Falmouth Beach Hotel Fire

Today at about 12pm the Falmouth Beach Hotel burned down. It is said that 100 firefighters tackled the inferno, and thankfully there are no reports of any injuries. The Royal Navy helicopter was used to view the state of the  building from above. 

The fire started on the third floor of the 4 storey building but spread throughout the whole property. There were strong gusts of winds which made fighting the blaze very "challenging". All the water from the power hoses were merely tickling the surface of the building because of the strong gales.

By about 3pm the fire was still going. A very unfortunate event, and especially as it is happened just before the summer season!

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Contact:
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Camera Slider

I went to my local Cornish woodland yesterday and tried out some video rail stuff. The contraption was put together using two pieces of 6ft PVC piping and another cut in half to act as the sliders. My mate, Sam Stewart built the slider and I went to try it out. There are a few alterations we need to do to improve the smoothness of the shot but for the first attempt I think it turned out pretty well.

Short video sequence:

Click the Youtube logo and it will relocate you to see it larger.


To look at my previous shoots, scroll to the 'older post' button on the bottom right.

Contact:

markfoxphoto@hotmail.co.uk
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Walk from Kynance Cove to Lizard Point

Last Friday I went out with professional photographer David Chapman to Kynance cove and then we walked along the coast to the Lizard point. This field trip was very informative and I learned a lot  about the geological structure and history about the place, as well as identifying species of plants and birds.

Here are a few shots that I took on the day;

Wheatear

Wheatear

Male Stonechat

Female Stonechat

Female Stonechat

Pair of Fulmar

Jackdaw

Contact:
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Progression of the Brown Rat

I have been photographing a brown rat the past couple of days. Rats, like squirrels, are a member of the Rodentia family. So to get a break from squirrels, I decided to photograph rats and then apply what I learn to the red squirrels when I photograph them next week. The grey squirrels I have been shooting are far too tame to transfer the techniques I learned to the red squirrels. So instead, I decided to change to a subject that is still common but not as tame. The brown rat seemed a perfect choice.

I used a Nikon d7000 as opposed to the d200 to reduce the grain in my shots as appeared in my photos in the last post. My other factor was that it was too dark under the tree so I also used a pocket maglite to lighten the subject.
In these shots I wanted to show the rat within its environment.

There are a couple rats in the area so in future, I would like to capture some interaction between them and show more behaviour. It is just a learning curve and hopefully I will get the shots I want with time.
This will most probably be the last shoot I do on the rats before leaving to go home. As from next week I will be photographing Red Squirrels in Scotland and then in Jersey so stay tuned if you want to see some cute sots of red squirrels!

To look at my previous shoots, scroll to the 'older post' button on the bottom right.

Contact:

markfoxphoto@hotmail.co.uk
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Brown Rat second Attempt

This morning I went on another shoot down at Swanpool, to photograph the Brown rat again.

The light was incredible this morning, but unfortunately doesn't show in these photos because the area is too shaded. The point of this shoot was to experiment with wide angle (fish eye). The day before I found regular routes that they take, I chose one of them and baited it with bread. My plan was that the rat would take this regular path, stumble across some food and then stop to eat it.

First of all, I took some, what I call 'safety shots' with the Nikon 70-200mm lens, to ensure I manage to capture something on the shoot. This is only my second attempt so I going to have a lot of trial and error.

Once the rat was familiar with the stock of bread I kept laying down, I placed a camera with a fish eye down. I attached my remote control, but I wasn't planning on using it just yet. I wanted to make sure that the rat wasn't spooked out by this new random object.  It took no time for it to adjust, so I started firing the shutter. 

The camera body I was using was the Nikon d200 and because it was so dark I had to increase the ISO but the d200 is renowned for a crap ISO so these pictures are really grainy. In future I am going to use a d7000 to reduce the grainy effect.
I am going to sort out a lighting system too so I can bring out the environment.

To look at my previous shoots, scroll to the 'older post' button on the bottom right.

Contact:

markfoxphoto@hotmail.co.uk
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East Cornwall

Last Thursday I experience what it was like to photograph east Cornwall.  I am in my third and final year of my degree and it has taken me until now the explore east Cornwall. Previously, I have only travelled to the north, south and west Cornwall so the east was something new.
Anyway, I hopped on the train to Truro and then took a connecting train 45mins in the direction towards London. I arrived at my location, an estate in Bodmin. It was my first time at this place so first of all I walked for hours to get a feel of the place. It accommodates a variety of ancient woodland, not only the usual mix of British trees, but also rarer species such as the Plymouth pear. With this habitat, it inevitably thrives wildlife; Otters, Salmon, Owls, Buzzards, Pheasants, Kingfishers, Dippers, Owls, the usual garden birds and the occasional Robin.

I managed to find a couple dippers, dozens of Pheasants and few Salmon but unfortunately didn't get any great shots. However, one experience I shared was that I managed to get ridiculously close to a peculiar Robin. So I put down my 600mm and replaced it with the 16-85mm kit lens. As it was only a kit lens I couldn't focus very close to the subject so I had to pull back a bit, but this is what I got.

At the end is a short video showing the jist of the shoot, with clips of how I took the shots.
All the clips in the video were shot on a goPro hd camera.

Birds Eye View

Lanhydrock Graveyard

To look at my previous shoots, scroll to the 'older post' button on the bottom right.



Contact:
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Prussia Cove

Today I went to Prussia Cove again in search of the Kestrel. The project is completed so this was merely for fun.
The weather wasn't on my side today as it was raining but I still stuck around and it started to brighten up. I only saw the kestrel twice and both times he was being attacked by the Swallows in the area so he didn't stay for long! However, just before the place where the Kestrel hangs is a cliff side where a group of Fulmars roost so I got a couple of shots of these as I haven't before.
After actually spending some time with these birds I really started to like them, and I think I could get some nice shots showing their behaviour so I will try and keep this going!

Fulmars Displaying

Can be identified from their stiff wings when flying

Fulmar

A pair of Fulmars

Female Linnet

Male Chaffinch

Blackbird

Contact:
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