photoartflightUh-Oh!
Posted on January 30, 2014
This Great Egret caught his morning meal. The fish just seemed to have a look of surprise or maybe it was the look of the coming doom. It took quite awhile for the Egret to finish its meal and seemed to have difficulty swallowing it down. It kept flipping it in the air and catching it again, maybe for a better position for swallowing the fish. This was early in the morning and still a little dark. I pushed the ISO to 2000, which is about as far as I like to go on a Canon MkIV for noise, and still try to stop the motion of the Egret shaking its prey. I removed as much noise as I thought possible in Adobe Camera Raw. Using a 1.4X teleconverter gave me an f/stop of 5.6, so I added 1 more stop to help give a little more sharpness. I usually do not like using a 1.4X teleconverter wide open, so being “Old School” I used f/8 for a slight increase in sharpness because of the Teleconverter.
Two Mouths
Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm DO f/4 IS, Canon 1.4X Teleconverter, f/8, 1/250 sec, ISO 2000
Eye to Eye
Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm DO f/4 IS, Canon 1.4X Teleconverter, f/8, 1/320 sec, ISO 2000
Sunset Landing
Posted on January 28, 2014
This American White Pelican flew in to the group at the end of the day. The warm light of the setting sun added color and warmth to the photo. I liked the warm glow through the feathers in the wing giving giving added detail to the feathers.
Clapper Rail
Posted on January 27, 2014
While I photographing a group of birds out in the water, out of the corner of my eye I noticed something moving on the shoreline by the Mangrove roots. I saw this Clapper Rail dart out in the open and look around. I managed to get a couple of quick shots before it disappeared back into the dense roots and vegetation. It was there so briefly and then disappeared that I originally thought it was a Sora. It was not until I was working on my files that I saw it was a Rail and was happy with the few shots that I managed to get.
Clapper Rail
Caon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm DO f/4 IS lens, Canon 1.4X teleconverter, f/11, 1/800 sec, ISO 400
Tricolored Heron Hunting
Posted on January 26, 2014
Northern NJ got another snow storm and frigid below normal temperatures, so I thought I would warm up by going through more of my photos from our trip to Florida. This Tricolored Heron was hunting along an inlet that I was walking along. They were formerly called the Louisiana Heron and are a medium sized Heron, smaller than a Great Blue, but larger than the Night Herons. This one was concentrated on walking along the shore giving me an opportunity to get many shots as it walked towards me and then away from me. On the header photo, even at 1/400 sec, I got a little motion blur on the left leg. I still liked the photo though, it gave it a little sense of movement and the bubbles coming up with the rest sharp so it looked a little less static.
Tricolored Heron Taking Wide Strides
Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm DO f/4 lens, Canon 1.4X Teleconverter, f/11, 1/400 sec, ISP 1250, -0.33 exposure compensation
Yellow-crowned Night-heron
Posted on January 23, 2014
I found this Yellow-crowned Night-Heron in the shade on the roots of Mangrove trees. It did not seem to be bothered by my presence so I was able to get a few shots and then moved on so I did not bother the heron. Because it was sitting in the shade I used a -1 exposure compensation with aperture priority to get a proper exposure for the light colored bird in the dark shade. I also used ISO 1250 because I was handholding the camera and wanted a higher shutter speed. Even though it is a stabilized lens, with a 1.4X teleconverter, I wanted the higher shutter speed since the 400mm, with the 1.4X teleconverter and the 1.3X crop factor equals an effective focal length of 728mm.
Great White Egret Swarmed by Gulls
Posted on January 22, 2014
This Egret had just caught a meal and was quickly swarmed by gulls trying to steal its dinner. The Egret kept moving ahead trying to finish the meal but the Gulls kept circling and buzzing him. He eventually got to finish but was continually interrupted. I just thought it was interesting to watch the interaction between the Egret & Gulls.
Great Egret trying to evade the Gulls
Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm DO f/4, Canon 1.4X Series II Teleconverter, f/7.1, 1/5000 sec, ISO 1250, +0.33 Exposure Compensation
Great Egret with other Egrets & Ibises, Trying to Finish its Catch
Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm DO f/4, Canon 1.4X Series II Teleconverter, f/7.1, 1/5000 sec, ISO 1250, +0.33 Exposure Compensation
Great Egret trying to move away from the Gulls with its meal
Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm DO f/4, Canon 1.4X Series II Teleconverter, f/7.1, 1/4000 sec, ISO 1250, +0.33 Exposure Compensation
Great Egret Still Dodging the Gulls
Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm DO f/4, Canon 1.4X Series II Teleconverter, f/7.1, 1/4000 sec, ISO 1250, +0.33 Exposure Compensation
Great Egret with Gulls Trying to Steal its Meal
Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm DO f/4, Canon 1.4X Series II Teleconverter, f/7.1, 1/4000 sec, ISO 1250, +0.33 Exposure Compensation
White Ibis Portrait
Posted on January 21, 2014
This White Ibis was feeding along the shoreline. The Ibis kept coming closer until it was getting too close to even focus on. I got quite a few shots but I liked the portrait head shot. I especially liked the intensity of the eye and the prominent distinctive shape of the Ibis beak.
White Ibis Working the Shoreline Closeup
Canon EOS1D MkIV, Sigma 300-800mm DG f/5.6 lens, f/8, 1/800 sec, ISO 640
White Ibis Closeup showing the Distinctive beak, legs & feet
Canon EOS1D MkIV, Sigma 300-800mm DG f/5.6 lens, f/8, 1/800 sec, ISO 640
White Ibis Closeup
Canon EOS1D MkIV, Canon 400mm DO f/4, Canon 1.4X Series III Teleconverter, total 560mm
f/11, 1/400 sec, ISO 400
RED-BREASTED MERGANSER
Posted on January 14, 2014
We saw quite a few Red-breasted Mergansers in with the Pelicans, Roseate Spoonbills and Cormorants. They were spending a lot of time diving looking for a meal, scooting around through the other wading birds in the water. This one came on shore after it was done diving around for 20 minutes and was flapping its wings to dry off.
Red-Breasted Merganser
Canon EOS 1D-MkIV, Canon 400 f/4 DO, Canon 1.4X Teleconverter, f/7.1, 1/1250, ISO 1250, +0.33 exposure compensation
Red-Breasted Merganser Scooting and Diving around a Reddish Egret while the Egret was hunting.
Canon EOS 1D-MkIV, Canon 400 f/4 DO, Canon 1.4X Teleconverter, f/7.1, 1/1600 sec, ISO 1250
Brown Pelicans in Flight
Posted on January 12, 2014
Brown Pelicans seem so bulky and slow, but are quite agile and are amazing flyers, especially for such a large bird. They fly a little slower so they are easier to track, until they go in a dive to get their meal. You can get great textures with the variations in the dark feathers and their colorful head. They are fun to watch as they are very animated and seem almost clown like. You often see them flying fairly low over the water and suddenly they nose dive into the water to shock their prey. It is more spectacular to see them dive from a greater height and they make quite a splash.
Low Fly By
Canon EOS 1D Mk IV, Canon 400 mm DO f/4, Canon 1.4X Series III Teleconverter, f/7.1, 1/1250 sec, ISO 1250, +0.33 exposure compensation
Low Fly By
Canon EOS 1D Mk IV, Canon 400 mm DO f/4, Canon 1.4X Series III Teleconverter, f/7.1, 1/1600 sec, ISO 1250, +0.33 exposure compensation
Looking for a Meal
Canon EOS 1D Mk IV, Canon 400 mm DO f/4, Canon 1.4X Series III Teleconverter, f/7.1, 1/1250 sec, ISO 3200, +0.33 exposure compensation
Finding a Meal – Splashdown
Canon EOS 1D Mk IV, Canon 400 mm DO f/4, Canon 1.4X Series III Teleconverter, f/7.1, 1/3200 sec, ISO 1250, +0.33 exposure compensation
Wingbeats
Canon EOS 1D Mk IV, Canon 400 mm DO f/4, Canon 1.4X Series III Teleconverter, f/11, 1/800 sec, ISO 400, +0.33 exposure compensation
Wingbeats
Canon EOS 1D Mk IV, Canon 400 mm DO f/4, Canon 1.4X Series III Teleconverter, f/11, 1/800 sec, ISO 400, +0.33 exposure compensation
Wingbeats
Canon EOS 1D Mk IV, Canon 400 mm DO f/4, Canon 1.4X Series III Teleconverter, f/11, 1/800 sec, ISO 400, +0.33 exposure compensation
Checking us out
Canon EOS 1D Mk IV, Canon 400 mm DO f/4, Canon 1.4X Series III Teleconverter, f/11, 1/800 sec, ISO 400, +0.33 exposure compensation
Opened up shadow detail in Adobe Camera Raw
Moving On
Canon EOS 1D Mk IV, Canon 400 mm DO f/4, Canon 1.4X Series III Teleconverter, f/11, 1/800 sec, ISO 400, +0.33 exposure compensation,
Opened up shadow detail in Adobe Camera Raw
Anhinga Portrait
Posted on January 11, 2014
I came across this male Anhinga sitting on a branch, drying himself in the sun. He did not seem to bothered by me and I was able to get fairly close and get some portraits. You can clearly see the very pointed beak which it uses to spear fish under water and it’s red eye.
Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm f/4 DO Lens, Canon 1.4X Series III Teleconverter, f/7.1, 1/400 to 1/800 sec, +0.67 exposure compensation, ISO 1250
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