Marty Mellway Photography

Today is the first day of winter and this winter we are expecting to see many snowy owls in the Ottawa area. They have come down from there usual home in the far north in search of food. I have been out looking a few times now and have seen about 6 Snowy owls in total. They can be found hunting in open fields, watch for them in the tree tops, on fence posts and hydro poles. Also it is important to remember that these birds are under a lot of stress, they have left their natural habitat to avoid starvation and are here to find food for survival. If they are repeatedly scared away from where they are hunting they are using valuable energy that could be used to hunt. If you scare a bird from where it is hunting do not follow it again and again just to take photos or get a closer view. Baiting or feeding should also be avoided because it has been proven to change the behaviour of the owls. After all wildlife photography is about promoting the conservation of nature so don't be a hypocr

The Canon 70-300mm 4-5.6 IS USM is a great lens for anyone getting into wildlife photography but isnt ready to spend over 1000$ on a pro L series lens. I got mine used for 350$ and have had it for two years now. I have learned that with the right settings and some patience you can still get great sharp images. The most important thing to remember is that if you are shooting off the tripod keep the IS (image stabilization) on at all times. This lens is not very sharp wide open (which is f4 at 70mm and f5.6 at 200mm) I find stopping down to f8 greatly increases sharpness. If you find it hard to get enough light and a fast shutter speed at f8 just turn up the ISO a bit. Noise reduction is getting better all the time, on my camera I can go to 1600 without it being noticeable in the final image. I still try not to increase ISO above 800 if I can avoid it. Also I find I almost always have to use faster shutter speeds than my light meter tells me to. Image quality goes way down after 200mm

Our road trip through Alaska and the Yukon territory was an incredible experience. We spent two months on the road in our Volvo wagon. We climbed peaks, came face to face with grizzlies and bison, hiked and camped through the rain, snow and cold. We drove to the end of the most northern highway in America and hiked back country through the tallest mountains in north America. Alaska is a land of such incredible beauty and unlike anything we have ever seen in our travels around the world. This is the Tundra north of the Brooks range. This is past the Arctic circle and past the tree line. A beautiful barren landscape inhabited by caribou and musk-ox. A family of Musk-ox grazing on the Tundra 2km from the Dalton highway. Musk-ox are ancient creatures from a time when woolly mammoths and sabre-toothed tigers roamed north america The Dalton highway runs 666 km from just north of Fairbanks all the way up to the Arctic ocean at Deadhorse. This highway goes further north than an

Our car fully loaded with fresh supplies we leave Fairbanks, Alaska to begin the next part of our journey.  We head north on the Dalton Highway, a dirt road that runs 666 kilometres (414 miles) north to the Arctic ocean. It is the most northern highway in America and puts even hardy all-terrain vehicles to the test. Our AWD drive Volvo wagon is outfitted with two spare tires and hopefully everything we will need to survive the journey. Not far north of Fairbanks, we turn off the Elliott highway, which marks the beginning of the Dalton. As the evening approaches, we stop by a river and begin to set up camp. Grabbing my saw and axe one of my companions and I collect wood to make a fire.  With the fire going we prepared a delicious dinner, leaving us tired from the long day of driving. A full moon is rising on the horizon, a pale yellow disc against the blue twilight. With the fire dying down we retreat to the warmth of our sleeping bags.  Looking out my window in the morning I can

Key Gompa, an ancient monastery in the Spiti Valley, a high altitude desert valley cut off from rainfall and the outside world by soaring mountains and treacherous roads in the state of Himachel Pradesh, North India. We stayed here over night while trekking through from Kibber to Kaza. Tea and meals with the monks was so much fun. We were called to meals and tea by the sound of a conch shell horn. One of the younger monks showed us many of the sacred inner rooms of the monastery which housed thousand year old scriptures and Thangkas (Tibetan paintings) which had been brought over from Tibet over the last thousand years. Some rooms were so sacred that outsiders were not even allowed to look in, which I really like because it leaves some mystery, which there ought to be in a thousand year old temple deep in the Himalayas  The monks take there meals in an ancient kitchen, along one wall there are big stone wood fire stoves. On top of the stoves huge blackened metal pots 3 feet acro

2 sec   ƒ/3.5   ISO 400  17 mm This photograph is taken in a Balinese Hindu temple at night during a festival. The illumination of the backs of the people sitting in the foreground was caused by them lighting incense.  A little light goes a long way in a long exposure. One thing I like about this photograph which I didn't notice the first few times is the statue of a god on the right hand side which is looking down over all the praying Balinese. It is truly an amazing thing to witness. The sounds of bells, and the deep voice of the priests chanting prayers. The smell of incense and fresh flowers. This same scene might have been taking place over a thousand years ago. Photography tips: Of course with a long exposure you always want to use a tripod and a self-timer/remote. Best way to avoid people looking at you while you photograph something like this is to sit down and interact a little bit, within a minute people will start to ignore you. Than once you are "invis

Settings:  1/50       ƒ/1.8     ISO400       50 mm This is a photograph I took in the Tsuglag Khang Monastery in Mcleod Ganj, Dharamsala, in the State of Himachel Pradesh, North India. This was during a ceremony and the three monks were carrying some kind of liquid (maybe tea) in a small bowl which they were offering to the Older monks who were sitting. One of my favourite things about this photograph is how they are holding they robes in their mouths. The focus falls dead center on the monk in the middle but quickly my eyes get drawn down to the monks reading prayers in the bottom left. Photography Tips: Frame your scene and wait for the perfect composition. Some people just constantly snap photos and hope for a good one, but this leave no time to think, you need to be paying attention to all the little details. If your too busy constantly taking photos you might miss that perfect moment. This photo is using a very shallow depth of field (ƒ/1.8 ) to draw your attention to th

I've finally finished the short film I've been working on. Its a film about travelling through Bali, Indonesia. Bali is an incredible place that despite the huge tourism industry has retained much of its ancient customs, beliefs and rituals. I hope that Bali will change slowly if at all. I hope that some of the magic of this place can be seen through this video, it is for me a poor substitute for the real thing. The Island of the Gods from Marty Mellway on Vimeo .