I normally treat my DJI Mavic Air 2 as an addition to my photography, not the main means for me to capture my shots. Because of that, I find that I am probably not using it as much as I want to and consequently, I am not learning how to take photographs with it. With that realisation in mind I set off to the National Arboretum on Monday, 18 January 2021 with the idea to use my drone as the main means of photography. I still had a DSLR with me but I wanted to concentrate on using my drone so that I could try shots that I had not used before and also understand how to use the drone to capture compositions. Unfortunately, I arrived at the Arboretum later than I had hoped so I was facing harsher light than I would have preferred but I still wanted to practice. Consequently, this post is a little light on with birds and other wildlife shots but with that said I hope that you still enjoy the photographs below.
I drove up to the Himalayan Cedar Lookout carpark because I wanted to see how the drone would capture the twists and turns of the mountain bike (MTB) trail that wound down the slope there. When I was making my way through the cedars I saw a group of at least three Yellow-rumped Thornbills (Acanthiza chrysorrhoa) searching for food along the ground and in the trees. They were among the trees so I had to increase my ISO to 1250 in order to get the shutter speed to capture them. This group may have been a family because there appeared to be one bird that was demanding to be fed and the other birds would oblige it. This species of bird seems to have adapted well to the Arboretum because they are common throughout the grounds. As the trees grow these birds will hopefully become even more numerous because they are a beautiful little bird that brings a nice level of colour and movement to any area.
Yellow-rumped Thornbill
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 1250, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/250 SEC])
After photographing the thornbills I remembered that I was actually there to take some drone shots so I headed to the near-by slope with the MTB trails. I wanted to photograph the trails because they seem to form a unique shape that helped the viewers eye move through the picture. Something was still missing from the shot because it did not really work for me. Maybe it was the shadows or maybe it was the colours. Possibly going to that spot after rain, when the vegetation is greener and the dirt is a darker red, would yield a different look. I tried incorporating some of the rocky outcrops and several variations on the idea. I thought that there was potential there. It was interesting seeing those trails from a vertical look because I ride them regularly so the top-down angle was very different for me.
Unfortunately, in my mind at least, the most compelling shot that I took that morning was of the roundabout in the carpark. I liked the shape and the way the trees cast their shadows. I just did not like that this was a very obvious ‘made’ subject, not something natural.
I then flew the drown to the top of Himalayan Cedar Hill, experimenting with the patterns and shadows on the ground below the crest. I still did not quite capture what I was after but I think the area also had potential.
My final shot was an oblique one, looking north to capture the words ‘wide brown land’, which seemed to sum up not just Australia but also the Arboretum because there had not been rain for a little while, just heat. I kind of liked the shot, despite it being a very obvious photograph to take.
Mountain bike trail through the trees
DJI Mavic Air 2 [ISO 100, 4.5mm, f/2.8 and 1/1250 SEC]
And with some rocks
DJI Mavic Air 2 [ISO 100, 4.5mm, f/2.8 and 1/1250 SEC]
With more trees
DJI Mavic Air 2 [ISO 200, 4.5mm, f/2.8 and 1/600 SEC]
Even a roundabout looked different
DJI Mavic Air 2 [ISO 100, 4.5mm, f/2.8 and 1/1000 SEC]
Rows of cyads
DJI Mavic Air 2 [ISO 100, 4.5mm, f/2.8 and 1/1000 SEC]
Path dividing tree areas
DJI Mavic Air 2 [ISO 100, 4.5mm, f/2.8 and 1/1000 SEC]
Australia, the wide brown land
DJI Mavic Air 2 [ISO 200, 4.5mm, f/2.8 and 1/1250 SEC]
After the Arboretum I went down to the Molonglo River below Scrivener Dam. I was again practicing my drone photograph, which I will place in a different blog post. While I was there I noticed a Dusky Woodswallow (Artamus cyanopterus) in a tree. The woodswallow was perched in a dead tree but several times flew off before it returned. I think that it was hunting for insects because sometimes it would fly towards other trees but not land on them before it returned once again to its perch. Other times it just looped out into the air before again returning to its perch. It did not always return to the same branch but always to the same tree and always, close to the top of the dead tree. In one shot I was able to get a not too sharp shot of the woodswallow returning with what appeared to be a cicada in its beak. There were also some Crested Pigeons in the tree but neither species seemed to be disturbed by the other.
Dusky Woodswallow on the lookout for food
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 100, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/400 SEC])
Coming back with a cicada
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 100, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/1600 SEC])
I enjoyed spending some time practicing my drone photography. I enjoy seeing the natural world from this different perspective because it provided a special angle to enjoy the world around us. I apologise again for the lack of wildlife photography in this post but I hope that the drone pictures were still of some interest.
Thanks for reading this post and thanks also for looking at my photos. I hope you come back again to read more about some of the wonderful natural things that the Australian Capital Territory has on offer. All the best until the next post.