Brown Pelicans in a Blur
I’ve been in a major creative funk lately with it being several weeks since I’ve gone out to take wildlife photos. Life gets in the way sometimes with business travel, some dental issues, lots to do around the house and getting a new computer. I’ve been working on a blog post about my journey to find a new computer and will share that later. Also the weather in SE Texas hasn’t been cooperating on weekends for the last 8 weeks or so.
Decided to go to the Texas City Dike a couple of weeks ago to create some abstract wildlife photos with some slow shutter speeds. Made it to the dike before sunrise and waited until I could focus on brown pelicans that were diving for fish.
Used shutter priority to slow the action down while creating some interesting blurs. It’s fun but challenging to try this technique. You won’t get the same photo twice as each shot is dependent on how fast you are panning with the bird and what the bird is doing, which is part of the fun. Went back the following weekend to crank it down even further to 1/10 sec.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4X III teleconverter, handheld out my car window
Shutter priority, 1/15 sec @ F5.6, ISO 3200, evaluative metering, +2 exposure compensation
Shutter priority, 1/20 sec @ F11, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1 1/3 exposure compensation
Shutter priority, 1/20 sec @ F8, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1 1/3 exposure compensation
Blurred Blast-Off
Blast off’s by a large flock of Geese are always fun to hear and photograph. It’s a challenge to get sharp photos before the sun comes up so I typically go for blurred shots using shutter priority. First photo is of Geese and the second is a flock of Black Birds. Taken on a chilly morning at Anahuac NWR in SE Texas last weekend.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4X III teleconverter, handheld
Shutter priority, 1/8 sec @ F9, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation
Shutter priority, 1/8 sec @ F18, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation
High Island in a Blur
One of my favorite things to do at the High Island rookery is to get there early before the sun comes up and shoot blurred flight shots in silhouette. If you can handle the pre-dawn mosquitos, the flight shot opportunities with awesome colors are almost endless. It’s too early at that point to get sharp photos so I’ve learned to embrace the blur. About 1/2 hr before the sun comes up, the skies are filled with birds launching from far and wide. I typically use aperture priority, wide open, ISO 400 and +1 exposure compensation and let the camera set the shutter speed. I love the randomness of the shutter speeds that I get and the affect on the flight shots.
Here are a few Roseate Spoonbill’s in a blur from the rookery.
Taken with Canon 7D and 100-400 lens on tripod with Sidekick gimbal mount.
1/40 sec @ F5.6, ISO 400, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation
1/13 sec @ F5.6, ISO 500, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation
1/20 sec @ F5.6, ISO 400, evaluative metering
Tim Timmis Photography 