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Last year nikon released a new 500mm lense using phase fresnel technology to create a more compact telephoto lense. It had good reviews so I ordered one at the beginning of October 2018. Five months later it has finally turned up after a long wait as worldwide demand immediately outstripped supply.  Naturally I've immediately been out to see how it performs and must say I'm really impressed by the results.  It's light weight and compact and fast to lock onto its focus. I'm pretty pleas …

I love getting out at night and getting photos of the night sky.  Because of the annual and nightly rotation of the night sky, getting a shot in a chosen setting with the stars in the aspect that you want them can often come down to only a few nights in a row where every thing lines up with the moon below the horizon and hopefully a clear night. Waste light from our modern cities is also a real problem when it comes to getting a clear shot of the night sky. There are a number of techni …

Royal spoonbill are one of those distinctive species that stand out from the crowd.  I think they're very photogenic but being mostly white you need to be careful with the light and exposure to get good photos of them. You get the best results in the soft light at dawn or dusk or when it is lightly overcast to reduce the contrast.I took the series of shots below just before sunrise of a spoonbill feeding in one of the channels at the Manawatu estuary and then drying itself off and grooming …

Terns are one of my favourite coastal birds and unfortunately we only see them occasionally along the Taranaki coastline. It was a real thrill for me on our recent trip to Foxton beach when a small flock of white fronted tern (tara) came and landed next to me on the sand at the Manawatu estuary. I spent nearly an hour just quietly watching them coming and going.  There was also a couple of juvenile caspian terns at the waters edge which really made my day.Anyway, here's my collection of ter …

The wrybill or ngutuparore is one of our unique New Zealand birds. It is very distinctive because it is the only bird with a sideways curved beak. It nests on the braided river beds in the South Island and it is thought that the curved bill gives it an advantage when searching under rounded river stones for insect larvae. Outside of the breeding season they gather in large flocks at various coastal estuaries and mudflats such as at Miranda or the Manawatu estuary which is where I took these phot …