photoartflightSnowy Egret FlyBy
Posted on June 4, 2020
This image of a Snowy Egret is from a previous trip to Florida. I liked the wings in a raised position as it glided by me and the highlight reflections of the sky in the water. Also the Snowy was low enough to get reflections of the highlights & shadows of the water under the wing. Image taken with a 400mm DO lens.
Bald Eagle vs Osprey
Posted on April 10, 2020
It is interesting to see Bald Eagles and Ospreys interacting and going after each other. Here the Eagle was trying to get the Ospreys fish, which it dropped, but they were still going at it for a while. This image was taken with a 400mm lens at the Brigantine Division of the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Oceanville NJ.
American Oystercatchers
Posted on April 7, 2020
I photographed these American Oystercatchers from a much earlier trip to the Brigantine Division of the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. We saw quite a few Oystercatchers around especially by the waters edge. They seem to be very skiddish birds so I was using a Canon 400mm DO lens with a 1.4x teleconverter on 7D Camera (for a Full Frame Field of View ~ 896mm). I really like their bright colored beak and eyes! They really stand out!
Pink Wings
Posted on April 5, 2020
More Roseate Spoonbill images from our trip to Florida a few months ago. They are one of my favorite birds to photograph in Florida. They really stand out in the treetops and are fun to watch interacting with each other & other birds.
Reddish Egret In Shadows
Posted on March 10, 2020
I found this Reddish Egret foraging in the water along the Wildlife Drive at J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge in Florida. Because the Egret was in the shade, the auto white balance enhanced the dappled sunlight with a warmer golden glow to the spots of sun on the featured image. We actually saw quite a few Reddish Egrets through the Refuge. All images taken with a 400mm DO lens with 1.4x teleconverter on a Canon 7D.
Reddish Egret strolling in sunlight
Reddish Egret Foraging
Red Fox @ Bombay Hook NWR
Posted on February 20, 2020
During one of our trips to Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge we saw this Red Fox walking towards us. We were out of the car photographing birds so I started taking photos of the fox. We have seen foxes before but they usually did not come close to us. But when it was about 8-10 feet away, we decided to get back in the car. It sort of looked at us and just kept walking by. I was using a 400mm lens with a 1.4x Teleconverter so this image is just cropped a little on the top to remove some background when I was setting up the file for a print.
Immature Bold Eagle Coming In For Landing
Posted on October 5, 2019
Near the exit of the Wildlife Drive at the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge I was looking for photo subjects in the fields. Then this Immature Bold Eagle flew in and landed giving me a few more images on our way out.
Common Whitetail Dragonflies
Posted on July 10, 2018
We saw quite a few Common Whitetail Dragonflies while we were at Davidson’s Mill Pond Park. Here are a few images from the many we saw. It is interesting at the small pond, which you can walk almost completely around, you tend to see many of one or two types in certain areas but not many in other areas. It seems certain types like certain areas. Then you see really large dragonflies constantly zooming around the center above the Lily pads. Overall they are fun to watch. I guess I should post a few different photo subjects and take a break from dragonflies.
Mute Swan Swim By
Posted on June 13, 2018
Mute Swans are some of my favorite birds to photograph. They seem sort of expressive in their postures and movement. Plus they are a big subject so easier to see and fill the frame to get a nice image. Plus they do not seem to shy away from you and tend to come right up to where you are shooting. But you can see they keep an eye on you. You just have to make sure you do not blow out the highlights and lose detail in the feathers. Also their wings make a really cool sound when they fly by you!
Blue Moon March 30th, 2018
Posted on March 31, 2018
Last Night we had a Full Moon for a second time in March. Whenever two full moons appear in one month, which happens about once every 2.66 years, the second is christened a “Blue Moon.”
And yet, this is the Second Blue Moon since the beginning of the year. The second time in three months that two full moons have occurred in a calendar month. What is the reason for this anomaly? The length of time for the moon to cycle from one full moon to the next (29.53 days, on average) is called a “synodic” month. February is the only calendar month that is shorter than a synodic month, and this year, it did not have a full moon. So, to make up for this lack, March ended up with an extra full moon. There were also two full moons in January, thus giving us two Blue Moons over just 60 days, though Saturday’s Blue Moon will be the last one until 2020.
I tried a variety of setups to photograph this Blue Moon. I was using a 400mm f/4 lens. The 400mm by itself would not have enough reach, So I tried the following combinations. 400mm with a 1.4X Teleconverter, 400mm with a 2X teleconverter and finished with 2x Teleconverter with a 1.4X teleconverter stacked together. Sometimes the stacked teleconverters work, sometimes it does not. Stacking the teleconverters, I was worried about sharpness so I used a combination of a very high ISO and an f/stop of f/25 with a high shutter speed. Stacking teleconverters for Wildlife is tricky and does not always work well, but I thought it would work for the moon.
Image showing moon sizes with different teleconverters and combinations.
There was a glow around the moon, but the moon was so bright, I exposed for the bright moon and forced the glow to show a little.
3 image vertical panorama showing Blue Moon with cloud formation below the moon. To expose for the cloud below the moon would just be a white blown out circle. I just brought up the brightness a little so the clouds below the moon were somewhat visible.
