Craig Rogers, Author at Craig Rogers Photography

Endemic Hummingbirds of Cozumel

28th November 201511th April 2020Craig Rogers

I remember watching Hummingbirds on a holiday to Arizona many years ago and ever since I got more involved in photography getting some photos of these tiny birds has been on the must do tick list.

I recently went on holiday in the Caribbean which included a trip around the Mexican island of Cozumel, just off Mexican East coast of Playa Del Carmen.

I was travelling light, with my D810 and 80-400 zoom and walking around a Mayan village when Emma, my other half, spotted them buzzing around a flowering bush. Now was my chance to put another tick on the list.

Bad light didn’t stop the fish jumping (including video)

9th November 201525th October 2021Craig Rogers

I took a visit to Norbury Weir on the River Dove which is right on the Staffordshire/Derbyshire border north of Uttoxeter. I was there watch the Atlantic Salmon and Sea Trout making their way as they migrate upstream to spawn.

The weather was perfect for the fish, but terrible for photography it was one of the darkest days I remember meaning I not only had to shoot with very high ISO settings (up to 6400) but also open up the aperture far more than I would of liked just to try and get a fast enough shutter speed. None of it was good enough and coupled with the dull and flat light, the photos are not exactly what I was hoping for, but at least I got to spend 2 hours watching an amazing spectacle.

It’s quite hard watching these fish attempt time after time to clear the weir without any luck. Norbury Weir is quite long and as the water was only a few inches deep, the big fish struggle to get their powerful bodies in a forward momentum. This weir really needs modification to include a Fish Ladder such as the ones further downstream, but it seems this debate has been going on between the fishing clubs and land owners for quite sometime.

{Click image for a higher resolution}

D810, AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 105mm, f/6.3, ISO4500, 1/1250sec

RAW, JPEG and why Lightroom isn’t Cheating

7th November 20158th November 2015Craig Rogers

(Left to Right) Camera RAW, Camera JPEG, Lightroom Post Edit

Many non-photographers (and indeed some photographers) don’t understand photo editing and assume it’s cheating. The most widely used photo editing tool is Adobe’s Lightroom, not to be confused with Photoshop which is far more powerful and more of a manipulation tool. Do I use both? Yes I do, although Photoshop is not used that often.

{Click on any image to view a higher resolution}

So let’s start at the beginning and look at what a digital camera actually sees. It see’s light, nothing more than that, just light and different levels of light. Our eyes are the same, they see just light that we use our brain to convert into images. Our brains are far more intelligent than any camera can ever be in that we can process a very high dynamic range and effectively edit the image we see in real-time.

No matter how advanced our cameras are, they very rarely capture what we actually remember seeing with our own eyes and this is why we have the option to post edit using a tool such as Lightroom.

VIDEO: Snaizeholme Red Squirrels

4th November 20159th October 2017Craig Rogers

Whilst I was in the hide at Snaizeholme this weekend, I setup my D7100 to capture some footage whilst I was shooting stills.

Here’s the edited footage from the morning. Remember, the photos are available here.

{Remember to watch in HD if possible}

Red Squirrels of Snaizeholme

3rd November 201521st June 2021Craig Rogers

Snaizeholme is small area near to Hawes in the Yorkshire Dales and is home to a good population of Red Squirrels. I had never seen a Red Squirrel before let alone photograph one so wanted to tick this off the ever growing list I have. I booked a seat in the photography hide offered by Wild Dales Photography who are passionate about the conservation of these fantastic little creatures.

The first thing I noticed was how small these are compared to our non-native Grey Squirrel. There is a lot of confusion surrounding the effect the Grey has on the survival of the Red with many people thinking the Greys attack and kill the Reds. This is not the case, the Grey Squirrel carries the Squirrelpox virus which is deadly to the Reds, although recent reports are hinting that the Red is becoming more defensive against the virus which is great news.

The Red Squirrels thrive in numbers at Snaizeholme as their habitat is cut off from the rest of the area which means the Greys are not in residence. Although I was in the hide, there is a Red Squirrel Nature Trail which is open to the public. Myself and better half Emma walked this trail and saw plenty of Squirrels running around the forest. For more information about visiting Snaizeholme, please see the Nature in the Dales Website.

Luckily, I had the entire hide to myself for the 5 hours which meant I could use the many hatches and also set up my D7100 to capture video (Available Here). The light wasn’t great, but considering it had been raining for the previous 5 days I was just happy for a dry day.

(Click to view in Lightbox)

Yes, I know, another Sheep Pic!

2nd November 20159th October 2017Craig Rogers

I was up at Dawn to get ready to photograph the Red Squirrels in the Yorkshire Dales this weekend and looked out of the window to a stunning sunrise with this Ram sitting on a ridge, I couldn’t resist a silhouette shot.

{Click image for a higher resolution, click Flickr Link in caption to view photo on Flickr}

Sheep at Sunrise — Sunrise Silhouette – D810, AF-S 300mm f/2.8 @ 300mm, f/2.8, ISO1000, 1/250sec {Flickr Link}