photoartflightMr Pelican Finds a Free Lunch
Posted on December 30, 2013
We have been traveling the last week and spent 5 days at the J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge in Sanibel, Florida. Got lots of great photos and have a lot to edit through. Here is a Brown Pelican that came upon a fish laying on the ground and could not let it go to waste. See the animated gif below, the last image. I was hand holding the camera for this sequence so it jumps a little bit. Canon EOS 1D MkIV with a Canon 400mm f/4 DO lens with a Canon Series III 1.4X Teleconverter, 1/640 sec, f/11, @ ISO 1250. Effective focal length of 728mm with the 1.4X Teleconverter and the 1.3 crop sensor of the MkIV.
American White Pelican Panorama
Posted on December 24, 2013
We are spending Christmas at Sanibel Island in Florida with lots of photo opportunities at the J. N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. Here is a 5 shot panorama of a lineup of American White Pelicans. The photo looked more interesting as a panorama rather than using a shorter lens and cropping into the image. Taken with a Canon EOS 1D Mk IV, Canon 400mm f/4 DO lens, Canon 1.4X MkIII Teleconverter, 1/200 sec @ f/8, ISO 400. Manually stitched together in Photoshop. Effective focal length 728mm with the 1D MkIV cropped sensor.
Blackwater NWR Bald Eagle
Posted on December 20, 2013
This Bald Eagle was sitting in a tree along the Wildlife Drive. He was back on the branch in the shadows. Usually they seem a little skittish when you come upon them along the drive, but he did not seem to pay any attention to us. I used a flash with a Better Beamer to brighten him up somewhat. I set the flash to – 1 f/stop and set the camera to -1.33 exposure compensation in aperture priority.Canon EOS 1D MkIV, 1/125 sec @ f/11, 2500 ISO,400mm f/4 DO with Canon 1.4X teleconverter, effective focal length of 728mm.
Red-Winged Blackbird Flocks at Blackwater NWR
Posted on December 11, 2013
In the colder months there are huge flocks of Red-winged Blackbirds flying through the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge outside of Cambridge Maryland. The number of Bald Eagles increase also during the colder months to approximately 150. When the water freezes over the Eagles sometimes are seen taking Red-winged Blackbirds or Canada Geese for their meals. Here are some photos of the flocks of Red-winged Blackbirds flying through the refuge and also photos of Eagles guarding their lunch.
Canon 20D, Sigma 300-800 f/5.6 zoom @ 731mm (1170mm with 1.6 crop factor of 20D sensor), 1/2000 sec @ f/8, ISO 400, aperture priority, -0.33 exposure compensation.
Canon 7D, EF400mm f/4 DO IS USM +1.4x teleconverter, 560mm (896mm with 1.6 crop factor of 7D sensor), @ f/8, 1/2500 sec, ISO 400, Aperture Priority, -0.33 exposure compensation.
Eagle w/Red-winged blackbird, Canon EOS 7D, Sigma 300-800mm f/5.6 zoom @ 1023mm with 1.6X crop factor of 7D sensor), 1/2500 sec, f/8, ISO 400.
Red-winged blackbirds flying by the snag at sunset.
Red-winged Blackbirds scattering after Eagle swooped in for a meal.
One of the Last to Leave
Posted on December 10, 2013
I took a walk around the Celery Farm Natural Area in Allendale NJ, early Sunday morning. The lake and streams were pretty much frozen over. It was 27˚ and was very quiet around the frozen lake. I came upon this Great Blue Heron along this little stream of moving water. It was one of the only unfrozen sections with open water. I think he was looking for a meal and seemed totally unconcerned with me being close by. I took a few shots and then moved on so I did not disturb or stress him. Canon EOS 1D MkIV, 70-300mm DO IS f/4-5.6 @ 200mm, f/8 , @ 1/50 sec, ISO 1250, -0.67 exposure compensation.
This Great Blue Heron had a couple of friends keeping him company in this small section of open water.
Favorite Bald Eagle Snag at Blackwater NWR
Posted on December 8, 2013
Bald Eagles like their snags to roost on at Blackwater NWR. Over the years you get to know where the popular spots are, and also good opportunities for photography. Not only for them on the snags, but also going to and from these spots for great opportunities for in flight photos of Bald Eagles. This was one of the favorite snags year after year, near the end of the Wildlife Drive. But this year, sadly it is gone. It was often used by multiple eagles at once. Nothing stays the same, so hopefully this will open up new possibilities for even closer spots in the future. Header image Canon EOS 7D, Canon 400mm DO w1.4X teleconverter, 1/1250 sec @ f/8, ISO 400. Being Old School, I usually stop down at least 1 additional stop, over the additional f/stop loss when using a teleconverter. I believe this just adds a little more sharpness.
Eagles on snag. Water was frozen over so this Eagle picked a Red-winged Blackbird for a meal. You can see the feathers falling. Canon EOS1D MkIII, 400mm DO f/4, w/ 2X Teleconverter, 1/1250 sec f/14 , ISO 640, effective focal length 1040mm
Crop from above series.
Misty Morning at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge
Posted on December 7, 2013
This is from a trip to the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge outside of Cambridge, Maryland a few years ago. The morning was very misty with a heavy fog starting to lift along the Wildlife Drive. The sun was staring to shine through the loblolly pines and was glowing through the fog. The header photo is one capture. The following photo is a 2 shot vertical stack put together in photoshop. Canon EOS 1D MkIII with 400mm f/4 DO lens, 1/2000 sec, f/6.3, ISO 640, effective focal length 520mm.
2 image vertical stack
800mm Fly By
Posted on December 4, 2013
Again from the archives, This Osprey had just hit the water, missed his catch and flew across in front of me. I was tracking him hoping he would come up with a fish, but I liked the small water droplets in his wake and the wing position even without his catch. I was using a Sigma 300-800mm zoom at 800mm, with a Canon EOS 1Ds MkII on a Wimberly Gimbel head. The Sigma is a non stabilized lens so you have to be careful and use long lens techniques, especially at 800mm, to get sharp images. I have a series of images, but was my favorite.
Swan Babies
Posted on December 3, 2013
It is getting colder here in New Jersey, so I was going back through the archives to clean out files. I found these images of this Mute Swan nest and the Swan Cygnets from the Celery Farm Natural Area in Allendale NJ. I used a Canon 20D with a 1.6X crop with the Sigma 300-800mm f/5.6 zoom which gave the reach I needed to photograph the Swan Babies on the nest. With the 1.6 crop sensor it has an effective focal length of 1280mm. I used a -0.33 exposure compensation with aperture priority so I would not blow out the whites on the Swans. In some of the photos you can see the egg pieces from a freshly hatched cygnet. Hope ou enjoy them.
Canon 20D, Canon 100-400mm f/4-5.6 @ 100mm, effective focal length 160mm
Sunrise and Moonset at Blackwater NWR
Posted on December 1, 2013
Here are a few early morning images from the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Cambridge Maryland. This series, taken between 5:30 and 6:00 am, was one day after a full moon in May. I liked seeing the detail in the moon, with the moon in a warm yellow color, lowering over the trees & water. Opposite was the sunrise, coming over the trees and water. I was shooting handheld between 1/125 and 1/40 of a second @ ISO 800 with a Canon 1D MkIV and a Canon 24-105mm f/4L IS USM at 24mm & 105mm. I did not shoot bracketed exposures to later merge with an HDR program because I was handholding the camera. Instead I used one image and used Nik’s HDR Effects Pro 2 on a single exposure to mimic an HDR Image. Then used Nik’s Define to remove some noise.
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