Coot | Tim Timmis Photography

Reflecting on the Start of 2015

It’s tough to express any true reflections on a year that just started, so instead, here is my first reflection shot from 2015. Looks like it could be a good year.

It’s easy to ignore Coots in SE Texas as they are very abundant and can be somewhat boring but in the right light with a good background, they can stand out with the best of them. Had to expose for the white beak so no positive exposure compensation on this one. Taken at Anahuac NWR in Texas.

Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4X III teleconverter, handheld out the car window

1/800 sec @ F7.1, ISO 1600, evaluative metering

January 5, 2015 | Categories: Birds | Tags: Anahuac NWR, Canon 1.4x III, Canon 1DX, Canon 500mm F4 IS II, Coot | 2 Comments

On the Run at Brazos Bend

Made a trip out to Brazos Bend State park a couple of weeks ago. It was a little chilly at 39 deg and very windy which attributed to my frozen head/face. Had a hat in the car but being the intelligent person that I am, didn’t put it on. Was going to walk back to the car to get it but the sun was about to come out and I didn’t want to miss the good light. Caught several Coots running around, as usual, and had a fly over from a bald eagle, which was a first for me at Brazos Bend. Of course the Coot shots came out better so I’ll post these. Got some decent light on this one. The challenge with these guys is to catch them in mid stride and to keep their heads in relative focus while their wings are blurred to give a sense of motion.

Taken with Canon 7D and 100-400 lens, hand held, no flash

1/400 sec @ F5.6, ISO 400, spot metering, +2/3 exposure compensation

1/320 sec @ F5.6, ISO 400, spot metering, +2/3 exposure compensation

February 20, 2012 | Categories: Birds | Tags: Coot | 3 Comments

Brazos Bend at Sunrise

Made another road trip to Brazos Bend State Park last weekend. Not much happening there but still a good time to get out. Tried sitting down on the bank with the tripod and was able to get the Grebe with wings spread

All taken with Canon 7D and 100-400 lens

1/2000 sec @ F5.6, ISO 400, spot metering, no flash

1/2500 sec @ F5.6, ISO 250, spot metering, no flash

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

1/1250 sec @ F5.6, ISO 400, + 2/3 exp. comp, spot metering, flash @ -3 stops with better beamer

March 10, 2011 | Categories: Birds | Tags: Coot, Snowy Egret | 2 Comments

Cooterville

Here are some shots from last weekend at Brazos Bend of the resident coots. Found a decent spot to camp out along 40 acre lake and sat down with my tripod for about 1.5 hrs on Sat and Sun. Around sunrise, the coots come across the trail and head into the water and then the run out into the main part of the lake through the two openings in the far bank. I”ve always like to try to catch them while they are running on the water. Had to switch to the minimum focus distance on the 100-400 on the close up shots as they were very close. They are kind of cute close up with the ivory colored bill and red forehead and eyes.