My most recent photos... |
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Most of my pictures are all now on Flickr. Click the logo to visit my photostream...
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...and everything else
Click here to see all my Flickr sets.
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Me and my stuff
I've always been interested in nature photography, and for years used a number of Canon and Minolta film cameras. I sold the lot in 2003 and bought a Nikon Coolpix 4500, but soon decided that a digital SLR was the way to go.
Since 2004 I've been through various Canon cameras and lenses including two EOS 20Ds, an EOS 30D, an EOS 40D, an EF 400mm f/5.6L, and an EF 300mm f/2.8L IS before finding myself with the following which I use at the moment:
EOS 7D
EF 500mm f/4L IS
EF 1.4x II extender
Kenko 1.4x DG extender
Sigma 150mm f/2.8 APO DG
Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8
Super-Takumar 50mm f/1.4
Speedlite 550EX
Macrolite MR-14EX
...plus sundry other gubbins.
I tart everything up using Canon DPP, Adobe CS2 and Helicon Focus (for the stacks).
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A-Z index
Click here for a list of links to all my photos by species/subject.
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Copyright and contact
All photographs and content are copyright Rich Andrews. Please don't copy, steal or hotlink any of the photos on this website. It's the height of rudeness.
If you have any enquiries about usage, please . Thanks!
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SATURDAY 26th MARCH 2011
Adders
I hardly ever see any reptiles in this country, and even then my few experiences are normally of fleeting encounters with Grass Snakes at Chew. Adders have eluded me for years (presumably because I've never actually looked for one), so thanks to some top gen from David Kennedy I made the effort today and went to Ubley Warren to look for some.
I eventually found a pair together, tucked away on the edge of cover in one of the rocky gullies. Despite the cool cloudy weather they weren't too keen on me getting too close, so after an attempt with the macro lens I resorted to using a 500mm with a 1.4x extender and a 21mm extension tube. At the minimum focusing distance they were quite happy to sit there for ages, which was just as well because with all that magnification I needed to use the mirror lock to get anything that was properly sharp.
Further along the gully I was surprised to find another; blatantly obvious as it sat there tightly curled up on the grassy path, looking for all the world as though it had just been crimped off by some massive dog. I was glad to have spotted it before I stepped on it, as I was able to get the tripod up and run a few shots off before it plopped over the edge into the bracken.
A few more on Flickr.
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MONDAY 14th MARCH 2011
Marvellous Mandarins
Today I visited the Forest of Dean to see the Goshawks at New Fancy View, and hoped that whilst I was there that I would get chance to take a few pictures of the Mandarins that live on the ponds in the forest. Not having looked for them there before I wasn't sure whether they'd be easy to find but in the end I saw them at New Fancy View (three in flight), Worgreens Lake (four) and Cannop Ponds, where these were taken (31).
Smart, innum? More on my Flickr gallery.
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SUNDAY 6th MARCH 2011
White-front
White-fronted Geese are a pretty rare sight at Chew nowadays - I think this one is only the fourth in the last ten years. This afternoon it was at the pond on Woodford Bank with a few Canada Geese, and with some pretty good light I was able to take a load of decent shots of it.
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SATURDAY 5th MARCH 2011
Oriental Turtle Dove
Having decided to leave it a few weeks to let the crowds subside at the Chipping Norton Oriental Turtle Dove, I made the trip this morning and had some nice looks at the bird through Steve Akers' kitchen window. Unfortunately, with the bird some distance away in next door's garden through the glass window in poor light (ISO 800 and 1600) I was lucky to manage anything like a few decent record shots.
As usual, the reason for my tardy arrival was that I don't keep a British list and that I've seen these before - and even managed a few decent shots, in India at Pangot in February 2005 (bottom). Compare and contrast.
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SUNDAY 9th JANUARY 2011
Waxwings
Apart from some awful distant pictures I took in Horfield over Christmas, I haven't photographed any Waxwings this winter. It's been hard enough trying to even catch up with them locally, let alone take any decent pictures. Luckily there have been four in Shirehampton over the weekend; unfortunately the best berry tree there (in nice direct sunlight) was the home of an angry Mistle Thrush, so the Waxwings had to make do with a small tree over the road (in nasty indirect light). Had to use a fair bit of flash on these (with varying success)...
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SUNDAY 2nd JANUARY 2011
New stuff!
Happy New Year everyone. I've been busy tarting up my gallery pages and have made a few changes. All the pictures have now been uploaded in 900px so they ought to look a bit nicer than before. There are also two new sets - overseas and Chew. There's quite a lot of new stuff on all four sets, too - some of which are shown below. They can be viewed by clicking the icons at the top.
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Variable Damselfly, Harlequin Ladybird, Bee x Fly Orchid and the Altiplano.
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