Avocet Silhouette
About 3 minuets after the brown pelican sunrise photo per my last post, caught this group of American Avocets passing under the sunrise. Made for a cool silhouette shot.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500MM F4 IS II with 1.4X III teleconverter mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II gimbal head
Aperture priority, 1/8000 sec @ F5.6, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, -1/3 exposure compensation
Pelican in Rising Sun
In preparation for my two field trips that I’m leading to Bolivar Flats during Galveston’s FeatherFest, made a scouting trip to the coast last Sunday. My original goal was to scout out the area but will have to try that one again as I didn’t get past the parking area due to a flock of Avocets being right there before the sun came up.
Caught this brown pelican doing a fly-by as he passed near the sun. Was able to see him coming as I’ve learned to shoot with both eyes open, which is one of the tips in one of my classroom workshops that weekend.
Very little cropping on this shot, which made it a little more challenging than normal for a flight shot off of a ground pod with the limited range of motion from side to side.
Here is a link to the FeatherFest website. We have several great photography leaders with both classroom workshops and field trips. This will be my 5th year leading my events. As of a week ago, there were a few spots left on my trips so check them out if interested.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4X III teleconverter mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II gimbal head.
Aperture priority, 1/1600 sec @ F7.1, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation
Bighorn Sheep
Another first for me was to see Bighorn Sheep in the wild on my Yellowstone trip. We searched for a few days in the Lamar Valley looking for them with no luck. On our next to last day, we found two of them just outside of town. We parking along the highway and got several good looks from them.
One of my favorites was this face to face interaction. Not the right time of year for head butting but it was cool to see.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II mounted on tripod with Wimberley II gimbal head.
Manual exposure, 1/1600 sec @ F8, ISO 400
Manual exposure, 1/1600 sec @ F8, ISO 400
Whooping Cranes
Made my first trip to the Rockport, TX area to see the Whooping Cranes a few weeks ago. It’s been on my bucket list forever since I’ve lived in Texas but never made it there until now. Thanks Scott for the invitation.
We took a boat tour with Kevin Sims and he got us very close to the cranes at the Aransas NWR. He has a small flat-bottomed boat that he beaches on the shore to help keep it stable to shoot from with a tripod. With the upper and lower decks, there are plenty of different perspectives to get.
http://texasbirdingphotos.net/
We went out for two mornings in a row but it was cloudy most of the time. I’ll definitely be going back again next year.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500MM F4 IS II mounted on tripod with Wimberley gimbal head
1/2500 sec @ F11, ISO 800, evaluative metering, -2/3 exposure compensation
1/1250 sec @ F10, ISO 400, evaluative metering
Moose Encounter at Yellowstone
Here are some photos of my first Moose encounter in Yellowstone. We found this one as we were headed to Cooke City on the north side of Yellowstone. Jared spotted a female moose and made a quick turn around with his vehicle to try to find it again. We ended up having to drive to the next turn-around as the snow was quite high along the road. By the time that we got back, Doug had spotted this male bull moose walking through the trees.
We set up near the road as he walked out of the tree line right in front of us. It was very exciting as he got into open ground in the virgin show.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4X III teleconverter, mounted on a tripod with Wimberley II gimbal head.
Manual mode, 1/2000 sec @ F7.1, ISO 800, spot metering off of the snow
Long-Tailed Weasel
Here are some photos of a Long-Tailed Weasel from Yellowstone. He was originally identified as an Ermine but later was corrected to the Long-Tailed Weasel due to the length of his tail. The black tip on their tails help them survive as raptors will go for the black tip and allow them to escape.
Meggi spotted him while will we were headed down one of the snow covered roads. The snowcoach driver stopped suddenly, I grabbed my 500mm lens and headed to the door. Of course, the driver was trying to grab some of his gear and hadn’t opened the door. I started raising my voice and ended up yelling for him to “please open the door!”. That got his attention and I started shooting from the open door. However, the people behind me weren’t too pleased so I bailed out of the vehicle and the pursuit was on for this little critter.
In my haste to get at least a few shots before he disappeared under the snow, I forgot my hat and gloves. Also forgot that my 1.4X was still on, so trying to quickly focus on this fast moving little critter was a major challenge. He ran back and forth along near the road for about 20 min. At one point he ran across the road and back and went straight for our workshop leader, Jared. Thought that we was going to try to run up his leg.
Several other vehicles stopped while we were there to get photos. It was lots of chaos but also lots of fun. Had to sneak back to the bus at one point to grab my hat/gloves and take off the teleconverter.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4X III telconverter, handheld
1/2500 sec @ F7.1, ISO 800, spot metering, +1 exposure compensation, 700mm
1/2000 sec @ F7.1, ISO 800, spot metering, +1 exposure compensation, 700mm, with minimal cropping
Jumping Fox
One of the highlights of my recent trip to Yellowstone was the red fox. Our workshop leader, Jared Lloyd, knew where to find him as we headed to Larmar Valley on the north side of Yellowstone. He was sitting on top of a snow covered boulder that helped keep track of potential predators.
We spent about 2 hrs photographing him in the morning and came back in the afternoon. He had moved off of the rock and was sitting near his den along side the rock. Got a couple of shots of him and then, in my infinite wisdom, I stepped away from my camera to see where the rest of my group was. Of course, a snowball came rolling down the hill and spooked the fox and he quickly got up. Missed that shot but got him as he stopped and turned towards us before entering his den under the rock.
He ended up coming out the other side of then rock via the back door and climbed on top of the hill adjacent to the rock. We got several shots of him in that position. Some of us were thinking that we were going to leave at that point but Doug came walking up the road from parking one of the vehicles and said that we were going to stay put. That was a great decision as the action picked up. The fox finally got up, yawned several times and headed back to his rock.
He then got into position and jumped back onto the snow covered rock. I was able to catch him in midair during the jump.
Yellowstone Adventure
Sorry that I’ve been away for a while but a recent trip has kept me somewhat preoccupied. Finally checked going to Yellowstone off of my bucket list. Decided last spring to take the plunge and register for a 10 day trip to Yellowstone in the winter. Goal was to avoid the crowds and to see the raw beauty of Yellowstone in the winter.
Ended up spending the rest of 2016 buying up warm clothes for the trip. More on that later.
I’m still working on my photos and it will take some time to go through all of them. Here are a couple of teaser shots.
More to come…
Frosty Bison: it was – 20 deg F on the first day that we entered the park from the town of West Yellowstone. We headed towards Old Faithful looking for “frosty” bison. We found a herd along the way and were rewarded with some great photo op’s.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4X teleconverter mounted on tripod with Wimberley II gimbal head.
Manual mode, 1/1600 sec @ F9, ISO 3200, spot metering off the snow with adjustments from there, 700mm
Red Fox yawning: We found this red fox sitting on top of a snow covered boulder, which he used as protection from coyotes. He was one of my favorite targets on this trip. We spent about 4 hours photographing him that day.
1/800 sec @ F7.1, ISO 800, evaluative metering, + 2 1/3 exposure compensation, 700mm
Brown Pelican as a Fishbowl
Found this Brown Pelican fishing off of the Texas City dike. It’s fun to watch them dive into the water and then to see what they come up with. He was getting harassed by a laughing gull that would stand on his head waiting for him to come up with fish to steal.
Got this shot after the gull flew off with a fish. The back-lighting helps with showing off the veins in his beak. This little fish didn’t have a chance but popped up to get his picture taken.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II lens with 1.4X III teleconverter, handheld out my car window
Aperture priority, 1/2000 sec @ F8, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1/3 exposure compensation, 700mm
My Favorite Photos from 2016
As 2016 comes to an end, it’s time to reflect on this year. From a work/personal perspective, it was a very busy year with less time for photography than normal for me. From a photography perspective, there were fewer local trips but more trips outside of the Houston area including California, Lubbock TX and the Valley area in SW Texas. Galveston’s FeatherFest in April was a blast as always.
My goals for 2017 are to continue to expand my photography reach beyond Texas and to also try to get back to my roots more often around the Gulf coast area.
Thanks to everyone that checked out my blog and special thanks to those who commented on my photos.
Hope that everyone has a fun and safe new year’s celebration.
Here are some of my favorite posted photos from 2016.
Green Jay vs. Bee
This Green Jay was distracted by a bee doing a fly-by, which made for an interesting photo.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II lens mounted on tripod with Wimberley II gimbal head
Aperture priority, 1/800 sec @ F8, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1/3 exposure compensation, 500mm
More Harris Hawks
Here are a few more Harris Hawk photos from last weekend.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 100-400 II lens or Canon 500mm F4 IS II mounted on tripod with Wimberley II gimbal head
Aperture priority, 1/3200 sec @ F7.1, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, -2/3 exposure compensation, 400mm
Aperture priority, 1/6400 sec @ F5.6, ISO 3200, evaluative metering, 400mm
Aperture priority, 1/2000 sec @ F9, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, 500mm
Aperture priority, 1/4000 sec @ F8, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation, 400mm
Aperture priority, 1/3200 sec @ F8, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, 500mm
Reddish Egret vs. Great White Egret
While taking photos of a Reddish Egret fishing, a Great Egret flew in to challenge the Reddish for the best fishing spot. The Great Egret won this confrontation.
Although the sun was reflecting off of the water, had use positive exposure compensation to get lighted up the birds. It blew out the water but it still works.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4X teleconverter mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II gimbal head
Aperture priority, 1/3200 sec @ F9, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, 700mm
Aperture priority, 1/3200 sec @ F9, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, 700mm
Dance of the Reddish Egret in B&W
Partial sun turned into a cloudy morning at Bolivar Flats along the Gulf of Mexico. The colors were somewhat muted so I converted these into B&W to bring out the feather detail.
Watching Reddish Egrets dance around while fishing is always a good time and provides some great photo opportunities. This egret was very energetic and would launch himself out of the water to look for unsuspecting fish as the tide was slowly receding. In the last shot, he got all puffed up while chasing a white morph reddish egret away.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4X III teleconverter mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II gimbal head.
Aperture priority, 1/2500 sec @ F9, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, 700mm
Aperture priority, 1/2500 sec @ F9, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, 700mm
Aperture priority, 1/1250 sec @ F9, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, 700mm
White Morph Reddish Egret
Found two White Morph Reddish Egrets at Bolivar Flats last weekend while guiding my old buddy Newton. He brought along Ruth Hoyt, who is an excellent professional photographer/guide at south Texas ranches, like Laguna Seca, where I first met her. It was great to see both of them again.
The tide wasn’t low but the birds were out in force. We started with a group of Willets and other small shorebirds with a lone Avocet nearby. There was a group of Avocets within striking distance but they were spooked and took off.
Spotted a couple of Reddish Egrets further down the shoreline and headed that direction. The Reddish Egrets weren’t very active initially so Newton and I headed back up the shoreline to a group of Black Skimmers.
We then spotted at least two White Morph Reddish Egrets back down the shoreline so we headed back in that direction. Lots of up and down on this trip. Found two White Morph’s and two Reddish Egrets along with one Great Egret standing around. They eventually started to catch fish with one of the Reddish Egret’s trying to chase the two white morph’s away.
This White Morph was striking some nice poses with his feathers all perked up as he was checking out the other egrets.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4X III teleconverter mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II gimbal head
Aperture priority, 1/1600 sec @ F9, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, 700mm
Aperture priority, 1/1600 sec @ F9, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, 700mm
F-35 Stealth Fighter Over the Moon
It was a very busy weekend with my trigger finger needing some well deserved rest. Between two days at Wings Over Houston air show and going to Bolivar Flats for the first time in several months, ended up taking over 11,000 photos over the last three days.
Friday started out with Doug, David and I taking photos of the abbreviated special show for Wings Over Houston. The Blue Angels were back in Houston to show off their precision flying skills. A first for Houston was the new F-35 Lightening stealth fighter, which was on static display and participated in the heritage flight with a P-47 Thunderbolt and a F-16 Fighting Falcon.
The moon was still out on Friday morning, which made for a cool back drop for this photo of the F-35 and the P-47. Converted it to B&W to help bring out the detail in the moon. When the F-35 took off, it looked like a F-22 Raptor from a distance. Can’t wait to see it perform during an airshow.
Went inside the gates on Saturday to get some close-up shots of the F-35 and the usual array of aircraft on static display and when they performed. More air show posts to come as there were too many photos to go through after a most excellent weekend of photography.
I’ll also be posting some shorebird photos from Bolivar with the action being off of the charts. It’s prime time for Bolivar and I’ll be a frequent visitor there this fall/winter.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II, handheld at 500mm
1/2000 sec @ F 6.3, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation
Lying Eye Level with an Alligator
It’s been several months since I’ve been to Brazos Bend State Park so I got up last Sunday morning and decided to head that direction to check out the local wildlife. It was very dead from a bird perspective. The weeds growing in 40 acre lake have killed most of the action along the trail on the north side of the lake . Luckily found this alligator lying along the trail.
Took the first shot from a standing position with my tripod to give the perspective of him near the trail but thought that it was a boring photo. Got closer and took my camera off of the tripod and went down on one knee for a little lower shot. Didn’t like that one either so ended up lying on the trail to get the second shot, handholding my camera/500mm lens. Only minor cropping to panoramic format. Needed elbow pads for that one.
The gator looked pretty calm so I walked past him on the left side of the trail. He didn’t move his body but raised his toes up off of the ground as I walked by, which was interesting. Got to the other side and laid down on the trail again for the last photo.
Getting down low works great for gators as well as birds, as long as they are well fed….
Aperture priority, 1/1000 sec @ F 4.5, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, 500mm
Aperture priority, 1/1600 sec @ F 5, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, 500mm
Aperture priority, 1/640 sec @ F 10, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, 500mm
White Tipped Dove
White tipped doves don’t really show how colorful they really are until they extend their wings. Very beautiful birds.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II mounted on tripod with Wimberley II gimbal head
Aperture priority, 1/1250 sec @ F 6.3, ISO 1600, spot metering, 500mm
Aperture priority, 1/1000 sec @ F 6.3, ISO 1600, spot metering, 500mm
Owl Tender Landing
This Burrowing Owl tried to land in this thorny bush but didn’t stick around long. Kept his wings flapping for some good photo op’s. I’m gonna miss these little owls.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4X III teleconverter, handheld out my car window.
Aperture priority, 1/500 sec @ F 5.6, ISO 3200, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation, 700mm
Guess Who?
This juvenile Burrowing Owl seems unphased by his sibling jumping on her back. Got several shots of the encounter with him reaching around and looking like he was trying to kiss her and then they fell over.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4X III teleconverter, handheld out my car window
Aperture priority, 1/500 sec @ F5.6, ISO 6400, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation, 700mm
Intimidation
Here are more photos of Burrowing Owls trying to intimidate prairie dogs that got too close. They do a great job of expanding their body size with their feathers, which makes for some cool photo op’s. Hoping to get the opportunity to see them again.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II lens with 1.4X III teleconverter, handheld out my car window
Aperture priority, 1/1000 sec @ F8, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, 700mm
Aperture priority, 1/1600 sec @ F7.1, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, 700mm
Burrowing Owl’s Crazy Eyes
This would have been a good post for Halloween with the fully dilated eyes of this Burrowing Owl. He got all puffed up and stared down this prairie dog that got a little too close.
Saw this behavior a few times this summer but this was the only one with the owl looking in my direction.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4X III teleconverter, handheld out the car window
Drinking Roadrunner
The roadrunners were the highlight of my last trip to Santa Clara Ranch in south Texas in June. On the last day, they were very cooperative and came to the pond to drink. Up close, they are very beautiful birds.
On the last photo, you can see the reflection of the pond in the water drop. They scoup up the water in their bill and tilt their head back to drink.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II mounted on tripod with Wimberley II gimbal head in a photo blind
Aperture priority, 1/2000 sec @ F9, ISO 3200, evaluative metering, 500mm
Aperture priority, 1/2500 sec @ F9, ISO 3200, evaluative metering, 500mm
Aperture priority, 1/1600 sec @ F9, ISO 800, evaluative metering, 500mm
Bronzed Cowbird
One of my favorite birds from my last trip to Santa Clara Ranch was the Bronzed Cowbird. They have a bronzed iridescence and their eyes turn red during breeding season. When trying to impress a potential mate, the male will vibrate his wings and hover in the air a few feet off of the ground. Got lucky on the last day and caught that behavior with the last two photos.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II on Wimberley II gimbal head mounted on a tripod
Aperture priority, 1/640 sec @ F8, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, 500mm
Aperture priority, 1/800 sec @ F8, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, 500mm
Aperture priority, 1/640 sec @ F5.6, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, 500mm
Aperture priority, 1/800 sec @ F5.6, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, 500mm
Tim Timmis Photography 