Sunset Over Wiveton Church

This shot was taken while crouched in a hedge waiting for barn owls to show up. They didn't – or at least not in range of my camera – but I was compensated by what I think is quite a pleasing composition. Shooting contre-jour (or directly into strong daylight) is something of a balancing act; a case of keeping down the amount of light entering the camera, so the whole picture is not horribly over-exposed, while still retaining definition and detail in more shaded areas. I'm particularly drawn to the way the rays from the setting sun carry on through the stained glass window of the church and also the way the onset of the end of the day is conveyed through the deep yellows of the sky contrasting with last residues of blue sky reflected in the creek as it wends its way through the salt marsh.

Canon 1Ds MkII, Canon 100-400mm IS L lens, 1/640th sec, f/25 100mm at ISO 200

Three's a crowd...

Canon 1Ds MkII, Canon 100-400mm IS USM lens, 1/1.600th sec, f/8, 400mm at ISO 250

Turnstone

I don't know how tolerant of humans Turnstones are in the rest of the country, but there is an area of North Norfolk where large numbers gather in an area criss-crossed by coastal paths and here they are remarkably calm at close proximity. As I lay on a sand dune, this individual – along with several others – sauntered up to me until it was just over a metre away. Indeed it strayed so close on occasions that the lens I was using ran out of focal length; the bird was just too close.

Canon 1Ds MkII, Canon 100-400mm IS USM lens, 1/1,000th sec, f/8, 400mm at ISO 250