October

October. The month which heralds colourful leaves as deciduous trees begin to shed. And empty skies as summer visitors migrate to warmer climes. It really is a perfect time of year for early starts and walks with the dogs.

The sky was pale grey this morning. The sort of grey which sears the eyes, yet casts a dull light across the landscape. After a night of rainfall, the ground was soft and the air damp. Camara in hand, and dogs by my side, I was up before sunrise and ready to explore.

We hadn’t gone far before we came upon a group of shags trying to arrange themselves at the top of an electricity pylon.

They settled briefly before one flew away. Which leads to a point on image composition. The pictures below show the shag which departed. I’ve cropped them to show the difference between square cropping and leaving some lead space when you have a moving subject.

The second picture, in which there is extra space sits more naturally with the viewer. The bird has room to ‘fly’ into. Ignore the aesthetics of the picture. The subject matter could be anything, providing it is moving. If you’re lucky, it might even be focussed properly …

Anyway, leaving extra space for for the subject to move towards creates a sense of purpose to the photograph. Your mind automatically takes the next step in the story which is being told in the picture. The bird continues to fly. The harsher crop in the first image suggests the bird might actually be about to hit the edge of the photograph, tumbling from the picture and disappearing into the text. It is important that the empty area lies in front of the direction of travel. Having the space behind the shag tugs your eyes to where it has come from, rather than allowing your mind to flow to where it is going to.

The extra room on the picture, the blank space, is also useful for images which are being used for editorial purposes. There is room to write in the space, and the picture retains the feeling of logic. The bird is flying towards the text; visually we are satisfied.

Having watched the shags for a while, we continued our walk. First thing in the morning is a wonderful time to catch birds as they welcome the day. The trees and hedges around us seemed to be full of robins, singing loudly as we passed. It was more likely to have been one or perhaps two robins. They’re very territorial birds and it’s unlikely the trees really were full of them. They certainly made enough noise to create the impression that we were surrounded though. They have the most beautiful song and tend to answer one and other as they take turns to sing.

The leaf cover was still so dense that I couldn’t get a clear sight of the birds. I didn’t want to crash through the undergrowth trying to spot them, so was content instead to enjoy the songs before moving on.

Robins singing – recordings from earlier this year

I photographed a couple more birds while we were out. The first, a heron, which flew up from the side of the river as we walked. I don’t like to disturb them from their fishing spots, but I could see it found another perch further downriver so we left it to continue hunting.

As we neared the end of the walk, an egret, which had been standing motionless in a field across the river, unfolded its wings and took flight.

Egret in flight 

Because of the background in this picture, you can see the effect of panning while photographing a moving subject. Successful panning involves focussing on the subject, then moving the camera to follow the subject. It’s important to keep the subject in the same position within the frame while you release the shutter. It’s also important to keep yourself as still as possible, pivoting your upper body to follow the action rather than moving your feet. Maintain this position even while not taking photographs; part of the panning process is to follow the movement with the camera. Then when ready, release the shutter.

As you take photograph, the subject remains in focus, but the background is blurred because of the travel of the camera. Be careful though, a fast shutter setting will negate the effect as any movement is cancelled out by the shutter speed. Start at around 1/60 second and adjust as necessary. If you’re photographing cars, you’ll need to start a bit higher to ensure that the car is in focus while you blur the background. Using a continuous shooting mode gives more opportunity to capture the image which you are hoping for. The technique takes some practice but is a good way to introduce a feeling of movement in an image.

Finally, a great crested grebe. I include this picture because I love grebes. They’re very graceful birds and I particularly like the way its colour complements the autumn shades around it.

October. A colourful month, ripe for exploring.