My third year anniversary.

May 31
2 min read

Having started to learn photography at the end of May 2023 my third year anniversary last week was rewarded with some fantastic weather. Coupled with the fact that sunrise in the UK is before 5am at this time of year, I am often getting up at 3am to be in position for the sunrise and golden hour. At times this is a very painful experience but has led to witnessing some amazing sunrises and wildlife behaviour.

Golden sunrise over a misty river, with silhouetted trees and reeds in a calm, hazy landscape. — Sunrise over Staveley Nature Reserve.

Hare crouches on a ploughed field with green grass tufts, illuminated by the rising sun — A hare being illuminated by the rising sun.

The wonderful thing about photography is that you never run out of new things to learn. Over this last year I have begun to shoot in raw as opposed to jpeg, started to learn about digital image theory in relation to developing raw images, and switched from shooting full frame with a Canon r6 mark 2, to shooting micro four thirds with an OM Systems OM1 mark 2. My use of "mark 2s" remains consistent at least.

Brown rabbit grooming itself in a grassy field. — A rabbit having an early morning wash.

A young buck deer stands in tall green grass, looking at the camera. — A roe buck looking for breakfast.

It has caused some head scratching as to why I changed to micro four thirds given its alleged poor performance in poor light, when I shoot in poor light and under tree cover for most of the year. In practice however I found that this limitation is overstated, and pictures from both camera's in the same low light shoot required similar efforts in noise reduction.

The switch from jpeg to raw and the need for noise reduction have led to the introduction of more software into my workflow. I initially used the open source darktable both to manage my images, and initially to edit raw files. However the high end noise reduction software produced by DxO became a must as it operates at the mosaicing level. Initially buying DXO PureRaw 6 I used it on conjunction with darktable, which was an effective combination. However when learning about masks I realised that AI masking was a massive time saver so I invested in DxO Photolab. I am still in the process of learning all that this can do.

Small brown-and-white bird perched on a weathered stump against a blurred green background. — A tree creeper wondering where the rest of the tree went.

Small robin perched on a leafy branch, orange chest and brown back, in a soft green woodland scene. — A spring robin.

The most important change of the year however came about half way through. I stopped telling people that I am learning photography, and started with some trepidation, saying that I am a very, very, inexperienced nature photographer.