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Greeting for the Festive Season – Snow comes to Exeter

Written by colinmunro
Greeting for the Festive Season – Snow comes to Exeter

Hungry geese paddle across the snow-covered footpath on Exeter's Quayside

Hungry geese paddle across the snow-covered footpath on Exeter's Quayside


This image is for sale at Alamy, click here and search for geese, snow, Exeter.

Snow has finally arrived in Exeter, just in time for Christmas! Despite sub-zero conditions that have lasted for weeks we have escaped the heavy snowfalls that have paralysed much of the UK. This morning I woke to a couple of inches in light, fluffy snow covering my boat, and pretty much everything else. Just enough to look pretty without causing too much disruption.

Close up of an inquisitive goose in snow, Exeter Quayside

Close up of an inquisitive goose in snow, Exeter Quayside


This image is for sale at Alamy, click here and search for geese, snow, Exeter.

Close-up of inquisitive goose standing in snow, Exeter Quayside

Close-up of inquisitive goose standing in snow, Exeter Quayside


This image is for sale at Alamy, click here and search for geese, snow, Exeter.

www.colinmunrophotography.com

Exeter images, Exeter in winter, Exeter Quayside, natural history, Snow and Ice, Winter scenes, , , , , , , , ,

The swans of Exeter

Written by colinmunro
The swans of Exeter
Mute swans (Cygnus olor) congregate under Cricklepit Bridge

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 cygnet (Cygnus olor) only a few days or weeks old.

Mute swan cygnets (Cygnus olor) feeding in shallows.

Mute swan cygnets (Cygnus olor) feeding in shallows.

Mute swan cygnets (Cygnus olor) swimming.

Mute swan cygnets (Cygnus olor) swimming.

A pair of mute swan (Cygnus olor) cygnets swimming, Exeter Ship Canal.

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

Devon Landscapes, Exeter images, High Dynamic Range Photography, natural history, , , , , , , , , ,

Exeter historic quayside at night

Written by colinmunro
Exeter historic quayside at night

Exeter historic quayside at night. Cafe live on a warm summer night, Exeter, Devon.

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.

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.

Devon Landscapes, Exeter images, High Dynamic Range Photography, Landscapes, night photography, , , , ,

Sunrise, Navua River, Viti Levu, Fiji

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Sunrise, Navua River, Viti Levu, Fiji
Sunrise over the Navua river near the mouth at Beqa Lagoon, Viti Levu, Fiji. Image MBI000583

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

Sunrise and reflections, Navua river near the mouth at Beqa Lagoon, Viti Levu, Fiji.MBI000584

Environment, Landscapes, Sunrises, Wild places, , , , , ,

Spring is in the air. Seaslugs mating: Polycera faeroensis.

Written by colinmunro
Spring is in the air. Seaslugs mating: Polycera faeroensis.
The seaslug, or nudibranch, Polycera faeroensis mating. Like all nudibranchs, Polycera faeroensis is a simultaneous hermaphrodite.

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

Diving stories, Environment, Macrophotography, Marine Life, natural history, night photography, Underwater photography, , , , , ,

Loch Ness in winter, Scottish highlands; reflections and ghost ships

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Loch Ness in winter, Scottish highlands; reflections and ghost ships

Frozen birch trees and snow-capped mountains reflected on the still waters of Loch Ness, Highlands, Scotland, UK.

Frozen birch trees and snow-capped mountains reflected on the still waters of Loch Ness, Highlands, Scotland, UK. Image MBI000124.

Reflections on still water, Loch Ness, mid-winter.

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

Like a ghost ship, a survey vessel cruises through winter fog across Loch Ness. Image MBI000029

Landscapes, Scottiish Highlands, Snow and Ice, Winter scenes, , , , , , , , ,

Basking shark images Cornwall

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Basking shark images Cornwall
Basking shark, Cetorhinus maximus, feeding with mouth wide open

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.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_-GIMCkP7Q

Basking shark, Cetorhinus maximus, feeding in surface waters. Cornwall, UK. Colin Munro Photography

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

Large basking shark, Cetorhinus maximus, feeding in surface waters. Cornwall, UK. Colin Munro Photography

Cornwall, Marine Life, , , , , , ,

Mute swans at midnight, River Exe, central Exeter, UK

Written by colinmunro
Mute swans at midnight, River Exe, central Exeter, UK

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

Mute swans (Cygnus olor) gather at midnight, River Exe, Central Exeter, UK

night photography, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Old Piers and simple pleasures

Written by colinmunro
Old Piers and simple pleasures
Mussels, Mytilus edulis, and Obelia indivisa hydroids on an old pier leg

Mussels, Mytilus edulis, and Obelia indivisa hydroids on an old pier leg

I took my first underwater pictures bimbling about between the uprights and cross-members of an old wooden pier. That was with second-hand Nikonos III, a set of extension tubes and a Sunpak 28 strobe. I’ve probably still got it somewhere. Underwater photography has moved on a long way since then but I still love exploring old wooden piers and the opportunities they present for macro-photography. The uprights are normally festooned with filter-feeding life: hydroids and sea squirts often forming dense carpets. Dahlia and Sagartia anemones add a splash of colour. To me the beauty of macro-photography is that the basic skills can be learned quite quickly and sharp, colour-saturated images can be created even in our often quite turbid coastal waters. There is also the fun of exploring and discovering small creatures in crevices and overhangs; the joys of being a kid again for an hour or so. Each pier or jetty presents its own particular hazard. This can range from watching that a dropping tide doesn’t leave you trying to clamber up the bottom rungs of a badly corroded and rickety old ladder when trying to exit the water, to avoiding being knocked unconcious by the weapons grade halitosis of betching bull sealions as they lie flopped across the jetty cross members. But the pleasures tend to remain the same; hunting for that perfect patch of jewel anemones or symmetrical cluster of featherduster tubeworms.

The above pic was taken on the legs of a fairly tide swept pier in Southern Ireland. Large, fat mussels gaped in the rich feeding currents and between them bright orange Obelia hydroids swayed like tiny sunflowers. The trick with all macro-photography (and indeed much temperate water photography) is to slow down and look closely at what is literally just in front of your nose. The other pleasure that often comes from macro-photography is that one often discovers new things in the image that you never saw at all when composing the photograph. To take the above example; I was completely oblivious to the tiny crustacean scuttling about between the Obelia polyps, only noticing it once I had developed the film (yes, this is a film image), scanned the slide and viewed it on my laptop. This still applies with our current top-end DSLRs. Although lcd screens are improving all the time, small details are only revealed when the image is downloaded and viewed on a much larger screen.

Underwater Photography Workshop
For those interested I will be running a one day workshop, an introduction to underwater photography, in Exeter, Devon next month (6th March). This is intended for those relatively new to underwater photography looking to acquire a good grounding in the theory and practical skills, or possibly decide which system they are going to go for. There are still a few places left as I write this. For more info go to: Introduction to underwater photography workshop

Diving stories, Macrophotography, Photographic courses & workshops, Underwater photography, , , , , , , , ,

The worst whale picture you’ll ever see

Written by colinmunro
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The worst whale picture you’ll ever see
Humpback whale swimming under a fishing vessel, Lyme Bay, Southwest England

Humpback whale swimming under a fishing vessel, Lyme Bay, Southwest England

I have just uploaded what is probably the worst whale picture you’ve ever seen, or are likely to. For a start it was taken with an old Nikonos III camera, without use of an additional hand held light meter. Those old Nik IIIs were purely mechanical, so no built in light meter; thus exposure was based on the ‘guesstimate then bracket like hell’ maxim. Secondly, it was taken with the only wide angle lens I owned back in those days, a cheap plastic supplementary lens of rather dubious sharpness. To be honest the lack of sharpness was not really an issue. I was shooting in turbid coastal waters, where horizontal visibility near the surface was between 8-10 metres (26-33 feet); pretty good for the area as it happens but lousy for shooting whales. On top of this strong winds had been blowing so the shallow coastal water was nicely loaded with suspended sediment lifted off the seabed. This made for a rather hazy 8-10 metres visibility. As if that weren’t enough, conditions were further complicated by this occurring around 7.30pm, so the sun was getting low and light levels below the surface were dropping like a stone. To cap it all I had no fast colour film with me (yes this was waaaay back in the pre-digital days). I had not gone diving to photograph whales. I knew the visibility was likely to be lousy so I had arrived armed with a set of extension tubes for macro-photography and several rolls of Fuji Velvia 50 slide film. This produces wonderful, detail and rich, saturated colours, But it is slow! Certainly useless for photographing something the size of a bus in turbid, low light conditions. Throwing everything out of my camera bag over the deck of our dive boat I fished out an old roll of 400 asa film. Now that was more like it; still going to struggle but at least there was a chance of a recognisable image now. Only problem was it was black and white negative film (so long ago I forget exactly what). Still, it was that or nothing. So I loaded it with shaking hands are rolled over the boats gunnel into the water. The slowest shutter speed available on Nik IIIs is a 30th sec, so I wound it right down and hoped for the best. Black and white negative film is more forgiving of poor exposure than slide, which was just as well really.

So I guess I was quite fortunate (and there was a lot of luck) to get any recognisable images at all. But apart from nostalgia, why hang on to them, and why publish them online? The pictures are nearly two decades old now and after all, I have lots of lousy quality pictures from years gone by. The main reason, apart from being able to waffle on about the difficulties of photographing large marine mammals in lousy conditions, is that, eighteen years on, as far as I am aware these remain the only underwater pictures taken of a humpback whale in British coastal waters. I can still remember my utter amazement as I peered over the boat’s rail into the water below, watching a dark shape slowly rise up. As it approached the surface not more than two metres from the boat I could clearly make out a long, white object. When it was around a metre below I suddenly realised I was staring at a massive white pectoral fin. ‘Bloody hell! It’s a humpback!’ I remember shouting (okay, it may have been slightly stronger than ‘bloody’). By the time it broke the surface I was already throwing dive gear together. I loaded my camera, threw my cylinder on and rolled over the gunnel faster than any time before or since, oblivious to what anyone else was doing. I settled on the bottom at around 10 metres. I peered around but he (or she) was nowhere in sight. What now? Fortunately I didn’t have to wait long. The humpback was intensely interested in the boats echo sounder transducer and kept returning to make passes under the hull. I floated up to mid-water and simply hung there, waiting for him to return then clicked away frantically changing aperture sizes as I did so.

A small population of humpbacks inhabits the Eastern Atlantic, migrating each year between their arctic feeding grounds and breeding grounds off Cape Verde. They are frequently spotted off the West coast of Ireland as they head North or south. This guy somehow made a wrong turn off Cornwall and headed East along the English Channel. After our memorable dive he was not seen again, as far as I know. Let’s hope he made back on track.

I continue to muddle away at underwater photography, so if anyone is tempted I shall be running a series of workshops from March 2010 onwards. More info at Colin Munro photography Main Index under Courses and Workshops

If anyone knows of other humpbacks photographed underwater around the UK I’d be most interested to learn about it.

Colin Munro 3rd February 2010.
Colinmunrophotography.com

Conservation, Diving stories, Environment, Photographic courses & workshops, Uncategorized, Underwater photography, , , , , , , ,