How Do I Choose A Photo Of The Month For September 2020?
This was my problem when writing this blog post – how do I choose a photo for September when I have so very many to choose from? Well, the title Photo Of The Month September 2020 – Osprey Magic should give you a slight hint!
This month has been incredible for me photography-wise. I have been out pretty much every day. This is because I purchased a new lens and it is the most amazingly sharp lens I have ever owned!
I bought an AF-S Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G ED VR lens second-hand. I’ve never purchased any camera equipment second-hand before, but I am really happy with this purchase. I won’t go on about it here, but you can watch my “Should I Replace My Lens Or My Camera Body?” YouTube video to see the difference it has made to my photos:
The Scene For September’s Photo Of The Month
It’s Friday the 4th of September 2020. The Sun is shining; as it often does on the Mid-North Coast of New South Wales in Australia. I am inside in front of my computer, working on my online business; looking out the window at the Sun shining and thinking “I’m missing another beautiful day.”
As can often be the case here in our house, there was not a lot of choices of foods to have for lunch.
I made a spur-of-the-moment decision to get in the car and drive to Emerald Beach, about 10 minutes drive away. I grabbed my camera and headed out the door.
The General Store at Emerald Beach sells the most tasty hot chips you could ever eat. I don’t know what they do to these chips to make them taste so damn good, but they are beyond awesome. Crunchy, smothered in chicken salt and just completely moreish.
On this particular day, there were no car parks in front of the General Store, so I drove a bit further down and parked near the beach.
Just after pulling up and turning off the car, I noticed an Osprey out of the corner of my eye, hovering just beyond the small trees on the shoreline. It was immediately apparent that it was hunting for a fish!
The Struggle To Stay Composed!
Now, for a Nature Photographer, especially one who has not had the opportunity to photograph many Osprey in action; this type of situation can be……………………how should I put it……………………………….extremely exciting.
Think of a 4 year old child with a fondness for ice-cream. Then, imagine that child suddenly stumbling across a swimming pool filled to the brim with Chocolate Fudge Brownie – their favourite flavour of all time! THAT is how excited I was!
So, camera in hand, I rushed down to the sand, trying my best to contain my excitement so I could hold the camera still enough to get a decent shot. I watched the bird circle for a few minutes. While I photographed wildly, it made a couple of failed attempts at diving towards the water, only to pull up as its prey had obviously seen it coming and swam off.
The Photo Of The Month September 2020 – Osprey Magic
When the Osprey finally did make a successful dive, I was still pretty excited, but ready to capture this month’s photo of the month:
Now this image just had to be the photo of the month for September. However, I would have to say that it is most probably the photo of my life so far!! When I clicked the playback button on my camera a little later whilst waiting for my hot chips, and noticed this completely sharp action shot, I had more than just a little giggle.
This shot is now the banner image on my Barry Callister Photography website, and I believe it will remain there for quite some time. It is also the November image in my 2021 Bird Calendar, which is available in both physical and digital format from the Shop page of my website.
I have taken many more great shots this month, all thanks to my new lens. I think my next purchase might have to be a few more portable hard drives to store all the sharp photos I’m getting?!
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Thanks for taking the time to read this Photo Of The Month September 2020 – Osprey Magic post today. Leave a comment below if you enjoyed it. I’ll be back soon with more.
Suggested Reading
- Photo Of The Month August 2020 – an outing to photograph Osprey that ended in something completely different and surprising.
- Photographing Osprey At Woolgoolga Lake – is there really a place called Woolgoolga?
