Green Heron Action
Not many critters around Brazos Bend State Park lately except for Green Herons. Good thing as that is what I was looking for during this trip. The water level keeps dropping with gators walking in the water instead of swimming in some areas. One of the park volunteers was doing a bird count and only found about 20 species in comparison to over 150 that he saw last December.
I seem to have the most luck when just sitting on the bank and waiting for the action to happen. I’m a fan of the low-level shot and it’s not a good ideal to lay down around there. I’ve learned to shoot with both eyes open to keep an eye out for the gators.
Taken with Canon 7D and 100-400 lens with tripod
1/640 sec @ F5.6, partial metering, ISO 250, no flash
1/640 sec @ F6.3, partial metering, ISO 400, flash with better beamer
1/1250 sec @ F5.6, partial metering, ISO 400, no flash
1/1250 sec @ F5.6, partial metering, ISO 400, no flash
1/1250 sec @ F5.6, partial metering, ISO 400, no flash
Black Skimmer with Slow Motion Splash
This is how I spent the morning hours on the 4th of July – taking bird photos of course! Here is Black Skimmer shot taken just after sunrise with low light which resulted in a shutter speed of 1/160 sec. Ended up with a decent reflection at the point of impact with the spray being blurred. A good way to celebrate the 4th IMO.
Taken with Canon 7D and 100-400 lens
1/160 sec @ F5.6, partial metering, ISO 400, flash with better beamer (set at -3 stops)
The Green Heron Stretch
I’m always amazed at how far Green Herons can stretch out their bodies without falling into the water. He reached out, grabbed some food and then pulled himself back up. I don’t quite have the stomach muscles for that maneuver. Found this guy fishing at Brazos Bend State Park, TX. I sat along the bank for a couple of hours and shot mostly Green Herons. Not much else around this time of year at the park.
Taken with Canon 100-400 lens and flash with better beamer on tripod
1/800 sec @ F5.6, partial metering, ISO 400, flash at – 3 stops
Full Auto Trigger Time
No photos in this post but had to share a great bonding experience with my 24 yr old daughter today. She had bought me an hour at a local indoor shooting range for my birthday a few months ago. Didn’t get around to using it until today and we had a blast. We started out with renting two 9mm semi auto pistols (Glock and Ruger) and went through 2 boxes of ammo.
The fun really began when we then rented a fully automatic M16 with a laser sight. My first time shooting full auto and it was a blast. Went through 100 rounds of .223 ammo in no time. Wasted about 1/2 a box in semi-auto mode and ripped through the rest in automatic. Shot the first few shots in short bursts to get a feel for what it would do. The range master then told me to let it rip and found out that it really doesn’t take very long to empty a clip. Was totally awesome. My daughter really got into it as well. The most fun that I’ve had spending around $100 in a long time.
I’d highly recommend a trip to “The Arms Room” in League City: http://thearmsroomtx.com/
Whistling Duck BIF
Found this Black Bellied Whistling duck at Brazos Bend State Park, TX last weekend. I was sitting on the bank taking shots of Green Herons fishing when this guy did a fly by. I couldn’t find my tripod before leaving on the trip so I handheld the camera all day, which ended up being a good thing for this shot or I would have missed it. The slow shutter speed resulted in some wing blur, which I tend to like on some of my flight shots.
Taken with Canon 7D and 100-400 lens
1/250 sec @ F 5.6, ISO 400, partial metering, flash with better beamer
Black Skimmer Silhouette
I’ve still got a ton of Black Skimmer shots so be prepared people, I’m not finished yet. Here is a silhouette shot taken on the 4th of July in Freeport that I like. After the typical fly-by shots, I was attracted to the lighting while looking back into the sun. The blurred out golden dots in the background and back-lit wings help to make this shot in my opinion. I was going to lighted it up a little to better see the bird but liked it best as a darker silhouette.
Taken with Canon 7D and 100-400 lens.
1/8000 sec @ F. 5.6, partial metering, ISO 400, no flash
Bridal Shower Photos
Now for something different… I’ve been busy lately, but not with my usual bird pictures. Got an opportunity to shoot at a Bridal Shower, which was a first for me. My daughter’s college roommate, Lisa, is getting married, my daughter is a bridesmaid and my wife made the centerpieces for the shower. They had the shower at the South Shore Harbor Country Club in League City, TX. It was a great location but a challenge from a photography perspective with all of the windows. I’m still a rookie at taking indoor photos with flash so this was good practice. Kept the flash on-camera and bounced it off of the ceiling. Tried some shooting in aperture priority with positive exposure compensation, manual mode and automatic mode. I really need to get a F2.8 wide angle some day.
My biggest regret for the day was not eating more. The food was excellent but I was a little busy with taking over 700 photos.
More photos of the shower photos on my web site: http://www.timtimmis.com/Weddings/Lisas-Bridal-Shower/18147490_r8Xx4T#1393351372_zM2bKfj
Taken with Canon 7D and 17-40mm and 50mm 1.8 lenses and 580 EXII flash, handheld.
Freeport Skimmers
I’ve been in a major funk lately with no luck at Bolivar and Brazos Bend over the last couple of weeks. Got a great attitude adjustment over the holiday weekend with the skimmers being back in canal along the road in Freeport. It was a very busy weekend: 9 hours of driving, about 5 hours of shooting, 6800 total photos, 4 hours of sorting photos, 1700 first pass keepers and about 150 potential wall hangers, along with a sore butt and back due to sitting on the ground and shooting hand-held. It will take quite some time to process all of the good ones so here are a few of my favorites so far.
All taken with Canon 7D and 100-400 lens, hand-held while sitting on the ground along the canal.
1/500 sec @ F. 5.6, partial metering, ISO 400, no flash
1/250 sec @ F. 5.6, partial metering, ISO 400, fill flash at -3 stops with better beamer
1/250 sec @ F. 6.3, partial metering, ISO 400, fill flash at -3 stops with better beamer
1/800 sec @ F. 5.6, partial metering, ISO 400, fill flash at -3 stops with better beamer
1/800 sec @ F. 5.6, partial metering, ISO 400, no flash
Back-Lit Great Blue Heron
There were tons of GBH’s in Freeport on this day back in June. They were feeding on the fish that the Skimmers were also trying to catch. Was able to capture this one with back-lighting in his wings as he was coming in for a landing. I’m a major fan of back-lit shots and always try to find them when I’m out at sunrise. I like to break the rule of shooting with the sun at your back.
Taken with Canon 7D and 100-400 lens, hand-held
1/400 sec @ F 5.6, partial metering, ISO 400, no flash
Tricolored Heron Fishing
Had a good day back in May with Tricolored Herons at Bryan Beach, TX. The pond was very active that day with lots of birds fishing their hearts out. Laying down with my Skimmer ground pod kept me looking more like a log than a person so the birds came really close.
Taken with Canon 40D and 100-400 lens on ground pod, no flash
1/800 sec @ F7.1, spot metering, +1 exposure compensation, ISO 320
1/800 sec @ F7.1, spot metering, +1 exposure compensation, ISO 320
1/1000 sec @ F6.3, spot metering, +1 exposure compensation, ISO 320
Snowy Egret Fishing
Here is a shot of a Snowy Egret catching a small fish at Bryan Beach, TX. Took this in May before the pond dried up. Taken with the ground pod while laying in the muck along the shoreline of the pond at sunrise. I was pleased with how he caught the fish under his wing. I planned it that way…..yea right……;)
Taken with Canon 7D and 100-400 lens on Skimmer ground pod with Sidekick gimbal mount.
1/640 sec @ F5.6, + 2/3 exposure compensation, spot metering, ISO 400, no flash
Skimmer Addiction
My Skimmer addiction continues. One of my goals for the year was to get a few decent Black Skimmer photos. The bonus would be to actually get some skimming and not just flying around like last year. I’ve exceeded my expectations on the Skimmer front and hit the motherload in Freeport, TX. More Skimmers actually skimming than I’ve ever seen before in one place. I was really bummed with the pond at Bryan Beach drying up but was thrilled with all of the birds along the road on the way there. Skimmers are amazing to watch as they fly along the water with their lower bill gliding along waiting to grab their prey. The actual catching of the fish happens in a blink of the eye when they whip their head downward when their lower bill comes in contact with a fish and the upper bill snaps down. I also enjoy their “barking” sound as they fly away.
Here are some more of my favorites over the last couple of weeks. All taken hand-held while sitting near the water’s edge. Not my favorite position as the ‘ol legs fall asleep after a while. Tried to use the ground pod a couple of times but not practical with the action coming so fast from both directions. Handholding the camera was the best solution. My 100-400 worked very well as they got very close and frequently had to zoom out. At times they would come within about 10 ft of me. I typically use +2/3 to +1 exposure compensation with flying birds near water but their white heads would get over exposed with those settings so I switched to partial metering with no exposure compensation.
Good times were had by all, except for the fire ant attack. Felt like old times hanging out with Sheldon again.
All taken with Canon 7D and 100-400 lens, handheld.
1/400 sec @ F5.6, partial metering, ISO 400, fill flash at -3 stops with better beamer
1/400 sec @ F5.6, partial metering, ISO 400, fill flash at -3 stops with better beamer
1/8000 sec @ F7.1, partial metering, ISO 400, fill flash at -3 stops with better beamer
1/1600 sec @ F5.6, partial metering, ISO 400
1/160 sec @ F5.6, partial metering, ISO 400, fill flash at -3 stops with better beamer
1/250 sec @ F5.6, partial metering, ISO 400, fill flash at -3 stops with better beamer
1/100 sec @ F5.6, +2/3 exp. compensation, spot metering, ISO 500, fill flash at -3 stops with better beamer
1/400 sec @ F5.6, partial metering, ISO 400, fill flash at -3 stops with better beamer
1/6400 sec @ F5.0, partial metering, ISO 400, no flash
Sandhill Cranes Lift-off
Here are a few Sandhill Cranes from my trip to Indiana in May. Didn’t see many this year but was able to get close to these two. They were feeding in a field around sunrise and I followed them in the car down a dirt road. I had to keep backing the vehicle up as they walked to keep up with them. They finally stopped and took off and flew right in front of me.
Taken with Canon 7D and 100-400 lens, handheld out the car window.
1/800 sec @ F 5.6, spot metering, +1/3 exposure compensation, ISO 400
1/800 sec @ F 5.6, spot metering, +1/3 exposure compensation, ISO 400
1/400 sec @ F 5.6, spot metering, +1/3 exposure compensation, ISO 400
1/2000 sec @ F 5.0, spot metering, +1/3 exposure compensation, ISO 400
Skimmer Splashdown
This turned out to be one of my all time favorite Black Skimmer shots to date. I have a habit of shooting slow shutter speed photos in the mornings when the lighting is not great. My theory is that if I can’t get sharp pictures, why not shoot blurred shots on purpose? In this case, I decided to stay in aperture priority mode and set the ISO on 400 to keep the noise down and live with the shutter speed that fell out from there. In this case it was 1/50 sec.
I’m still not sure what this Skimmer was doing but he would fly back and forth in front of me and then splash into the water like belly flopping. The water would splash everywhere and then he would keep going and shake off the water and then do it again. Got this shot as he was just splashing down and the water made a great reflection. I didn’t realize that I captured this shot unit looking at it on the computer.
Taken with Canon 7D and 100-400 lens, hand-held
1/50 sec at F5.0, ISO 400, + 1/3 exposure compensation, partial metering at 200mm, flash at -3 stops w/better beamer
Black Skimmer Silhouette’s
If you have seen some of photo’s over the past few years, you may know that I love silhouettes. Comes with the territory of shooting at sunrise. I’ll take the time to find and shoot silhouettes whenever/where ever that they pop up. Found a bunch of black skimmers at sunrise doing what they do best – skimming. It was partly cloudy and I had to wait for the sun to pop out between the clouds to get these silhouette shots. I sat along the bank and waited for them to fly by in both directions. Didn’t use the ground pod very much since the they were flying back and forth along a “ditch” filled with water and I didn’t want to limit my shooting in one direction. I normally don’t like butt shots of birds (although I’m really good at it) but Skimmers can make even the going away shots interesting. Ended up with quite a few photo’s over two mornings so more to come.
All taken with Canon 7D and 100-400 lens, hand-held.
1/2500 sec @ F5.0 at 200mm, + 1/3 exposure compensation, partial metering, ISO 400, no flash
1/5000 sec @ F4.5 at 100mm, + 1/3 exposure compensation, partial metering, ISO 250, flashed with better beamer
1/4000 sec @ F5.6 at 330mm, + 1/3 exposure compensation, partial metering, ISO 250, flashed with better beamer
1/4000 sec @ F5.6 at 330mm, + 1/3 exposure compensation, partial metering, ISO 250, no flash
Young Whitetail Deer
This young Whitetail deer was very curious about the guy taking his picture. Found him in a field during my recent trip to NE Indiana. I spotted him while driving down a dirt road and he took off running towards me, which was a first for me. As he got closer, he veered off and gave me some good side shot photo op’s. He eventually ran in front of me and stopped in the middle of the road and then jumped into the next field. I originally didn’t like the irrigation system in the background but now like the contrast and sense of place that it give the photos.
Taken with Canon 7D and 100-400 lens, handheld out the car window.
All at: 1/800 sec @ F5.6, ISO 400, spot metering, + 2/3 exposure compensation
Osprey Lift Off and Landing
Made the annual trip home to NE Indiana over the last couple of weeks to visit family and pork out on the local food that I grew up with. Good times were had by all, especially my stomach. Was able to clear the brain cells from work which made the trip very productive. Spent the mornings out shooting when it wasn’t raining, go figure. Loved the cooler weather with it being in the 40’s/50’s in the morning.
Got to see my favorite Osprey in the nest again this year. Got these shots during take-off’s and landings with close to full frame shots. Should have gone to manual exposure mode earlier in the shoot but finally woke up when the whites were blowing out when the spot metering was off of the bird.
Also, my 7D continues to work without any problems. Went through about 80 gig with no error 20’s popping up. So far, so good.
All taken with Canon 7D and 100-400 lens, hand-held, no flash
1/800 sec @ F5.6, + 2/3 exp comp., spot metering, ISO 200
1/400 sec @ F5.6, + 2/3 exp comp., spot metering, ISO 200
1/800 sec @ F5.6, + 2/3 exp comp., spot metering, ISO 200
1/1000 sec @ F5.6, manual exposure, ISO 250
1/1000 sec @ F5.6, manual exposure, ISO 250
Spoonbills
I’m used to finding Spoonbills flying around or nesting at the High Island rookery, so it was a nice change of pace to find a couple of them in the water at Bryan Beach a few weeks ago. Only minor cropping on these as they were fairly close at 400 mm.
Taken with Canon 7D and 100-400 lens on ground pod.
1/1250 sec @ F7.1, spot metering, ISO 250, no flash
1/1250 sec @ F7.1, spot metering, ISO 250, no flash
1/1000 sec @ F7.1, spot metering, ISO 250, no flash
Tricolored Herons
Another batch of shots from Bryan Beach, TX. This time featuring some Tricolored Herons. These are one of my favorite birds to shoot. My first decent bird shot was of these. These guys were fishing right in front of me while I was laying prone with my ground pod. Makes the stiff neck and back worth it sometimes.
Taken with Canon 7D and 100-400 lens.
Reddish Egret Fishing
Here are a few Reddish Egret shots from Bryan Beach, TX taken about 3 weeks ago. It was a very windy day and slightly overcast. Got there late as I took the long way around via Bolivar and San Luis Pass. Nothing going on around there so I kept going west. Glad that I did. Lots of activity that day with a couple of Reddish Egrets dancing around. Haven’t seen them since but got lucky that day. It’s always cool to see how they fish with them raising their wings up in the air to scare the fish. They are excellent fisherman and can fill up while other birds just stand around and watch. Their eyes must be better than mine.
Windy days can be a challenge but also rewarding. You can see the wind blowing the water in the second shot and the egret leaning into the wind on the last two.
Taken with Canon 7D and 100-400 lens
Black Skimmers
I’ve been hanging out at Bryan Beach for the past few weeks trying to catch some Skimmer action like I got in 2009. They finally showed up this past weekend and let me get a few shots before flying off. They didn’t stick around long but I had enough time to get off a few passes of shots.
It’s a challenge to shoot birds flying that fast with a ground pod while laying on your stomach. I tried hand holding the camera with my elbows planted in the muck but that didn’t work any better. Just had to shift the ground pod around as they changed direction. I messed up by trying to use four focus points and lost the focus on several shots. Finally woke up and switched to only single point focus which worked much better. It was cool when they would fly directly at me.
Taken with Canon 7D and 100-400 lens on ground pod, no flash.
Snowy Egret in Morning Light
Enough with the camera drama, time to share some pictures. Here is a Snowy Egret shot from today’s outing at Bryan Beach. He was strutting along right in front of me with decent morning light. Used spot metering to keep the whites from blowing out.
Taken with Canon 7D and 100-400 lens
1/1600 sec @ F5.6, + 2/3 exposure compensation, ISO 250, spot metering
Self Healing 7D?
I decided after my 7D started showing error 20 last weekend that I’d live with taking my battery in/out for a few weeks before sending it back to Canon for the 3rd time. It’s prime time at the coast and I didn’t want to be without a camera for another couple of weeks. Went out on Sat morning and shot around 1200 pictures and it only locked the mirror up about 10 times early during the shoot. Went out again today and took about 1700 shots and no issues what so ever. Not sure if it was a fluke or if the shutter needed some breaking-in time. What ever the case, I’m going to keep using it until the problem comes back. Hopefully it won’t. Probably wishful thinking on my part…
Update: my 7D is still working OK after several outings and several thousand shots. Not going to send it back again.
Spoonbill Silhouette
Here is an early morning silhouette of a Roseate Spoonbill at the High Island rookery in Texas. I’m a big fan of silhouettes so you may see a few of them on my blog.
Taken with Canon 7D and 100-400 lens
1/4000 sec @ F5.0, spot metering, ISO 400, at 250mm.
Tim Timmis Photography 