Thanks Hugh, for your Photo Challenge Week 26 : Distance as its given me a chance to post something I never thought would see the light of day on this blog.
Distance? Oh I know all about that in my pursuit of THE wildlife image.
When I had a 50mm-270mm lens, I kept trying to take birds that were just too far away, whilst ignoring those that were within easy reach. So……I bought myself a Canon100-400L lens ….and……again ignored what would have been a good capture to focus even further away to something on the horizon, always knowing at the back of my mind that when cropped to show the bird, it would be so full of noise and so pixellated that I wouldn’t consider posting it on any of my wildlife groups. But I couldn’t resist firing away in continuous shoot mode which I sometimes think now I did because (a) I loved the noise it made and (b) everybody else was doing it.
On a trip to the beautiful Scottish island of Mull, renowned for its abundant wildlife – especially White-Tailed Sea Eagles, Golden Eagles and Otters – I did indeed see the most amazing sights (Through a powerful telescope). However, what was one of the most incredible half-hours of my life when I watched (through telescope) a pair of White-Tailed Sea Eagles feeding their chicks in a nest high in a pine tree, didn’t look quite so “AWESOME” (good flickr word there) when taken at 400mm with the addition of a 1.5 converter (i.e. 600mm – quite a big lens, very heavy too). Without the telescope you couldn’t even see which tree it was, let alone the Sea Eagle family of four.
So just for a joke I posted this on my flickr stream in 2011:
Far Distant White-Tailed Sea Eagles and Chicks ©HelenBushe
(on my blog this post is categorised as Humour and not as Wildlife. I think you can see why)
12 Comments
HMB · 18 May 2016 at 18:23
I quite agree
thegirlthatdreamsawake · 18 May 2016 at 11:19
this photo made me laugh 🙂 good shot !
HMB · 18 May 2016 at 11:34
Thanks for looking. Laughter was my intention when posting it though I thought I had a serious purpose when I took the photograph.
thegirlthatdreamsawake · 18 May 2016 at 18:21
it was the best outcome 🙂 nothing like a good laugh 🙂
Hugh's Views and News · 18 May 2016 at 08:57
What an exciting moment, Helen. You must have been really pleased to have witnessed this.
Thank you for sharing it with us and I’m very pleased that the photo was able to have its fame moment on your blog. Thank goodness you never deleted it.
HMB · 18 May 2016 at 08:59
Thanks Hugh. I never delete anything that makes me laugh.
Hugh's Views and News · 18 May 2016 at 10:08
That’s taught me a good lesson.
HMB · 18 May 2016 at 10:17
Marga Demmers · 17 May 2016 at 21:26
Where? Oh, there! Especially the chicks are charming. 😉
HMB · 17 May 2016 at 21:31
Thanks Marga. Ha! It was a wonderful site through the telescope, you could actually see their faces. Without the ‘scope you couldn’t find the tree. Did get a much better view of one on the rocks at the shore, but my camera wasn’t out).
Marga Demmers · 18 May 2016 at 08:25
Such excursions are great and I can imagine the exciting feeling you had when you could see the faces of those grand birds. Two years ago we visited a part of Catalonia where lots of vultures (all kinds) have their home. On one occasion we spotted a whole family of Egyptian vultures, also with a nest. Their flight is impressive and also their ability to land on a tiny spot in the rocks. We made many photos, most of them of the kind of ‘Where? Oh, there!’. But it was a great experience.
HMB · 18 May 2016 at 08:29
Your trip sounds great. At least the photographs can remind us of the excitement of the moment.