photoartflightCattle Egret With High Breeding Plumage
I am still going through images that I shot on Photo Trips that I did not get to while I was still working. These are from a trip to Florida a couple of years ago. The images were taken at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Rookery. I was using a Tamron 150-600mm lens on a Canon R. Both images here were @ 600mm. After using the Tamron lens for a while I am quite impressed with the quality of the images & versatility of this lens. Even with a 1.4x or 2x Teleconverter and processing images with Adobe Camera Raw you can get amazingly nice images of far distant birds & other subjects! Or portraits of closer birds. The Canon R would still autofocus even with the 2X Teleconverter. Plus the Tamron lens was easily hand holdable and no need for a tripod. Unlike the Sigma 300-800mm beast of a lens which was 13 lbs, so no handholding that lens for sharp images.
photoartflight 
Sharp shots. I really like the cattle egret – a bit smaller than the rest of their family, but they have a lot of spunk.
Thanks! They do have spunk! Plus they sort of walk like the actor John Wayne!
I do advise that people check the compatibility of their camera model with a teleconverter attachment. My Canon Rebel EOS will not autofocus the Tamron with a teleconverter. The general rule is that the configuration only works with the more professional Canon models — not the consumer-grade models. Tamron says compatible models will autofocus through F8.
The other thing I learned by trial-and-error is that a teleconverter for the Canon Rebel only works with Canon’s professional EF lenses — not the more affordable EF-S.
It also depends on the make of the teleconverter and the specific Canon body. My Canon 1D bodies will autofocus with the teleconverters up f/8. So it depends on the teleconverter. A 1.4x adds one stop additional to lens f/stop. A 2x adds 2 f/stops to the lens. I was using a Canon R body which will autofocus with the Tamron lens up to a stacked 1.4x & 2x, all be it a slower autofocus. I also have a wide selection of teleconverters, some not Canon which sometimes autofocus when the Canon’s do not. Thanks again!
I didn’t realize that they colored up like this – nice shots, Reed!
Thanks Eliza! They do get a little more colorful in this stage!
Nice portraits of this handsome bird, Reed. Never seen one in breeding plumage before.
Thanks Steve! I have only seen them in this stage a couple of times.
Stunning portraits, Reed! This bird is just gorgeous in breeding plumage and colors!
Thanks so much Donna! They are fun to photograph in their breeding plumage!
Tack sharp! Nice!
Thanks Belinda! They are fun to photograph!