Photography Problems - The Ever Increasing Backlog of Photographs That Need Editing

I’m sure every photographer has this problem to some degree or another - the backlog of photos that you simply haven’t had time to properly look at or post-process. I have literally thousands from the last few years. Some of which I know are potentially really good images, but for whatever reason, I have just haven’t got round to editing yet.

Well, lately, on account of being practically house-bound and signed off sick from work, awaiting yet more surgery, I’ve had a little look back through catalogues past and made a teeny tiny dent on the post-processing backlog.

As such, I think I’m going to just randomly post a few on here every so often, with no particular rhyme or reason.

This wild roe deer appeared suddenly in the woods I was loitering in a few summer’s back. The light was incredibly contrasty resulting in some of the highlights on the deer being a bit overblown, but I’m happy with the rescue in post.

This robin was shot through my living room window, perched nicely on the bush just below it. I’ve removed the glare from the window by lowering the blacks, and increasing the contrast and saturation through some masking. It’s also had noise reduction via Pure Raw.

www.lukebennettphotos.com

I love the backlight on this image of two young fallow deer. It’s not had much done to it in post other than some minor adjustments and cropping.

This was taken a few autumn’s back, in Shropshire. It features Caer Caradoc and Helmeth Hill, as viewed from Ragleth Hill. I remember getting up nice and early for this shot, hoping for a combination of frost and autumnal colour.

www.lukebennettphotos.com

www.lukebennettphotos.com

Helmeth Hill, Shropshire

Helmeth Hill Woods, Shropshire. I love woodland photography, but I’m not sure I’m actually very good at it. Without lots of fog or mist, I find it very hard to get good compositions that aren’t a bit messy or busy looking. I need to start trying to get out earlier and taking advantage of the atmosphere provided by the weather.

Much Wenlock

Roe Deer in Warwickshire

I have a spot I like to go to that I know will give me a pretty good chance of seeing roe deer. It’s somewhere I rarely see anyone else, thankfully, as I tend to be dressed up in ghillie suit camouflage, which is both embarrassing for me, and probably a bit terrifying for the casual observer.

On this occasion (for the first three shots) I was just about to give up and walk back as I hadn’t seen any hint of a deer at all. Then, suddenly, to my left two appeared. As seen in the first shot, one had some kind of idea that I was there, as I happened to be just standing in plain sight. But because I stayed perfectly still and had the camera obscuring my face, it didn’t seem too bothered. Instead of running, both roe deer gradually made their way round and up the hill, getting closer and allowing me to fire off a load of shots.

The black and white photo at the end is from a different occasion where we both startled each other and the deer bolted. Instead of also bolting, I grabbed my camera and fired off a burst. I’m really pleased with this photo and I’m planning on having it printed at some point.

www.lukebennettphotos.com

www.lukebennettphotos.com

www.lukebennettphotos.com

www.lukebennettphotos.com

Gratuitous Top 5 Wildlife Photos of the Last Arbitrary Period of Time

I’m as bad as updating this blog as ever, despite having a backlog of photos I’d like to share, spanning years and years. One of the things that puts me off is coming up with interesting things to write alongside the images.

It’s just occurred to me, however, I just need a top five list! As such, here are some wildlife photos, in no particular order, from no particular time period, for your viewing pleasure. Please enjoy.

I say no particular order, but this leaping roe deer might actually be my favourite wildlife photo of late! Especially as I missed an opportunity for a ‘deer in flight’ shot (the term I’ve just coined) about an hour earlier, so was extra pleased to get this one.

This is from a few years back, one of the wild Welsh ponies, up on the Long Mynd amongst the Shropshire Hills. It was another spontaneous moment I feel lucky and relived to have captured! I’ve just had this printed actually, so I’m working out where to hang it currently.

Another fairly recent one, this time of a tiddly little muntjac deer (and it really was small - unfortunately there’s nothing to show the scale clearly here) that I was able to hide from as it made its way up the path towards me. It had just about noticed me here, around 15 feet away.

One from last summer. I’m always on the lookout for countryside foxes, without much success, so stumbling upon this one (quite literally when I fell in a bush a couple of minutes later and scared it off) was a very welcome surprise. I’ll probably do another post about this encounter at some point as I took several other shots and a video of this fox either trying to attack, or simply get round a massive goose and its friends. I’ve never heard such loud honking before!

And finally, this wild hare from last summer. This was such a brilliant moment, as out of nowhere it came right alongside me, only about 15 feet away, completely oblivious to my presence for a good 5 seconds, during which I fired off as many shots as possible. I love the colours too, with the sun setting really low in the sky giving everything a vibrant glow.