Fen

Went to visit the ponies at Redgrave and Lopham Fen again yesterday, although they were so intent on grazing that they didn’t lift their heads to be photographed unfortunately.  I managed a couple of shots of them though. Both of the following shots are slightly cropped from the top, as at the time I included the darker background of a wood, but realised when processing them that they look better without it! Something to think about next time!

They are quite well camouflaged in the reeds

I also saw a pair of Roe deer. As I walked along the path near the ponies, I suddenly realised several of the ponies all seemed to be looking in the same direction, intrigued, I continued slowly along the path, then suddenly the Roe deer leapt out and pranced away across the reedbed, a lovely sight. The ponies seemed quite interested in the deer and watched them as they moved through the fen. I’m sure the deer heard me coming long before I even realised they were there, but the ponies gave them away. It’s always worth watching what the other wildlife or animals are looking at just in case.

Signs of Spring were all around too, with a Green Woodpecker calling, a Greater Spotted Woodpecker drumming, and a small group of Linnet, one of which was singing away. 10 Magpies were also seen, and looked quite elegant all flying together.

Continuing on my walk I decided to photograph some backlit reeds

They looked great in the golden light, but photographing them was frustrating as the wind was really blowing them around. I decided to work with the conditions, instead of against them and try for some abstract shots. Not normally my thing, but actually I really like the shots. I think the combination of cool grey where the reeds were in shadow, and warm golden of the reeds backlit by the setting sun works quite well. To get these shots I set a slow shutter speed and then moved the camera on the tripod during the exposure. Sounds simple, but it takes a bit of work and experimentation.