Some Scilly Birds

[JohnRostron]

For the past thirteen years we have visited the Isles of Scilly in June or July. For much of that time, I was on crutches with arthritis in my knees which limited my ability to handle heavier cameras. During that time I used a Panasonic DMC-FZ7. Not to tops optically by today's standards, but it did the job given the circumstances. A big disadvantage was that it only recorded Jpegs, with consequences you may see below.

One highlight of each of the Scilly trips was the Seabird Special which visited many of the smaller islands and rocks, especially Men-a-Vaur (Cornish for 'Big Rock'), which provided excellent views of Puffins, Guillemots and Razorbills.

#1 This first pic is typical of how the birds deploy themselves on Men-a-Vaur:

It also shows the disadvantages of just jpeg! On a fine sunny summer's day, photographing a dark chocolate-and-white bird against a bright blue sky is a recipe for blown highlights. Still, the pose is nice.

#2 At the right tide, there is a low rock where the auks again stand in rows to be photographed. These are mostly Guillemots, with a few razorbills on the left.

The boat I was on was probably only 4 metres from the rock. I was able to keep detail in the dark plumage, though there is some blown highlights on the birds' breasts.

#3 On an adjacent rock a few Razorbills posed.

This time I was able to maintain contrast in at least the foreground birds.

#4 A Wren on Tresco

After one rather murky trip we landed on Tresco where I photographed this singing Wren. The original contrast was very poor, but I managed to boost it. I like this because you can actually see the Wren's tongue. Note: this is what is known as a House Wren in America.

#5 Heron on St Mary's

This is a Grey Heron, a regular visitor to the pool on Lower Moors Nature Trail on St Mary's. There were lots of Eels and Grey Mullet in the pool.

More recently, I have had two new knees, and I upgraded my camera to a DSLR. I will be posting some Scilly Bird pics taken with this later, for comparison.

[Shadowman]

Issues with the camera appear more focus related than anything recoverable through RAW conversion. Not familiar with the camera, what settings were you using? The fourth image, the wren is the best of the bunch.

[John 2]

I agree and it would stand a slightly tighter crop IMO.

[JohnRostron]

The first three were taken hand-held from a rocking boat. Typical exposures were f/5.6 at 1/160 sec. The effective focal length was around 400mm, though the focal length given in the Exif as 72mm. I would agree there are issues in focus and shake, but given the circumstances I thought they weren't too bad.

I think the wren is the best as well.

I will be looking at my more recent pics to see if there is any improvement!

[JohnRostron]

Here are some more recent pictures of the seabirds, but taken with a Sony A200 and a 200mm lens (giving an 'effective' 300mm. Are these any better?

#1 A group of Guillemots and Razorbills taken on Men-a-Vaur.


#2 Common Terns on roosting a buoy. This was early evening.


#3 Back on land, another Wren, taken with a Canon PowerShot.