…morning light is magic…

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The Stand Out

How do you make a white bird stand out?  White bird + golden light + dark background + down low + eye contact + water+ reflection = Stand Out.

Got several action shots of this White Morph Reddish Egret along with this pose against a grassy background.  I’m pleased with how this one came out.  Took a few shots with spot metering and checked the histogram to confirm the exposure was good and then switched to manual exposure mode using the settings that I came up with.

Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4x III teleconverter mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II head

1/800 sec @ F9, manual exposure, ISO 400

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Posted by  |  February 7, 2013 | Categories: Birds | Tags: , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Snowy Egret on the Move

Spent some quality time yesterday morning at Bolivar Flats.  The tide and sun were cooperating for once.  Found a decent spot where birds were feeding and laid down on a sand bar for about 1.5 hrs to get some shorebird action shots.  There was a White Morph Reddish Egret feeding along with this Snowy Egret.  They would tolerate each other to a point but the White Morph finally had enough and tried to chase the Snowy away.  Caught this shot when the Snowy was running from the White Morph.  Luckily he didn’t leave and I ended up with over 3200 photos to sort through.  Used manual mode for shooting these white birds to maintain the proper exposure as they were on the move.

Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4x III teleconverter mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberlly II head

1/1000 sec @ F9 on manual mode

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Posted by  |  February 4, 2013 | Categories: Birds | Tags: , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Sanderling Feeding

Sometimes it takes some effort to get to your veggies.  This Sanderling is in full stretch mode to get his breakfast out of the sand.

Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II lens with 1.4x III teleconverter mounted on Skimmer ground pod and Wimberley II head.

1/1250 sec @ F5.6, ISO 400, evaluative metering, +1/3 exposure compensation, 700mm

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Posted by  |  January 28, 2013 | Categories: Birds | Tags: , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Size Does Matter

Most of the time it’s difficult to get real close to wildlife.  Sometimes though you can get lucky and get close enough for a head shot or in this case,  a little too lucky, when you can barely get their head in the frame.  From the comfort of my stealth Honda, got this shot of a Great Blue Heron at Brazoria NWR.  While shooting at 500mm, he came close enough for what I’d call a beak shot.  Used a pano crop to highlight the length of his beak.  Size does matter, in the bird world.

Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II lens with 1.4x III teleconverter, handheld

1/200 sec @ F8, ISO 400, evaluative metering, + 1/3 exposure compensation, 500mm

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Posted by  |  January 23, 2013 | Categories: Birds | Tags: , , , | 2 Comments

Golden Avocet

Early morning golden light can be like magic for wildlife photos.  I’m amazed at how many people I see that show up to locations that I’ve been shooting at as I’m leaving.  They don’t seem to have a grasp on the concept of good lighting for wildlife photography.  It’s all about the light, in my opinion.

Caught this Avocet in the golden hour just after sunrise.  There are a few challenges with Avocet photography.  Finding them, getting close to them and getting an isolated shot.  They are always in a group while flying, feeding or just walking around.  Getting a photo of a single Avocet can be golden, so to speak.

Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II lens with 1.4x III teleconverter mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II gimbal head

1/500 sec @ F9, ISO 400, evaluative metering, 700mm

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Posted by  |  January 16, 2013 | Categories: Birds | 6 Comments

Blurred BIF Silhouette

There always seems to be flocks of small shorebirds flying around near sunrise.  Caught this group doing a fly by while I was walking down the beach.   Made for an interesting blurred silhouette shot.  Cranked up the ISO to keep the shot from being a total blur.

Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II lens with 1.4x III teleconverter, hand-held

1/40 sec @ F 5.6, ISO 800, evaluative metering, + 1/3 exposure compensation

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Posted by  |  January 9, 2013 | Categories: Birds | Tags: , , , , | 4 Comments

Great Blue Silhouette

Here is an early morning pre-dawn silhouette of a Great Blue Heron.  I typically don’t like shots of birds flying away from me but this one works because of the calm water and the wing almost touching the water.  Cropped this one as a pano just because I could.  Go figure.

Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II lens with 1.4x III teleconverter, hand-held

1/200 sec @ F5.6, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1/3 exposure compensation, 700mm

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Posted by  |  January 6, 2013 | Categories: Birds | Tags: , , , , | 4 Comments

Guardian of the Gulf

This White Pelican is guarding the coastline just before sunrise.

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Posted by  |  January 3, 2013 | Categories: Birds | Tags: , , , , | 4 Comments

The Year of the Falcon

2012 started and ended with Peregrine Falcons at Bolivar Flats in Texas.  Got some take-off shots of a Falcon back in January and had the opportunity again in late Dec.  After spending some quality time shooting shore birds, headed back to my car when I spotted something out of the ordinary further down on the beach.  Looked like a small post sticking up from my vantage point.  Raised my camera and saw that it was my old buddy, the Peregrine Falcon.  He was perched on top of a plastic bin that was sticking out of the sand.

Made my way towards him and ended up laying down to get a few photos.  Wasn’t satisfied with my first position so I got up and moved to my right to get a better angle if he took off.  They don’t shift their perched position much and tend to take off in the direction that they are facing.  They also like to stretch out their wings right before they take off which can give you a good opportunity for a wings-up position.  This one stretched, but did it with his wings down by his side.  Shortly afterwards, he took off and flew towards me.  Got several shots that I liked with the best of them shown below.

Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II lens with 1.4x teleconverter mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II gimbal head

1/1600 sec @ F7.1, ISO 400, evaluative metering, + 1/3 exposure compensation, 700mm

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1/1600 sec @ F7.1, ISO 400, evaluative metering, + 1/3 exposure compensation, 700mm

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1/1600 sec @ F7.1, ISO 400, evaluative metering, + 1/3 exposure compensation, 700mm

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1/1600 sec @ F7.1, ISO 400, evaluative metering, + 1/3 exposure compensation, 700mm

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Posted by  |  December 31, 2012 | Categories: Birds | Tags: , , , , , | 6 Comments

Snowy Egret Catching a Fish

It always a good time when you see a shorebird plunge his head into the water and come up with a fish.  This Snowy Egret was working his way towards me and put on a good fishing display.  A high-speed camera comes in handy in this situation as you can get a series of shots of the action.  Had to use negative exposure compensation to keep the whites from blowing out on this bright white bird.

Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II lens with 1.4x III teleconverter mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II gimbal head

1/2000 sec @ F8, ISO 250, evaluative metering, -1 exposure compensation

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1/2000 sec @ F8, ISO 250, evaluative metering, -1 exposure compenation

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1/2000 sec @ F8, ISO 250, evaluative metering, -1 exposure compenation

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1/2000 sec @ F8, ISO 250, evaluative metering, -1 exposure compenation

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Posted by  |  December 28, 2012 | Categories: Birds | Tags: , , , , | 5 Comments