The swans of Exeter
by colinmunro on Jun.13, 2010, under Devon Landscapes, Exeter images, High Dynamic Range Photography, natural history
Mute swans (Cygnus olor) congregate under Cricklepit Bridge
One of the advantages of living on a boat is that you get to see a lot of aquatic life go past. Exeter is famous for its mute swans (Cygnus olor) with congregate in large numbers on both the River Exe and the Exeter Ship Canal. The swans have become very used to the tourists and locals strolling along the river and canal side in the centre of town, so much so they even nest next to the footpath in the heart of town. At this time of year pairs of swans can be seen cruising around guarding clutches of fluffy grey signets. The adults will shepherd the signets along, occasionally pulling bits of weed off the botton for the youngstesr to feed on, or paddling furiously with their webbed feet to stir up weed in the shallows for them.
Mute swan cygnet (Cygnus olor) only a few days or weeks old.
Mute swan cygnets (Cygnus olor) feeding in shallows.
Mute swan cygnets (Cygnus olor) swimming.
A pair of mute swan (Cygnus olor) cygnets swimming, Exeter Ship Canal.
As always my images are available to license and as fine art prints. If you’d like to use one of my images for publication please contact me. If you’d like a print of one of the images drop me an email stating image number and print size (costs for prints can be found on my fine art prints pages, e.g. Fine Art prints of Devon. Email me.
To my main website www.colinmunrophotography.com
Exeter historic quayside at night
by colinmunro on Jun.09, 2010, under Devon Landscapes, Exeter images, High Dynamic Range Photography, Landscapes, night photography
Exeter historic quayside at night. Cafe live on a warm summer night, Exeter, Devon.
Feels like summer has finally arrived. We’ve had a few great days recently, and for once it’s co-incided with schools half-term so I’ve had the chance to take get the boogie board out with my son, rather than watching DVDs as rain lashes the windows (the norm for holidays!). I’ve been playing around with High Dynamic Range images a little bit recently. I’m not always keen on the effect, sometimes it works for me sometimes its just too lurid.
There has been a quay in Exeter since Roman times; the main trade was wool and woolen cloth, with the Customs House being built in 1680 to collect taxes on this burgeoning trade. The square riggers and the trade has long gone but many of the fine old buildings remain, converted now to cafes, bars and craft shops. I took these two images while out bat watching along the river bank with my kid (an extra treat as way past his normal bed-time). Each image is a composit of three long exposure images (these varied from 1/8th to around a second, from memeory). I actually took around 10 images of each scene but selected only three for the final images.
Exeter quayside at night. Cafe life along the river Exe by Exeter's historic quay in central Exeter, Devon, on a warm summer evening.
Larger images (and additional images of Exeter) can be viewed by clicking on this link here. If there is sufficient interest I may produce some prints of these images for sale.
New Fine Art Prints for Sale – Devon and Fiji
by colinmunro on Jun.01, 2010, under Exhibitions, Landscapes, Sunrises, Uncategorized, Wild places, Winter scenes
Old wooden wreck, ice covered mudflats, Exe Estuary, South Devon
New print for sale: An old wooden wreck in ice covered mudflats, Exe Estuary, near Powderham, South Devon. Print No. MBI000231
Sunrise over the Navua River, Fiji
New print for sale: Sunrise over the Navua River, Viti Levu, Fiji. Print No. MBI000866.
Now that I’ve got an exhibition up at the Boston Tea Party cafe, in Exeter, Devon, I decided it was time to make some of these available for sale through my website. The first two were taken at opposite ends of the World, one in warm, humid conditions, one in biting sub-zero temperatures. They both share at stillness, both being taken around dawn, around the shores of a major river, the Exe and the Navua. They can be bought in as small (10 x 15 inch) or large (20 x 27 inch) archive quality prints, or as mounted canvas wraps (12 x 16 inch or 27 x 40 inch). More will be added soon. If you’d like to buy one, or see more check them out here Devon prints, and Fiji prints. If you are in Exeter, check out the Boston Tea Party near Central Station; my prints are up for a while.
Gates Z1 housing for sale
by colinmunro on May.23, 2010, under Equipment for sale
Gates Z1 or FX1 housing for sale
I’m selling my gates housing for the Sony Z1 (or FX1) HDV camcorders, along with . The housing has had only light use and is well cared for. Comes complete with own Pelican case and Gates SP44 dome port.
More info on the housing at Gates Z1 housing for hire
Sunrise, Navua River, Viti Levu, Fiji
by colinmunro on May.16, 2010, under Environment, Landscapes, Sunrises, Wild places
Sunrise over the Navua river near the mouth at Beqa Lagoon, Viti Levu, Fiji. Image MBI000583
A couple of years ago I was fortunate enough to spend a little time on the islands of Fiji. This included a couple of days on the Navua river. I was there mostly to photograph bull and tiger sharks in Beqa Lagoon but the sheer beauty of the area was a real bonus. These shots were taken around 5am, just as the horizon began to lighten. It’s an incredibly tranquil place; the only sounds were the waking calls of a few parakeets and birds I did not recognise, plus the occasional ‘plop’ as a startled mudskipper dropped off a low hanging branch. I’ll be adding some of the Fiji landscapes to the prints for sale section of my website soon. if interested just email me.
As always my images are available to license. If you’d like to use one of my images please contact me
Sunrise and reflections, Navua river near the mouth at Beqa Lagoon, Viti Levu, Fiji.MBI000584
Spring is in the air. Seaslugs mating: Polycera faeroensis.
by colinmunro on May.15, 2010, under Diving stories, Environment, Macrophotography, Marine Life, Underwater photography, natural history, night photography
The seaslug, or nudibranch, Polycera faeroensis mating. Like all nudibranchs, Polycera faeroensis is a simultaneous hermaphrodite. Image MBI000678
Spring is in the air, the sea is getting warmer – slowly – and the birds and bees, and most things beneath the waves too. Polycera faeroensis is a very common seasulg in British waters, and although colourful is often overlooked due to its small size, large individuals are no more than 4.5 centimetrs long. Like all nudibranchs they are simultaneous hermaphrodites – possessing both male and female sex organs at the same time (sequential hermaphrodites have either only male or only female sex organs at any given time). Copulation works both ways (reciprocal copulation, as it is termed). As the sex organs always appear to be on the right side or their bodies, Polycera faeroensis nudibranchs copulate head to tail. The missionary position has not caught on in the nudibranch world. One might think this was already exciting enough for any mollusc, but some nudibranchs, (such as the related Palio dubia found around the northern Uk shores) add a touch of S & M to their sex lives. Unlike many nudibranchs, Palio dubia does not have a complete vaginal opening. Thus copulation occurs by hypodermic injection; the barbed penis (or penile cirrus as it is properly termed) simply punctures the body wall into its mating partner. Ouch!
As always my pics are available to license – if you’d like to use one just email me
Photographic exhibition, Boston Tea Party Cafe, Exeter, Devon, from 28th May.
by colinmunro on May.14, 2010, under Devon Landscapes, Exhibitions, Landscapes, Marine Life, Underwater photography, Winter scenes, natural history
Reflections on Still water, Exeter Canal, Turf Lock. Image MBI000228
The Boston Tea Party Cafe in Queen Street, central Exeter will be hosting a small exhibition of my photographs from the 28th of May 2010. These will be a selection of my landscapes from Devon and further afield, plus a few underwater images also. If you’re in the area please drop in and have a look. Hey, you can even buy one if you want! It’s a very friendly place and they do great coffee and cakes. My photographs will be on the upper floor for a few weeks-ish (its kinda laid back and informal). I sometimes work there over a cup of coffee. feel free to come and say Hi.
Loch Ness in winter, Scottish highlands; reflections and ghost ships
by colinmunro on May.14, 2010, under Landscapes, Scottiish Highlands, Snow and Ice, Winter scenes
Frozen birch trees and snow-capped mountains reflected on the still waters of Loch Ness, Highlands, Scotland, UK. Image MBI000124.
We’ve just had a pretty hard winter, by UK standards. The coldest for about eighteen years. I didn’t manage to get up to Scotland this winter so this is an image for a few winters back. I am originally from this part of the World so it brought back childhood memories.
A winter high had settled over the highlands, leaving the air still, clear and bitingly cold. A dense layer of fog slowly rolled across the surface of the loch. Fog such as this is known as evaporation fog or steam fog, as the warmer water of the loch evaporates into the bitterly cold air above. Loch Ness is the second largest, by surface area, loch in Scotland (and lake in Britain), second to Loch Lomond. At 230 metres deep its volume is far greater and so it is the largest freshwater body in Britain, containing more freshwater than all the lakes in England and Wales combined. Thus in winter this huge mass of water cools slowly, rarely falling below 5 degrees C. As I watched a survey vessel appeared out of the fog like a ghostly apparition. A few moments later it was lost in the fog again like a modern-aday Marie Celeste. As always my images are available for licensed use. If you’d like to use any of my images just email me
Like a ghost ship, a survey vessel cruises through winter fog across Loch Ness. Image MBI000029
Basking shark images Cornwall
by colinmunro on May.12, 2010, under Cornwall, Marine Life
Basking shark, Cetorhinus maximus, feeding with mouth wide open
After a couple of years of bad weather I was lucky enough to get out and finally get in the water with a small group of basking sharks last year. We launched my Zodiac out of Newquay and headed west, through some fairly substantial rollers coming in off the Atlantic. After a few hours of steaming along we finally caught up with them. They were swimming steadily, completely ignoring us but also moving pretty quickly. So once you hit the water you had to move pretty sharpish, swimming diagonally to their path, before they cruised past and left you in their wake waiting to be picked up again my the boat. In the end we had two days with them, first day I was helped by Jules and on the second Kat boat-handled for me.
Baskers are never that predictable, but they should be arriving off the tip of Cornwall in the next week or two. I plan to get out again and hopefully improve on last year’s pics. Hopefully the weather will be kind -- we’re currently having once of the coldest May’s in nearly 20 years.
For more basking shark (Ctenorhinus maximus) images from last here click this link here
Watch this space for updates on success (or not) this year! As always these are stock images and footage available for righst managed license. If you’d like to use any of these get in touch email me
A clip of a Large basking shark feeding near the surface, North Cornwall, 2009.
Basking shark, Cetorhinus maximus, feeding in surface waters. Cornwall, UK. Colin Munro Photography
Large basking shark, Cetorhinus maximus, feeding in surface waters. Cornwall, UK. Colin Munro Photography
Mute swans at midnight, River Exe, central Exeter, UK
by colinmunro on May.08, 2010, under night photography
Standing on the edge of suspension bridge crossing the River Exe in central Exeter a little after midnight attracts a little attention from passing dog walkers and late night revellers. Was I suicidal? Those that came closer breathed a sigh of relief when they saw my camera and tripod. No! I was obviously simply deranged; why else would I be pointing a camera down towards almost totally black water.
The swans of central Exeter are a glorious sight, skimming low over the water or congregating along the quayside to be fed by tourists, children, couples….pretty much everyone really. At night they float noislessly along the river like luminous ghosts. Sometimes they gather in large numbers, as in this picture, to squabble, converse, exchange ideas, debate, bicker, cogitate, fraternise and flirt – who knows? In early spring (as this was) the water is muddy and dark with suspended soil washed in from moorland upstream. At night the darkness enhances the already striking contrast between the pure white swans and the inky water.
Mute swans (Cygnus olor) gather at midnight, River Exe, Central Exeter, UK
