http://www.uwolchallenge.com/challenge9/07_UC9_ducksandcranes.mov

A bit of a quick one (by my standards) this time round. Filming was limited to one day, and editing time was quite short too due to other pressures. But I made it!

The title of my piece is a little misleading, as the cranes are not the winged variety. Sorry to get your hopes up – I don’t think cranes of the feathered variety can be found in Ireland! These particular cranes are the docks, as well as the Harland and Wolff shipyard, where the Titanic was built. It was working fine when it left the shop, honest.

I took myself and my camera off to the RSPB Reserve in Belfast Lough. I’ve been there a couple of times before, and was always struck by the contrast between all the wildlife and the man-made, very industrial backdrop of the shipyard and the docks. So I headed back, on a hot Saturday afternoon. I just videoed the birds as they went about their lives, and this is what makes up my UWOL#9 entry.

There’s a few issues that I am aware of:

- It was so hot there was a heat "shimmer" that affects some shots. No amount of technology would avoid that, and it wasn’t possible to get any closer to the birds. You have to stick to the hides that are provided, and you can't get any other viewpoint.

- Also, I found myself right on the limit of the 20x lens of the Sony V1. Some cropping/zooming of shots (given that I can only edit in SD) was possible, but not much. A telephoto adapter would be useful.

- Which leads to the next one - my tripod isn’t really compatible with working a the “tele” end of the zoom. Hence the lack of nice tracking shots of the birds. The Pro-6 HDV (aka 503HDV) has a great set of HEAVY vinten legs, but the head lets it down for this sort of work.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy my contribution this time. It got me out and about, and I had FUN!

Oh, and sunburn. Oh boy was I sunburned... and the bruise on my shoulder from carrying the tripod has just about healed now.

Higher res videos:
Higher res .MOV file (http://www.mikeb.org.uk/uwol/uwol09/ducksandcranes_quicktime_large.wmv) (86MB)
Same file, WMV format (http://www.mikeb.org.uk/uwol/uwol09/ducksandcranes_wmv_large.wmv) (90MB)

References:
RSPB Belfast Lough link (http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/b/belfastlough/) (marvel at the location - the oil tanks! the airport runway!)
Google Maps link (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&ie=UTF8&t=h&ll=54.629965,-5.875314&spn=0.004335,0.013647&z=17) showing the lagoon.

Hi Mick,

Well, I have only watched half the entries so far but must say this is one of my favorites.

The story was so powerful and delivered so professionally. You set the scene very well and used the contrasting settings (industry & nature) perfectly, with great background material on both. The story, combined with the variety of shots (pans, wides, close ups, etc) was perfectly balanced and I must say I learned so much in terms of the things I wish I had used in my entry.

One issue you mentioned was the light and I must admit many of the shots seemed way over exposed however, with such a powerful story, delivered so perfectly, you could have used a mobile phone to film this and I still would have enjoyed it.

Well done Mike, I think the effort you went to to film this was very well spent!

Mike,

I enjoyed your film. I got to see some new species i have seen before, particular the duck!!

I also learned something else: I always thought Moor hens were the uk version of our ivory billed coot. Now I find that you in fact have coots and moor hens are a different breed. I have spent my life extensively studying NA wildlife, guess I need to branch out!!!

thanks for sharing and taking the time.

I appreciated the titles of each species!!!

Well done.

Thanks for the comments guys!

David:
Yes, you're right about the exposure. I found it incredibly hard to judge that - maybe us bog-dwelling folk are just not used to bright sunshine! It was also a vast expanse of sand, mud and water, and was quite dazzling.

The V1's viewfinder was hopeless for that, and it was hard even to tell with the LCD screen. I'd have needed a monitor really, but that wasn't an option. Also, it was filmed just a couple of hours after I got my first pair of glasses, but I'm not sure I can blame that!


Dale:
The titles were a last-minute addition, I thought they would help. I spend too much time on Sunday trying to get the font right, but got there in the end. I remembered that from UWOL#8 where I suggested that for someone else, so I decided to practice what I preached.

I used to think the moorhen was just a coot with a different colored beak, but apparently the coot is bigger as well. I couldn't get two of them side by side to compare them.

My favorite scene is at 2:12, where the young moorhen is chased by the juvenile gull - then the parent moorhen races across, briefly checks the chick is OK, then chases the gull away. When that happened, I was at the other side of the hide with my binoculars, I'm glad I left the camera rolling.


The biggest lesson I learned is that I need a LOT more practice at capturing wildlife like this. I preferred videoing steam trains, they are big and a lot more predictable!

Hi Mike:

This was very well done and enjoyable. I didn't find the heat shimmer distracting, in fact since you are pointing out the temperature, it just confirms how hot it was. Your camera work, despite the issues you discussed in your opening was rock solid. This was informative and solid throughout. It brings to me, a viewer from Colorado and landlocked, wildlife I'm not familiar with. We have the Herons too, which I love, and the duck chicks were a highlight for me. Fun!

Cat

Again a video where I learned something...excellent.

Nice shots of the shipyard, also.

Like Cat, I liked the shimmering and the brightness of it all. Made me feel just how hot and bright it must have been out there.

Do you have knowledge of all these birds or did they have something there to tell you what they are? I only ask because I'm bird ignorant...and find learning their names to be fasinating.

Bob

This was a nice film, I like the perspective that you picked. cool that they “install” a reserve in such a busy place. I really liked your story, some of the shots were a bit over expose but it’s not that important, the story is (I think).
Well done

In the beginning I was thinking what the heck has this got to do with wildlife hahahaha. Great take on the theme. A few tight shots would have been great but over all I enjoyed your film.

Brian

Hi all, thanks for the comments!

Cat:
I spent too much time on the Shelduck chicks and not enough time on some of the other birds! I just couldn't get enough of them. The baby moorhens just melted my heart, little black balls of fuzz with legs, so adorable.

Bob:
I was pretty much sure what all the birds were, but the Dunlin and Shelduck were new to me. The RSPB are good enough to put up signs in the hides for the casual observer. Unforunately I forgot to pay any heed to them and I ended up trawling through the bird books at home. Not living near water, we don't get many of those birds in the garden!

Markus:
The exposure was tricky. For reasons unknown to me, I was trying to stick to around F4 on the camera, the V1's best setting. Unforunately for me, this works fine in our typical weather - bright sunshine is a new concept to me! I should've gone with the zebras stripes etc., but I thought I knew better. Nope!

The weather was also pretty rotten after that day, so I'd have had to go back in the rain, which just means too many sad-looking birds and poor visibility.

Brian:
I spent hours waiting for those cranes to move too... You want to see their mating rituals! I agree re. the tight shots. Most of the brids were very far away, probably over 100ft, and the 20x would only go so close. I definitely want to get my hands on a "big lens"!



Now I have an evenig off, I 'm going to spend a happy few hours watching everyone else's entries. Thanks again folks, and thank you for entertaining me with your own films.

Getting a glimpse of Belfast and listening to your dialect was just as enjoyable for me as watching the birds! Thanks for setting the stage as you did and guiding us through the video.

About the exposure, it’s not blown out, so I’m wondering if you adjusted your color curves, levels, or anything like that (sorry, I don’t know what those effects would be called in Premiere). That almost looks like untouched footage to me.

Many of us know exactly what you mean about the 20X zoom. It’s frustrating to want to get just *that* much closer and not have the ability.

These particular cranes are the docks, as well as the Harland and Wolff shipyard, where the Titanic was built. It was working fine when it left the shop, honest..
I’m sure it was. :)

Thanks, Mike. That was enlightening and entertaining.

Nice work Mike...even if you say it was a fast one by your standards....not only did you show me some great bird species,but now I have seen where the Titanic was brought to life..Learn something everyday

Yes I liked the story too. We have a very industrious area with a beautiful marshland surrounding it as well. Always makes me want to shoot some type of contrasting piece. I liked your music as well. Good selection, very soothing.

Here's an idea for you, because I shoot a lot of marshland bird type footage as well. Sometimes I really struggle to not overexpose the birds - and lose all the data in their clipped white feathers. So when I shoot the white ones, I underexpose and bring the images back up in post - selectively. Maybe keep the whites where they are, turn down the mids and blacks. Just an idea. I find it gives richer images.

Good job.

Interesting study of wildlife in the midst of industry. Some of us try to hide mankind's works in shooting nature, believing that the shots are polluted if a sign of man is in it--- but we are indeed part of nature..

Thanks for the continuing nice comments, folks!

Lorinda:
I didn't adjust the image at all in post, this is still something I have yet to get to grips with. I've only had Premiere Pro CS3 for a couple of months, and there sure is a lot to learn. Alas, I didn't have time for that for the challenge. I also plead Irishman's defence - we don't get sun that often, we don't know what to do with it!

I also wish I could edit in HDV, but my PC just isn't fast enough to let me do that and still finish the challenge inside 3 weeks!

John:
It really is a great, historic place. Driving down to the nature reserve, you pass through the walls of the great shipyard, past the remaining offices ofr Harland and Wolff, the drawing office where the ship was designed etc. It's a real shame that there's nothing there to commemorate the ship and the yard's history - just lots of cleared sites followed by acres of oil storage depots. The whole place reeks of industrial devestation. There are plans afoot to build a visitor centre and tourist attraction, as well as redevelop the whole area.

I came across a video of the inside of the shipyard drawing offices:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBaq5QD-Gy4

My dad worked in there, many years ago, back in the days when the men all wore flat caps. He's not old enough to have worked on the Titanic though!

Eric:
Thanks for the tip! I spent too much time trying to keep exposure around F4 for reasons that seemed emminently sensible, but ultimately flawed! I should've gone with my instincts and worked that exposure wheel a bit more. I will bear that in mind next time I'm out.

Chris:
Exactly! I am unsure of the history of the lagoon, but I believe it is man made and probably something to do with the ship building industry in the past. It's amazing how nature just quietly moves in. They don't seem to mind the constant noise of the ships and the cranes either.

It’s nice to see someone managed to shoot some of the same species we set out to with considerably more success!
I like the contrast angle (industry and nature side by side) but for me the best part was your narration. A soft spoken Irish accent can hold my attention better than most.

Love the shelduck chicks. Did you see any adults with a ridiculously large number of offspring? Like ostriches rival male parents will fight with the winner adopting the losers brood. The evolutionary mechanism being that of safety in numbers, the winning father doesn't have to provide any more protection (shelduck chicks basically look after themselves) but the likelihood of one of his own progeny being taken from the group is reduced.

I look forward to your next entry

Pete

Mike, very nice and informative entry you got there! You got almost the same species there as we have in a bird sanctuary in Oslo which I visit from time to time.
Technically there was some minor flaws; in bright and sunny conditions you should try to use a ND-filter to dim the light if you want to use F4 shutter. In a bright day I often use ND 0.6 or even 0.9 if it's very bright!

Peter:
It was very hard to tell with the Shelduck - there appeared to be somewhere in the order of 20 chicks and either two or three pairs of adults in that small area. The chicks just kept moving around and even getting mixed up at times, so I presume they managed to sort themselves out in the end somehow.

Interesting that the chicks become self-sufficient so early. This would explain why I didn't see any close contact between them and the adult birds.

Per Johan:
Thank you for the kind words, and for the advice. I had the ND filter at ND2 for most of the time and it was still too bright - the sun is not often as harsh as that in Ireland. There was a lot of glare from the sand/mud and the water too. Perhaps an extra screw-on filter would've helped too. Or just be ruthless and adjust the exposure more appropriately!


Thank you everyone for your kind words and advice. Using UWOL as a learning experience is proving very useful for me.

Another super video from you Mike. Very nice approach to the subject using the juxtaposition of man-made and natural surroundings. Beautifully framed images, level and even pans and a good variety of views of the different birds. Nice commentary.

Mike, I really enjoyed the story behind this one, I love to see wildlife able to exist close to human activity. It just helps give hope to the challenges we are facing in the near future. I know not all species will be able to adapt, but it's great that so many have.

Great entry here.

Hi Mike

I really well put together piece with a nice original flavour. Good structure, with establishing shots, context and then subject and detail. It also had a nice contrast between the reserve and the industrial backdrop. - I think your establishing shots were too snappy however, most of them needed a little more breathing space but this isn't a major critique. Some of the footage was a bit soft and a few shots were over-exposed/washed out but again not badly. All in all a really solid piece of film making with a very countryfile 'real' feel to it as opposed to more of a natural history piece. Top notch fella!!

Marj:
Thanks for the kind words, glad you enjoyed that. I'm just sorry you didn't manage to join us this time round. Maybe next time?


Adrinn:
We are birds of a feather! We both had the man meets wildlife theme, though we approached it from different angles and had very different critters in our videos. It always fascinates me to see how animals and birds rise successfully and how mankind can affect their success in good or bad ways.

One problem in the UK is the demise of some birds - sparrows and starlings - that traditionally flourished alongside man. Now we have discovered the trend for plastic fascia boards and we fill in holes in the roof, these birds are on the demise. Everything has an effect.


Mat:
Cheers, boyo! I know what you mean about the fast cuts. I use the three second rule for cuts unless the subject matter warrants something longer. In this case, I wanted to give the impression of hurrying past all the manmade stuff to get to the wildlife, and I found that three whole seconds staring at a crane unloading a ship seemed very long - but that was probably just due to familiarity during the editing process.

Exposure and focus were pretty serious issues for me, and something I need to get better at. Give me a rainy day anytime and I'll get better pictures. What is this bright, shining thing in the sky that is making us all hot?

Thanks for the comments!

Mike,

I'm not sure I can add much commentary about your film. I think it has all been said and I agree. But I do want to say that you are another guy with a great voice-over. Very well done.

Oliver

I apologize for being so late in watching and commenting on our UWOL films. I finished and uploaded mine early so I could start on the other challenge on this site, but in between I had a request for a Defensive Handgun class and that tied me up for a week, then I got to start on the DVC challenge. So I’m just now starting to review the UWOL entries and add my comments.

Excellent narration, smooth and well articulated. You do have a good voice for it.

Atmosperic shimmer from the heat goes with telephoto reach, never bothers me when I see it because it's just there.

Camerawork looked precise and clean and I liked your editing pace overall. I enjoyed your film.

Hi Mike.

Great entry this one.
I like your choice of music and you have great mix between music, narration and background sound. Also like the way you tune up the music at the end of the video.
The way you show first a group of birdsm then a close up of the single bird is neat and that you just wright the name upto the left is OK.
Your VO is great and just right for this kind of work.
I think the colours look a bit pale at moments, but this can be a compression issue?
Great place for a reserve too.

All the best.
Geir Inge

Oliver:
Thank you for the kind remarks!

Bruce:
Thank you! It's hard work making time for all the entries, there are so many of them. I had a very enjoyable Saturday watching the majority of the films in one sitting. Where else would you get such entertainment and education for free?

There hasn't been too much heat shimmer since... back to grey skies and rain. We can only dream!

Geir Inge:
Thank you for your very kind words. I agonised long and hard about the captions, and tried many different styles until I picked the right one. Then I changed my mind an hour before I uploaded and re-did them all to make them easier to read. That was the hardest bit for me!

The compression affected my colours slightly, but the originals were a bit washed out and I didn't have the time to try any serious colour correction. Next time the sun shines I will know to close the iris a bit more and look out for those zebra stripes and histogram more carefully.

Enjoy the rest of your viewing, I know I did!

This was a great blend of narration, sound, and imagery. It all worked together perfectly for me. And the story you told in the film was great. I don't really have anything negative to say. I notice in the comments that there is some concern with exposure, but that wasn't really a problem for me. I think it could have been shot differently, but to me it seemed partly a matter of style, so I found it fine. Great job!

Ruth

Hi Mike,

Finally I have a new computer so I can start view and comment all the UC9 videos...

Nice film you made with an interesting story.
Now I learned something new about Belfast too, thank you!
I like the mix of wide and close up shots of the different birds very much.
Thank you for sharing, and I look forward to see more of your videos.

Ruth and Trond,

Thank you for the kind words. I can't wait for UC X either! Let's hope Meryem doesn't go too mad with an "off the wall" theme!