Atherton & District Amateur Photographic Society

Hi Everyone

Thank you to Tom for choosing my balloon picture as the winner for Comp #35.

I've chosen the topic for the next competition as Wildlife. The reason I have picked this is because I am absolutely rubbish at taking wildlife shots, I've tried but the subject either moves about too much, totally not playing ball with regard to poses etc or they decide to hide as I press the shutter, it's such a difficult subject to take and I'm interested to see how everyone else manages it. It can be any wild animal, insect, bird or fish etc but it must be wild and can be from anywhere in the world. I hope I've not narrowed the subject down too much and I hope people will have a go.

I'll set the closing date for mid-night on Saturday 23rd May, sorry it's not the usual two weeks but I'll be away until then.

Good luck everyone.

Tracey

Sorry, my mistake. Image deleted.

Hi Everyone

I just want to clarify the brief.

The images have got to be of true wild animals, taken in the wild, NOT from zoos or safari parks or any type of captivity where the animals could be tame as a result of human contact. Although they can be taken at nature reserves from anywhere in the world and can be of any living creature whether that be animal, insect or fish.

I appreciate this is a difficult subject and don't expect the quality of images to be the best in the world. I'm just really curious what you guys can managed to achieve when picturing this very difficult subject.

I'll look forward to looking at your images.

Best Wishes
Tracey

One of the Swans up on the lake at Amberswood.

A Robin taken on the shore at Ulswater

Southern Hawker

Here's my entry - didn't venture too far for this one - Pennington Flash!

Here is my little effort.

My turn to enter a competition!

We were sat in a Hide photographing wild birds and this Pheasant Fellow came lumbering by, peered in at us, posed a while, and then ambled off again.

Not sure if this is a greenfinch or goldfinch , not very good at identifying birds but taken in my daughters garden at Horwich.
just informed by a twicher it's a Greenfinch.

Well here is my effort, scanned off an original slide. Not the best by any means!

My enrty for the wildlife competition.

Regards, Barry

Hi Everyone

First of all I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who submitted a photo. I was getting a bit worried at one point because it took a while for the entries to start coming through, but when they did they were well worth the wait. There are some excellent shots here, may of them I am sooooo jealous of, they are all far better than I have been able to produce so far.

Jane-F (Swan). There is good colour and detail in the head which shows the waterdrops produced after a recent head ducking looking for food. I like how you have included some of the reflection. It's a shame you have chopped his tail feathers off and the black blob in the water near the crook of his neck is a bit distracting, I think I might have cloned this out.

Myra (Robin). This is one of my favourite wild birds, they are a joy to watch and have a lovely singing voice. You have captured this little fellow really well, I like that he is sitting on a log rather than a fence or any other manmade construction. He is very sharp and the colours are great with excellent dof.

Sue (Southern Hawker). How on earth have you managed to capture this? They move about so fast I am really impressed that you have caught this so well. The dark background really shows off the amazing colours and you have managed to capture the movement in the wings whilst keeping the body sharp.

Len McNally (Seal). You can't get much wilder than a seal, so for that alone this is a well captured shot, especially taken all the way from the beach. His face looks nice and sharp.

Andrew Shepherd (Gull). Another good capture, you can see every feather in his wings which are really sharp, it's just a pity the head is not quite as sharp, having said that, it's way better than I could every achieve.

Cookie (Lamb). This little fellow is so cute, it looks like he is smiling at the camera. I did have to question whether this should be included in the wild section because sheep belong to someone somewhere, but because they have the run of vast wild areas I thought it would be churlish to exclude it, especially whenever I have tried to take them, they take one look at the camera and run off as fast as their legs will carry them. I think they could be considered more wild than not so it stays in the competiton. Again, you have captured his pose really well and the colours and detail are lovely.

Jim C (Swan). This is a lovely swan shot with an almost classical pose. The colours and detail are good and I like how you have included all of the reflection which is almost as sharp at the bird itself, the only thing that lets it down is that it looks like the top of his wings may be blown out.

John (Pheasant). The first thing that hits you about this shot are the colours, they are fantastic, you can see every feather and I like how you have cropped this just to include the head and not the body.

Bert (Greenfinch). This photo blew me away, the head, body and left wing are super pin sharp with amazing dof to the background and right wing. There are no distractions in the background which shows off the bird perfectly, he sits just right in the image.

Pammie (Heron). A really good photo of a very shy and flighty bird, you've captured him is his natural environment, you know why he is there, he's looking for his dinner so the image tells a story. The pose is well caught along with the exposure which is always difficult when taking pictures of running water especially in the sunlight.

Barry (Geese). A nicely composed shot showing all the geese following eachother out of the water, another minute later and this wouldn't have the same impact as they would have all been out of the water. A nice feel good kind of picture which made me smile when I saw it.

Now for the difficult part - the results:

1st - Bert (Goldfinch)
2nd - Sue (Southern Hawker)
3rd - Myra (Robin)

Well done Bert - amazing capture.

Very well done to our winners, some super shots indeed. And lets not forget the excellent judging - well said and very perceptive, Tracey.

Bert, we'd be pleased if you could now start a new thread for a new competition, with a deadline in about two weeks.