Water Vole

[Andrew Robinson]

Thank you for your comments on my image of the squirrel, they were most encouraging. I feel a little bit of a fraud posting this when I see all the amazing images on this forum of iconic species but I do like working on local subjects and struggle to travel at the moment. Water Voles are really struggling in this country and this is one from a small but thriving population in the uplands who are very wary and virtually never see people. I would have liked a lower angle but because of the very narrow nature of the beck and the steep banks it is virtually impossible to get that. I have also struggled with the colours because of the peat stained water, the green and the bright sunlight. Thank you for looking.


Canon 5D MK 111. Canon 300mm f/2.8
Hide and tripod.

f/14, 1/120 sec, iso 1250


Thank you for looking.

[Steve Kaluski]

I feel a little bit of a fraud posting this when I see all the amazing images on this forum of iconic species but I do like working on local subjects and struggle to travel at the moment.

Andrew, it doesn't have to be exotic and it is great to have diversity of subject posted here so others can see new and interesting species, especially when it's on your local patch.

Looking at the techs, f/14 is way too much, I would look either f/8 or f/5.6, this will also help your SS with these guys, but upping the ISO is never a problem with the 5DMKIII. without seeing the site it's hard to suggest angles, but obviously the light is going to already preset things, just watch for strong highlights, blown whites as the sun builds over the course of the day. Likewise hefty shadows on your subjects, something you want to about in both shot & at PP stage as noise will start to appear, it's easier to darken than lighten. if this project grows you may wish to consider a drop in polariser for the lens, but they are costly and I'm not sure how much usage you could get, I hardly used mine on the 500 and gave it away.

I think you did well with over colour, it looks quite natural, but perhaps toning down some of the brighter elements may help? I'm not sure going a little tighter may help, but again, subject to IQ. Maybe loosing a little of the water weed in the FG? Not sure how far you are from the A1 (North) but there has been a release of quite a few in a reserve too, although I've not been back since the real ease to see how they are doing, but should do.

Finally Andrew, the watermark is a little big and therefore we would prefer a more discrete sized copyright for the future, thanks.

Look forward to more.

TFS
Steve

[Jonathan Ashton]

I guess you went for a small aperture because you were fairly close but I would have thought f8-f11 would have been ok. In view of your problems with lighting conditions would it be worthwhile considering a little discrete fill in flash. Looking at the image I would trim some water off the base, I think the highlights are just a little too light, a modest shutter speed but the subject looks sharp. Hope you have more, I am looking forward to seeing them. I understand some have been released and are part of a study programme not to far from where I live so I hope to get some similar shots myself.

[Neil Burton]

You see, we don't have many of these chaps around here ;) Not sure where you are situated? Like it, agree f8 would have been fine at this angle, highlights you can tone down (drop me a PM if you need any help on that). Otherwise quite a unique angle and pose!

[Andrew Robinson]

Hi Steve, thank you very much for your comments, they are much appreciated. Apologies about the watermark, I didn't mean to put it on! In my ignorance I used f/14 to try to get a better depth of field to get the details of the background in and the action was so quick and so short I did not have much time to experiment. I need to get confidence in the MK 111 at higher iso and have thought about trying a wide angle shot to get a better angle but have very little experience with that. Thanks again for your helpful comments.

Andrew

[Steve Kaluski]

Apologies about the watermark, I didn't mean to put it on!

No problem Andrew. I did have a load of pre-sets (Custom Functions) for the MKIII I could have fwd to you, not sure if I still have them. If I find them when I'm back will PM them to you as they may help.

In the meantime you might like to check this out from Artie's store https://store.birdsasart.com/shop/item.aspx?itemid=254

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Andrew - it's always nice to see different species including "less exotic" ones. What's local for one person may be exotic for others. You've gotten excellent advice from Steve above. I love the combo of the 5D3 and the 300.

TFS,
Rachel

[Gabriela Plesea]

Hello Andrew,

And thank you for this post, Rachel is absolutely right and your delightful "local subject" is very exotic to me, saw but only a few images of these Water Voles and I would love to see more!
Andrew, a wise man and dear friend once taught me a few years ago - and I never forgot his advice - that one's shutter speed value must always be at least equal or exceed the length of one's lens. Preferably exceed the size of the lens... In this particular case, I would have tried to ensure that my shutter speed is at least 1/500s, although these days I aim for more, just in case my subject decides to move around (or even twitch his nose!).

I am not going to repeat what has already been said above and I guess everyone would like to see more of these Voles, so if you have the time please try and find these little chaps again and experiment a bit with your settings, try various F-stops and don't be shy about pushing up the ISO. I certainly look forward to your future posts

Kind regards,

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Andrew quite nice to see a different subject . You did well with overall comp , tone and color.But agree with toning down some highlights.
I like to see more of these Voles. Keep them coming

TFS Andreas

[Loi Nguyen]

Hi Andrew, given what looks like a difficult shooting conditions, you did very well here. The subject is not moving much and you had a tripod, IS, so this picture worked out for you. However, what the other members are saying is that you do not need F14 for this situation and no need to risk by going with SS that low in case the subject moves - unless you intend to get some blur by going with a lower SS. You have a hide, so perhaps it might be possible to re-position the hide so that you might be in a more favorable lighting condition? Loi

[John Robinson]

All been said.
Good one Andrew. It took me 74 years before I managed to get a pic of them so there you go !!
John

[Morkel Erasmus]

Always good to see variety of species, big and small. You've received some good technical comments above already. I'd invest some time in perhaps getting a way to photograph these at water-level from a blind/hide if you can? I've seen some great shots of water voles done this way by a friend who posts on 500px.

Andrew, please don't be intimidated by the species we post. We all shoot what's more-or-less on our doorstep. I live in Africa and can drive 2-3 hours and spend time with wild lions, but there are other sacrifices I need to make on a daily basis that you UK'ers don't have to