Only a flash and a macro lens

Posted on 2012-04-09 by Jon Leirdal

The last day of Easter turned into a rainy, gray day here in Drøbak. So in-between cleaning and doing the laundry I found the time to play around with a flash and a macro lens. I did not have that many motives, but two flowers, a cat and a bag of fruits and nuts held my interest for a while. After some fast manipulations of sliders in Adobe Lightroom, I got the following results.

Light from behind

Orchid in black and white

See-thru orchid

Curious cat (or should I say nosy)

Cat eye - in colours

Fruit and nuts

Posted from Drøbak, Akershus, Norway.

Common Cranes

Posted on 2012-04-08 by Jon Leirdal

In Sweden there is a lake called Lake Hornborga (Link in Swedish). For some years now this lake has become famous for its annual visit from thousands of cranes migrating from Africa to Norway and Sweden. Two days before my visit they had a new record with more than 26.000 birds staying the night by the lake.

I visited on a sunny but cold April day. The wind blew quite hard and I had bit of a hard luck, the cranes did not come very close to the viewing areas, but kept to themselves down on the fields. If I am going to visit another time I’ll probably try to rent a tent or a small bird watcher cabin down by the lake, and plan for a longer stay. This time I just stayed for an hour or two.

There is quite a history to this lake. About 100 years ago they tried to drain the area and change the swamp and wetland into agricultural land. They have tried to restore the lake to its former glory now, and by dumping several thousand kilos of grain down by the lake every day they have created a haven for migratory birds.

Anyway it was quite an experience to watch, I would recommend it for any nature interested person.

Here are some of the pictures I took (and one that my girlfriend took of me). Remember, you can click on all the pictures to see them in a larger size.

Overview to the North West (extra large)

Cranes dancing

In flight

As close as I got

Battle of the great birds - obviously some swans do not like cranes.

A stroll by the waterside

A lot of birds

Swedish landscape

Big wings

Look I am jumping

Not only cranes

Me in the cold wind

Here are some galleries that are better than mine (Link in Swedish)

Other Resources
Expedition Hornborgasjön
Aftenposten Reise
Web cameras
Common Crane (Wikipedia)
Lake Hornborga (Wikipedia)

Posted from Drøbak, Akershus, Norway.

Another day lost in the mist

Posted on 2012-03-18 by Jon Leirdal

We have had a lot of foggy weather around here lately. I managed to grab my camera and go for a little walk before it disappeared though. In Drøbak where I live there are several old and abandoned military sites, one of those is Seiersten fort. You can still find some old cannons there. They do no longer work of course, but they still look a bit threatening. Especially when they loom in the grey mist, and the fjord below is hidden from the view.

Lift me up

Ready ... aim ...

Fire!

Pointy foliage

Even the plants around this place have their hard edges.

Posted from Drøbak, Akershus, Norway.

Misty air

Posted on 2012-02-20 by Jon Leirdal

Winter fog

I am not sure if you have ever considered that weird thing that surrounds us everywhere we go. The air around us. The atmosphere. This thing that we very seldom bother noticing.

There are moments when the air and what it means to use is more visible than other moments. Fog is maybe one of the most obvious ones. The weird fact that misty air can reduce the visibility to such a degree that we lose detail and color, in fact so much that we might get lost in our own well known woods.

Here are a few photos I have taken of fog over the years. I have a couple of misty images from Venabygd as well.

Autumn fog

Spring fog

Bridge

Crane in the mist

Posted from Oslo, Oslo, Norway.

Swans in the shadow

Posted on 2012-01-22 by Jon Leirdal

I captured these two using my little Canon G12, and not my regular 5D mark II that I usually lug around. I am not sure it is one of my greatest shots, I should have gotten a bit lower, but I do like how the shadows of an old pier kind of looms behind the great birds gliding over the surface of a cold winter sea. In some areas the ice has already covered part of the harbor, but here the water is still free. It has been a reasonably mild winter so far. Not like last year.