Long Billed Curlew
This Long Billed Curlew was showing off his landing and flying skills.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4X III teleconverter mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II head
1/800 sec @ F5.6, ISO 4000, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation
1/1600 sec @ F8, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation
Long Billed Silhouettes
Another quick trip to the Gulf coast yesterday found several Long Billed Curlews at sunrise that were prime time for some silhouette shots. Was hoping for some more Skimmers but didn’t see any on this trip. The randomness keeps me going back as you never know what you are going to see.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500 F4 IS II with 1.4X III teleconverter mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II gimbal head
1/1000 Sec @ F8, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation
1/2500 Sec @ F11, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation
Long Billed Curlew in Silhouette
Here are a couple more silhouette shots from Bolivar Flats. This time, Long Billed Curlew’s. Just can’t resist silhouette shots before the sun comes up. A guilty pleasure of mine.
Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II lens with 1.4x III teleconverter mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II gimbal head.
1/125 sec @ F5.6, ISO 800, evaluative metering, + 2/3 exposure compensation
1/125 sec @ F5.6, ISO 800, evaluative metering, + 2/3 exposure compensation
7D Repaired/Returned
Got may camera back today via my friends at Fed Ex. Here is what Canon said about the repairs: “Your product has been examined and it was found that the internal component was broken causing the error to be displayed. The mirror box assembly and shutter assembly were replaced. Further, it was found that the top cover assembly has been submerged in liquid causing one or more buttons or controls to operate improperly. The top cover was replaced. Product functions were confirmed”.
To clarify, it wasn’t submerged in liquid but probably had some salt water dripped on it on a few/many occasions, for some odd reason. They replaced the back cover last time it was repaired so I’ve almost got a new camera at this point. I use a raincoat to protect the lens but the camera isn’t totally covered and it’s easy to have water drip off of my sleeves when I get up from lying on the water laden sand bars.
Now I have to reprogram all of the custom function settings. Good thing that I wrote them down.
While waiting for my camera to return, I ended up upgrading to Photoshop CC/Lightroom while the special deal was on for $10/month. Haven’t tried Lightroom yet but I like Photoshop CC so far. Also got the NIK software package since my old version of Noise Ninja wouldn’t work with Photoshop CC. I really like NIK Dfine for noise reduction. Color Efex Pro 4 looks very interesting as well. New toys to play with.
Here is another photo of a Long Billed Curlew from my last outing to Bolivar. More to come.
Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II lens with 1.4x III teleconverter mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II head
1/200 sec @ F 9, ISO 500, evaluative metering, + 1/3 exposure compensation
Success + Camera Failure
Spent Friday and Saturday mornings enjoying low tide at Bolivar Flats. It was a nice chilly 38 deg. F on Friday at sunrise but the high winds kept the bird activity low. Saturday had less wind and more cooperative birds. Found a flock of Avocets hanging out near a sand bar off shore in the Gulf. Waded out to an adjacent sandbar and slowly made my way towards them. Didn’t want to spook them so I laid down a distance from their location and crawled towards them while pushing my ground pod along. Ended up moving +/- 40 yards on my elbows/knees, which I’m still feeling today. Had to stop along the way to rest and take photos of other shore birds in the area, including this cooperative Long Billed Curlew. Only minor cropping on this one to get him off-center in the photo.
Finally got fairly close to the Avocets and spent about an hour watching and taking photos of them. Right before I was going to leave, my camera locked up showing ERR 22 with instructions to remove/reinstall the battery. Did this several times without any luck. Packed my gear up and headed home. Ended up shipping my 7D to Canon repair service in California. Will hopefully get it back soon as I’ve got more birds to shoot before the year is done. This one doesn’t sound like a shutter so not sure what the issue is.
Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4x III teleconverter mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II head
1/125 sec @ F 7.1, ISO 500, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation, 700mm
All Shook Up
It felt like going home again when visiting Bolivar Flats last weekend. My favorite place to take shorebird photos, it has been almost 6 months since my last visit in April when leading a workshop at Galveston’s Featherfest. The weather, tide and my schedule finally cooperated, so it was off to Bolivar.
Saw the usual suspects including a reddish egret, great blue heron, white pelicans, avocets, sanderlings, snowy egret, etc. This Long Billed Curlew got his feathers ruffled, but not at my presence. He didn’t see me while I was lying down with the ground pod shooting away as he walked back and forth in front of me. This was very close to a full framed shot with using my teleconverter to get some extra reach. The sun was behind the clouds at sunrise but eventually peaked out.
Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II lens with 1.4x III teleconverter mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II gimbal head
1/400 sec @ F9, ISO 500, evaluative metering, 700mm
Long Billed Curlew in Flight
This Long Billed Curlew was flying right at me and my 7D did a good job of keeping focus and tracking the action. My old 40D would not have been able to get the second shot. The positive exposure compensation helped to keep this from being a silhouette. The Willet seemed to like the show.
Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II lens mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II head
1/1000 sec @ F5.6, ISO 400, spot metering, +2/3 exposure compensation
1/640 sec @ F5.6, ISO 400, spot metering, +2/3 exposure compensation
Bathing Long Billed Curlews
A few shots from the archives of a couple of Long Billed Curlews taking a bath at Bolivar Flats. Got fairly close to them as they were splashing away.
All taken with Canon 7D and 100-400 lens on ground pod
1/1250 sec @ F5.6, +1 exp comp, ISO 250, spot metering
1/800 sec @ F5.6, +1 exp comp, ISO 250, spot metering
1/320 sec @ F7.1, +1 exp comp, ISO 250, spot metering
1/800 sec @ F5.6, +1 exp comp, ISO 200, evaluative metering
1/16000 sec @ F5.6, +1 exp comp, ISO 200, evaluative metering
Tim Timmis Photography 