Skimmers, and photographers, work very hard for such a small reward. This one finally caught a tiny little fish.
Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II lens mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II gimbal head
1/640 sec @ F5.6, ISO 400, evaluative metering, -2/3 exposure compensation
It’s always interesting to watch Black Skimmers flying with their beaks skimming in the water. What’s more fun is to try to capture the action when they try to catch a fish. They will be flying along and all of a sudden their head will snap down when they feel a fish hit their beak. Grabbing the fish can be another story. Good times.
Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II gimbal head
1/640 sec @ F7.1, ISO 400, evaluative metering, 500mm
This Skimmer was hunting for its prey and ended up splashing water up over his head which was an added bonus on this shot.
Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II lens mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II head
1/400 sec @ F7.1, ISO 400, evaluative metering, no flash, 500mm
Being close enough to Avocets where they fill the frame doesn’t happen to me often enough but it’s very cool when it does. It helped on this trip to have my 1.4X teleconverter installed along with my flash. Had to crank up the ISO to 800 since the clouds were out at sunrise.
Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II lens and 1.4X III teleconverter mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II head, fill flash using 580 EX II w/better beamer
1/320 sec @ F5.6, ISO 800, evaluative metering, fill flash at – 3 stops, 700mm
1/400 sec @ F5.6, ISO 800, evaluative metering, fill flash at – 3 stops, 700mm
Here are a few close-up Skimmer shots. Close cropped these photos as the backgrounds were filled with distracting elements.
Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II gimbal head.
1/640 sec @ F7.1, ISO 400, evaluative metering, -1/3 exposure compensation, 500mm
1/400 sec @ F7.1, ISO 400, evaluative metering, 500mm
1/500 sec @ F7.1, ISO 400, evaluative metering, 500mm
I’ve got tons of bird “butt shots” but this is one of my favorites from a recent trip to Bryan Beach. As well as getting photos of Black Skimmers coming towards me, I was able to get some as they were heading away. This one stood out with the tail feathers in the “flaps down” position and his beak just barely in the water.
Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II lens mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II gimbal head.
1/320 sec @ F5.6, ISO 400, evaluative metering, 500mm
While taking Skimmer photos, this Reddish Egret came in for a landing right in front of me. There were 4 of them that flew in together and this one made the most dramatic landing in decent light.
1/1250 sec @ F4, ISO 400, evaluative metering, -2/3 exposure compensation
A couple of Spoonbills were wondering around the pond at Bryan Beach on one of my recent trips. Took the opportunity to get some shots of them fishing. My usual Spoonbill photos aren’t water shots so this was a nice change of pace. The shape of the bills work very well for fishing along the bottom of the pond. My first photos of them actually catching fish.
1/1000 sec @ F9, ISO 400, evaluative metering, -1/3 exposure compensation
1/800 sec @ F9, ISO 400, evaluative metering, -1/3 exposure compensation
1/800 sec @ F9, ISO 400, evaluative metering, -1/3 exposure compensation
This Skimmer was doing such a good job fishing that the fish were jumping out of the water as he was flying around.
Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II gimbal head.
1/250 sec @ F8, ISO 400, evaluative metering
My goal for the last trip to Bryan Beach near Freeport, TX was to concentrate on Avocet shots as some of them are in full breeding plumage. Of course, when David and I got into position near the pond, most of the Avocets were on the other end. After getting some Skimmer shots, ended up moving to the other end in search of the elusive Avocets. Ended up doing the old belly crawl to get close to them, which is always fun in the stinky muck around that pond. Well worth the effort to get close to these guys. The interesting part was after getting in to position, I felt something started crawling under my stomach. Likely a small crab but I wasn’t about to move at that point so was glad that it didn’t bite.
Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II lens mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II gimbal head
1/640 sec @ F9, ISO 400, evaluative metering, -2/3 exposure compensation
Tim Timmis Photography 