STUBBLE
WILDLIFE
As
part of my ongoing project to photograph agriculture and
related wildlife, I decided to give myself a week or so
to try and get some wildlife shots in the newly harvested
fields. My first ever Hare sighting had been in a stubble
field and it was an image that had stuck in my mind; not
only would these surroundings show the environment clearly,
but the short stubble would also mean clearer views of wildlife.
From the outset I was determined to shoot from ground level
- but what kind of hide could I use? I needed something
that would be largely ignored by both wildlife and humans
alike... The first idea I came up with was a form of hay
bale - at this season, straw bales would be scattered around
and what better way to conceal myself? O.k., so it may look
a little different, but essentially it's just a big pile
of hay... The idea seemed a little crazy, but sometimes
that's what wildlife photography is about. So, wiith a little
help from the farmer I followed through, constructed my
'dummy' bale and placed it at the edge of a recently harvested
wheat field in August. The images below show how I constructed
the hide. |
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The
framework was first fashioned into an arch shape at the
edge of the field |
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The
next job was to attach clumps of hay (kingly donated
by the farmer) to the structure and then add some netting
at the front
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I
lined the inside of the hide with canvas to make it completley
waterproof. This is the view of the field from inside |
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My
first morning in the hide was quite a chilly one. Looking out
across the stubble field I could see a few crows wheeling around,
and the occasional squawk of a pheasant, accompanied by the familar
whirring sound of wings. The sky was overcast, although it looked
like it may clear. After about half an hour I saw my first visitor
- a brown hare. Unfortunatley it was two far away to photograph,
but it was a welcome sight on this damp and fairly quiet morning.
At about 7.30am I suddenly became aware of some movement, just
to the side of my hide. |
Straightaway,
a female pheasant came into view, casually wandering through
the stubble. Moving the cameracarefully I began to take
some shots. The soft, even light proved quite appropriate
for recording the subtle colours of her plumage. The camouflage
netting was working perfectly, just like a net curtain -
the bird couldn't see me, but I could see perfectly out.
After a few more seconds, more birds arrived - young ones
that closely followed their mother. I watched for around
five minutes as the family picked their way through the
wheat stubble, all the time providing great opportunities
for pictures.
A
300mm lens with a 1.4x converter did the job by filling
the frame and diffusing the background. I used autofocus,
using the centre focus point on my EOS5 and then recomposing
- a beanbag is ideal for this type of technique... |
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The flock
included a number of males, not yet fully developed
in terms of their plumage.
The low level
of my hide enabled me take more intimate and truly natural
looking images in this agricultural setting...
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This juvenile
bird seemed to have found something interesting - I'm
not quite sure what it was, but it made for an interesting
pose... |
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As the morning
progressed, the sun began to break through, bringing out
the irridescence of this pheasant's plumage |
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Later that morning,
I was in for a real treat... After hearing a fluttering outside,
I looked up and saw a Red-legged Partridge perched on top of a
nearby hay bale. I took a number of pictures, varying the composition
as the bird stood on the straw against a perfect clear blue sky.
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Shooting
up at this angle was certainly giving me a sore neck, but it was
well worth it - and always a pleasure to get a good view of red-legs.
It wasn't long
before the Partridge hopped down onto the ground and I was given
the opportunity to get another series of images of the bird -
this time amongst the brightly lit stubble.
By
now, light levels had increased significantly and I found myself
shooting at around 1/500 of a second on ISO 100. The shadow in
the background is being cast by the hay bale on which the bird
was just standing. |
On
my next visit, I tried to increase the odds a little by
throwing out handfuls of grain near to the hide. As well
as more pheasants and the odd brave crow, a group of Woodpigeons
also came down and I was able to shoot more low-level images
of these attractive if unpopular birds.
This
kind of composition is one which can only be achieved by
having the camera very close to the ground with the foreground
and background stubble being nicely blurred. On top of this
the bird struck a wonderul pose as it turned it neck right
round - I framed with the bird looking into space.
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Paul Miguel
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