OMG - It has Been Too Long Since My Last Blog Post

I must apologise to regular readers of my posts for the singular lack of any content over recent months.  It has been almost five months since I last put anything significant up on my website.  Why you may ask?  It is quite simple really, I have been incredibly busy with other work and to be honest the weather has not been particularly kind to me when I was available to get out and about with the camera.  However, being totally honest, I have definitely lost my mojo and it has only been in the last week or so that I have felt like getting back to it again.

So, this does not mean that I have not done any photography, and in fact I have been busy doing a bit of experimental shooting with infra-red, and a bit more bird photography as well.  Therefore, by way of a little catch-up, I have drawn together below some of my better shots from the last few months and I hope you enjoy them.

Juvenile Cuckoo at Duirinish (Canon EOS 250D, Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM (Contemporary 015) lens at 562mm, 1/500 sec at f/6.3, ISO 800, Handheld)

This juvenile cuckoo was being very obliging today when I visited the crofts at Duirinish.  It just sat on the fence waiting to be fed by its adopted parents, a pair of meadow pipits.  I managed to get quite close and got a good number of decent shots with the one above being probably the best, along with the following one.

Juvenile Cuckoo at Duirinish (Canon EOS 250D, Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM (Contemporary 015) lens at 562mm, 1/500 sec at f/8.0, ISO 800, Handheld)

I took a couple of other bird photos, the first a young dunnock (hedge sparrow) and then what I think is a skylark, but I have my doubts about it possibly being a meadow pipit - feel free to post your opinion in the comments.

Juvenile Dunnock at Drumbuie (Canon EOS 250D, Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM (Contemporary 015) lens at 600mm, 1/500 sec at f/6.3, ISO 800, Handheld)

Skylark or Meadow Pipit (?) with caterpillar at Drumbuie (Canon EOS 250D, Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM (Contemporary 015) lens at 600mm, 1/500 sec at f/6.3, ISO 800, Handheld)

As always at this time of year, the meadows were looking really impressive, with a great diversity of flowering plants.  Some small areas had been cut for silage already, but the damp weather has prevented most of it being cut as yet.  While this is not particularly good for the crofters, it does mean more wild flower seed will be set and spread into the meadows, enhancing their already considerable conservation value.

Drumbuie Grassland (Canon EOS 250D, Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM (Contemporary 015) lens at 150mm, 1/500 sec at f/9, ISO 800, Handheld)

Species Rich Grassland, Drumbuie (Canon EOS 250D, Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM (Contemporary 015) lens at 150mm, 1/500 sec at f/8, ISO 800, Handheld)

Croft Track, Drumbuie (Canon EOS 250D, Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM (Contemporary 015) lens at 150mm, 1/500 sec at f/7.1, ISO 800, Handheld)

The next shot was taken at the weekend, at Drynoch on Skye, in the bay below the cemetery.  There are a number of old boats tied up at the shore and I thought they might offer up a compelling composition or two.  As it was this was really the only good shot I managed to capture, but it works well with the Cuillin ridge in the background.

Old Boats at Faoileann an Triain, near Drynoch on Skye (Canon 5D Mark IV, EF 17-35mm f/2.8L USM lens at 17mm, 1/8 sec at f/16, ISO 100, ND9 Grad Soft Filter, tripod)

On Friday last week I took my wife for a drive up Strathconon with the hope of getting some interesting photo opportunities.  As it happened the best chance came with a large herd of red deer stags with antlers in full velvet.  I suspect these deer are being fed as they were very closely herded together which is quite unusual from my experience.  None-the-less, they presented an exciting opportunity to capture these magnificent animals from a decent distance.  This shot only includes about a third of the total number present.

Red Deer Stags in Velvet, Strathconon (Canon EOS 250D, EF 400mm f/5.6L USM lens, 1/500 sec at f/8, ISO 800, handheld)

The next, and last colour shot, was taken at Loch Achidh na h-Inich one afternoon when the light made the woodland of the Coille Mhor shine brightly green and the lack of wind provided lovely reflections on the water.  So many shades of green!

Atlantic Rainforest by Loch Achaidh na h-Inich (Canon EOS 250D, Tamron 18-200mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC B018 lens at 52mm, 1/500 sec at f/9, ISO 800, handheld)

The remaining shots are a collection of slightly older shots captured at various locations over the past few months.