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.

Swans in the shadow of an old pier.

Posted from Drøbak, Akershus, Norway.

Winter beauty

Posted on 2012-01-08 by Jon Leirdal

As a hobby photographer, it is mostly during the weekends that I am able to play around with my camera and my computer. During the weekdays, work and other social responsibilities normally take up too much time to really spend some hours just clicking.

I happen to live near the cost, and while enjoying a sunny -1 degrees Celsius, I walked down to a beach called “Elleskjær” near me.

The usual suspects greeted me when I got down to the beach. They were alert though and flew away when I tried to get a bit closer.

I tracked them, but as most of you know, seagulls are capable of escaping in 3 ways; walking, swimming and flying. I was prepared to engage in only one of those activities.

A seasoned tracker could probably tell the sex or something like that from this print. All I can tell is that it most probably was a bird that can swim. And most likely a seagull.

This is a northern view in two ways I guess. It is the view towards the north, and as you probably have guessed; this was photographed in Norway.

During the summer most boats you see are slick, big, fast motor powered boats. During the winter the "real" men are out using other means of propulsion.

The sun got down to my height after a while, and the snow almost went totally white.

It is always nice when the sun shines trough the trees.

Posted from Drøbak, Akershus, Norway.

Wildlife in Norway

Posted on 2010-08-01 by Jon Leirdal

Some of the easiest wildlife to spot in Norway are the birds. Depending on what parts of Norway you are visiting you may be treated to a lot of other animals as well. This week I have been visiting some of the finest areas in Norway, the fjord and mountain counties of the western Norway. While in the only county in Møre & Romsdal that have no coastline, Rindal, we had the joy of seeing a couple of hare kids. They were nearly fully grown, but still not very scared of people.

This is a mountain hare. Maybe a couple of months old.

Hopefully this little hare took great care, for the day after a few Rough-legged Buzzards (fjellvåk) circled the area again and again.

Posted from Rindal, Møre og Romsdal, Norway.

Life in Egypt

Posted on 2010-05-20 by Jon Leirdal

One of the more dramatic experiences in Egypt was how different and similar things were. In one second you got to see utter poverty, and the next second you get to see the same cars and bird life that we have in Norway.

A great number of herons live by the Nile. Some of them we may find in Norway as well, like the grey heron. Other herons we got to see were black-crowned night heron, little egret and cattle egret. (Pictures of these birds will probably be published later.)

Have a look at some of these pictures.

Life by the Nile 2010

For us living in Norway this life seem a bit old-fashioned, but most farmers in Egypt do not use machines.

Egyptian Fish

We were in a fish restaurant in Alexandria and had a great dinner. These guys were on the menu if you want to try them.

Life in Cairo

If you want to sell, go to your customers. Don’t you have a car? Carry your produce.

Life in Cairo 2

This was a mobile soup-salesman I think. I had some problems communicating in their language.

Life in Cairo 3

Everything people transported by hand.

Nile bird life

This guy was relaxing on the riverbed. The desert was in the background. I guess it is a grey heron in the desert sunset.

Nile bird life 2

A close up of the same kind of Heron.

Spices

Spices and other colourful substances where available almost everywhere.

Posted from Bærum, Akershus, Norway.

Wildlife photography

Posted on 2009-04-16 by Jon Leirdal

I’ve been playing around with an attempt at wildlife photography this Easter holiday. I managed to get a lot of pictures, but few of them of decent quality. Here are a few of the ones I think might be adequate.