Caught this Willet in landing mode with wings spread and morning light shining through his wings. Another good reason to break the rules sometimes and shoot into the sun. One of my favoring things to do. Taken at Bolivar Flats in TX.
Canon 7D and 100-400 lens on Skimmer ground pod
1/1250 sec @ F5.6, partial metering, +2/3 exposure compensation, ISO 200, no flash
Finally made a trip back to Bolivar Flats to check out the shorebirds last weekend. It’s been several months since I’ve shot any bird photos there so it felt great to go back. The best time to shoot at Bolivar is at low tide when the sand bars are exposed, which hasn’t happened around sunrise for a very long time, including this trip. Decided to go anyway to see what I could get. Tons of people were there wade fishing and camping on the beach so conditions weren’t ideal. They also have the area beyond the beach at the vegetation roped off with signs to keep out so no luck with trying to find the falcons.
The day had its moments. Got there about 1/2 hour before sunrise and walked the full length of the beach before trying to take my first shot. My high intelligence level quickly alerted me to the fact that my battery was still in the charger at home. Luckily had a spare but it was in the car that was a few hundred yards away. Since it was about 10 minutes before sunrise at that point, I walked as fast as I could which did a number on my feet in the ‘ol rubber boots. Ended up getting two large blisters on my heels and ripped the skin off, joy. After about an hour of shooting, a group of 6 guys walked about 20 yds right in front of me in the water and scared all of the birds away. I just laid there and looked at them and they were oblivious. I just love people sometimes.
Ended up having to shoot from the beach the entire time with the tide being too high. Tried to take advantage of what I had to work with and took a combination of back and side lighting shots. Can’t wait until it’s winter with cooperative tides and no people around. It’s great out there when the temp’s in the 30’s.
Taken with Canon 7D and 100-400 lens on Skimmer ground pod
Just like humans, Skimmer youngsters don’t like when they get a lecture from their parents. This young Black Skimmer was minding his own business when this adult came by to get in his face. Not sure if it was a parent or not but he didn’t want any part of it.
Taken with Canon 7D and 100-400 lens, out the car window using bean bag.
One of the goals in wildlife photography is to get a clean background without distracting elements to isolate the subject and to keep the eye of the person looking at the photo from wandering off of the main subject. With experience, you will automatically look at the backgrounds while framing the photo so that you can get into the best position for the shot. unfortunately, it sometimes (or most of the time) doesn’t work out so well. Here is a shot that emphasizes the challenges of shooting in Galveston. This white morph reddish egret was dancing around and lo and behold, the shipping lanes came into play with das boat messing up the shot.
This Willet shot was taken on Galveston Island at East Beach. Felt really good to get down low to shoot birds. It’s been awhile.
Taken with Canon 7D and 100-400 lens, handheld
1/500 sec @ F5.6, +1 exposure compensation, spot metering, ISO 250
One of my favorite shore birds is the Reddish Egret. They are fun to watch when fishing as they raise their wings up to scare the fish. They jump and fly around like a crazy person as they go after their prey. They put lots of effort into it but are usually successful. They can fish circles around nearby Great Egrets. I’ve seen Great Egrets follow the Reddish Egrets around and then steal their fish away from them.
This Reddish Egret was hanging out last weekend at east beach on Galveston Island. Initially was only getting silhouette shots of him and had to work my way around to get some better light. Gotta love the early morning light…at least I do…
Taken with Canon 7D and 100-400 lens
1/1,000 sec @ F5.6, ISO 400, spot metering, no flash, hand-held
1/1,000 sec @ F5.6, ISO 400, spot metering, no flash, hand-held
Tried to go to the Texas City Dike this morning but it was closed due to a small oil spill – bummer. Tried to make the best of it by heading further south to Galveston. Was thinking about going to Bolivar but my gut told me to head to the east end of Galveston instead. As I drove along the east end, it was pretty dead so I decided to try east beach instead. I’ve learned to trust my gut when it comes to wildlife photography and this time it paid off. Got lucky with several Willets, a couple of White Morph Reddish Egrets and this Reddish Egret hanging around the jetty.
My original goal was to take some flight shots so I left the tripod and ground pod in the car, which ended up being a big mistake on my part. Ended up laying down and shooting hand-held for some of the shots. Haven’t had time to go through all of them yet but here is a silhouette of the Reddish Egret that I like.
Taken with Canon 7D and 100-400 lens
1/1250 sec @ F5.6, ISO 200, evaluative metering at +1/3 exp compensation, no flash
Found this Black Skimmer sitting on some eggs this past weekend at sunrise so I was obligated to take it’s picture. It’s the law…at least in my book. More to come
Taken with Canon 7D and 100-400 lens, hand held
1/2500 sec @ F7.1, spot metering, ISO 400, no flash
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
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)
Tim Timmis Photography 