Middlebere, Dorset, 20th December 2009

I had just about saved enough money to trade in and upgrade my camera, I decided I could allow my self to purchase it when I had achieved either of two work based objectives.

Unfortunately, I achieved this right before Christmas, which made me feel guilty spending so much money on my self!

Today was the first chance I got to go out with the new camera, I probably should have practiced on the local Ducks and Gulls first, but in the U.K if you get good light, sometimes you have to take a gamble. I had already read the manual for my new Canon 50D and set it to the same settings as my old Canon 400D, the Song Thrush shot was taken just before I got to the hide was the first picture taken with the new camera!. The male Hen Harrier had until a few days ago not previously not been seen in the area, since the windy, stormy weather we've had recently. just after I got there I had a quick glimpse before a closer flyby some 45 minuets later. The shots were OK, not as crisp as I would have liked, I could have used my auto focus a bit more, but didn't want to risk not getting a shot all together. My objective is to get the eye pin sharp, with a dot of light reflecting off it, then the subject and the picture comes alive! Maybe my standards are too high, but the great thing about wildlife photography is you can always take a better picture!