photoartflightImmature Little Blue Heron Foraging For Breakfast
Posted on August 5, 2019
We saw this Immature Little Blue Heron looking for its breakfast. It was just working an area around us and seemed not to be bothered by the many people around. Just kept searching for a meal. After a few bugs it did finally find a small lizard.
Immature Little Blue Portrait – 400mm f/4 DO with 1.4x teleconverter. Two images stacked and blended in Photoshop.
Great Egret FlyBy Series At Ding Darling NWR
Posted on August 3, 2019
I am still working on my files from our Florida photo trip a couple of months ago. Here is a series of a Great Egret flying low and slow by us early in the morning at Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. I was using my backup camera, Canon 1D MkIV with a 400mm f/4 DO lens with a 1.4x teleconverter.
Black Skimmer Panoramas
Posted on July 30, 2019
It is a challenge to photograph flying birds for a panorama. After some practice the success rate goes up (hopefully). Basically you shoot a burst of images as you try to cover the area of birds flying you want. Also panning as you shoot, going in the direction they are flying. I found that shooting with a wide angle lens for a large group of birds flying does not give you as much detail as shooting them with a telephoto lens for a panorama. A pretty high shutter speed is also helpful. You might have a few touch-up areas or overlaps to fix once you assemble the base Panorama.
The panoramas below are a group of Black Skimmers on or close to the shoreline. This is a little easier because most of them are not moving, but again you might need a few touch-ups here or there.
Black Skimmers, 4 images, 400mm f/4 DO lens
Black Skimmer Panorama, 7 images @ 400mm & 1.4X Teleconverter
Black Skimmer Panorama, Early Morning, Bad Light, 2 images @ 400mm w/ 1.4X Teleconverter
White Ibis FlyBy From Lake Woodruff NWR
Posted on July 13, 2019
I am still going thru images from our photo trip to Florida. Here are a few more images from Lake Woodruff NWR of White Ibises we saw flying above us at Lake Woodruff NWR.
Sandhill Crane Portraits
Posted on June 19, 2019
On our visit to Lake Wooodruff NWR in Deland, Florida we were lucky to find a few Sandhill Cranes. Years ago when we were there, we saw large flocks of Sandhill Cranes. But on this quick stop we only saw a scattered few. All these photos are taken with a 400mm f/4 DO lens with a 1.4X Teleconverter as we were walking along the trails there. Lake Woodruff NWR does not seem to gather the large crowds of people as a well known Ding Darling NWR attracts. It has a small parking area and usually you only see a few people as you walk the trails and explore. In a way it is a little strange in that you feel quite alone there in this vast NWR. But it is a huge NWR in area and seems more relaxing to explore there. We visited on our way home so we got there in the afternoon when the birds are less active. Next post will have Sandhill Cranes with a Colt (Chick) foraging with the parents.
Sandhill Crane greeting us on the entrance path on our way in. 2 horizontal images to make a Vertical Panorama, handheld. They are a LARGE Bird so even trying to shoot a vertical image Crane did not fit in image area.
Sandhill Cranes deeper in the Refuge
Sandhill Crane Composite – 3 images. Reminded me of a wanted poster
Everythings Ducky
Posted on March 7, 2019
Some more images from our trip to the Brigantine Division of the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Oceanville, NJ. We saw a large variety of Ducks on our visit there. Some were in large groups and others were either a pair or just single ducks swimming by. Most, as usual were farther out in the channel, but a few cooperated and swam closer by. All shot with a 400mm D.O. lens with a 1.4X teleconverter on a Canon R. The sky was very overcast when were photographing the ducks, so I did my best to brighten my Duck subjects. The featured image is a Male Northern Shoveler Duck. Always loved that green head with bright yellow eyes!
Red-breasted Merganser Duck
Hooded Mergansers
Bufflehead Ducks
Male Northern Pintail Duck
Male American Black Duck Swimming by a Female Northern Shoveler Duck
Pair of Northern Shovelers Feeding
Birds Of A Feather Not Flocking Together
Posted on March 4, 2019
While I was photographing the Snow Geese I noticed this group of birds in the foreground. I thought it was an interesting combination with the Canada Geese, a pair of Ducks and the lone Gull. The other 4 were asleep and it looked like the Gull was keeping watch over them.
Sleeping Snow Geese
Posted on March 3, 2019
When I was photographing Snow Geese at the Brigantine Division of the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, I concentrated on some very long panoramas with up to 35 images each. After I had photographed those, I also tried a few different shorter detail panoramas with only 3 to 9 images. The featured image is made with 3 horizontal images, assembled & blended in Photoshop. I could have used a wider lens and cropped off the top and bottom, but I wanted to have more detail in the images of the individual Snow Geese. For the image below, I wanted a little more height so I shot 9 vertical images for the panorama. These were shot with a Canon R with a 400mm D.O. lens with a 1.4x Teleconverter.
9 vertical images, handheld panorama w/ 400mm & 1.4X teleconverter
Great Blue Herons At Brigantine
Posted on February 20, 2019
While I was photographing Landscapes & Cloudscapes along the Wildlife Drive at the Brigantine Division of the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, I noticed this Great Blue Heron behind some of the grasses along the Wildlife Drive. I got a few shots through the grasses and then the two Herons lower down in the water flew off. I got a few more shots as they flew away from me. I was surprised that during the day we saw quite a few Great Blue Herons throughout the Refuge. Usually most do not hang around in the cold weather but there were quite a few throughout the Refuge.
Canon R, 400mm f/4 DO lens, 1.4x series III teleconverter
Canada Geese Flyout At Sunset
Posted on February 11, 2019
While photographing the Bald Eagles along the Wildlife Drive at Blackwater NWR at dusk, I noticed this group of Canada Geese winging away into the colorful sunset sky. I liked the color and the dark silhouettes of the Geese and was able to get a few images of them. The featured image was my favorite of the series because they all had their wings in an “up” position. Somehow they looked more like a “precision formation” instead of a scattered flock of geese flying away. I used to photograph a lot of Military Aviation Display Teams years ago so it brought back memories.
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