photoartflightAmerican White Pelicans At J.N. Ding Darling NWR
Posted on March 1, 2022
A group of ~10 American White Pelicans from a previous trip many years ago to J.N. Ding Darling NWR in Florida. This was taken with one of my favorite lenses, the Sigma 300-800mm f/5.6. It was a Great Lens to setup on a tripod and work an area. At ~13 lbs you had to use a heavy tripod but you could really get a great assortment of images when you found an area where birds were coming and going and interacting with each other. It even worked well with 1.4x & 2x telconverters for even more reach. This image was taken with a Canon 1D mkIV @ 648mm. I have since replaced it with a Tamron 150-600mm which you can easily handhold for images and easier to carry. Plus it also works well with Teleconverters for more reach.
American White Ibis On Branch
Posted on December 23, 2021
I noticed this American White Ibis way up in a tree at J.N. Ding Darling NWR. The White Ibis really stood out against the bright blue sky. It is amazing such a large bird can hold on to such a thin branch. It’s feet are really wrapped around the branch that it is holding on to. Images taken with a Canon 400mm DO lens on a Canon 1D mkIV.
American White Ibis – Horizontal Version,
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.
Waving Great Blue Heron
Posted on April 3, 2020
We were setup on the Wildlife Drive at this popular spot at J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. It is a fairly wide open area with sandbars where birds tend to land and flock to. Plus a lot of activity in the water around it. A lot of people also fish here so it gets very crowded for photographers! Sometimes there are up to 40 or more people here photographing the birds. This Great Blue almost looks like it is waving to us. I also liked the Cormorant swimming by in the background. Image taken @800mm.
Osprey In Tree Sunset
Posted on March 19, 2020
As the sun was setting and the sky was glowing orange I noticed this Osprey in a tree along the Wildlife Drive at J. N. Ding Darling NWR on our way out of the Refuge. I liked the stark dark Osprey & tree silo against the colorful sky. Image taken with 400mm DO lens.
Willet Shorebird – Eye To Eye with Prey
Posted on March 16, 2020
I came across this Willet looking for a meal at J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge in Sanibel, Florida. These are from a visit years ago. I was using a Sigma 300-800mm f/5.6 lens on a Canon 1D MkIII. These are all at 800mm. It caught a small reddish orange crab that seemed to only have one eye. It was trying to swallow it but as it was trying it lost its grip and was holding it by one leg. Then that leg broke off and the crab fell into the water. But it managed to catch it again and have it’s meal. I thought the crab got away but the Willet won in the end.
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
American Alligators At Ding Darling NWR
Posted on March 9, 2020
This is a series of images featuring American Alligators from a previous visit to the J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge in Florida. Because Alligators are long and thin, it seemed to make sense to photograph them with some panoramas! This way you also limit a lot of empty water areas on top & bottom of the image making your subject alligator more the focus of your image. All images were taken with a Canon 400mm DO lens with a Canon 7D. The featured image is made from 4 images to fit all of the Alligator in the finished panorama. You also have to photograph your series of images quickly because your subject is actually swimming along as you are photographing them. So by photographing the series quickly it helps to minimize the slight difference in the overlapping images.
Head Shot, 1 image, 400mm, Canon 7D
3/4 Alligator Image, 400mm, Canon 7D (Single Image)
2 Image Panorama, 400mm, Canon 7D
Red-shouldered Hawk Take-Off Series
Posted on March 8, 2020
I am still going through files from past photo trips. Now that I am retired I have time to go back and work on images I had not gotten to adjust before. Work always seemed to get in the way. This is a series of images of a Red-shouldered Hawk take-off from a small branch at Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge in Sanibel, Florida. I was using a 400mm DO lens with a 1.4x Teleconverter on a Canon 7D (for an effective Full Frame Camera equivalent field of view of ~896mm). Many times at Ding Darling you see interesting photo opportunities but the subjects are quite far away. So it is fun to try different ways to photograph distant subjects. The more you try different techniques, the better your results and are more predictable. With a 1.4x teleconverter I would stop the lens down 1 more stop than I would usually use. For a 2x teleconverter I would stop the lens down 2 stops more. With a 1.7x teleconverter I would also stop down 2 more stops than usual. Yes I actually found a 1.7x teleconverter for Canon lenses.
I was surprised it kept focus on the hawk and not on the branches as I was tracking the hawk.
Anhingas In Trees
Posted on January 7, 2020
I was walking along the Wildlife Drive at the J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge when I came upon this Anhinga. We tend to like walking along the Drive because you see more wildlife and have more opportunities for getting interesting photos. Plus you are not in the middle of large groups of photographers photographing the same subject at some of the main photo hotspots there.
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