When I visited the Pohangina headwaters a few weeks ago, I
photographed a male whio a short distance down the river in the evening. The following morning I explored down the river again and found this male only a few hundred metres downriver from the hut. He quickly relaxed and began preening, but still kept an eye on me. I hope to return soon, before the days get too short and the river too cold, and I hope I get to meet him again.
All content © 2016 Pete McGregor
Kia ora Pete...a sturdy looking fellow. Hope you get up there soon before the roar kicks in.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Robb
"Oh, Pete, it's you. Well, fine then."
ReplyDeleteHandsome guy;). Love the sense of the rushing water at his feet you captured. I feel like I have been rather MIA here lately and for that I apologize. Your blog is one of the nicest parts of my day. Thanks and take care.
ReplyDeleteKia ora Robb. The roar's just starting here now, but I suspect the hills will be pretty busy with hunters already. I might be able to get back in during the week when things might be quieter, but if I do, I'll certainly be wearing the hi-viz vest.
ReplyDeleteZhoen, I do hope that's what he was thinking.
Barbara, no worries — it's always good to see you here, and thank you for the kind words :-)
Nicely balanced exposure, Pete. You have managed to freeze the whio, but given enough time to give "life" to the water.
ReplyDeleteI see you are not publishing the actual exposure details these days and I quite liked them when analysing your images.
Thanks Avus. I have little choice with these photographs. Usually the light's so poor that I have to photograph at the maximum aperture, and then it's a matter of choosing an ISO that will allow a fast enough shutter speed. f8 at ISO 100 would be wonderful, but the exposure under these conditions would typically be several seconds long, and whio don't stay that still, even if I had the camera locked down on a tripod or my pack.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I'll usually only attempt to photograph flowing water if the light's low enough to allow a shutter speed in the range of about 1/6 to 1/20. Even at ISO 100 and f11/f16, that usually means waiting for evening. I can't be bothered with neutral density filters.
I stopped adding the technical details because it was just another thing that took up time, but I'll think about adding the exposure details again.
That was very interesting - thanks Pete.
ReplyDelete