Photographing Red Grouse in Purple Blooming Heather
Show Notes
After the last video, where I talked about slowing down and enjoying the landscape around me, I wanted to do something a little different. So I decided to spend the day photographing Red Grouse.
The last week, I’ve seen so much purple flowering heather that I knew that the red grouse would be sitting among their flowers and it would be the perfect opportunity for some contrasting wildlife images.
However, it is also the shooting season here in Scotland, and so there are often large parties walking across the moor shooting these beautiful birds. Luckily, no shooting on the day that I was there, but I felt the birds were very nervous of people and they ran away quickly quite often.
It turned out to be an amazing day of wildlife photography. I managed to get some pictures of red grouse that I have been after for a long time.
The images today will be collected together into groups all from the same encounter.
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Onto the Images
After the first failed encounter and then the battering by the rain, I was wondering if that was going to be the theme of the day, and at first I was right. But with a little patience and perseverance I eventually encountered this beautiful individual that, as you may be able to tell from the images, was quite relaxed about my presence and allowed me to get some cracking images.
This was the sort of image that I had envisioned, and I can’t quite believe that I was lucky enough to get exactly what I wanted. The heather is in a wonderful state of bloom, with fields of purple and pink blanketing the entire hill sides of Scotland.
My task of the day was just to encounter some willing grouse in among the flowers and it worked!
All of these images have been cropped from their original sizes but I don’t think that that diminishes their quality and certainly helps to draw the viewer to examine the bird among the flowers.
This is the only image from the encounter I had with the red grouse while the yellow car was in the background. Again cropped this image down to remove the bright yellow distraction from the top section.
The birds wandered off from this point towards the road, so I went back up to the car and saw them walk across to the other side. I wander why there aren’t any “why did the grouse cross the road” jokes?
Probably because the punchline would always be to do with the whisky that has the bird as their mascot, name and logo!
Not the background or surrounding plants that I wanted but these orange tufts of heather flowers past their prime are also a wonderful contrast to the bird, especially with the muted greens and yellows of the grass around them.
The last image above is the only ‘full body’ image that was in focus. I really want to get a picture of these birds where you can easily see their feet. The latin name for them means ‘hare footed’ because their feet are meant to resemble that of their upland companions: the mountain hare.
You can just see its white fluffy feet there but I want a proper shot!
These were the cracking images that I was talking about in the film, and to be honest, they are good but there not any better than the first set of images I managed to capture. I think I felt a sense of elation at that point because I knew for sure that I was going to have some decent images from the day.
I especially like the one with a very obvious red eye comb, a lovely male. As most of the grouse I saw and photographed that day were females or juveniles without the comb.
The other thing I like about this set of images are the ones where there is a purple misty screen in front of the birds, I’m not sure how to describe it but I like that effect, caused by the lens focusing through some rather close heather!
The last 2 images are from where I was struggling to follow and see the birds due to the undulations of the heather moor. The ground is full of little crevices where the birds hide away, and as the heather itself is at its peak in terms of growth, they can also duck behind bushes.
So pursuing them over a long distance with plenty of obstacles was a trifle annoying and difficult. They were hiding away and moving very fast through the foliage, and I lost track of them many times.
These were the only images that I managed to get and, in the video, I say they’re not very good but when I was editing them I quite liked them.
They show a bit more behaviour than the other images. One of the birds shaking their feathers dry of the rain. And the other of the bird alarm calling due to my presence.
They are also positioned well within the landscape and that shows of their camouflage capabilities too.
All in all a great day of photography! The grouse were surprisingly willing to be photographed considering it’s the shooting season. Although they were still a bit nervous at times.
There were a surprising amount of people down there all day, I’ve often hardly ever encountered another car down there, but as it’s summer there were loads (10-15). Luckily, the grouse didn’t seem that bothered by them at all.
I hope you are looking forward to the next instalment, I’m not sure what I will be doing but I’m sure it will be good! Don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel.
About the Film
Just a little information about the film and how I made it, as well as some links to equipment.
I edited the film using the Free Version of DaVinci Resolve. It’s an incredibly powerful piece of software that I am still trying to understand and will possibly write an article about in the future.
All the tracks featured in today’s film were licensed via a subscription with Epidemic Sound. (By following that link, if you purchase a subscription then I will be gifted with a month free for referring you to their services)
Tomorrow is Another Day by Jo Wandrini
Fading Fast by Scipio
And Then We Fell from The Sky by Across the Great Valley
Domentum by Of Water
Doors Unlocked (instrumental) by Deanz
A short Kit List
These are affiliate links, which means if you follow them and make a purchase I will earn a small commission for referring you to Amazon UK. You can find out more about affiliate links here.
Main Vlog Camera is a simple Panasonic G80 with the kit lens, its a great little mirrorless camera that I got for the sole purpose of creating YouTube videos. It’s capable of filming in 4k and seems to do everything that I want it to.
Rode Mic, I got this little microphone to boost the audio quality from the inbuilt microphone.
Action Camera, I use this to film myself when walking. It’s a simple DJI Pocket Osmo camera that has a motorised 3 axis gimbal head, which means that I stay in focus and static while the landscape around me moves. It’s also capable of filming in 4k and the audio quality is quite good.
Voice Recorder, to boost the audio quality when it’s windy or I’m using the action camera I use this handy little voice recorder with a lapellier microphone to record audio.
My Camera is a Canon 1DX mark II, the perfect camera for wildlife photography! Although the newer model looks even better!
My Zoom Lens is a Canon 100-400mm f/f-5.6, a nice lens to use for variable focal length and it’s nice and light for handheld use and for trekking up into the mountains!
The Ultimate Lens is a Canon 500mm f/4 and it is the ultimate wildlife photography lens. Tack sharp, great focal length and brilliant bokeh effect when close to a subject!
Teleconverters: Canon 1.4x and Canon 2x, they are very useful in a lot of instances when you just need a little more reach to get close to the subject.
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Written by Daniel Long
Daniel Long created DRL Photography as a place to showcase his work as a photographer. Daniel has learnt a lot about photography and wishes to impart this knowledge with you, although the world is an ever changing place and he always says “you can never learn everything.” So as he makes his way, he continues to learn knew techniques, skills and information about photography. He focuses on Landscape and Wildlife photography and Daniel has a special focus on Scotland, his home away from home. As well as writing about photography and taking pictures out in the field, Daniel offers guided photography days so he can share his knowledge and locations in an effort to give his clients the best opportunities possible. Have a browse around this website to see his images, guided experiences and articles about photography. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to get in contact.
