm nächsten Tag steigt man wieder über den Dionysosschrein in die Unterwelt von Eulenstein. Diesmal schafft man es problemlos in den Raum darunter zu gelangen, in dem man neben einer weiteren Tür alte Dionysos-Fresken und eine Altarnische mit einer Dionysos-Statur findet, die ein Trinkhorn in den Händen hebt. Morven opfert etwas aus seinem Weinschlauch und hört daraufhin ein tiefes, freudiges Gelächter. Auf Nachfrage des DM gibt er an chaotisch zu sein, worauf hin er auch sieht, wie die Statur das Horn hebt und ihm zuprostet. Als er darauf hin das Horn berührt, verwandelt es sich ein echtes Trinkhorn. Welches Morven im Tausch gegen noch mehr Wein an sich nimmt.
Durch die, zunächst verschlossene, dann von Moritz aufgebrochene, Tür geht es weiter, man entdeckt einen Gang in dem es einen Treppenabgang nach unten gibt und am Ende noch eine weitere Tür. Ebenfalls verschlossen. Dort entdeckt Heike Zinken der Kinder Autolykos (der Diebesgilde). Man ist sich unsicher, ob man weitergehen soll. Moritz versucht, auch durch diese Tür zu brechen scheitert. Von drinnen sind Stimmen zu hören, die irgendwann auch nach Verstärkung rufen. Die Truppe zieht sich zurück. Über den Gang werden Verhandlungen mit einigen nicht sehr gut aufgelegten Kindern Autolykos geführt. Man einigt sich darauf, sich von einander fern zu halten und sich nicht gegenseitig umzubringen.
Die Gruppe beschließt darauf hin wieder ganz nach unten zu gehen und dort wieder ihr Glück zu suchen. Im Gewölbe angekommen, bemerkt man zunächst, dass sich der Dark Mantel in einer unnatürlich Dunkelheit an der Decke versteckt. Alles halten sich alle ganz dicht an der Wand und versuchen den Raum zu umrunden. Der Dark Mantle greift zwar Morven an, verfehlt ihn aber, da er gut positioniert ist. Am Boden und in überzahl schaffen es die Abenteurer kurzen Prozess mit ihm zu machen.
Durch die Treppe geht es weiter in einen ziemlich langen Gang. Man entdeckt einen Treppenaufgang, geht aber weiter und kommt an eine Tür. Im Raum dahinter scheinen sich erst vor kurzem Leute aufgehalten zu haben, er ist aber zu Zeit leer. An den Wänden findet man Apollo-Fresken, bei denen die Augen ausgekratzt und die Sonnen schwarz ausgemalt wurden.
Im Boden befindet sich wieder ein Schacht, man entdeckt in der Tiefe, einige Sarkophage, direkt unter halb des Loches einen Zugang zum Wasser, sowie einige Gestalten, die schnell außerhalb des Sichtfeldes verschwinden.
Da es noch eine weitere Tür gibt und man sich nicht in die Mitte von potentiellen Feinden abseilen möchte. Gehet die Gruppe durch die Tür.Dieser Führt zu einem weiteren Gang, wieder finden sie einen Treppenabgang, wieder gehen sie weiter und kommen an eine Tür, die mit einer Sonne geschmückt ist, mit einer dunklen, zähen Farbe übermalt wurde. Das Reinigen der Sonne bringt das goldene Strahlen zurück und Apollo segnet die Abenteurer.
Hinter der Tür findet sie ein prächtiges Gemach, es wird sorgfältig durchsucht, was neben einiger Abenteurerausrüstung, auch noch drei Heiltränke, die Kultkasse, Aufzeichnungen des Kultführers und eines alten Tempelritters auch noch eine Geheimtür zum Vorschein bringt. Man lässt sich einige Zeit beim durchforsten des Gefundenen und nach einiger Zeit, klopft es an der Tür. Die Gruppe bereitet sich vor und schafft es drei Kuo-Tao zu überraschen, die durch die Tür kommen. Diese sind schnell überwältigt.
Unser GoldjungeIm Anschluss geht’s durch die Geheimtür, dahinter führt eine Wendeltreppe in die Tiefe. An deren Fuß ist eine weitere Tür mit Gucklöchern. Dadurch können sie in einen Altarraum schauen, in dem sich ein kräftig wirkender Leibwächtertyp und zwei Kultisten in Roben um eine weitere Person in prächtigeren Roben versammelt haben. Der Altar ist besudelt, in einer Ecke hinter den Kultisten befinden sich drei gefesselte Personen.
Dann gibt es noch einen Ausgang und ein gewaltigen goldenen Apollokopf, der einen großen Teil der Wand hinter dem Altar einnimmt.Die Erstürmung des Apollotempels
Heike schleicht nun einmal um die Kultisten herum und befreit die Gefangenen und gibt ihnen Waffen, während zwei der gefangenen sehr verängstigt scheinen, versteht der dritte was passiert. Dann schleicht Heike weiter und eröffnet den Kampf mit einem hinterhältigem Angriff auf den Anführer. Darauf haben Moritz und Morvin gewartet und stürmen in den Raum. Moritz streckt den Anführer nieder und stellt sich dann zusammen mit Morven den restlichen Gegnern. Diese sind vom Tod ihres Anführers er erzürnt, als eingeschüchtert und liefern sich einen kurzen heftigen Kampf, der aber, auch wenn Moritz nochmal zu Boden geht, schnell entschieden ist.
Der befreite Kämpfer stellt sich als der gesuchte Marcus Junius heraus, dessen Kameraden alle einem Hinterhalt zum Opfer gefallen sind. Die beiden anderen sind Händler und sehr froh über ihrer Befreiung.
Um die Geretteten in Sicherheit zubringen und da der Spieler von Moritz langsam erschöpft und unkonzentriert war, ging es zurück an die Oberfläche. Der Fürstin wurde Bericht erstattet eine Belohnung kassiert, Erfahrungspunkte verteilt: Level up.
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Statue des Dionysos Sardanapal
Kopf eines Faustkämpfers
