The first Flycatcher made a nice landing on the branch and then was dive-bombed by another. The first one held his ground. Taken at Laguna Seca Ranch.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II mounted on tripod with Wimberley II gimbal head
1/1600 sec @ F11, ISO 1600, evaluative metering
1/2000 sec @ F11, ISO 1600, evaluative metering
During my trip to Laguna Seca ranch, the raptors were scarce at the raptor blinds. However, we did see this Caracara near a pond where he would come for a drink at the end of the day. Captured him taking a drink, flying to a nearby perch and then using it for a good rub down.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II mounted on tripod with Wimberley II gimbal head
1/1250 sec @ F11, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1/3 exposure compensation
1/2500 sec @ F11, ISO 1600, evaluative metering
1/3200 sec @ F11, ISO 1600, evaluative metering
1/3200 sec @ F11, ISO 1600, evaluative metering
1/2000 sec @ F11, ISO 1600, evaluative metering
1/2000 sec @ F11, ISO 1600, evaluative metering
Long Billed Thrashers showed up at every watering hole at Laguna Seca ranch. They can only be found in South Texas and in eastern Mexico. Lack of sun forced me to break out the flash/better beamer for some fill flash.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II mounted on tripod with Wimberley II gimbal head
1/1000 sec @ F9, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1/3 exposure compensation,
1/1600 sec @ F9, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1/3 exposure compensation, fill flash @ -3 stops with better beamer
1/800 sec @ F9, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1/3 exposure compensation, fill flash @ -3 stops with better beamer
While trying to take Sandhill Crane photos as the sun went down, took my own advice of “look behind you as the best shot may be there”. Turned around and found a much better photo of the sun setting along the Platte River in Nebraska. Used negative exposure compensation and cranked up the ISO.
The new 100-400 lens works well and focuses very fast on the 1DX with 1.4 teleconverter. Still not used to the twist zoom yet. Can’t get it to zoom from 100-400 in one smooth twist.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 100-400 II with 1.4X III teleconverter, handheld
1/500 sec @ F14, ISO 5000, evaluative metering, -2 exposure compensation, 140mm
In tribute to all that have served, here are some Blue Angels photos from the 2014 Wings Over Houston airshow. The moon was out which made for a cool background.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 100-400 lens, handheld
1/2000 sec @ F8, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation
1/2000 sec @ F8, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation
1/2000 sec @ F7.1, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation
1/2000 sec @ F8, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation
1/3200 sec @ F7.1, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation
This Green Jay got a punk rocker spiked hair look after he took a bath.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II mounted on tripod with Wimberley II gimbal head
1/1000 sec @ F9, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1/3 exposure compensation
1/1250 sec @ F9, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1/3 exposure compensation
1/1600 sec @ F9, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1/3 exposure compensation
Here are some Painted Bunting photos from my trip to Laguna Seca ranch. This was my first opportunity to see these up close. A member of the Cardinal family, they are tiny little birds but you can’t miss them with those colors. The male is brightly colored and the females are yellow-green in color. They hung out in the foliage and only came out to bathe when we were there.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II mounted on tripod with Wimberley II gimbal head
1/2000 sec @ F9, ISO 3200, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation
1/1000 sec @ F8, ISO 1600, evaluative metering
1/800 sec @ F8, ISO 1600, evaluative metering
1/1000 sec @ F8, ISO 1600, evaluative metering
1/800 sec @ F8, ISO 1600, evaluative metering
Made my first trip to South Texas a couple of weeks ago for some very cool bird photography at Laguna Seca ranch, near Edinburg TX, about 40 miles from Mexico. Thanks again Beth for the invitation. Laguna Seca is set up with several blinds for morning and afternoon photography. My first experience at shooting from a blind, but it won’t be my last as I’ll be heading back there again next year. Our guide, Ruth Hoyt, did an excellent job and I would highly recommend her. It was a slow time of year for Raptors but we did get did get to see several species of birds along with a few ground squirrels that put on quite a show.
We got lucky that the rain held off for the most part but it was cloudy both mornings, which made for some low light conditions. Had to break out the flash/better beamer, which I haven’t used for over a year.
When I told Ruth that my goal was to get some Green Jay photos, she said that wouldn’t be a problem as they were abundant. They showed up at each of the blinds so I was a happy camper.
http://www.lagunasecaranch.com/
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II mounted on tripod with Wimberley II gimbal head
1/800 sec @ F10, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1/3 exposure compensation
1/250 sec @ F7.1, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1/3 exposure compensation, fill flash with Better Beamer (-3 stops)
1/1000 sec @ F10, ISO 3200, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation
One of my Black Skimmer photos from Bolivar Flats was selected as “honorable mention” in the 2015 Audubon Photo Contest. They contacted me several weeks ago and mentioned that my photo had made the semi-finals and that they needed a copy of my RAW file and some info about the photo. I’m thrilled as there were almost 9,000 entries.
Click on the link below and scroll down to the Amateur category to see the photo.
https://www.audubon.org/magazine/may-june-2015/announcing-2015-audubon-photography-awards
My photo got published in the Audubon Magazine with a 2 page spread.
It’s been a banner year so far with Reddish Egret’s being in abundance around my neck of the woods in SE Texas.
Recently went on a quick trip to a south Texas ranch for some bird photography from photo blinds. I’ve got over 10,000 photos to go through. I’ll start posting some of those hopefully next weekend.
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 @ F10, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation
Tim Timmis Photography 