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:
markfoxphoto@hotmail.co.uk
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Red squirrel improvement

This edit features footage from day 3 in Scotland. Day 2 consisted of removing an old unnecessary feeder and thinking about where to place my hide.
I tried to incorporate more squirrel footage in this video and kept it shorter then the last video.

Hide and the feeder

Tips to take from the video:

• Build a hide and commit to staying in it
• Do not move out from the hide until wildlife has gone
• Keep noise level as minimal as you can
• Its Winter so wrap up warm to reduce distractions
• Placing bait down is a great way of attracting wildlife
• Be sure to research the subject thoroughly before photographing it

To look at the journey I took to get to Scotland, scroll to the 'older post' button on the bottom right.

Contact:

markfoxphoto@hotmail.co.uk
www.facebook.com/markfoxphotography

First contact with the red squirrels

Finally my first edit with my encounters of the red squirrel. This has taken me ages to edit due to technical aspects of the video, however, it is here and ready to watch.
This video edit is on my first day in Scotland filming the red squirrels. Like I said in my last videoblog, the rangers were called off site due to very strong winds so I was very weary about leaving. It took until the early afternoon to venture out. I had never been to this place before so it was a new experience for me. Nevertheless, my photographic instinct kicked in and this is what I got up to.
Wildlife was shot on Nikon d7000 and presenting was on gopro.

Not a bad hide!

I would be very grateful if you could leave any comments about the video. 

Tips to take from the video:

• I wouldn't recommend going to a woodland in strong winds
• A building makes a great hide when in the right place
• If you can, avoid shooting through windows/glass as you lose quality and light
• Standing outside, waiting without a hide won't benefit either yourself or the subject
• Be aware, patient & quiet! 
• Don't do anything to harm the subject 

To look at the journey I took to get to Scotland, scroll to the 'older post' button on the bottom right.

Contact:

markfoxphoto@hotmail.co.uk
www.facebook.com/markfoxphotography

Video Blog: Arrive in Accommodation

I'm in my accommodation at last! This accomodation is on the grounds of Brodick Castle and it is where the rangers stay, however, they are off season at the moment so I was able to live in there for a week.

Just so you have an idea of where I am I have included a labelled map of the grounds.
So my accommodation was in the bottom left, a short 5minute walk north-east, through the woodland will take you to the castle and then the ranger centre (where I based my filming) is located just behind the castle.

This edit is just a video blog I did updating the situation I was in when I had just arrived into the accommodation. Leaving London at around 11pm and arriving in Arran the following evening at around 5pm  so I was pretty relieved when I was finally in my accommodation!
Nothing special but may be of interest to some of you if you want to know about my experience..

To look at the journey I took to get to Scotland, scroll to the 'older post' button on the bottom right.

Contact:

markfoxphoto@hotmail.co.uk
www.facebook.com/markfoxphotography

Part Three: Glasgow to Isle of Arran

In order to start on existing work I need to power through the backlog of work I did over Christmas. As most of you know, most of this work was done in Scotland, where I spent a week filming the red squirrels.
My task is to go through that painful, tedious process we call editing. Over these next couple of days I will be posting my video blogs so if you feel like you may have missed one just check the previous post for the missing gap.
Yesterday, I edited the bus journey from London to Glasgow, now I am posting the train and ferry journey from Glasgow to Arran (where my filming begins). I am sorry if these videos may seem a little boring at the moment but they need to be done for the next chapter to 'flow'.

So low and behold the final video on my travelling experience!! (like all others - all footage shot on gopro)

Tips to take from the video:

• Travelling from Cornwall to Scotland by bus is a very cheap but long process so be prepared to be uncomfortable, have very little sleep
• On big journeys like these, boredom becomes your best friend
• When travelling in Winter, the weather will NOT be your best friend and will cause many delays
• The gopro camera is very reliable and I recommend it to anyone

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

Contact:

markfoxphoto@hotmail.co.uk
www.facebook.com/markfoxphotography

Part Two: London to Scotland

Happy new year everyone and hope you had a wonderful Christmas!
Now the Christmas period is over and i'm back at uni, I am starting to get back into the swing of things. I had my first productive day yesterday and managed to edit my second half of the journey from London to Scotland.
This video is about when I took an incredibly lengthy bus journey (735miles) from Falmouth in Cornwall to the Isle of Arran, a little island off the coast of west Scotland. I took this extensive trip purely because it was the cheapest option costing roughly £30 to get there.
This video focuses on the part from London to Glasgow.
All footage was shot using a gopro hd camera.

From Glasgow I still need to grab the train for an hour and then wait for an hour crossing on the ferry and then a short 2mile drive to my destination, Brodick Castle. Once this series has been completed I can then start filming the red squirrels I have longed to see.


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

Contact:

markfoxphoto@hotmail.co.uk
www.facebook.com/markfoxphotography

Part One: Journey to Scotland

So I am in Isle of Arran, after planning this for months I am finally here! I haven't been able to post because I have been pretty busy with travelling and having no internet is a bother. I wanted to blog every evening about what I got up to previously that day but there is no internet connection where I am staying so it is hard to do this.
This video is just my journey, leaving Falmouth and going to London.  This was shot last Saturday so I still have a bit of catching up to do!

I want to get up to date as soon as possible, as today I sat in a hide about 10m away from a couple red squirrels feeding. So this will be edited when I have time and posted when I can access the internet.
Tomorrow, I am going to build a set with a couple broken trees so I will capture a natural looking shot rather than a squirrel at a feeder like it was today.

These videos aren't much but they give me motivation to edit my work which will be included as a short documentary piece. At a later date, I will be merging the gopro videos with my high quality squirrel footage to produce a documentary raising awareness of the red squirrel as my final major project.

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

Contact:

markfoxphoto@hotmail.co.uk
www.facebook.com/markfoxphotography

Getting ready for Scotland

Hello all,

This is just a quick video of me packing my stuff up in preparation for Scotland. 

This was done on Friday and I completed half of my journey yesterday, stopping off in London.
Later on tonight I will be getting the megabus up to Scotland which will be a 8hour journey to Glasgow and then from Glasgow I will be take a further trip to the west coast, gettting a ferry and then getting pick up from the harbour to be taken to Brodick Castle in the Isle of Arran. I will arrive in at my accommodation at around midday tomorrow morning.

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




Contact:
markfoxphoto@hotmail.co.uk
www.facebook.com/markfoxphotography

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
www.facebook.com/markfoxphotography

Lundy Island - Grey Seals

After owning the goPro hd camera for a good six months, I thought I would show you some wildlife that the gopro has encountered. The first video that I have put together are the clips I took when I went to Lundy Island to swim with grey seals. It was my first time using the camera properly and i'm glad I could document it.

The dives consisted of two sessions, one in the morning, where I was about half a metre from one and the second was in the afternoon, where the seals came up and nibbled out fins. We were very unlucky with the visibility that day so the underwater footage could have been better..
Another problem I encountered was that the battery doesn't last very long in cold water so it died pretty quickly! Now I have an extra battery bacpac for double power so next time I won't miss anything! 

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

Contact:

markfoxphoto@hotmail.co.uk
www.facebook.com/markfoxphotography

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
www.facebook.com/markfoxphotography

Change of Species

As most of you are aware I am doing a major project on Squirrels. I will be producing a short documentary about my search to find Britain's rare red squirrel. I will highlight the key concerns contributing to their survival and amount of extensive work that it takes to maintain their existence in the UK.

Because I have been focusing so much on this project, I decided to photograph something else. I took a trip down to my local wildlife spot, Swanpool and photographed the Brown Rat.

The majority of people treat these animals as vermin, which is understandable, but observing their behaviour this morning made me change my opinion of them and I thought they were actually kind of cute.
This was my first shoot with the rats so I was mainly studying their behaviour and identifying the regular tracks that they take. Now I know this, I am thinking about using a wide angle to photograph them.

Here are some shots I took this morning of the Brown Rat:

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



Contact:
markfoxphoto@hotmail.co.uk
www.facebook.com/markfoxphotography

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:
markfoxphoto@hotmail.co.uk
www.facebook.com/markfoxphotography

Mammal Trapping

Early this morning I joined my eco society at uni and did some mammal trapping. The traps were only sized to trap things like Mice and Voles. With the abundance of traps set over night, allowed us to complete the survey with 1xWoodmice and 1x Bank Vole. After checking the traps we laid a transect at every 10m and placed a quadrat at each point to study the area for signs of field voles. 

This exercise was enjoyable and I learned a lot. I learned how to identify the different species of mice and voles, how to track them and also how to find out their gender.

These shots are nothing special but I had to document this experience. In the future, I want to try and photograph these species within their environment using the trapping method to locate them. 

Woodmouse

Retrieving the Mouse

A large male Woodmouse

Studying area for signs of field vole

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

Recovering the Cache

 Squirrels are scatter hoarders; when they find food resources they cache them in secretive places for times when food is scarce. The competition between squirrels is very intense so when they bury their nuts they dig several dummy caches before hiding the nut. This way, the other squirrels find it hard to see where the stash is and steal it.
This is now my third shoot with these squirrels and I am beginning to capture behaviour of the squirrel. These photos are illustrating the process when a squirrel recovers its cache.
Let me know what you think, positive criticism is welcomed. Thank you for reading.
Click to enlarge:

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

Contact:
markfoxphoto@hotmail.co.uk
www.facebook.com/markfoxphotography