Posted on December 18, 2022
I am going through my Hard Drives cleaning up & removing images I do not need. But as I am cleaning up disk space I am finding images that I could use on the blog. These 2 Reddish Egret images were from a visit to J.N. Ding Darling years ago. The Featured Image was taken with a Canon 1D mkIV with a Canon 400mm DO lens @ f/4.5, 1/250 sec. The Courting Dance was interesting to watch and went on for about 1/2 hour.
Category: Birds, Birds, birdscapes, Blog, Canon 1.4X Teleconverter, Canon 1D MkIV, Equipment, J.N. Ding Darling NWR, Reddish Egrets, Wildlife, wildlife drive Tagged: canon 1.4x teleconverter series III, Canon 1D MkIV, Canon 400 f/4 DO lens, canon 400mm f/4 DO, J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, J.N. Ding Darling NWR, J.N. Ding Darling Wildlife Drive, Reddish Egret, Reddish Egret Courting Dance, Reddish Egrets
Posted on September 10, 2022
Dragonfly season will soon be ending but here are a series of Blue Dasher Dragonfly images from a series of different outings. The Featured Image was taken with a Canon 400mm DO lens on a Canon 1D mkIV, @f/8, 1/400 sec.
Category: 300mm Canon f/4 lens, Blog, Blue Dasher, Blue Dasher Dragonfly, Brigantine NWR, Oceanville NJ, Canon 1.4X Teleconverter, Canon 1D MkIII, Canon 1D MkIV, Canon 7D, canon R, Davidsons Mill Pond Park, Ding Darling NWR, Sanibel FL, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Equipment, Insects, Plainsboro Preserve, yard & pond Tagged: Blue Dasher Dragonfly, canon 1.4x teleconverter series III, Canon 1D MkIV, canon 300mm f/4 IS lens, canon 300mm f/4 lens IS, Canon 400 f/4 DO lens, Canon 400mm DO lens, canon 400mm f/4 DO, Canon 7D, canon R, Canon Series III 1.4X Teleconverter, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Dragonflys
Posted on July 6, 2022
A series of Twelve-Spotted Skimmer Dragonfly images taken with a Canon 400mm DO lens with an Extension Tube added for closer focusing on a Canon 1D mkIV. I was also using a Canon 600EX-RT Flash with a Better Beamer Flash Extender for filling in the shadows & to get more detail on the Dragonfly. All images are full frame, not cropped. I was shooting @ f/8 or f/11 for a smoother clean background.
Category: Better Beamer Flash Extender, Blog, Canon 1D MkIV, Dragonflies, dragonfly, yard & pond Tagged: Better Beamer Flash Extender, canon 1D mk IV, Canon 1D MkIV, Canon 1D mkIV Camera, canon 400mm f/4 DO, Canon 600EX-RT, Canon flash, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Dragonfly closeups, dragonfly photography, Fill Flash Photography, Outdoor Fill Flash Photography, Twelve-Spotted Dragonfly, Twelve-spotted Skimmer, Twelve-Spotted Skimmer Dragonfly
Posted on July 2, 2022
A series of images of a close Osprey flyBy at the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Cambridge Maryland.
All images were taken with a Canon 1D mkIV with a 1.4x Teleconverter.
Category: Birds, Birds, Birds in Flight, birdscapes, Blackwater NWR, Blog, Cambridge MD, Canon 1.4X Teleconverter, Canon 1D MkIV, Equipment, ospreys, Wildlife, wildlife drive Tagged: blackwater National Wildlife refuge, canon 1.4x teleconverter series III, Canon 1D MkIV, Canon 400 f/4 DO lens, canon 400mm f/4 DO, Canon Series III 1.4X Teleconverter, osprey, Osprey @ Blackwater NWR, osprey flight, Osprey FlyBy, Osprey Flying, Osprey in Flight
Posted on June 30, 2022
A series of Blue Dasher Dragonfly images taken over a few years. The Featured Image was taken a few years ago and is a 2 image focus blend with a Canon 400mm DO lens on a Canon 7D and a small amount of Fill Flash to brighten the shadows. Subject Dragonfly was 16.7 ft away. When using Teleconverters I usually set my f/stop 2 stops down from wide open for a little more depth of field for sharpness but still have a smoother background. So using my 300mm f/4 lens with a 1.4x teleconverter the lens wide open would be @ f/5.6 because of the teleconverter. So I would set my f/stop @ f/11. If I was using my 400mm f/4 lens with a teleconverter I would probably stop down even more but not always.
Category: Blog, Blue Dasher, Blue Dasher Dragonfly, Canon 1.4X Teleconverter, Canon 7D, Damselfly, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Equipment, Favorite Locations, Focus Stacking, Focus Stacking Images, Image Stacking, Insects, Stacked Images, yard & pond Tagged: Blue Dasher, Blue Dasher Dragonfly, Canon 400 f/4 DO lens, canon 400mm f/4 DO, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Dragonfly closeups, dragonfly photography, Dragonflys, Female Blue Dasher Dragonfly
Posted on June 18, 2022
A couple of colorful sunset images of birds settling down for the evening. I am going through my array of Back-Up Drives making room for newer images and discarding ones I do not need. But along the way I am finding interesting images to post here. Also I am just selecting the best images when I was shooting a series of the bird flying in, etc. then deleting the extra files. The images here were taken many years ago. We were on our way out on the Ding Darling NWR Wildlife Drive as we passed these groups. The Featured Image of the Great Egret landing was taken with a 400mm DO Lens on a Canon 7D @ 6:48. The Group of Wood Storks was taken from the same spot but more to the right 3 minutes later @ 6:51 because I was waiting for a better grouping as they were moving. The distance to both groups were 236 feet according to the Adobe Camera Raw data. Then we had to get going to leave because they were closing and wanted everyone out.
Category: Birds, Birds, birdscapes, Blog, Canon 7D, Ding Darling NWR, Sanibel FL, Equipment, Favorite Locations, J.N. Ding Darling NWR, sunsets, Wildlife, wildlife drive Tagged: birds at sunset, canon 400mm f/4 DO, Canon 7D Camera, Great Egret, Great Egret @ sunset, J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, J.N. Ding Darling NWR, J.N. Ding Darling Wildlife Drive, sunset, wildlife drive, Wildlife Drive @ J.N Ding Darling NWR, Wood storks, Wood Storks @ sunset
Posted on June 17, 2022
A series of images of Black Skimmers flying and skimming from previous trips to the Brigantine Division of the Edwin B. Forsythe NWR in Oceanville, NJ. The Featured image was taken with a Canon 1D mkIV with a 400mm DO lens & 1.4x Teleconverter
Category: Birds, Birds, Birds in Flight, birdscapes, Black Skimmers, Blog, Brigantine Division, Brigantine NWR, Brigantine NWR, Oceanville NJ, Canon 1.4X Teleconverter, Canon 1D MkIV, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, Equipment, Oceanville NJ, Wildlife, wildlife drive Tagged: black skimmer, Black Skimmers, Black Skimmers Fishing, Black Skimmers in Flight, Brigantine birds, Brigantine Division, Brigantine Divison Edwin B Forsythe NWR, Brigantine NWR, Brigantine Wildlife Drive, canon 1.4x teleconverter series III, Canon 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm DO lens, canon 400mm f/4 DO, Canon 400mm f/4 DO lens, Canon 400mm f4 DO lens, Canon Series III 1.4X Teleconverter
Posted on June 11, 2022
The Featured Image is a closeup image of a male Blue Dasher Dragonfly resting on a stem. Image taken with a 400mm Canon DO lens with extension tubes to get closer focusing on the small subject Blue Dasher dragonfly but taken from a distance away. I found that using longer lenses with extension tubes for close focusing works well on these skittish dragonflies instead of macro lenses. You have a much longer working distance so your subject dragonfly does not get nervous & fly off giving you more time for shooting a variety of angles & compositions of images. And a bonus of using a 400mm lens or 300mm lens with extension tubes is you get very clean smooth blurred backgrounds. You can also add a 1.4x or 2x teleconverter for more working distance and even smoother backgrounds.
Category: Blog, Blue Dasher, Blue Dasher Dragonfly, Bugs, Canon 1.4X Teleconverter, Canon 1D MkIV, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Equipment, Insects, Tips & Techniques Tagged: 1.4x teleconverter, 2x Teleconverters, Canon 400 f/4 DO lens, canon 400mm f/4 DO, Canon Series III 1.4X Teleconverter, Dragonflies, extension tubes, Photographing Dragonflies
Posted on May 24, 2022
I usually do not photograph some of the smaller birds I see at Wildlife Refuges. Usually they are far off in the distance or are very skittish and fly off. On this trip to the Brigantine Division of the Edwin B. Forsythe NWR these Common Terns were more cooperative. All images here were taken with a Canon 400mm DO lens with a 2X Teleconverter on a Canon 1DmkIV. The last image in the series was actually a panorama shot as it was flying right at me and I wanted to get the right wingtip in also. So I quickly shot a series of images hoping to get the right wingtip in also for my final pano image.
Category: Birds, Birds, birdscapes, Blog, Brigantine Division, Brigantine NWR, Brigantine NWR, Oceanville NJ, Canon 1D MkIV, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, Equipment, Favorite Locations, Oceanville NJ, Wildlife, wildlife drive Tagged: Brigantine Divison Edwin B Forsythe NWR, Canon 1D MkIV, Canon 2X teleconverter, Canon 400mm DO lens, canon 400mm f/4 DO, Canon 400mm f4 DO lens, Common Tern Flying, Common Terns, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, Edwin B. Forsythe NWR, Edwin B. Forsythe Wildlife Drive, Panorama, Terns
Posted on May 22, 2022
A series of Northern Harrier images taken at the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Maryland. All images were taken with a 400mm DO lens with a 1.4X Canon Teleconverter on a Canon 7D.