photoartflightEverythings 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
Snow Geese Panorama From Brigantine
Posted on February 16, 2019
We went to the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge to see what birds or landscapes we could find. We were hoping for large flocks of Snow Geese and we did find them. But we did not see too many flying close by but found large groups on the ground. The featured image is a 35 image panorama, handheld, assembled in Photoshop. The finished size is 305 inches long. I was trying out my new Canon R on personal images. I have used it and loved the quality of the images for some commercial work, but this is the first time using it for fun. I was using a 400mm Canon f/4 DO lens with a Canon Series III 1.4x teleconverter. The Canon R seems to focus fine even on flying birds and was fun to use. And the files are very clean and has the beautiful Canon Color.
Great Blue Herons At Blackwater NWR
Posted on February 15, 2019
It seems that a few Great Blue Herons always hang around at Blackwater NWR through the Winter. Usually most migrate out of the area but a few seem to stay in the area on the Refuge. On this trip I saw 3 Great Blues along the Wildlife Drive.
Great Blue Heron watching for a meal. As I was watching he tried a few times with no luck. (400mm w/ 1.4x teleconverter)
I stopped to photograph some Tundra Swans in the water and turned around and noticed this GBH in the tree behind and above me. (m43 Olympus @ 140mm)
Great Blue Heron foraging in the dried grasses @ 400mm w/ 1.4x teleconverter.
Snow Geese Flight At Noon
Posted on February 12, 2019
As we were wandering around the Blackwater NWR looking for photo subjects I saw these Snow Geese taking off, but stayed low close to the water. The sun was really bright on the water so the white Snow Geese sort of disappeared against the bright reflections in the water, but I still liked the Snow Geese that stood out against the darker tree line.
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.
Blackwater NWR Snow Geese Sunset Fly By
Posted on February 6, 2019
As we were starting to go towards the end of the Wildlife Drive at the Blackwater NWR to wait to photograph some sunset images, we noticed a flock of Snow Geese flying through the colorful sky. I shot a few shots as they flew off and then moved on to setup for the end of the Wildlife Drive colorful sunset.
Blackwater Bald Eagles
Posted on January 20, 2019
On our photo trip to Blackwater NWR we were hoping to see a lot of Eagles. Winter is when they have the largest concentrations of Bald Eagles, so we were hoping for the best. We saw quite a few in the distance but not many close by. I saw one on the ground across from pool 3a, looking around with some feathers around so I assume it had a meal. This Eagle then flew into a nearby tree. Then, I believe the mate, joined him. This Eagle was on a snag in the water, on the other side of the Wildlife Drive. They were now a little closer, but I still needed to change my 1.4x teleconverter to a 2x to get even closer. Then I got my tripod and stacked the 1.4x teleconverter with the 2x teleconverter to try to get even closer. I was using a Canon 1D MkIV with a 1.3x crop factor (from full frame DSLRs) so with this combination I had a field of view equivalent to 1120mm @ f/11 wide open, so I stopped down to f/16 & f /22 for a series of shots to see what I could get sharpness wise. Luckily my subjects cooperated and were fairly static movement wise. It was a somewhat dull day so I had to up my ISO more than I like to use. They cooperated for quite a while and they attracted quite a few other photographers, so we moved on.
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