New project, small birds photographed with artificial light.

I know that this is just yet another Nuthatch but I'm pleased with the picture because I used  artificial lighting  to bring out the detail in areas of the bird that would otherwise have been in shadow.  I had always imagined that this would be effective even though I have never heard or read of it being used by other bird photographers  before.   It has been hard to find a light with an intense enough beam and I knew that if I could find the right lamp I would be able to improve my pictures. Today, using just one intense lamp I was actually able to acheive 1/3000 of a second which is quick enough to freeze wing beats so I am hoping to get some good action shots very soon.  If I use more than one lamp I could double the intensity of the light. This  will make it possible to get some really good action shots and thats my plan now.  Surprisingly the birds were not in the least frightened by the light.

By way of an update, 3 Buzzards were around the hide today, circling above. One landed in the meadow near the hide but unfortunately I disturbed it.  The rabbit had been well and truly eaten so I feel sure that, given some luck, I will be photographing Buzzards again in the next day or so.

The artificial light has imparted a nice warm colour to the bird in this one. Interesting to see the bird's beak so clearly.

This is a lovely little Coal Tit, probably the best photo of this species that I have taken. Again the buff underparts are very nice and the light has picked out the detail beautifully. This is actually a hard species to photograph because they are very quick and never still for very long.