Meet the Crows

Hi friends!

Some time ago I wrote an article about Pigeons. These birds can be encountered almost everywhere, both in large urban areas and in the wilderness. Now I decided it’s time to write about another type of common birds, namely the crows. Who hasn’t met a crow yet? Who hasn’t heard its screams, which might sometimes be pretty disturbing especially when a high count of them gathers in the area. Well, no matter what some folks say I find them fascinating. Why? I’ll explain in the next sections.

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Birds I Photographed for the First Time in 2019. And the Story behind the Pictures.

Hi folks!

This is my first post in 2020 so let me wish you a Happy New Year!

Back to 2019 I can say it was a fruitful year for me from a photographic point of view. On the one hand I learned new stuff like the Ansel Adams Zone System or using the back button for auto-focus (BBAF). On the other hand I had the opportunity to shoot interesting subjects for the first time, some of which I haven’t even seen or heard of before. Most of these are birds and in this post I would like to say a few words about each of these beautiful beings. So let’s get started!

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My View on Post-processing Photos. One Touch Editing vs. Extensive Editing

Hi folks!

In this post I will continue to write about my vision regarding post-processing of pictures. There is much to say about this subject and indeed countless books have been written. However I don’t intend to “teach” you how to do this but instead only strive to share my personal experience.

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The Beauty of Malta. Nine Places that are Definitely Worth Seeing

Hi again folks!

In this post I will write a few words about my last trip abroad which took place in September this year. I went to Malta and had the opportunity to see both larger islands (Malta and Gozo) and also two of the smaller ones (Komino and Kominotto). There are many things to say about Malta but I’ll try to focus on the essential stuff here, namely the places that impressed me the most.

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Manual Exposure and the Ansel Adams Zone System

Hi friends!

In this post I’m going to write about a few advanced photography topics: manual exposure and how to use the zone system that was discovered by the great photographer Ansel Adams.

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The Bucharest International Airshow (BIAS) – 2019 Edition

Hi friends,

As you probably noticed, every year I’ve written at least an article about airshows. Actually four years ago I went for the first time to such an event and I found it simply amazing. So I decided to continue to attend at least an aerial show per year, which I succeeded to do each time since then. And 2019 was no exception!

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D500. Further Impressions and My Findings about Setting It Up

Hi folks!

In this post I wrote about my first impressions regarding the Nikon D500 camera. At that time I was just beginning to discover this “beast”. Now after almost eight months of using it (in which I took over 10000 pictures) I can say I have a much clearer view (and I’m not talking about the optical finder here!). So I would like to provide you more of my findings hoping that they will be useful for the ones purchasing or owning such a camera. But before I do this I must mention following: this is not supposed to be a professional review but more like a (subjective) opinion based exclusively on my field experience with the camera. It is addressed primarily to the enthusiastic segment as the the full time pros are supposed to know their needs well (to quote Ken Rockwell “you people know who you are”). But if this post is useful to them too I can only be glad. Regarding absolute beginners I simply don’t recommend D500 as it is way too advanced and the attempt to master it might cause a lot of frustration and disappointment. In my opinion there are more appropriate cameras for beginners namely each consumer camera up to the Nikon D7XXX series.

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Now let me present you my impressions and findings.

Some Findings About Time-Lapse Movies

Hi friends!

In this post I was writing a few words about time lapses. At that time I had little knowledge about this interesting and challenging photographic and video-graphic technique as one of my statements was: “Creating time lapses is not difficult.” Now I realize it was my enthusiasm which was “speaking”. In reality as I would find out later creating quality lapse movies proves to be pretty challenging and good preparations, technique and even software are required.

At first glance it looks simple and straight-forward: you put the camera on a tripod, do the framing and composition, start the intervalometer and let the camera shoot for a specific amount of time and with a specific frame rate. Then you either assemble the shots into a movie by using specialised software or the camera does this for you if it has this feature. Is it so simple? Well … urghhh … not quite! There are more things that might need to be taken into consideration. Missing a single detail might ruin the whole movie and cost several hours of wasted time and resources!

I’ll elaborate on this but first let me provide you a free advice: use this technique sparingly. The time lapse is meant to show the viewer a phenomenon that can’t be easily spotted with a naked eye. Good examples might be: a flower that opens within a few days, melting snow or ice, a specific place from sunrise till midnight or a make-up session. Try to be as original and creative as possible, the moving clouds lapse is already too “mainstream” (and often boring!). Not every scene is meant to be converted into a lapse movie.

The Magic of Fog. Welcome to the Misty Mountains!

Hi folks!

Some months ago I was writing a few posts about the beauty of snow and ice landscapes. Well, in this article I would like to talk about another incredible natural phenomenon which brings not only magic but tons of photographic opportunities in front of our eyes: the fog (a.k.a mist, haze, etc).

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Squirrels. And a Few Words about Shooting in the Early Morning Hours

Hi friends!

Remember this post: https://callofnatureblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/21/unwanted-animals/ ?

Well, unlike rats, which are usually not on the “loved animals” list, squirrels are considered cute, funny and adorable by most people. I haven’t known anyone yet who would not love them! People enjoy meeting them, watching them and feeding them. How about photographing them?

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From a photographic point of view I consider squirrels pretty much a challenge as they are very fast, excellent climbers. They literally jump from tree to tree at incredible heights! In many moments you really need to have good anticipation skills to get some fine pictures. Let me elaborate on this.