Lee Orchard Photography

As yesterday was so nice we decided to try and get out and take some photos. I chose somewhere close as we still had quite a bit to do in the afternoon, so we went to Rowhill Nature Reserve.

The weather was nice, but there wasn’t much light and things looked a little flat. Infact there was much wildlife around either so very little to photograph. The company was very nice though!

So apart from seeing the typical view of a Jay flying away, I was lucky enough to have this one pointed out to me.

Still after years of taking photos of wildlife and birds, i am still struggling to get a really good shot of a Jay. This one was in the distance and very little light so I have had to lighten it quite a bit.

I did get, what would have been a lovely photo of the Jay with sunlight on it, but it had a twig going right across it face!

Well after the really wet week we’ve had it was nice to have a sunny day, and at the weekend!

So, time to grab the camera and go out. As it was later in the day, I thought I’d head for Fleet Pond as I know the afternoon light there can be really nice.

I parked up and headed towards the pond. As I was walking, I was looking into the trees for any wildlife. Normally you have to wait for something to move to notice it, but today, as I was looking around I thought, the bottom of that tree looks very white. When I looked closer, I realised there was a squirrel just sitting there eating a nut!

So I took a photo!

Actually it sat there for so long that I managed to get photos of it with the nut gradually getting lower, until it had eaten it!

However, as I took these shots, I thought the camera seems very slow. I checked all the settings and it all looked fine, but in a burst of photos, it was only taking about 3 photos at a time. Now this camera is quick, normal 6 frames per second. I couldn’t work it out.

I took more photos of the gulls and it took them ok, but it still seems slow.

I thought I had a problem a while ago with the shutter seeming slow, but in the end, the it turned out that at Christmas I’d set the camera on timer, then last weekend I noticed that, and switched it to continuous. What I didnt realise is this camera has 2 continous setting, 1 that seems to restrict it to about 2.5 to 3 frames a second, and a high speed setting! Phew! I thought the camera was faulty!

Today was a nice day for a walk. So I headed for the Virginia Waters and ended walked all the way around!

What a lovely day and a lovely walk!

A question on a forum got me thinking and has given me an idea.

As photographers, we know that not all places are Photographer friendly and some places dont allow cameras, and some places dont allow tripods etc..

So I thought I’d try to start to create a list of places that could be visited but photographers without them worrying about being told, you cant do that!

I will create a separate page for this listing, but this is something that needs your help.

Please add any places below that are photographer friendly sites.

• Hawk Conservancy, Andover, Hampshire
• Marwell Zoo, Winchester, Hampshire
• Birdworld, Farnham, Surrey
• Portsmouth Historic Dockyards, Portsmouth, Hampshire
• Natural History Museum, London
• Victoria & Albert Museum, London
• Armouries, Leeds
• Brooklands Motor Museum
• Beaulieu Motor Museum, Brockenhurst, Hampshire

Please add any places that you know of in the comments below.