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.

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.

Oslo lights

Posted on 2012-01-12 by Jon Leirdal

I happen to have a friend that shares my interests in photography. He lives in Trondheim, but once in awhile he visits Oslo. Last friday we got do indulge in some photography together. We brought some of our equipment and started capturing lights and shadows.

A view trough the fence while others are driving trough

A bent world view using a fisheye lens

Waiting for the ferry in Oslo

You better stop before going trough here

Update 2011-01-22: My friend has gotten is own blog now. Please give him a visit at hwfoto.net

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.