Posted on April 14, 2022
The images here are from Winter visits to the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge over a few years. The Featured colorful ice image was taken at sunrise with a Sigma 300-800mm lens @ 300mm on a Canon 20D .
Category: Blackwater NWR, Blackwater NWR, Cambridge MD, Blog, Cambridge MD, Cloudscapes, Favorite Locations, Landscapes, Skies and Clouds, skyscapes, Skyscapes & Clouds, sunrise, sunrise panoramas, wildlife drive Tagged: Blackwater Colorful Clouds, Blackwater landscapes, blackwater National Wildlife refuge, Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge Wildlife Drive, Blackwater NWR, Blackwater NWR Landscapes, Blackwater NWR sunrises, Blackwater sunset., Blackwater Sunsets, Blackwater Wildlife Drive, Canon 1D MkIII, Canon 1D mkIII1D, Canon 20D, Canon 400mm f/4 DO lens, Canon 7D, Sigma 300-800mm DG Lens
Posted on January 11, 2022
Here are a few more Alligator images from our Florida trip a few years ago to Lake Woodruff NWR. Luckily they were mostly in the water channels along the paths or sunning on the shorelines in the refuge and not on the paths. The Featured image was taken with a Canon 7D with a Tamron 150-600mm @ 220mm.
American Alligator, Canon 7D, Tamron 150-600mm @500mm
American Alligator, Canon 7D, Tamron 150-600mm @ 329mm,
Posted on December 13, 2021
I was going through backup drives and found a series to post of Little Blue Heron images. Little Blue Herons are some of my favorite Herons to photograph. They always seem to have a very intense look when they are searching for a meal. The Featured Image was taken @ J.N. Ding Darling NWR along the Wildlife Drive with a 100-400mm lens @ 400mm, f/8 on a Canon 7D.
Category: Birds, Birds, birdscapes, Blog, Ding Darling NWR, Sanibel FL, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, Equipment, J.N. Ding Darling NWR, Wildlife, wildlife drive Tagged: Canon 1.4X Telconverter, canon 100-400mm lens, Canon 1D mkII, Canon 7D, Celery Farm Natural Area, J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, J.N. Ding Darling NWR, Little Blue Heron
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.
Posted on October 3, 2021
Roseate Spoonbills are one of my favorite Florida birds to photograph! Plus they are a large colorful bird that fills the frame & stands out in photos. In this image I really liked the outstretched wings showing the feather detail and the size of the wingspan. Their wingspan on average is 47 to 52 inches. Image taken at J.N. Ding Darling NWR in Florida a few years ago with a 300mm lens, 1.4X teleconverter on a Canon 7D.
Posted on October 2, 2021
This Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron image is from a previous trip to the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Rookery in Florida. It is an interesting place to photograph Florida birds. Many types of birds nest here because their nests are protected from predators because of the Alligators below the Boardwalk. Image taken with a 400mm DO lens on a Canon 7D.
Category: Birds, Birds, Blog, Equipment, Favorite Locations, St. Augustine Alligator Farm, St. Augustine rookery, Wildlife Tagged: canon 400mm f/4 DO, Canon 7D, rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm, St. Augustine Alligator Farm, St. Augustine Alligator Farm Rookery, St. Augustine rookery, Yellow-crowned Night-herons
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.
Category: Blackwater NWR, Cambridge MD, Blog, Brigantine NWR, Oceanville NJ, Davidsons Mill Pond Park, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, Oceanville NJ, Plainsboro Preserve Tagged: Blue Dasher, Blue Dasher Closeups, blue Dasher Dragonflies, Blue Dasher Dragonfly, Blue Dasher Face, Blue Dasher Female, blue dasher Female dragonfly, Blue Dashers, Canon 1D MkIV, Canon 2X teleconverter, canon 300mm f/4 IS lens, canon 400mm f/4 DO, Canon 400mm f/4 DO lens, Canon 7D, Canon Series III 1.4X Teleconverter
Posted on July 15, 2021
I was going through my backup hard drives cleaning out unneeded files when I found this image of a male Painted Skimmer Dragonfly. This was taken at my pond years ago with a 300mm f/4 lens on a Canon 7D. Image taken @ f/11 to try to get a little more detail in the far wingtips.
Category: Blog, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Equipment, Insects, yard & pond Tagged: canon 300mm f/4 IS lens, Canon 7D, Dragonflies, dragonfly, painted Skimmer dragonfly, Pond
Posted on June 22, 2021
Another Dragonfly image from our walk at the Audubon Plainsboro Preserve. The featured image is made from 2 images shot with a 300mm lens with a 1.4X Teleconverter @ f/8. I usually shoot my series of images starting at the head and work my way back down the body. I would have shot 1 more image for the tail but it flew off before I could get that shot.
Posted on June 11, 2021
We went to the Audubon Plainsboro Preserve looking for dragonflies and any other interesting subjects we could find to photograph. We found a male & female Common Whitetail Dragonfly in 2 different locations along our walk. The Featured Image is a Female Common Whitetail Dragonfly 2 shot focus stack @ f/8. I focused first on the head & then focused on the tail. Then blended the 2 images in Photoshop for the final image. By shooting 2 images @ f/8 and combining the 2 images I had the depth of field to get the head & tail in focus and still have a somewhat smoother background I wanted without getting a more cluttered looking background. Usually I would use f/5.6 instead of f/8 but I only wanted to use 2 images in case the dragonfly flew off. All images in this post were taken with a Canon 7D with a 300mm f/4 lens & 1.4X Teleconverter.
Female Common Whitetail Dragonfly, f/ 5.6. Showing smoother uncluttered background but the tail sharpness is softer than the 2 image stacked image.
Female Common Whitetail Dragonfly @ f/11, 300mm, 1.4x teleconverter. Showing even at f/11 the tail sharpness is softer than the 2 image focus stacked image.
Immature Male Common Whitetail Dragonfly, 300mm, 1.4x teleconverter, @ f/8, Canon 7D, showing smoother, uncluttered background.
Immature Male Common Whitetail Dragonfly, 300mm, 1.4x teleconverter, @ f/16, Canon 7D, showing a more cluttered distracting background.
Category: Blog, Davidsons Mill Pond Park, Dragonflies, Favorite Locations, Focus Stacking, Image Stacking Tagged: Audubon Plainsboro Preserve, Canon 7D, Canon Series III 1.4X Teleconverter, common whitetail, common whitetail dragonfly, Common Whitetail Skimmer, Dragonflies, dragonfly photography, Dragonflys, Female Common Whitetail Dragonfly, Plainsboro Preserve