Photography weekend

The past weekend wasn't meant to be quite as what it turned out to be :) I meant to just go to my grand parents and do some work there but plans always change. I scheduled something different for the Saturday and spent the day with the family. We did a lovely walk in Vitosha mountain which resulted in a few sunset images. I really missed going into the high mountains so the nearest and the easiest to do was the one next to our place - Vitosha. We started at lunch time and quickly ascended into the mountain tops. It wasn't long before we started walking in the lovely autumn forest enjoying large flocks of Bramblings counting at least 30 birds in a flock. These are the first for this winter that I see. Really pleasant. Also enjoyed some mossy deadwood stumps with little spruce trees starting from it to demonstrate the function of deadwood in a forest. Weather was quite warm understand about 15 degrees C, so we got ourselves a drink and spend couple of minutes on a meadow that was well lit by the Sun. Shortly after that we headed to a mountain top where I wanted to do some sunset shots. The area is quite pictures and presents superb opportunities for landscape photographers. I would image it would be great in pretty much any season. Here is a taste of it:

sunset from Vitosha mountains 

sunset from Vitosha mountains 

Since trekking up to the mountains for the sunsets took some time we had do go to the car in the darkness. It was rather pleasant actually. We enjoyed Sofia by night from the mountain top.

Sofia by night

On the Sunday I went to a large lake to the south of my place where I intended to spend the day in bird  photography and then go to my grandparents. The day at the lake was beautiful. Rather muddy terrain made the joy even grater :) By the time I reached the place for photos I got really muddy up to my knees. The tripod, the jacket, the backpack were all in mud. The shoes were not even visible what make they were. Anyway, I laid down and spent about 8 hours waiting for birds to approach me.

The result is satisfying. Birds didn't quite approach me as much as I wanted, but anyway I managed to get shots of about 10 bird species. The nearest that came was this nice male Teal:

Teal photography

Flamingo photography

Shoveler photography

Grey Heron photography

Avocet photography

Avocet photography

Avocet photography

Also a couple of Common Snipes were often landing in less than a metre so I couldn't get many shots of them. However, there was one which stayed in a good distance but amongst some rocks showing only its head. So the other birds I managed to photograph were a few Mallards, Shoveller, nice male Pintail, Great white egret, Grey heron, Greater Flamingos, Black-headed Gull, and a White Wagtail. A water pipit did land relatively close but it stayed amongst the stones nearby so wasn't good for a shot.

Anyway, it was nice to spend some time in the mud. I remember when I was about to start photographing I was pretty sure I will never do this. This heavy gear and laying in the mud is just not what I wanted. Now after I spent some time wading in the mud and seeing the results, I might be more inclined to do it in the future. See what happens.

NOTE: Please feel free to comment on the images. I am happy to receive feedback. Please be constructive and suggest practices or approaches to change what you don't like.