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The Green Heron Stretch

I’m always amazed at how far Green Herons can stretch out their bodies without falling into the water.  He reached out, grabbed some food and then pulled himself back up.  I don’t quite have the stomach muscles for that maneuver.  Found this guy fishing at Brazos Bend State Park, TX.  I sat along the bank for a couple of hours and shot mostly Green Herons.  Not much else around this time of year at the park.

Taken with Canon 100-400 lens and flash with better beamer on tripod

1/800 sec @ F5.6, partial metering, ISO 400, flash at – 3 stops

Posted by  |  August 8, 2011 | Categories: Birds | Tags: | 4 Comments

Full Auto Trigger Time

No photos in this post but had to share a great bonding experience with my 24 yr old daughter today.  She had bought me an hour at a local indoor shooting range for my birthday a few months ago.  Didn’t get around to using it until today and we had a blast.  We started out with renting two 9mm semi auto pistols (Glock and Ruger) and went through 2 boxes of ammo.

The fun really began when we then rented a fully automatic M16 with a laser sight.  My first time shooting full auto and it was a blast.  Went through 100 rounds of .223 ammo in no time.  Wasted about 1/2 a box in semi-auto mode and ripped through the rest in automatic.  Shot the first few shots in short bursts to get a feel for what it would do.  The range master then told me to let it rip and found out that it really doesn’t take very long to empty a clip.  Was totally awesome.  My daughter really got into it as well.  The most fun that I’ve had spending around $100 in a long time.

I’d highly recommend a trip to “The Arms Room” in League City:  http://thearmsroomtx.com/

Posted by  |  August 5, 2011 | Categories: Birds | 2 Comments

Whistling Duck BIF

Found this Black Bellied Whistling duck at Brazos Bend State Park, TX last weekend.   I was sitting on the bank taking shots of Green Herons fishing when this guy did a fly by.  I couldn’t find my tripod before leaving on the trip so I handheld the camera all day, which ended up being a good thing for this shot or I would have missed it.  The slow shutter speed resulted in some wing blur, which I tend to like on some of my flight shots.

Taken with Canon 7D and 100-400 lens

1/250 sec @ F 5.6, ISO 400, partial metering, flash with better beamer

Posted by  |  August 2, 2011 | Categories: Birds | Leave a comment

Black Skimmer Silhouette

I’ve still got a ton of Black Skimmer shots so be prepared people, I’m not finished yet.  Here is a silhouette shot taken on the 4th of July in Freeport that I like.  After the typical fly-by shots, I was attracted to the lighting while looking back into the sun.  The blurred out golden dots in the background and back-lit wings help to make this shot in my opinion.  I was going to lighted it up a little to better see the bird but liked it best as a darker silhouette.

Taken with Canon 7D and 100-400 lens.

1/8000 sec @ F. 5.6, partial metering, ISO 400, no flash

Posted by  |  July 25, 2011 | Categories: Birds | 4 Comments

Bridal Shower Photos

Now for something different… I’ve been busy lately, but not with my usual bird pictures.  Got an opportunity to shoot at a Bridal Shower, which was a first for me.  My daughter’s college roommate, Lisa, is getting married, my daughter is a bridesmaid and my wife made the centerpieces for the shower.  They had the shower at the South Shore Harbor Country Club in League City, TX.  It was a great location but a challenge from a photography perspective with all of the windows.  I’m still a rookie at taking indoor photos with flash so this was good practice.  Kept the flash on-camera and bounced it off of the ceiling.   Tried some shooting in aperture priority with positive exposure compensation, manual mode and automatic mode.  I really need to get a F2.8 wide angle some day.

My biggest regret for the day was not eating more.  The food was excellent but I was a little busy with taking over 700 photos.

More photos of the shower photos on my web site:  http://www.timtimmis.com/Weddings/Lisas-Bridal-Shower/18147490_r8Xx4T#1393351372_zM2bKfj

Taken with Canon 7D and 17-40mm and 50mm 1.8 lenses and 580 EXII flash, handheld.

Posted by  |  July 19, 2011 | Categories: Bridal | Tags: | 4 Comments

Freeport Skimmers

I’ve been in a major funk lately with no luck at Bolivar and Brazos Bend over the last couple of weeks.  Got a great attitude adjustment over the holiday weekend with the skimmers being back in canal along the road in Freeport.  It was a very busy weekend:  9 hours of driving, about 5 hours of shooting, 6800 total photos, 4 hours of sorting photos, 1700 first pass keepers and about 150 potential wall hangers, along with a sore butt and back due to sitting on the ground and shooting hand-held.  It will take quite some time to process all of the good ones so here are a few of my favorites so far.

All taken with Canon 7D and 100-400 lens, hand-held while sitting on the ground along the canal.

1/500 sec @ F. 5.6, partial metering, ISO 400, no flash

1/250 sec @ F. 5.6, partial metering, ISO 400, fill flash at -3 stops with better beamer

1/250 sec @ F. 6.3, partial metering, ISO 400, fill flash at -3 stops with better beamer

1/800 sec @ F. 5.6, partial metering, ISO 400, fill flash at -3 stops with better beamer

1/800 sec @ F. 5.6, partial metering, ISO 400, no flash

Posted by  |  July 7, 2011 | Categories: Birds | Tags: | 4 Comments

Back-Lit Great Blue Heron

There were tons of GBH’s in Freeport on this day back in June.  They were feeding on the fish that the Skimmers were also trying to catch.  Was able to capture this one with back-lighting in his wings as he was coming in for a landing.  I’m a major fan of back-lit shots and always try to find them when I’m out at sunrise.  I like to break the rule of shooting with the sun at your back.

Taken with Canon 7D and 100-400 lens, hand-held

1/400 sec @ F 5.6, partial metering, ISO 400, no flash

Posted by  |  July 5, 2011 | Categories: Birds | Tags: | Leave a comment

Tricolored Heron Fishing

Had a good day back in May with Tricolored Herons at Bryan Beach, TX.  The pond was very active that day with lots of birds fishing their hearts out.  Laying down with my Skimmer ground pod kept me looking more like a log than a person so the birds came really close.

Taken with Canon 40D and 100-400 lens on ground pod, no flash

1/800 sec @ F7.1, spot metering, +1 exposure compensation, ISO 320

1/800 sec @ F7.1, spot metering, +1 exposure compensation, ISO 320

1/1000 sec @ F6.3, spot metering, +1 exposure compensation, ISO 320

Posted by  |  June 28, 2011 | Categories: Birds | Tags: | 2 Comments

Snowy Egret Fishing

Here is a shot of a Snowy Egret catching a small fish at Bryan Beach, TX.  Took this in May before the pond dried up.  Taken with the ground pod while laying in the muck along the shoreline of the pond at sunrise.  I was pleased with how he caught the fish under his wing.  I planned it that way…..yea right……;)

Taken with Canon 7D and 100-400 lens on Skimmer ground pod with Sidekick gimbal mount.

1/640 sec @ F5.6, + 2/3 exposure compensation, spot metering, ISO 400, no flash

Posted by  |  June 21, 2011 | Categories: Birds | Tags: | 4 Comments

Skimmer Addiction

My Skimmer addiction continues.  One of my goals for the year was to get a few decent Black Skimmer photos.  The bonus would be to actually get some skimming and not just flying around like last year.  I’ve exceeded my expectations on the Skimmer front and hit the motherload in Freeport, TX.  More Skimmers actually skimming than I’ve ever seen before in one place.  I was really bummed with the pond at Bryan Beach drying up but was thrilled with all of the birds along the road on the way there.   Skimmers are amazing to watch as they fly along the water with their lower bill gliding along waiting to grab their prey.  The actual catching of the fish happens in a blink of the eye when they whip their head downward when their lower bill comes in contact with a fish and the upper bill snaps down.  I also enjoy their “barking” sound as they fly away.

Here are some more of my favorites over the last couple of weeks.  All taken hand-held while sitting near the water’s edge.  Not my favorite position as the ‘ol legs fall asleep after a while.  Tried to use the ground pod a couple of times but not practical with the action coming so fast from both directions.  Handholding the camera was the best solution.  My 100-400 worked very well as they got very close and frequently had to zoom out.  At times they would come within about 10 ft of me.   I typically use +2/3 to +1 exposure compensation with flying birds near water but their white heads would get over exposed with those settings so I switched to partial metering with no exposure compensation.

Good times were had by all, except for the fire ant attack.  Felt like old times hanging out with Sheldon again.

All taken with Canon 7D and 100-400 lens, handheld.

1/400 sec @ F5.6, partial metering, ISO 400, fill flash at -3 stops with better beamer

1/400 sec @ F5.6, partial metering, ISO 400, fill flash at -3 stops with better beamer

1/8000 sec @ F7.1, partial metering, ISO 400, fill flash at -3 stops with better beamer

1/1600 sec @ F5.6, partial metering, ISO 400

1/160 sec @ F5.6, partial metering, ISO 400, fill flash at -3 stops with better beamer

1/250 sec @ F5.6, partial metering, ISO 400, fill flash at -3 stops with better beamer

1/100 sec @ F5.6, +2/3 exp. compensation, spot metering, ISO 500, fill flash at -3 stops with better beamer

1/400 sec @ F5.6, partial metering, ISO 400, fill flash at -3 stops with better beamer

1/6400 sec @ F5.0, partial metering, ISO 400, no flash

Posted by  |  June 15, 2011 | Categories: Birds | Tags: | 2 Comments