photoartflightWhite Ibis Flyby
Posted on March 3, 2018
I am still going through my images I took in Florida a few months ago. Here is a series of a White Ibis flying by where I was photographing a group of White Pelicans. I was using a 300mm f/4 lens with a 1.4x teleconverter. This was the closest flyby while I was photographing at this spot. I saw quite a few birds flying by, but most were pretty far out there.
Young White Ibis Feeding Early In The Morning
Posted on February 17, 2018
I am still going through some of my images from our trip to Florida in the Fall. On our visits to the J.N. Ding Darling NWR, we tried to get there early. While I was walking the Indigo Trail early in the morning, hoping to find some birds trying to find breakfast. I came upon a group of White Ibises. The older birds were in the lower branches, working their way through the trees. There was this one younger adult, still showing some dark mottling on the face and neck, foraging on the ground. Again it was very dark, but it helped a little for my exposure that it was a white bird! I still had to use a minus exposure compensation, but I had to go even a little further than usual because I was using average metering, so I got a little higher shutter speed. Which I needed for my 300mm lens with a 1.4x teleconverter.
White Ibis with Breakfast Bug breakfast – Canon 300mm f/4 IS Lens, Canon Series III 1.4x teleconverter
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Reddish-Egret – 2 Shot Pano
Posted on February 10, 2018
It is not often that while I am walking looking for photo subjects, that one comes so close I cannot fit it all in the viewfinder. So I try shooting my subject with 2 overlapping images. You have to take a few multiple images quickly, to try to avoid any movement of your subject. Usually a little movement, I can deal with. In Photoshop I try letting Photoshop automatically align and combine them. If that does not work I do it manually. So one way or another, it is a way to get the image.
The featured image is 2 horizontal images stacked vertically and combined.
Another 2 shot composite. 2 horizontal images stacked in Photoshop. 300mm f/4 lens
Example – showing top half of image before combining and adjusting colors, etc. in Photoshop.
Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron Hanging Out In The Shade
Posted on February 6, 2018
I was walking down one of the paths early in the morning at the J.N. Ding Darling NWR. It was pretty dark on the sides of the path under the trees and mangroves. I heard Ibises moving in the lower branches of trees and in the mangroves but were mostly hidden by branches. Plus it was extremely dark to get a photo. Then I noticed this Yellow-crowned Night-Heron out in the open, standing under the branches. It was still very dark because the branches were blocking the rising sunlight. The Heron did not seem to be bothered and did not move, so I took a few shots and moved on. It was so dark where the Heron was, my shutter speed was very very slow, so I shot a series of bursts and purposely underexposed to get my shutter speed up. I did not want to raise my ISO, because the Canon camera I was using gets more “noise” at higher ISO’s. It was easier to work on sharpness later. I was using a 300mm f/4 lens with a 1.4x teleconverter giving me f/5.6 wide open. I have more success with having less noise from not using a high ISO, and under exposing a little and then brightening my image in Photoshop. Then adding a “high” pass sharpening technique in Photoshop and blending it in.
White Ibis Fly-By
Posted on February 5, 2018
I am still going through my images from our trip to Florida from last November. There were quite a few White Ibis foraging for food and a few flying around in the Refuge. As I was photographing the White Pelican panoramas, this Ibis flew by. I liked the featured image with the Ibis as it was coming towards me, giving a more interesting angle plus had wings in an elevated position. We were traveling “light”, so I was using a Canon 300mm f/4 with a Canon Series III 1.4x teleconverter.
As the Ibis was almost in front of me, it did not seem to be as interesting an angle. Plus the shadow on the wing was not my favorite view.
White Ibis Formation
Posted on January 14, 2018
As I was photographing the Pelicans I also had quite a few overhead flybys. Here is a group of White Ibis flying by. I was hoping for them to come around and land nearby, but they kept going on their way.
Snowy Egret Hanging Out By Fisherman
Posted on January 13, 2018
This Egret was waiting by a group of fisherman. It did not seem to be worried about people getting close to it. In fact it even moved closer to some and seemed very comfortable around all the people in the area. I do not know if the fisherman were regulars and gave it scraps of food or small fish.
Early Morning With American White Ibises Foraging In Trees
Posted on January 13, 2018
Getting to the J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge early in the morning I was looking for photo subjects. When I was there it was not the best time of year for an abundance of photo subjects, but it was still fun to see what I could find. And it was nice to be in the Florida sunshine. You could hear rustling of leaves and knew a few birds were foraging in the lower branches of the trees. So I was waiting for them to come to me so not to scare them off. With all the branches it was hard to get clear shots of them, but it shows how they forage. This group had about a dozen Ibises, but most were hidden by the branches. Not great images but it was fun to watch them.
Snowy Egret Flyby
Posted on January 12, 2018
When I photograph at the J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge in Sanibel Florida, I like working an area. If you wait and look around you can find photo subjects that basically come to you. If you constantly move around your subjects see you coming and move away. Shorebirds working a Shoreline coming up to you, Cormorants or Anhingas surfacing near you and my favorite, birds flying over or by you. I like photographing birds in flight instead of just sitting there.
Little Blue Heron Flyby, 300mm f/4, 1.4x teleconverter
Immature Bald Eagle, very early in the morning near sunrise. Very little light, and far out in the distance. Severe Crop of image.
Cormorant Drying Wings
Posted on January 11, 2018
As I was photographing the Pelicans, this Cormorant flew in and started fishing in the water. After a few minutes it surfaced nearby. It came on shore to spread its wings to dry out. It is amazing how long some of them stay in this pose. This one stayed for about 10 minutes. Same pose, just looking left & right, so 1 shot of this tells it all. It also seems the Pelicans do not get too close to the Cormorants, where small shorebirds mingle in with them. Shot with 300mm with a 1.4x teleconverter.
The Cormorant flying in between two already there.
Cormorant after coming out of the water, getting ready to dry it’s wings.
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