photoartflightReddish Egret Hunting
Posted on January 10, 2014
This Reddish Egret was hunting for it’s meal. They raise there wings to cast a shadow to see their prey in the water. They become very animated darting back and worth. This one was successful a few times, but as soon as it caught something the gulls would swoop in to try to steal it. They are fun to watch because of their quick movements and their animated darting back and forth. Also they are a medium to larger heron, so photographically they are a bigger subject to capture photographically. I raised my ISO to 1250 because it was a little cloudy and the Egret was very quick moving, so I wanted a shutter speed of about 1/1250 to 1/2000 sec.
Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm DO f/4 lens with Canon 1.4X SeriesIII Teleconverter, f/7.1 , 1/1600 sec to 1/2000 sec @ ISO 1250
Immature Little Blue Heron
Posted on January 9, 2014
I saw this Immature Little Blue Heron looking for a meal along the shoreline. At first I did not pay attention because I was watching an Immature Bald Eagle circling above. I had noticed the white bird close to the shore, out of the corner of my eye and just assumed it was an Egret, then I noticed the blue bill and greenish legs. I was excited because it seems harder to find Immature Little Blues compared to other Immature birds because they seem to be more elusive. It was moving slowly along the shore giving me time to get a few photos before it retreated in the Mangrove roots along the shore. The Little Blue was in a dark area and I was handholding the camera, so I was shooting bursts to try to get a few sharp images out of the sequence since the shutter speed was only 1/40 of a second. I kept the f/stop at f/8 because I was using a 1.4X teleconverter and I wanted to add 1 additional stop to the f/5.6 of the lens with the teleconverter added for a little more sharpness.
Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm DO f/4 lens, Canon 1.4X Series III Teleconverter, 1/40 sec @ f/8, ISO 400, -0.33 Exposure Compensation
Immature Bald Eagle – Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm DO f/4 lens, Canon 1.4X Series III Teleconverter, 1/500 sec @ f/11, ISO 400, +1.33 Exposure Compensation
Mature Little Blue Heron, Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Sigma 300-800mm f/5.6 DG lens @ 572mm, 1/250 sec @ f/8, ISO 400,
Osprey Getting Nest Building Materials
Posted on January 8, 2014
We saw a lot of Ospreys flying through the refuge throughout our visit. When you did not see them, quite often you could hear them shrieking in the distance or hear them in trees along the Wildlife Drive. We often saw them carrying sticks or other nest building materials, bringing them to the nest.
Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm f/4 DO lens, Canon 1.4X Series III Teleconverter @ f/7.1, 1/1600 sec, ISO 1250
Snowy Egret’s Breakfast
Posted on January 6, 2014
I was photographing a wide variety of birds flying in to the water close to where we were setup early in the morning soon after Sunrise. This one Snowy Egret started working the shoreline close to the shore right in front of us. At times he was too close to focus on and I did not want to take the time to add an extension tube so my 400mm lens would focus closer, so I backed up when I could to get him in focus. He was bobbing up and down grabbing shrimp as he went. Shooting bursts I was hoping I was stopping his action and would get a few sharp images. I was trying to shoot at the peak or end of his movements before he moved the other way. Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm f/4 DO lens, Canon 1.4X Series III Teleconverter, @ f/8, 1/100 sec, ISO 400.
Brown Pelicans
Posted on January 2, 2014
Here is a small group of Brown Pelicans on a sand dune at J.N. Ding Darling NWR. They were fairly far out, but I liked the feather detail and textures plus their eyes seem to be looking at you. They were also positioned in an interesting group with the tallest bird on a small tree branch, almost giving a triangular composition of the birds . Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Sigma 300-800mm DG f/5.6 Zoom, @ 731mm, f/8, 1/500 sec, ISO 400. Effective focal length of 950mm with the 1.3 crop sensor of the Canon 1D MkIV.
Surfacing Cormorant
Posted on January 1, 2014
I was following this Cormorant fishing in the water below where I was setup with a Sigma 300-800mm zoom. He kept popping up and then diving down again looking for his meal. I caught him just as he surfaced with the water flowing down his beak and head and thought it was an interesting look and helped show how they fished. Canon EOS1D MkIV, Sigma DG 300-800mm f/5.6 zoom @ 800mm, f/8, 1/400 sec. ISO 640., effective focal length 1040mm with MkIV 1.3X crop sensor.
Pelican Eyes
Posted on December 31, 2013
An evening photo of a group of American White Pelicans settling down for the evening on a little dune of sand surrounded by water. I thought it was interesting most of them were still keeping an eye open for what was going on around them. Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Sigma 300-800 f/5.6 zoom @ 800mm, f/7.1, 1/1600 sec, ISO 800
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