American Oystercatcher
After a not overly productive morning at Bolivar Flats, started to head back to the car but the large amount of seaweed on the beach made me take a detour back off shore to walk along a sandbar, which turned out to be the best decision of the day. Ended up lying down to take photos of a couple of Willets when I heard a non-typical bird for this area and looked up to see this American Oystercatcher circle above me as he was coming in for a landing. Luckily he landed close off to my right. Had to carefully rotate my ‘ol body around without spooking him to get into shooting position. He looked around and then walked away, which allowed enough time to squeeze off several shots. A great end to a good day at Bolivar Flats.
Taken with Canon 1DX with Canon 500mm F4 IS II lens and 1.4X III teleconverter mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II gimbal head
1/640 sec @ F10, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, aperture priority
1/640 sec @ F10, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, aperture priority
1/1000 sec @ F10, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, aperture priority
Morning Light Gaze
This Willet was gazing into the sunrise while giving it a little leg action. Full frame shot without any cropping from last Saturday at Bolivar Flats in SE Texas.
Taken with Canon 1DX with Canon 500mm F4 IS II lens and 1.4x teleconverter mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II gimbal head
1/2000 sec @ F9, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation, 700mm
Ghent Belgium
Spent a week in Europe recently on a business trip. This was my first experience at driving in Europe, which went better than I expected. One of my destinations was Ghent Belgium, which has some beautiful architecture. Wish that I could have spent more time there. Didn’t want to lug my DSLR camera around with me so took these photos with my iPhone.
Hiking in Seaweed
This little shorebird was quickly working its way through a patch of seaweed along the beach at Bolivar Flats. Appears to be a Dunlin with breeding plumage.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II lens with 1.4X teleconverter mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II head
1/640 sec @ F5.6, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation
Avocet Close-up’s
Here are a couple of close-up shots of an American Avocet from Bolivar Flats as he was walking towards me. The darker colors around his head/neck are breeding plumage. Only minor cropping and no sharpening.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4X III teleconverter mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II gimbal head
1/1000 sec @ F11, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation (due to bright background)
1/1000 sec @ F11, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation
Mating Stilts
Takes a good balancing act for Black-necked Stilts to mate with those extra long legs. Just wish that they had not been facing away from me but you take what you can get.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4x III teleconverter mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II gimbal head
1/1,000 sec @ F10, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation
1/1250 sec @ F10, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation
1/1,000 sec @ F10, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation
Tim Timmis Photography 
