UWOL #9 – The Ducks and The Cranes – by Mike Beckett

[Per Johan Naesje]

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!

[Mike Beckett]

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.

[Marj Atkins]

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.

[Adrinn Chellton]

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.

[Mat Thompson]

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!!

[Mike Beckett]

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!

[Oliver Pahlow]

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

[Bruce Foreman]

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.

[Geir Inge]

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

[Mike Beckett]

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!

[Ruth Happel]

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

[Trond Saetre]

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.

[Mike Beckett]

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!