Spider Web in the Fog
Not much animal action yesterday at Anahuac NWR, so set my focus on dew covered spider webs. It was a very foggy morning, which always makes for some great photo op’s with the spider webs being covered with small water droplets. The barbed wire also adds interest to the photo. The sun started to pop through just before the fog lifted.
Used negative exposure compensation to darken the scene and make the spider web pop. Converted to B&W in NIK.
1/8000 sec @ F10, ISO 2500, evaluative metering, -2/3 exposure compensation, 700mm (R3 + 100-500 + 1.4x), handheld
Gray Ghost
Broke one of my golden rules yesterday at Bolivar Flats on the Texas gulf coast: have your camera ready at all times when driving off the beach. Saw this male northern harrier sitting on a fence post along the road and my camera was in the trunk. There was a good reason for that as I couldn’t get the lens off of my fluid head. Went past the harrier, stopped, took my camera off my 500F4 and put it on my 100-500, and headed back to the gray ghost.
He was very cooperative and let me get several photos before he flew away. Luckily for me, he landed on the other side of the road, which allowed for more photos and some video in better light. He was finally spooked when another car came down the road.
The not so fun part of this encounter was that I was getting eaten alive by mosquitos. Didn’t have bug spray on as there were no mosquitos on the beach, but they were very intense along the grassy area leaving the beach. Had taken my jacket off so plenty of exposed skin for the feeding frenzy that took place in my car. As they say, everything is bigger in Texas, including the mosquitos. One of those times that you just grin and bear it as it’s always worth a little blood letting for a good photo op.
1/1600 sec @ F7.1, ISO 1000, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, 500mm (R3 + 100-500), minor cropping off left side.
2022 Wings Over Houston Airshow
Late October is always one of my favorite times with the Wings Over Houston airshow. I’ve been going since 2005 and just love it. Was lined up to go to the drive-in show with some friends but it got rained out. Had already bought tickets for the weekend so went on Saturday. It ended up being a cloudy day with limited ceiling so the planes couldn’t fly their normal routines. Didn’t feel like going again on Sunday, which was a mistake as it had some sunshine. There is always next year.
I’ll post some of the Blue Angels photos later. All of these shots were taken with my Canon R3 and 100-500 lens, handheld.
F-16 demo team put on a great show. The female pilot rocked it.
F-15 from Louisiana lit up the sky with a short routine
Aero L-39 Albatros
Close-up Bear
You never know what you may encounter in Alaska, like this coastal brown bear walking through the grass. Immediately got down on one knee to get eye level with the bear for these two uncropped photos. This is a 3rd year cub taken on the second day of another amazing adventure in Alaska
1/1600 @ F11, ISO 3200, evaluative metering, -2/3 exposure compensation, 451mm (R3 + 100-500), full frame
Steaming Bear
The large boar is showing how hot and bothered that he is while chasing his potential mate. That isn’t dust around him. It is steam coming off his hot body in the cool Alaska morning air. Used negative exposure compensation to darken the scene to emphasize the highlights.
It was towards the end of mating season for the coastal brown bears from Lake Clark National Park. Love was in the air with lots of mating action going on.
1/2000 @ F7.1, ISO 6400, evaluative metering, -2/3 exposure compensation, 500mm, R3 + 100-500, uncropped
Tim Timmis Photography 