Photographing Alligators (or not)

During my various travels photographing birds, I have for the most part ignored alligators when I've seen them.  This is mainly because they are about as plentiful as mosquitoes here in Florida and I feel that if you've seen one, you've pretty much seen them all.  Up until a few years ago, we had a few gators in the pond that borders our back yard, so I hardly get excited when I see one. 

On many occasions where I've been visiting a wildlife sanctuary to photograph birds, invariably someone approaches me when they notice one of my rather large white lenses, to tell me they see an alligator that I should go photograph.  This always puts me in the rather awkward position of figuring out a polite way to tell them that I couldn't care less about photographing an alligator.  But keeping that thought to myself, I always thank them and tell them that perhaps I'll check it out when I'm finished with what I'm working on now.  I'm guessing that most of these folks are probably northern visitors.  I guess if I were in Maine and saw a whale, I'd get excited too.

Every now and then while photographing birds, I have also photographed the occasional alligator.  When I've done so, I did it with the thought that if I ever decided to take a closer look at gators I would have a few images to work with.  But unlike birds, gators all look the same to me with the exception of differences in size.  What sometimes sets them apart are different surroundings and/or colorful reflections in the water from trees or other foliage on the bank of the pond.

This past week at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, I saw many gators, but two in particular that were close together that finally caught my interest.  They were facing opposite directions and the soft early morning light made them interesting, so I decided to snap a few shots.  One was a little larger than the other (probably about 8 or 9 feet in length) and was facing to the left,while the smaller one was facing the right.


#N_112154  - Shot settings: 1/1250 @f6/3, iso 400 at 500mm, hand held

When I later took a closer look at these images on the computer, I liked what I saw so I figured it was finally time to post a few gator photos.  These first two images show the same gator.  The image below is a close up cropped from the one above.
[click on any image for a larger view]


#N_112154c (cropped from the photo above)

The soft light and a bit of fill flash reveal some detail in the head shot, and that's what I liked about this particular image. 

The next image is the smaller gator that was facing the right.  If you are thinking this is just your typical average boring alligator photo, I pretty much agree.  This is why I seldom bother to even take pictures of them.


#N_112142 (1/1000 @ f6.3, iso 400, at 500mm.)

Although gators all look about the same to me, sometimes different surroundings make the shot more interesting than the gator itself.  I particularly like colorful reflections, as shown in the next few images. 

Thinking back, I knew I had some images with reflections from the Everglades National Park, so I dug them out to add them to this post.  The same gator is pictured in both images below; the first a little further away and the second as it approached me a little closer.



#N_80810 (1/500 @f5.6, iso 400 at 420mm)



#N_80811 (1/500 @ f5.6, iso 400 at 420mm) 


This last image may be my favorite of the few I have shot over the last few years.  I like the open  mouth, and the way we can see the roof of the gator's mouth in the reflection in the water.

#N_63432 (1/200 @ f5.6, iso 800 at 400mm)

Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

I was glad to be able to make my first trip of the season to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge earlier this week, and fortunately there were enough birds to make the trip worthwhile.   It's about 150 miles away, so I have to start out around 4:45 am in order to get there by sunrise and take advantage of the soft early morning light.

I was able to photograph a couple new species on this trip so that was an extra bonus.  This time of year the birds are starting to dawn their breeding colors, so that makes the photography all the more rewarding.  I met up on this trip with Dave Turko and we spent the morning tooling around Blackpoint Drive and Biolab Road, within the refuge.


#111890 - Reddish Egret - 1/1250 @f4, iso 400, 500mm


We saw quite a few reddish egrets, and enjoyed watching them strut around in the shallow water and pounce on countless fish. They always put on a good show.  The image above shows a typical early morning scene.   Below, the bird is ready to strike at a fish, and they rarely miss.


#111990 - Reddish Egret - 1/800 @f8, iso 400, 1000mm hand-held



#111873 - Reddish Egret with Catch - 1/1250 @f4, iso 400, 500mm

One species I have rarely seen and had never photographed, is the white morph reddish egret.  We were fortunate to see one but not in the best light.  I did not manage to get a photo I was happy with, but I captured the image below as documentation of having seen it. 


#111906 - White Morph Reddish Egret - 1/2500 @f5, iso 400, 500mm

The white morph is one of the most beautiful birds I've ever seen.  I'm pretty sure the color of the bird's bill and lore get brighter than you see here. I hope to be able to get some better images of this species at a later time. 

The image below is a Northern Shoveler. They are common but I had not gotten a decent photo of one before now.


#111951 - Northern Shoveler - 1/1250 @f8, iso 400, 1000mm hand-held

This is the first time I've tried hand holding my camera with 500mm lens and 2x teleconverter attached.  Adding the flash, the entire rig weighs 15 pounds.  It's quite a bit of weight to try and hold steady to get sharp photos.  I've gotten used to stooping down and propping up the lens with my left arm, resting it against my knee for support.  Dave shot this photo of me holding this rig.  When time permits, it's a lot less work to mount it on a tripod with gimbal head. 

One thing that really surprised me was that the images shot with the 2x teleconverter on this outing were surprisingly sharp.  Many times in the past I have avoided using the 2x except occasionally on my 300L f2.8 and 500L f4 lenses, and even then only as a last resort.  In theory, an extender will degrade image quality slightly, so you only want to mount it if you are using a very high quality lens to start with.  I sent my 500 f4 to Canon to have the calibration checked a few months back and this outing indicates that it's performing noticeably better now.  Before calibration, the images were noticeably softer with a teleconverter attached, than what I am getting now.


Canon 1D Mk2N camera, Canon 500L f4 IS lens, 2x Teleconverter, and 580EX II flash with "better beamer"  flash extender

The next two images are a horned grebe.  I had seen this bird one time before, but had not gotten a photo of it until now.  Again, this was not the best light angle, so I'll have to try and do better next time.


#112120 - Horned Grebe - 1/1000 @ f5.6, iso 400, 700mm



#112125 Horned Grebe - 1/1250 @f5/6, iso 400, 700mm

While driving around Blackpoint drive, we saw two bald eagles in a tree in the distance. They were not close enough for the photo to show much detail, but I took the shot below anyway.  This is at 1000mm, and with the 1.3x crop of the camera sensor, it's equivalent to 1300 mm on a 35mm film camera.


#112089 - Bald Eagles - 1/3200 @f8, iso 400, 1000mm hand-held

On the way out of the wildlife refuge, there were lots of birds in the water along the causeway.  I took the opportunity to get the close up shots shown below.


#112273 - Black Skimmer - 1/1600 @f8, iso 400, 1000mm



#112213 - Black Skimmer in flight - 1/2500 @f6.3, iso 400, 700mm



#112297 - Royal Tern - 1/1600 @f10, iso 400, 700mm



#112268 - Royal Tern - 1/1600 @ f8, iso 400, 1000mm

I saved one reddish egret photo to use as the last image.  This guy was more or less posing for me.


#112011 - Reddish Egret - 1/1250 @f8, iso 400, 1000 mm

Overall, this was a good trip.  I photographed several species I had not gotten before, and finally seeing a white morph reddish egret made it a memorable day.


Remembering the Fire

Today being Christmas eve, I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year.  In addition to being a time of celebration, for many of us this is also a time for reflection on the past.

It was 4 years ago yesterday that the sanctuary at Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church was completely destroyed by fire.  


#N_16855 - Before the fire



#N_35818

I suspect that nobody who was present the morning of December 23, 2007 will ever forget that day.  It was like a bad dream waking up on Sunday morning 2 days before Christmas, learning that your church had been reduced to ruins in an overnight fire. 

After a lot of work, study and planning, a new sanctuary was built to replace that which burned and it opened on the 2nd anniversary of the fire, December 23, 2009. 

#N_78383

Yesterday, two years after the first service in the new sanctuary, a sculpture was dedicated to mark the place in history where the congregation moved beyond the tragedy of the fire to continue forward.  The sculpture was created by Jim Smith from a twisted, melted steel beam that was part of the roof support structure in the original sanctuary.  You can clearly see in the 2nd image above the steel beams melted and sagging from the intense heat of the fire.  

#N_111631 - The "Rising" by artist Jim Smith

Below are a few more images of the new church.

#N_78409 - Outside at night



#N_78851B - Inside Stained Glass



#N_78158 - Antiphonal Organ (fisheye view)

 The 60 rank pipe organ was built and installed by A.E. Schulter Pipe Organ Company of Lithonia, Georgia.  I created this image using a fisheye lens from behind the antiphonal organ.



Yosemite National Park - Part 2



#7D_1001 El Capitan and Cathedral Rocks at night

I'll start off with a my favorite night time Yosemite image, which was photographed from the area called gates of the valley. It is a small turnout off northside drive and offers a great view of both El Capitan and Cathedral rocks.  The image above is a 30 second exposure that was taken in near total darkness at f4, iso 200 with a 17mm lens.  Due to the long exposure, the moving water creates a nice blur as it flows over the rocks, and the stars in the sky are just beginning to form star trails.  Because there was no moon, an exposure this long was necessary to get enough light on the mountains. 
The next image is taken from the same exact spot but looking a little more to the right at Cathedral Rocks.  You can see the blur of headlights and tail lights from cars passing on the road in the distance, and also rocks lit in the river from headlights of cars pulling into a parking area behind me.  The light on the rocks was unintentional, but I could not control it.


#7D_998 - Cathedral Rocks at Night

The following evening we were photographing Half Dome from the Sentinel Bridge and this was the first time I used a graduated neutral density filter.  It worked wonders at equalizing the bright light in the sky so that I could get a decent exposure of both the foreground and background, without blowing out highlights.


#7D_ 1271 - Half Dome

Had I done a little more investigating on filters prior to this trip, I could have saved myself a lot of grief the first couple days we were there.  The filter proved invaluable in many different situations and made it a lot easier to get photos that would have been impossible to capture without it. 

Where I had been bracketing exposures the first couple days in situations where the light was too harsh, I found myself wanting to go back to places I had been and re-shoot.

As I had said earlier, there was not much water flow in any of the falls this time of the year, so it was not a priority to photograph them.  I did however, photograph several of the falls that were visible either from the road, or after just a short hike. 

Although these are not very good photos, I am including them just to show what was there.  I do plan to return sometime in the summer so that I can get photos of the falls with more water flow, and also take the longer hikes required to photograph Vernal Falls and Nevada Falls.



#N110753 - Bridalveil Falls (photographed from the tunnel on Hwy 41)

 

#N110494 - Upper Yosemite Falls

#7D_747 - Lower Yosemite Falls

We finally drove up to Glacier Point, which is about an hours drive from the valley floor, depending on where you start.  It was along this drive that I showed the coyote photo in the previous post.   It's a long and winding road climbing several thousand feet, but offers spectacular views of the valley once you get to the top.  The following images show the observation area as well as a view of the valley.



#N_110710 - This is the famous overhanging rock. Many photos have been taken here.

#7D_1261 - The observation area at Glacier Point

#N_110716 - View of Yosemite Valley from Glacier Point

Yosemite National Park - Part 1



#7D_0976:  Valley View - El Capitan on left and Cathedral Rocks on right from the the Merced River
(6 second exposure at f8, iso 100)

As most of my close friends know, I recently completed 6 months of cancer treatment and my wife and I celebrated with a 2-week trip to California.  The first week we visited three national parks:  Yosemite, Kings Canyon, and Sequoia;  and the second week was spent in and around San Francisco.  For all who may be wondering about me, I am fine as far as I know, and I will have periodic scans every few months to check and verify that I remain cancer free.   During this trip I was still a little worn down from the radiation treatments I had just finished 7 days before we left, and I had to stop and rest frequently during uphill hikes.  But in the next few weeks I should get my normal strength back, and hopefully I have seen the end of the lymphoma. 

#7D_1166:  Cathedral Rock - Photographed from a meadow north of the Merced River
(1/100 second at f9, iso 200)

My wife and I had never been to Yosemite or to San Francisco, so this was a special trip in several ways.  My main objective was to enjoy the beauty and try and get a few pictures at the same time.   Yosemite did not disappoint.  It is beautiful in every way and it is surely a place I will visit again in the future.  I plan to return in the summertime when there is higher water volume in the falls.  Since I was not in shape to do some of the longer hikes required to see Vernal Falls or Nevada Falls I was not planning to photograph them on this trip anyway.   There will be a better time for that when there is more water flowing, and when I'm back in shape and able to enjoy the long hikes.   I pre-planned where we would go to take pictures each morning and evening to take advantage of the good light.  In between those times, we explored the valley and photographed some places that were not so dependent on the light coming from any particular angle.  It was also fun to photograph some of the same places during the daytime, and then again under the stars at night.  In the next post, you will see some of the night time photos.

#N110735:  Coyote
(1/250 sec at f4.5, iso 400)

I had not expected to see much wildlife on this trip but to my surprise, we came upon a coyote one afternoon on the drive up to Glacier Point.   I was able to fire off a few shots out of the rolled down car window and I think the photo above is probably the best one.   I also took a few shots of a deer I saw when we stopped to photograph El Capitan.  Those two photos are below.


#N110810 - Deer
(1/160 second @ f2.8, iso 400)

#N110805:  El Capitan
(1/640 sec @ f4, iso 200, -2/3 EV)

The next image was taken from the swinging bridge. It shows Cathedral Rock in the distance, with the Merced River in the foreground. I really liked the contrast of colors in this scene.

#7D_1181:  View from the Swinging Bridge
(1/500 @ f6.3, iso 400)

Next is an image of Half Dome photographed from Cook's Meadow, with a large elm tree in the foreground.  From this location, you can see several of the notable Yosemite landmarks simply by looking in a different direction.

#7D_0906:  Half Dome from Cook's Meadow
(1/250 @ f8, iso 200, -1EV)

Next is a photo of El Capitan with its reflection in the Merced River, photographed from Cathedral Beach.  This image was difficult to capture and it took my widest lens, a 15mm fisheye, to fit the entire reflection in the frame.  Some of the barrel distortion from the lens has been removed in photoshop.  This was a very cold morning with temperatures in the 30's and after about an hour my numb fingers told me it was time to get back to the car and move on.



#N110571:  El Capitan from Cathedral Beach
(1/200 second @ f8, iso 100, 15mm fisheye lens)

Of course, no trip to Yosemite would be complete without the classic photo below taken from just outside the tunnel on highway 41, commonly referred to as 'tunnel view'.  This is probably the most commonly photographed scene at Yosemite.

#7D_1267:  Tunnel View
(1/500 @f7.1, iso 200, with 2-stop graduated neutral density filter)

In the next post, I will show some of the waterfalls and the night time photos, as well as some views from Glacier Point, looking down into the valley from above.

Back to Birding...

I have been itching to get out with the camera lately, and today I finally pushed myself a bit and went out to photograph birds.   I did not have my usual stamina, and found that I had to stop and take a rest every hour or so.  But it was nice to get outdoors and once again occupy myself with something I really enjoy doing.

I was able to get a few decent photos, including one of a roseate spoonbill chick.  Prior to today I did not have any images of chicks of this particular species, and it was difficult to get this one due to twigs and branches obstructing my view to the bird as it hobbled around in the nest.  But waiting and watching for quite some time finally paid off and resulted in the image below.  You can contrast this image with of the adult spoonbill below it.



Roseate Spoonbill - chick



Roseate Spoonbill - adult


The next image is a cattle egret in full breeding plumage.  It's quite amazing how a fairly boring white bird transforms itself into the colorful version you see below in breeding season.


Cattle Egret in breeding plumage




Next is a young tricolor heron.  As the bird gets older, the browns will turn to blues as seen in the top image in this article.



Tricolor Heron - juvenile


Finally a great white egret both perched and in flight.



Great White Egret