Baby Alligators
Didn’t have high expectations from a photography perspective last weekend with cloudy weather but sometimes mother nature comes through with a few surprises. Headed to Brazos Bend State Park and eagle eye Doug ended up spotting a baby gator swimming near the 40 acre lake trail. Jackpot! We ended up spending a couple of hours on Sat and again on Sunday sitting on the bank with one eye on the babies and the other on momma. We ended up seeing about 16 small gators, which were around 8 to 12 inches long and +/- 9 months old as they typically hatch in August. We were hoping for a “baby on momma’s head” shot but no luck. Got some of those shots a few years ago and it would be fun to see it again.
The conditions posed a few challenges. As a general rule, I don’t typically shoot over ISO 500 due to the 7D noise. Didn’t have much choice on Saturday as I forgot to bring my off-camera flash cord, so no flash for me. Therefore, got to play with ISO 1600 and ISO 800, which turned out not to be the disaster that I was anticipating. The noise cleaned up nicely with Noise Ninja. I’m really glad that I couldn’t use flash on Sat as I didn’t like my flash shots as much on Sunday.
The little buggers were very cute and fun to watch and photograph. Luckily there was a small log in the water near them and they would climb up on it to sun themselves. I was very happy with the IS performance of my 500mm lens as the second shot was at only 1/30 sec. I’ll post some of the group “pile-on” photos later.
Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II mounted on tripod with Wimberley II head
1/400 sec @ F5, ISO 800, evaluative metering, 500mm, no flash
1/30 sec @ F4, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, 500mm, no flash
1/500 sec @ F11, ISO 800, evaluative metering, -2/3 exposure compensation, 500mm, no flash
So I Look Like an Elephant?
Not really…but…kinda…sorta…
The second day of my California adventure included a visit to Piedras Blancas rookery, where there were thousands of Elephant Seals on a stretch of beach near San Simeon. I’ve been to High Island rookery many times but I’ve never seen a rookery like this before. The seals were going through their molting phase but some were very cute none the less. They have a great set-up with boardwalks along the top of the beach so that you can’t get on the beach but you can get some very close-up photos.
It was a very impressive site to see so many seals all in one location. They were laying side by side which made for some interesting pattern shots. Broke out the big lens to get close-up’s. When one started moving, the other ones would get ticked off and a few fights broke out. We were a few months late for mating season when the fights are much more intense.
You can get more details on this location and info on the seals on the link below. A great place to visit if you are ever in this part of California. I’ll definitely be going back.
Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II on tripod with Wimberley II gimbal head, except the first photo as noted
1/640 sec @ F11, ISO 400, evaluative metering, 100mm with Canon 100-400mm lens
1/500 sec @ F11, ISO 400, evaluative metering, 500mm
1/640 sec @ F9, ISO 400, evaluative metering, +1/3 exposure compensation, 500mm
1/800 sec @ F9, ISO 400, evaluative metering, 500mm
1/500 sec @ F11, ISO 400, evaluative metering, 500mm
1/640 sec @ F10, ISO 400, evaluative metering, 500mm
1/400 sec @ F10, ISO 400, evaluative metering, 500mm
1/800 sec @ F11, ISO 400, evaluative metering, 500mm
Whale Tales
Tales from the whales…the Monterey Bay, CA whale watching trip was awesome. The day started early with leaving the hotel in Morro Bay at 5:00 a.m. so that we could get to Monterey Bay in time to catch the boat. There were +/- 30 to 40 people on the boat along with a couple of dogs (?). More to come on the canines. It was a cloudy/foggy/hazy day which wasn’t a bad thing as the sun would have been pretty harsh for photography at mid day.
The best advice from our photographer guide, Bill, was that I shouldn’t take my 500mm lens as the whales would be too close. To be honest, I didn’t believe him but luckily took his advice and used my trusty 100-400mm lens. We sat at the back of the boat and headed out to sea towards the continental shelf where the whales like to feed. Killer whales had been seen in the area recently so we were hoping for the best but I wasn’t convinced that we would see anything. My previous whale watching experience was limited to on-shore spotting from Palos Verdes, CA which was always a bust.
On the upper deck of the boat where the captain was, they had a naturalist that would tell us where the action was happening and give some detailed information about the wildlife that we would see. They also had a dog up on the upper deck, which was a little strange in my opinion. During the trip off shore, the naturalist didn’t have much to talk about except a few birds flying around. The boat was bouncing around too much to try to get a decent shot so I stayed put in a seated position. Finally she spotted a whale off of the right side of the boat so everyone moved in that direction. I could see a whale with his head sticking straight up out of the water but wasn’t able to get in position quick enough and got a blurry shot, bummer. At least we had spotted one I thought. My hopes started to rise. It was a Humpback whale and we ended up spotting a few of them with 2 getting very close to the boat.
It was like roller derby when they would call out a whale sighting at different positions and everyone was quickly moving from side to side on the boat. It would have been fun to stand at the back of the boat with a wide angle lens and take pictures of all of the people trying to run back and forth on a bobbing boat. My 100-400 lens was small enough that it was fairly easy to manuever around with it. I would lean up against the railing with my body to try to stabilize myself while shooting. Had to grab the railing a few times as the boat was rocking pretty good. Talking my long lens would have been a major mistake. Thanks again Bill for the advice. A very smart man he is.
The whale watching boats communicate with each other to share whale locations and two other boats joined our hunt for the mighty humpback’s. At one point, the 3 boats were maybe 50 yds apart and we had 2 whales leisurely feeding in between us. It was an awesome experience. You could tell by their body position when their tails would be coming out of the water. Had to zoom out a few times as they were too close at 400m. My bird photography experience came in handy as and I ended up being fairly fast on the trigger to get action shots when they surfaced. Trying to get water spout shots was a challenge as by the time that you got your camera up to your eye, the action was over. Ended up using my camera like a big point and shoot and just would quickly point the camera in the direction of the spout, focus and shoot. Ended up getting a few decent shots using this highly scientific method.
Now the fun part of the trip. Once we slowed to a crawl while taking pictures of the whales, the boat was rocking back and forth big time and much more noticeable than when we were moving at higher speeds. Well, the motion of the ocean was not a good thing for some people in this case. We had several people “ralfing” off the sides of the boat. One guy got really good distance with some good ol’ fashion projectile vomiting but I wasn’t able to get a shot of it. Would have been a classic. I turned to the guy standing next to me and claimed that the sick guy was “chumming” for whales. Sorry, I just couldn’t resist. Luckily, none in our group got sick.
Now for the stupid part of the trip. One, highly intelligent young couple, brought their very large dog on the boat. Now that was a very bright idea. I ended up having a love/hate relationship with that dog. On the way off shore, the dog ended up leaning up against my leg while bracing himself to keep from falling over. I didn’t complain too much as he helped keep my one leg warm. The intelligence factor came into effect when the dog ended up dropping loads out of both ends before the trip was done. Thanks people.
Needless to say, I had a great time on this whale watching trip. Here are some of my whale tail shots. I’ll post some more shots later.
Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 100-400 lens, handheld
Here are the two Humpback Whales that came close to the boat
1/1600 sec @ F5.6, ISO 400, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, 400mm
This is a full frame shot without any cropping. Had to zoom out to get the tail in the frame.
1/800 sec @ F5.6, ISO 250, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, 285mm
A different angle showing the jagged edge of the tail, barnacles on the tail and a bird flying underneath it.
1/1000 sec @ F5.6, ISO 250, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, 400mm
This is my favorite photo from the trip.
1/1250 sec @ F5.6, ISO 400, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, 400mm
California Wrap Sea Otter Style
One of the cool behaviors that we observed at Morro Bay was the Sea Otters wrapping themselves in seaweed to keep them from floating away while they slept. This one was almost totally wrapped up.
I lived in the Los Angeles area for a couple of years back in the late 80’s but wasn’t into wildlife photography in the film days, which was a shame. Jumped at the opportunity to go back to California to take photos of these awesome critters.
Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4x III teleconverter, handheld
1/250 sec @ F10, ISO 400, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, 700mm
California Dreamin’
Still dreaming about California after spending 3 days on a photography trip last week. The tour was led by professional photographer Bill R. Shewchuk from Morro Bay, CA. Thanks Bill for an excellent tour and all of the advice. There were 7 of us on the tour and we had a blast. Thanks Beth for the invitation.
One of my goals this year was to get out of the Houston area to photograph something different. This trip definitely qualified. We had photo op’s of Sea Otters, Elephant Seals, Whales, horses, piers, fishing boats and landscapes from Big Sur. The problem now is that I’m hooked and want to go again.
Here are some of my Sea Otter photos. These were taken in Morro Bay after the fog rolled in on Monday morning before heading to the airport. The fog made for better lighting than direct sunlight. The Otters are adorable and very fun to watch. When resting, they keep their hands/feet out of the water to regulate their temperature while they roll their bodies 360 deg in the water.
I’ll post some more shots later. Ended up taking about 6300 photos, which is less than I anticipated. Took 7 – 32 gig memory cards and didn’t use them all.
Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II lens with 1.4x III teleconverter, handheld
1/200 sec @ F10, ISO 400, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, 700mm
1/200 sec @ F11, ISO 400, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, 700mm
1/250 sec @ F11, ISO 400, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, 700mm
The Catch
My Reddish Egret buddy dove his head into the water and came up with this very large fish. Another one of my tips from my bird photography classes is to start shooting when you see their head starting to go down towards the water. That way you can get a cool spash shot or if your lucky, a fish coming out of the water. I was surprised at how big the fish was and I’m always amazed that they can swollow it whole.
Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II lens with 1.4x III teleconverter mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II head.
Aperture priority, 1/800 sec @ F9, ISO 400, evaluative metering
Aperture priority, 1/800 sec @ F9, ISO 400, evaluative metering
Dance of the Reddish Egret
What a difference a week makes. At FeatherFest, Bolivar was at high tide with limited shorebird activity. A week later, it was low tide with lots of birds. I was disappointed that my field trip participants didn’t get a chance to see what I did. There was another photographer already at the flats shooting when I got there before sunrise. Good for him. Made my way past him to check out my favorite spot and eventially hit the jackpot.
During my classroom presentation, two or my recommended tips are to 1) keep your head on a swivel and look behind you as your best shot may be there and 2) be patient. Luckily I practiced what I preached and laid down and waited for the action to happen. Was taking photos of some small shore birds when I turned around at one point to find a Reddish Egret dancing around right behind me while trying to catch a fish. Had to turn around slow enough not to spook him. Luckily he was more interested in the fish than me. They are one of my favorite shorebirds to watch and photograph. They dance around with their wings outstretched to scare the fish. This one was in prime form and a second one joined the fun a few minutes later.
He was almost too close at 700mm but was able to get some decent nearly full framed shots of him dancing around and catching a very large fish. I’ll save the fish photos for later.
Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II lens with Canon 1.4x III teleconverter mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II gimbal head
Aperture priority, 1/800 sec @ F9, ISO 400, evaluative metering, no exposure compensation or flash, 700mm
Aperture priority, 1/1600 sec @ F7.1, ISO 400, evaluative metering, no exposure compensation or flash, 700mm
FeatherFest Field Trip to Galveston
The second field trip that I led at FeatherFest this year was to East Beach on Galveston Island. It was another early morning and we got there right at sunrise. Had 12 of us total with a larger bus than the day before. We found a flock of Black Skimmers near the jetty with a few seagulls mixed in. Also found a cooperative Tri-colored Heron fishing near the jetty. It went well except for Beth’s 7D not responding soon after we arrived. We tried changing batteries, lenses, memory cards, etc. but no luck. I let her borrow my 7D and 500mm lens, which could be a problem as I sense a little 500mm fever coming on. 😉 Her camera started working again once we got back on the bus, go figure.
Spent the first hour of so on East Beach and then headed further north on the east end of the Island when the action at the jetty slowed down. We found a group of Avocets in the distance but they weren’t moving around much. We sat down and got a few decent shots of Willet’s flying around along with Black Necked Stilts hopping around on one leg.
My trusty assistant, Ed, suggested that we head to the pier area behind Joe’s Crab Shack near the Strand. It worked out great with a shrimp boat coming into the dock as we walked up. Brown Pelicans were all over the boat trying to catch scraps that the crew discarded. My 500mm lens had too much reach and ended up getting lots of head shots. Everyone had some great photo op’s including a Snowy Egret and a Black Crowned Night Heron. It worked out well that we kept searching for where the birds were the most active.
Thanks to everyone that signed up for this field trip. It was sold out and everyone appeared to have a good time, including me. Thanks again Ed for your help and recommendations along the way.
All of these shots were taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II lens with the last 3 being handheld
Shutter priority, 1/6 sec @ F32, ISO 400, evaluative metering, -1 2/3 exposure compensation
Aperture priority, 1/1250 sec @ F5.6, ISO 200, +1/3 exposure compensation
Aperture priority, 1/1250 sec @ F5.6, ISO 200, +1/3 exposure compensation
Aperture priority, 1/1250 sec @ F5.6, ISO 400, evaluative metering, no exposure compensation
Aperture priority, 1/500 sec @ F10, ISO 400, evaluative metering, -1 exposure compensation
Aperture priority, 1/250 sec @ F9, ISO 400, evaluative metering, no exposure compensation
FeatherFest Bolivar Flats Field Trip – Part II
Here are some more of my photos from my workshop at FeatherFest at Bolivar Flats. These Pelicans were hanging out on the barricade poles where you park. We took advantage of the early morning light with this gang of Pelicans and then moved to the opposite side to get some silhouette shots.
Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II, handheld
1/640 sec @ F4, ISO 400, evaluative metering, no exposure compensation or flash
1/800 sec @ F4, ISO 400, evaluative metering, no exposure compensation or flash
1/8000 sec @ F8, ISO 400, evaluative metering, -1 exposure compensation
1/8000 sec @ F8, ISO 400, evaluative metering, -1 exposure compensation
1/640 sec @ F8, ISO 400, evaluative metering
Galveston’s FeatherFest Field Trip to Bolivar Flats
Had a great time this week with leading 4 classroom workshops and 2 field trips at Galveston’s FeatherFest. The first field trip was at Bolivar Flats, which I kind of know like the back of my hand. The goal was to give the participants experience at using a ground pod and to get some low-level shorebird photos. Bolivar is at it’s best at low tide and of course it was high tide on Friday morning. Never the less, we packed 10 of us into a small van and headed to the flats. Note to self: get a larger vehicle next year and leave earlier.
The good news was that the sun was out and the wind and waves were low. The bad news was that with high tide, there were no exposed sand bars off of the shoreline so we had to stay on the beach. There were several Pelicans on the poles at the barricade, which made for some good shots including silhouettes. Went a little further down the beach and saw a Willet and some type of small sparrow in the brush. Got down on the ground to shoot some small Sanderlings and 3 Marbled Godwits came walking towards us. It was a good example of how close the birds will come to you while lying down on the ground.
We ended up working our way down the beach and got up and down several times. My sharp-eyed liaison assistant, Phil, spotted a lone Avocet in full breeding color mixed in with some other birds further down the shoreline. I told the group that it would be a miracle to get close to him but we would give it a shot. We ended up walking closer to him with my goal to get to a point where there was some yellow plastic on the beach. The birds started to stir a little, so we went down to the ground. The Avocet was mixed in with several other birds and was difficult to get a good shot of him at that distance. We ended up doing the old belly crawl trying to get closer while pushing the ground pods along. When we made it to the yellow plastic, I was satisfied that we had reached that goal. My group was very ambitious and wanted more so we kept crawling. This is where a Skimmer ground pod really shines with it being easy to move along the sand.
We ended up crawling fairly close to the Avocet but ran out of time and had to head back to the van. I was hoping that he would give us a good stretch and fly but he looked too tired. It’s rare to see a lone Avocet like that as they are usually in a large flock. The field trip turned out better than I expected with being stuck on the shoreline.
Thanks to everyone who came on this field trip. It was a good time and can’t wait to do it again next year. I’ll post of few more photos from this trip and my second trip on Sat. around Galveston later.
All of these photos were taken with a Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II mounted on a Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II gimbal head
Marbled Godwits with my goal while taking this shot was to get the first two with their beaks together. Got an added bonus with the 3rd one. Shows the depth of field with a 500mm lens.
Aperture priority, 1/500 sec @ F8, ISO 400, evaluative metering, no exposure compensation or flash
Got this Marbled Godwit taking off as he walked around us along the beach.
Aperture priority, 1/800 sec @ F8, ISO 400, evaluative metering, no exposure compensation or flash
This Marbled Godwit was doing his best pose for us.
Aperture priority, 1/800 sec @ F8, ISO 400, evaluative metering, no exposure compensation or flash
Our targeted Avocet in full breeding colors as he finally walked away from the other birds around him.
Aperture priority, 1/1250 sec @ F8, ISO 400, evaluative metering, no exposure compensation or flash
Avocet Water Mask
This is one of my favorite photos from Bolivar this year, so far. This Avocet was taking a bath very close to me as I was lying down with my ground pod. He started dunking his head/body into the water and I kept trying to get a photo of him with water on his head. This one went above my expectations when he came up with his entire head covered with water and the splash coming off the top. This is where 8 frames/sec comes in handy.
Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4x teleconverter mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II gimbal head
1/1600 sec @ F10, ISO 400, manual exposure, 700mm
Leading Workshops at Galveston’s FeatherFest
Galveston’s FeatherFest is just around the corner, April 11-14. I’ll be leading bird photography workshops again this year along with a couple of field trips. My field trips are booked up but there is still room in the classroom workshops. Look forward to seeing some of you there.
Nest Building Ritual
When the mate arrives back at the nest with a stick, the ritual begins with lots of squawking. The stick is then transferred with an abundance of fanfare to the other egret. They often both hang onto to the stick while placing it into the nest. It’s quite the ceremony and interesting to watch and photograph.
I tend to keep my focus on one pair of birds that are in a good position with a decent background. If you get lucky, they repeat the ritual time after time and allow for some great photo op’s. This was one of those times. One of my favorite shots from High Island so far this year.
Using manual exposure and exposing for the brightest spots on the white birds keeps the whites from blowing out, darkens the scene and resulted in the black background.
Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II mounted on tripod with Wimberley II head
1/1250 sec @ F8, ISO 400, manual exposure, 500mm
Backlit and Lovin’ It
I’m a major fan of backlit bird photos, especially from High Island’s rookery. Sunrise is a very special time at the rookery. The sun comes up in your face and provides some great backlit photo op’s. This Great Egret was showing off it’s breeding plumage and backlit wings.
Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II lens mounted on tripod with Wimberly II head
1/1600 sec @ F8, ISO 400, manaul exposure
1/1600 sec @ F8, ISO 400, manaul exposure
High Island Nest Building – Part II
Apparently only one stick is not enough to build a nest with, go figure. Therefore, here are a few more sticks in transit. The first photo is the same bird from the previous post as he was coming in for a landing. All taken in manual mode to control the exposure on the white birds. Stick transfer shots are next.
Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II mounted on tripod with Wimberley II head
1/800 sec @ F8, ISO 400, manual exposure
1/1000 sec @ F9, ISO 400, manual exposure
1/1250 sec @ F9, ISO 400, manual exposure
High Island Nest Building – Part 1
The nesting activity has started early this year at High Island’s rookery. It’ my favorite time when breeding plumage is on display along with the Great Egrets busy mating and building nests. The rookery is filling up quickly with it being difficult to get isolated bird shots.
My keeper rate has gone up this year with my 500mm lens and using manual exposure more. However, 500mm with a crop sensor camera is almost too close in some cases as I’ve clipped lots of wings on action shots.
Caught this Great Egret with wings spread flying back to the nest with a stick. Unfortunately, the mosquitos have almost the same wing span. They are very nasty this year, at least around sunrise, so be prepared.
More to come…
Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II lens mounted on a tripod with Wimberley II gimbal head
1/800 sec @ F8, ISO 400, manual exposure at 500mm
Dripping Avocet
What a difference a day makes. The previous day at Bolivar Flats was cloudy with few birds within reach. The next day was sunny with Avocets right in front of me. My rules of thumb are 1) If you have a bad day photographing wildlife, go back the next day and try again and 2) If you have a great day of shooting wildlife, don’t go back to the same location the next day as you will likely be disappointed as it won’t be the same.
The challenge with Avocets is that they are very skittish, can be difficult to find in a good shooting location and travel in large flocks making it hard to get an isolated bird shot. Found a group of Avocets near a sand bar but didn’t want to get too close and spook them. Found a good shooting location and laid down and waited for them to come to me, which is usually the best strategy. It paid off this time and they made their way towards me. Got several isolated birds and had some being too close at 700mm.
Liked this shot with him looking right at me and the water dripping from his beak. Shot in aperture priority and had to use negative exposure compensation to keep from blowing out the white areas of the bird.
Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II lens with 1.4xIII teleconverter mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II head
1/1250 sec @ F9, ISO 400, evaluative metering, -2/3 exposure compensation
Sticky Water
The chemical engineer in me wants to call this “viscous water” but I won’t go there. Caught this White Morph Reddish Egret just at the right time when his beak separated. Haven’t seen this before with and Egret so it made for an interesting shot. Taken just after sunrise in the good ‘ol early morning golden light.
1/1000 sec @ F9, manual exposure, ISO 400, 700mm
Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4x III teleconverter mounted on Skimmer ground pod and Wimberley II gimbal head.
Peregrine Falcon
Searched far and wide along the beach for the Peregrine Falcon at Bolivar during this outing with no avail. Had a great day with the Avocets so it wasn’t a total loss. I have learned over the years to keep my camera in the front seat just in case some photo ops present themselves while driving off of the beach. It paid off this time as the Falcon was perched on a fence post on the road to the beach. Slowed down to get a shot and he took off. Turned the car around and following him as he landed on another post. He was on the opposite side of the road from me so I decided to drive fast by him and then turn around. That didn’t spook him and was able to get some photos. Didn’t like the light so I went by him again and turned my car and blocked the road to the beach to get shots from the other side.
Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4xIII teleconverter, handheld out the car window.
AV mode, 1/640 sec @ F6.3, ISO 400, evaulative metering, +1 exposure compensation
Willets Part II
Here are a couple more Willet shots from my cloudy outing at Bolivar. The same subject as my previous post but in some different poses. The last one is a full framed shot at 700mm with no cropping.
Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II lens with 1.4x III teleconverter mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II head
1/640 sec @ F8, ISO 400, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, 700mm
1/800 sec @ F8, ISO 400, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, 700mm
Willet Portrait
I typically stay home when it’s cloudy but may have to rethink that strategy. Got up last Sat., looked at the radar and saw clouds with some showers in the area. Would have stayed home but was going to meet up Daniel Lim, who introduced me to Bolivar Flats and shooting from the prone position back in 2006. I must have been a slow learner though as I didn’t start shooting this way until 2009.
Couldn’t get close to the Avocets so had to concentrate on the good o’l stand by, the Willet. This is one of my favorite shots. I’ll share a few more later. And yes, I’m still in love with my 500mm lens.
Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4x III mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II gimbal head.
1/800 sec @ F8, ISO 400, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, 700mm
Incoming Harrier
While focusing on shorebird shots at Bolivar Flats, the small birds would frequently spook and fly away. Didn’t pay much attention to why until the photo op’s died down. Then I noticed that they were scattering due to raptors flying overhead. I was laying on a sand bar within about 30 ft of the shore line and the Northern Harriers were doing flybys over the grassy area on shore. Spotting this one flying towards me. My 7D did a great job with maintaining focus as he flew behind the weeds and then landed on a log nearby. Caught him landing with his talons out which was cool. He stayed around for only a couple of minutes and took off with outstretched wings.
Taken with a Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II and 1.4x III teleconverter mounted on Skimmer ground pod with a Wimberley II gimbal head.
Aperture priority, 1/640 sec @ F7.1, ISO 400, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, 700mm
Aperture priority, 1/640 sec @ F7.1, ISO 400, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, 700mm
Aperture priority, 1/640 sec @ F7.1, ISO 400, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, 700mm
Aperture priority, 1/640 sec @ F7.1, ISO 400, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, 700mm
Fish Flipping
It’s fun to watch shorebirds feed. Egrets like to flip their food in the air before they eat it. Got lucky as this White Morph Reddish Egret was pointed in my direction as he was flipping his breakfast.
Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4x teleconverter mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II gimbal head
1/1000 sec @ F9, manual exposure, ISO 400, 700mm
Bridge to Nowhere
I always get excited from a photography perspective when it’s foggy out in the morning. My favorite go-to place for fog shots is Brazos Bend State Park in Texas. It was a particularly fogging morning on this outing. The spillway bridge was almost completely fogged in making for a cool photo-op. Broke out the 100-400 lens for hand carrying it around the park.
Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 100-400 lens, hand-held
1/640 sec @ F11, ISO 400, evaluative metering
Tim Timmis Photography 