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Shoot the Moon

On the last day of the Wings Over Houston airshow, hung out with Doug on the north end of the runway.  Thanks Doug.  Got some good close-up photos that I’ll post later.  The moon was out and we tried to get photos of the planes flying near the moon.  Didn’t realize that I had captured this photo until I got home.  It’s a WWII Grumman Avenger torpedo bomber.

Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4X III teleconverter, handheld

Shutter priority, 1/250 sec @ F22, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation

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Posted by  |  October 25, 2015 | Categories: Airshow | Tags: , , , , , | 4 Comments

Wings Over Houston in B&W

During the Wings Over Houston airshow, they have a Tora Tora Tora portion that simulates the attack on Pearl Harbor.  I arrive at the show when it opens to get a seat along the fence line so that I can have an unobstructed view of the action.  They blow up bags of gasoline to simulate the bombs, which can make for some cool photos.

My goal during this part of the airshow is to capture the action with more than just the planes flying by.  I’ve got tons of plane photos but like to get some of the smoke in the shot and other planes in the background to enhance the interest/story in the photos.  Use shutter priority to blur the propellers with 1/320 for the Zero’s and 1/250 sec for the rest of the planes.

Here are some of my favorites from last Saturday, converter to B&W with NIK Silver Efex Pro 2.  Gave me the opportunity to break out my new 100-400 II lens and it worked very well.

All were taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 100-400 II lens, hand-held.

Shutter Priority, 1/320 sec @ F22, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation

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Shutter Priority, 1/250 sec @ F11, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation

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Shutter Priority, 1/320 sec @ F25, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation

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Shutter Priority, 1/250 sec @ F25, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation

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Posted by  |  October 23, 2015 | Categories: Airshow | Tags: , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Wings Over Houston 2015 Airshow – Friday’s Practice

Friday at Wings Over Houston is a two-hour show for special needs kids and the opportunity for the pilots to practice for the main shows on Sat/Sun.  It’s not open to the general public so I found a spot along Hwy 3 at the end of the runway to get some close-up photos.

This was the first time in a few years that the F-18 was back at WOH and it’s always my goal to get a photo of the vapor cloud when they approach the speed of sound, around 600 mph.  A cold front coming through this weekend reduced the humidity in the air so Friday was going to be the best chance to get that shot.   Caught him starting to form the vapor cloud as he flew over me and it fully formed as he got over the runway.  A head-on shot would have been better but I’ll take it.

Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4X III teleconverter, hand-held

Aperture priority, 1/3200 sec @ F5.6, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation

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They have one original Japanese Zero flying at the show, with the rest being replicas from the movie Tora Tora Tora.  Being at the end of the runway allows for this shot as he banks around back toward the field.  Converted this one to B&W as the colors were muted anyway.  Used shutter priority to slow down the shutter speed to get the prop to blur.  The Zero prop’s spin faster than the P51 Mustangs so I usually use 1/320 for the Zero’s and 1/250 for the rest of the prop planes.

Shutter priority, 1/320 sec @ F14, ISO 400, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation

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Only 3 of the Thunderbirds flew at the show around noon, which was a surprise.  Minimal cropping on the first two shots with none on the last one.

Aperture priority, 1/6400 sec @ F5.6, ISO 400, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation

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Aperture priority, 1/6400 sec @ F5.6, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation

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Aperture priority, 1/3200 sec @ F5.6, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation

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Posted by  |  October 16, 2015 | Categories: Airshow | Tags: , , , , , | 2 Comments

Tern and Burn

I was watching a small group of Royal Terns close to shore when they started to fly away.  Focused on the last one and caught him taking off, flying towards me and making a hard right turn.  Got several shots in this sequence.  This turn and burn sequence was good practice for the upcoming Wings Over Houston airshow.

Aperture priority, 1/1250 sec @ F5.6, ISO 2500, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation

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Aperture priority, 1/1600 sec @ F5.6, ISO 2500, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation

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Aperture priority, 1/1600 sec @ F5.6, ISO 2500, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation

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Aperture priority, 1/1250 sec @ F5.6, ISO 2500, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation

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Posted by  |  October 11, 2015 | Categories: Birds | Tags: , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Brown Pelicans Fishing at Sunrise

Brown Pelicans were out in force last weekend at sunrise along the Gulf coast.  They would come close to shore diving for fish.  Had a blast tracking them as they flew in and dove into the water.  The take-off’s were fun as well.  Good opportunity for some action silhouette shots.

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

Aperture priority, 1/8000 sec @ F8, ISO 800, evaluative metering, -2/3 exposure compensation

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Aperture priority, 1/2000 sec @ F8, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation

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Aperture priority, 1/1600 sec @ F8, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation

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Posted by  |  October 3, 2015 | Categories: Birds | Tags: , , , , , , | 6 Comments

High Key Reddish Egret Portrait

Went back to Bolivar Flats yesterday to scout out the conditions for a Sunday shoot with a couple of clients.  Thought that it was going to be a major bust when I first arrived.  The tide was up near sunrise and there were no expose sandbars.  Had to work the shoreline which isn’t my preference.  Very few birds to be seen at first but it was still a little dark out about 45 min before sunrise.

Found a group of Skimmers and ended up belly crawling to get close to them, until a couple of wade fisherman walked right in front of me scaring all of the birds away while pulling a wagon behind them with their gear.  Didn’t have time to get too angry as I’ve learned to take advantage of that situation by getting up and quickly moving forward and getting into position.  As anticipated, the birds came back to that same spot and I spend then next 1.5 hrs shooting from that location.

Ended up being much better photo op’s than expected.  Especially when the Reddish Egrets showed up.  While taking photos of other birds, this Reddish landed right in front of me as he was chasing a White Morph Reddish Egret away.  He ran in front of me and luckily stopped to bask in the glory of his conquest with his feathers all puffed out.  He had his feathers puffed out in this position for about 1 second, so I was glad to get this shot.

Glad that I went yesterday as today was a wash out with the rain along the coast.

Taken with a Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II lens with 1.4X III teleconverter mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II gimbal head.

Aperture priority, 1/1000 sec @ F8, ISO 400, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation

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Posted by  |  September 27, 2015 | Categories: Birds | Tags: , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Look

After a couple of hours shooting shorebirds, hiked back to the car worn out and ready to clean up/pack away my gear and head home.  However, this White Morph Reddish Egret was fishing just off shore close to the parking area and he forced me to lay down one more time.  Glad that I’m easily influenced by birds.

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

Aperture priority, 1/1600 sec @ F14, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, 700mm

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Posted by  |  September 20, 2015 | Categories: Birds | Tags: , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Ninja Move

This Willet was practicing his best Ninja move.  Just wish that I would have been a few more inches to the right to get both beaks in the shot.

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

Aperture priority, 1/1250 sec @ F11, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation

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Posted by  |  September 13, 2015 | Categories: Birds | 6 Comments

Wing Span

Got to practice some flight shots at Dayton, TX while waiting for the Kites to show up.  Found that I was in the flight path of several Great Egrets.  Took my camera off the tripod to get these shots.

Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4X III teleconverter, handheld

1/1600 sec @ F10, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation

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1/2500 sec @ F10, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation

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Posted by  |  August 30, 2015 | Categories: Birds | Tags: , , , , | 2 Comments

Raise Your Wings

Fishing action with a White Morph Reddish Egret.  More ground pod action from my last trip to Bolivar Flats.  Converted to B&W using NIK Silver Efex.

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

1/1600 sec @ F11, ISO 1600, evaluative metering

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Posted by  |  August 23, 2015 | Categories: Birds | Tags: , , , , , , | 2 Comments