Anhinga in Silhouette
On my last trip to Brazos Bend State park a few weeks ago, there was very little bird action except for this one lone Anhinga at Elm Lake. He was drying out in their typical wings out pose. Walked behind him and had to move off of the trail to try to get a full framed shot with my 500mm lens. With the sun directly behind him, I backed up as far as I could go up against a tree to get this shot. Didn’t want to go any further off the trail with the abundant local alligator population. Used negative exposure compensation to enhance the silhouette.
Just got back from vacation and had some decent luck with Sandhill Cranes, which I’ll post later. Still going through a few thousand photos.
Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II lens mounted on Gitzo tripod with Wimberley II gimbal head
1/3200 sec @ F4, ISO 100, evaluative metering, -2 exposure compensation
Skimmers in Action
Here are a few more action shots of Skimmers trying to catch fish. Easier said than done sometimes.
Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II lens mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II gimbal head
Avocet Dipped in Chocolate?
It looks a little like chocolate on his foot but I’m sure that it doesn’t taste like it. Just a little stuck in the mud but a nice pose none the less.
Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4x III teleconverter mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II gimbal head
1/640 sec @ F11, ISO 400, -2/3 exposure compensation, 700mm
Down the Hatch
It can be a challenge to get close to Black Crowned Night Herons. Got a bonus on this trip to Bryan Beach, TX with seeing three BCNH’s at eye level with this one eating breakfast. Unlike my previous post with the Tern that couldn’t swallow the fish, this BCNH had no problem swallowing it whole. I was able to get fairly close using my ground pod as he was too preoccupied with feeding. Apparently he was really hungry as he kept fishing after chugging this one.
Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II lens mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II gimbal head
1/640 sec @ F5.6, ISO 400, evaluative metering, -1/3 exposure compensation, 500mm
1/500 sec @ F5.6, ISO 400, evaluative metering, 500mm
The Catch
Skimmers, and photographers, work very hard for such a small reward. This one finally caught a tiny little fish.
Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II lens mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II gimbal head
1/640 sec @ F5.6, ISO 400, evaluative metering, -2/3 exposure compensation
Tim Timmis Photography 