Swallows 4

The last of the swallows pics i'm going to show for now is this flyby.

Swallows 3

It doesn't take long for the parents to stuff some food down the throat of the chicks so it took some patience to get this one.

Swallows 2

Out in the garden the day after yesterday's photo, the chicks were getting flying lessons while still being fed by their parents. This chick just screamed for a mouthful as the swallow dived in.

Swallows 1

While visiting family in Bogense on Fünen I noticed the swallows in the gateway just outside the kitchen. Having hatched five chicks, but loosing one the parents were busy feeding them. They were more or less oblivious to me standing there trying to get a few pics of them, so I managed this one that I quite like. The next day was a big day in these chicks life, and I captured that too as I'll show you tomorrow.

Patterns

I often photograph patterns of different types, like the shadows on this stone wall. Patterns, shapes, lines and light all creates an image that is almost abstract and which can make the viewer stop and think about the photo.

Sunset

Followers of this blog know that sunsets and sunrises are among my favourite subjects. But I also like to be a bit creative and use silhouettes as a point of focus. Here it's the grass at the beach that gives a bit of extra to the photo

Enjoying the feed

One of the most common birds in the Danish gardens, the titmouse really enjoys the bird feeders. This one sure seemed to like the offered seeds.

Look inside

Yet another photo of birds at the bird feeder from my interval shooting session during Easter. These two greenfinches hogged the feeder for quite some tine, so I got a good selection of them.

Blue tit in da house

 

Yesterday I told you about my experiment with interval shooting the bird feeder in the garden. Here's another result; a blue tit is trying to decide on the menu in the lofty restaurant.

At the bird feeder

 

As told in previous posts I like to explore the functions on my Nikon D800. During Easter the time had come to try the interval shooting, and what better object to try it at than a couple of bird feeders in the garden? So I put the camera on a gorillapod, placed it near the feeder, filled up the feeder with seeds and started experimenting with the settings. I ended up with doing an interval of one shot each minute for two hours. And then it was coffee time. The result was a lot of empty photos, a lot of photos with half a bird or a blurry one leaving or arriving, and a few good ones of different birds. This greenfinch seemed to know something was going on. I'll show some more in the coming days.

 

Almost sundown

 

A favourite motive of mine is silhouettes like this with the sun on its way down and a striking silhouette of a tree, a building or another easily recognizable item in the foreground. This one is from Bogense Cemetery taken with my iPhone and edited in Camera+.

Beautiful Bogense

June was a good time to visit family in Bogense on the island of Fünen. Here long walks can take you to beautiful views like this with the coast and the little island of Æbelø (Apple Island) in the background.

A Coming of Birds

Spring is also a busy time for the birds. This white wagtail and its mate was all over my fathers lawn looking for food. And it didn't mind me shooting away with the camera from a few meters distance.

Battle of Seasons

Also the poppies are in full bloom as spring wins the battle of seasons.

A blackbird moves in

Another of the birds that has literally moved in with my family in Bogense is this blackbird. It stays all year in their backhouse which is used as a tool shed slash storage slash repair shop. Here the bird reside living off the old apples and flying in and out of a broken window or a hole under the door. Even though the dogs of the house hunts anything remotely resembling prey this bird is left alone; it's part of the household and the dogs know it.

A bird moves in

When visiting family in Bogense on Fünen I often marvel at the live-and-let-live attitude regarding the swallows. These fast and slender birds have their regular nests under the eaves, in the gatehouses and inside the stables, and even though their droppings regularly soil anything placed underneath nests and resting places (including laundry, bikes and tools), they are still tolerated. And I have to confess, they do enliven the place with their chattering and busyness.

Bogense Church

As I told yesterday my new theme on churches and the like begins today. My first image is of this little and very nice church in Bogense on the north of the island of Funen in Denmark. I've never actually lived in this town, but I've spend a lot of my holidays there for 35 years so I know this church pretty well. Most photos of it are actually taken from the opposite direction but then I think it gets obscured by trees.

St. Nicolaj Church, as its real name is, was build on top of a hill in 1406 on the site of an older church. The roof of the tower is covered in tarred wood chips and is facing south-east. That is a bit peculiar because most church towers in Denmark face west, but it might be to avoid soil erosion or because it has been used as a beacon for the ships.

Roses in mirror

Another image from the festival in Bogense I mentioned yesterday. This one is a detail of a display of roses placed on a mirror. Needless to say that it was a well polished mirror!

Chrome

Chrome is a good reflector of light. Here a detail on a vintage Bugatti (I think it's a Type 35C Gran Prix Racer from 1926) shown at a festival in the small town of Bogense on Fünen, Denmark. The trick as with all other reflections is to avoid being in the picture yourself.