photoartflightBlack-Crowned Night-Heron Enjoying Breakfast
Posted on October 16, 2021
This is from a visit years ago to the Celery Farm Natural Area in Allendale NJ. The Celery Farm is a 107-acre freshwater wetland with Lake Appert. It is open to the public during daylight hours every day of the year. The centerpiece is Lake Appert, a freshwater marsh that attracts waterfowl, herons, and rails. Even though it is smaller in size, it is Great for photography. Often times you will see birds & wildlife fairly closeup. But you will still need a long lens to get very Closeup Images. This Black-Crowned Night Heron was close to shore by one of the paths to the Lookout Platform. Earlier in the morning the wading birds are closer to the shoreline so you can get fairly close images. According to the Camera Raw Data this image was taken @ 5:16 AM with the early morning warm light warm giving a glow to the out of focus Lake behind the Heron. I found the best times there to be in the early morning. The Lake also attracts quite a few Ospreys and being a smaller lake you can usually get some interesting Osprey fishing images. Image here was taken @ f/5.6 for a smoother background with a Canon 400mm DO lens with a 1.4X teleconverter.
Great Egret Catching A Snack
Posted on October 12, 2021
Going through Backup Drives working on images that I did not have time to adjust or work on when I was still working. This is from a photo trip to the J.N. Ding Darling NWR in Florida 2 years ago. As we were walking along the Wildlife Drive I noticed this Great Egret working its way in the water channel along the Drive. It got to a sunlit section and I was able to get a couple of images before it flew off. Images taken with a Canon R with a Tamron 150-600mm with a 1.4X Teleconverter @ 840mm, f/16, 1/640 sec. Because it was in the bright sun I also set the Camera to a -2/3 exposure compensation to hold detail in the white Egret.
Female Anhingas On Branches
Posted on October 8, 2021
Along the Wildlife Drive at Ding Darling NWR, we found 2 different female Anhingas sunning on branches. The featured image and the first image below were on one side of the Wildlife Drive. The other female Anhinga, shown below were directly across the Wildlife Dive from the first Anhinga. All images taken with a 400mm DO lens with on a Canon 7D . I actually had to back up from both birds to fit them in the frame.
A Series Of Blue Dasher Dragonfly Images
Posted on September 7, 2021
Here in NJ Dragonfly season will be ending soon. I am seeing fewer Dragonflies & Damselflies at our local parks, Wildlife Refuges and even our yard. Here is a collection of Blue Dasher Dragonfly images from a variety of local Parks & Wildlife Refuges. The Featured Image was taken with a Canon 400mm DO lens, Canon 2X Teleconverter, Canon 1D mkIV @ f11 & with Fill Flash. Dragonfly distance from camera ~15 feet. Some images were also taken with Extension Tubes on the lens, but Extension Tubes do not show in the RAW Data in Adobe Bridge so I did not list them in the image info on each image.
Golden-winged Skimmer Dragonfly – 4 Image Panorama
Posted on July 24, 2021
I was going through Backup Drives and came across this series of images of a Golden-Winged Skimmer Dragonfly (Male). This is a handheld 4 shot panorama taken with a 400mm Canon DO lens on a Canon 1D mk IV @ f/8 (for a smoother looking background). The panorama was aligned & assembled in Photoshop.
More Blue Dasher Dragonflies
Posted on July 13, 2021
Another series of images of one of my favorite dragonflies, the Blue Dasher Dragonfly. These were taken over quite a few years and lots of locations. Almost all were taken with a Canon 1D mkIV with a 400mm DO lens. Some with 1.4x or 2X Teleconverters for added reach since they were out a ways in a pond or stream.
Eastern Pondhawks At Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge
Posted on July 6, 2021
We usually like going to Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge outside of Cambridge Maryland for photographing Bald Eagles. It usually has one of the largest amounts of Bald Eagles in the Northeast. But in the Summer I also like it for the large amounts & different types of Dragonflies you can find. Here I am posting some images of Eastern Pondhawk Dragonflies. Blackwater has a long Wildlife Drive so you can find a large variety of Dragonflies because of the different varieties of habitats along the Drive. Some of the best areas are by the Observation Platform that goes out above the grasses over the water & along the Wildlife Drive where there is standing water on both sides of the Drive.
Osprey Fishing In Early Morning
Posted on March 14, 2021
I am cleaning my backup hard drives to remove files to clean up space and to remove files I do not need or duplicates. I found this series of an Osprey fishing at the Celery Farm Natural Area in Allendale, NJ. These were taken at 7 am so there was not a lot of light so I was happy they came out as well as they did because the Canon 1D mkIII was a little “noisy” in low light. The refuge years ago was a Celery Farm and after that they raised carp here before it became a town Natural Area. So you can see a small splash of orange color in the featured image by the Ospreys talons. The Osprey was not able to hold on to the Carp and dropped it before the next image.
Osprey FlyBy At Blackwater NWR
Posted on March 9, 2021
An Osprey Flyby image taken on the Wildlife Drive at the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge near Cambridge, Maryland. This was from a few years ago and never got around to working on them. Luckily I had time to shoot a vertical image as it quickly flew by providing a frame filling image with very little cropping. Then the Osprey circled back and I got a few more images as it flew by in the opposite direction. Featured image taken with a Canon 400mm f/4DO lens on Canon 1D mkIII. (f/8, 1/2000 sec, ISO 400, aperture priority).
Blackwater NWR Bald Eagle Fly By
Posted on February 28, 2021
A couple of Bald Eagle images from the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge near Cambridge Maryland in March of 2008. I was using a 400mm DO lens with a Canon 1D mkIII.
