Photographing wildlife

Been on a course today about photographing wildlife.  There is so much to learn.  Just going to make some notes to remind myself in future.  So...

• Plan the day beforehand.  Have an identified species to focus on
• Think about the light - all the time - which places are best morning or afternoon, which direction to walk around a reserve, where to stop when you see a subject - often better to keep walking slowly to get to where you want to take the photo from - if you stop then walk on likely to startle it
• Generally use ISO400 - doesn't need to vary too much
• Be ready, lens cap off, camera switched on
• Can use aperture priority on DSLR - you set aperture & camera adjusts the shutter speed
• Thirds rule doesn't necessarily apply.  If bird in tree, try to get all sky or all tree, not combination. If 3rd horizontally, have bird looking into photo
• Use depth of field - may want bird to be sharp against blurred background
• Treat it like sports photography, so fast shutter speed
• Don't need to worry about camera shake
• Practise on bigger birds.  And in the garden.  Set up sticks near feeder so birds will perch there

So now I'm going to practise, & practise & try to get the hang of the aperture vs shutter dynamic.  And will need a bigger lens. 

Living life

I've been to a memorial service today.  A friend died too early from a brain tumour, and this was a service at Colney Woodland Burial Park.  It is a beautiful place, and today the sun shone and the birds sang, making it a very poignant way to say goodbye to somebody.  Death always makes us assess where we are in life, are we making the most of it when we only have one? 

I've been feeling overwhelmed for the last few weeks.  I despise the policies the coalition government is putting in place, they are demolishing so much.  And it creates a pressure at work, many people are stressed, and I don't think this brings out the best in people.

However I've met some lovely people today, and said goodbye to someone for whom the politics of fairness and equality were so important.  I owe it to her to keep fighting and keep my spirits up.  "Life only kills when you choose not to live it."

Things I like about dogs

The dogs have settled in very well.  They are very relaxed, and we're getting into a routine though we haven't settled on what food to have quite yet.

There are so many pleasures that I want to record:

• Logan wags his tail so hard that when it's wet it slaps his sides
• Chance stretches out his back legs along the floor in the morning & pulls them along & looks very sweet
• They keep my feet warm on the sofa
• Logan likes to greet you with a teddy in his mouth.  He holds it very gently, doesn't chew it
• Chance gets up on his back legs to see over hedges if he thinks there's something interesting
• They hardly bark, and they're friendly to other people & dogs
• Logan enjoys being brushed & blowdried.  He positively wants a towel thrown over him after a walk
• Chance likes to give a little nose lick - he's very affectionate

I'm sure all the health benefits are true, they just make me feel very calm and happy, they are a lovely pair and I'm so pleased to have found them.

Life as a dog owner

Well, I'm very pleased to say that we now have 2 dogs.  Logan & Chance, a 4 year old springer spaniel & 3 year old Jack Russell have come to us as their owner is seriously ill, and bravely asked for them to be rehomed.    They've come from Yorkshire, as I was checking the South Yorkshire English Springer Spaniel Rescue website for dogs, saw these two & thought that they looked a beautiful pair.  We brought them back on Saturday, and they are settling in incredibly well.  I've taken time off work so that they can get familiar with me & the house, but they are just so relaxed, it's wonderful.  We've met a few dogs out on walks, and despite being intact boys (until the end of the month) they aren't at all aggressive with other dogs.  They did a bit of  wee marking in the kitchen when they arrived, but this has stopped, and they haven't chewed or done anything remotely  naughty.

They are 2 lovely characters, and we're all very happy.

January

It's 12.15am & tomorrow is the first day back at work after 2 weeks.  But as I've got used to going to bed later, and as there is a gale blowing very loudly outside I'm going to just be very tired tomorrow.

I found another lovely blog to follow today http://www.littlehouseintown.co.uk/ via the delightful http://higgledygarden.com/ & there was a kind of review of the year, remembering good things that had happened.  And also looking at a list of intentions & realising that she'd done more than she realised.

Now 2011 was a strange year as I've previously noted, but there were some lovely positives about it:

• The pond thrived & even had baby newts
• I had a couple of very good holidays - Portugal & France
• I got to know 2 spaniels & their owner very well, and am now hoping to get a spaniel of my own
• I discovered the sweet drawings of  http://www.sophie-parker.com/ & also other treasures at Etsy
• I had lots of new moths in my trap (which I released afterwards!)
• I've done a lot of reading over the Christmas break which has been fulfilling
• And I've had a very relaxing Christmas with L which I hope bodes well for the next year 

Now in September I set myself some goals.  Haven't done the exercise, haven't done the vegan meals.  Did manage to get a lot of locally-sourced Christmas presents.   So I shall reset the goals:

• Exercise 15 mins a day 
• Make a vegan meal a week
• Get a dog (will help with first aim)
• Keep proper moth records
• Learn how to use new DSLR to take good photos

That'll do.

As you were.

Christmas

I love Christmas.  I don't have many  presents to buy, or lots of food to prepare, so it's always a chance to see people,  overeat, watch telly, go for walks.  Last year was my first Christmas single probably since my teens.  Part way through the year L asked if we could try again, so we're trying again.  In the run-up to Christmas I felt uncertain, I was looking back to last year, and how sad I felt.  And it seemed slightly unreal that he should have come back.  Reconciliation is a hard process for all concerned.  And I'm not sure if you can ever feel it's totally over.  But I've had a lovely Christmas, and am feeling settled and happy, so I hope this positivity will continue long into the new year.

Ebooks

I've just been reading my first ever ebook.  I downloaded Jennifer Egan's Visit from the Goon Squad to my netbook from the public library.  I've got it for 21 days, after which it will dissolve into bits & disappear.  I've almost finished reading it, and have been thinking about the experience of reading electronic versus print.  I found it very easy to read on the netbook.  I read quite quickly & what I hadn't liked about trying an e-reader previously was that not much text is displayed on the screen so you have to keep 'turning the page'.  However I found that hovering my cursor over the down arrow was very simple, and I could whizz through the pages, more easily in fact than holding a book.  However, what I find interesting is that I miss the sense of knowing where I am in a book by looking visually at where the bookmark is in the book.  It's made the story feel a bit disjointed.  The Goon Squad is a series of chapters about a group of people at different times in their lives, and with different narrators, so it is perhaps more difficult to follow than a traditional consecutive narrative.  But I think there is something about the physical sensation of getting through a book that's missing.  Also, I often read in bed, lying on my side with the book resting on the pillow a page at a time.  And I can't do that with the netbook, and I don't think I'd be able to do it easily with an e-reader, because of needing to turn the pages quickly.    The other thing which feels completely counter-intuitive is using electricity to read.   I know I could get some sort of solar recharger (maybe?) for my netbook, but at the moment it draws power ultimately from the national grid, and so seems wasteful.

But it's been a very easy way to get a library book.  And as someone who sometimes reads very quickly, and then forgets to take the books back, it's a good alternative to print, but I wouldn't want it to be the only method of getting books in future.