The tricolor heron is one of the most colorful birds we see here in Florida in the springtime. Since I've been a little under the weather lately these images are from an earlier outing.
[click on any image for a larger view]
Showing posts with label Birding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Birding. Show all posts
Monday, March 28, 2011
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Juvenile Night Heron
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| 40-13600 - Night Heron headshot |
Since I don't have may photos of this species, I thought I'd post a couple images from a recent outing. This is not a full grown bird, but rather a juvenile. Night herons in this stage are sometimes mistaken for the American bittern, and they can sometimes look similar. The night heron is usually more hunched over when perched, and I believe the larger orange eye of the night heron sets it apart. There is also a dark brown mark under the neck of the American bittern that turns black in adults, and no such mark exists on the night heron. An American bittern will often points its head and bill straight upward when startled. [click on any image to enlarge]
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| 40-13606 - Juvenile Night Heron |
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| #89078 - Juvenile Night Heron |
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Reworking Old Photos
It seems as software gets more and more sophisticated and one's editing skills improve, there is always a desire to go back and re-edit old photos. On that topic, I often tell my friends that I don't think any of us will live long enought to go back and fix all of the images we'd like to fix. But accepting that as reality, it's still fun to take some time now and then to dabble a little bit just to see the difference between our editing skills now, versus what they were back whenever.
I have been cleaning up some old computer files this weekend and deleting a lot of old images that I no longer feel are worth holding onto. But in that process I stumbled across a few photos I couldn't resist taking time to rework.
I've been using Photoshop CS5 since it was released a last year and I believe it is absolutely the best upgrade Adobe has ever released in the CS line of software. Adobe Camera Raw version 6 (raw image editor) is absolutely amazing compared to even the last version that preceded it. The improvements in ACR alone make CS5 worth the upgrade price.
The first image above of a juvenile night heron in flight, is a lucky shot I made back in 2005 with my first ever DSLR, a Canon 10d. It typically could not focus fast enough to track a moving bird, but I got lucky on this attempt. This is still one of my favorite shots of all the birds in flight I have photographed since.
Here are a few images I reworked today...
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| Night Heron in Flight (juvenile) 2005 [Click on any image for a larger view] |
I have been cleaning up some old computer files this weekend and deleting a lot of old images that I no longer feel are worth holding onto. But in that process I stumbled across a few photos I couldn't resist taking time to rework.
I've been using Photoshop CS5 since it was released a last year and I believe it is absolutely the best upgrade Adobe has ever released in the CS line of software. Adobe Camera Raw version 6 (raw image editor) is absolutely amazing compared to even the last version that preceded it. The improvements in ACR alone make CS5 worth the upgrade price.
The first image above of a juvenile night heron in flight, is a lucky shot I made back in 2005 with my first ever DSLR, a Canon 10d. It typically could not focus fast enough to track a moving bird, but I got lucky on this attempt. This is still one of my favorite shots of all the birds in flight I have photographed since.
Here are a few images I reworked today...
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| Tricolor Heron in breeding plumage, 2009 |
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| Red Shoulder Hawk, 2008 |
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| Yellow Crowned Night Heron, 2010 |
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| Meadowlark, 2008 |
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| Wood Stork (nest building), 2009 |
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| Great Egret with nesting material, 2009 |
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Birding In Florida - Part 2
Viera Wetlands, The Everglades NP, & Fort De Soto Park
(Continued from Part -1 )
This anhinga was working the canal and repeatedly came up with minnows. It was a challenge to try and get him in the photo before the fish was gone. I snapped this one just in time. The same anhinga is seen below with a bigger catch. It seems pretty amazing to me that a bird this size can swallow a fish as big as this one all in one gulp.
Another stop we made was the north beach at Fort De Soto Park. It felt really strange to arrive there to find the parking lot empty, even in the middle of spring break. Since the weather turned too cold for swimming and partying on the beach, the college kids had apparently resorted to indoor partying and we had the whole place to ourselves. There were literally 4 cars in the parking lot when we pulled up.
About the only thing I saw there was a pair of oystercatchers. They were pretty skiddish but eventually I managed toget close enough to get some photos. This is another species that I had been wanting to photograph, so I was glad to see them.
(Continued from Part -1 )
After Merritt Island, we headed down to Viera Wetlands, which is about 40 minutes south, off I-95.
The goal there was caracaras. We had visited the place on a couple prior occasions but never seen them. We were joined there by another friend, Klaus Peter and his friend Donnie who had met us at Merritt Island. And just by chance we also bumped into fellow blogger Brad Myers who was on vacation from Pennsylvania (what a small world). It's difficult to get any keeper shots of wading birds at Viera because they do not allow people to shoot from the edge of the water, so it's difficult to get low enough to create a nice blurred background. Although most of the time nobody will catch you if you break the rules.
There are usually good possibilities for nesting birds and some occasional flyers. I made a fair amount of images of great blue herons, and the two shown above are my favorites. [click any image to enlarge]
We finally saw a caracara, but it landed very high in a pine tree, too far away for any photo worth showing here. But a few minutes later a juvenile bird flew past us and eventually perched on a fence post. I hate having a fence post in the photos but sometimes you just take what you can get. Having not yet gotten images of his species, we took a few shots and then worked in closer to try to get better ones.
After finishing with the caracara, we felt we had gotten what we came for, so we headed to our next planned stop. We had virtually no luck at Orlando Wetlands, Circle B Preserve, and Corkscrew. The water level at Corkscrew was so high that there were no birds. After spending an afternoon there, we elected to make a run down to the Everglades because the folks at Corkscrew told us it had lots of birds.
The images below are from Shark Valley in the Everglades National Park. 
This anhinga was working the canal and repeatedly came up with minnows. It was a challenge to try and get him in the photo before the fish was gone. I snapped this one just in time. The same anhinga is seen below with a bigger catch. It seems pretty amazing to me that a bird this size can swallow a fish as big as this one all in one gulp.
Another stop we made was the north beach at Fort De Soto Park. It felt really strange to arrive there to find the parking lot empty, even in the middle of spring break. Since the weather turned too cold for swimming and partying on the beach, the college kids had apparently resorted to indoor partying and we had the whole place to ourselves. There were literally 4 cars in the parking lot when we pulled up.
About the only thing I saw there was a pair of oystercatchers. They were pretty skiddish but eventually I managed toget close enough to get some photos. This is another species that I had been wanting to photograph, so I was glad to see them.
All and all, this was a good trip. It would have been even better if we had seen more birds, but the cool weather and the combination of high water at Corkscrew made the birds pretty scarce. Ironically I still manged to photograph 3 new species and get some improved images of several more. One bird I have still not properly photographed is a swallowtail kite. I saw a few of them on this trip, but struck out every time. Either they were too far off or obstructed in flight by tree branches above me. I will close this post with the sunset over the north beach at Fort De Soto Park.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Great Blue Heron
Of all the large birds I've photographed, the great blue heron is one of my favorites. During breeding season the plumage is really beautiful, especially at its peak when the lore turns bright blue.
I was cleaning up some files on my computer today and ran across some images from a previous outing that I had not yet worked up or converted from raw. Looking through them brought back memories of the day I photographed this graceful bird, and I decided to post a flight series from that day. These were shot in Wakodahatchee Wetlands in South Florida. In the flight shots below, the male was flying out to retrieve sticks, which he would then carry back to the nest and hand off to the female.
I was cleaning up some files on my computer today and ran across some images from a previous outing that I had not yet worked up or converted from raw. Looking through them brought back memories of the day I photographed this graceful bird, and I decided to post a flight series from that day. These were shot in Wakodahatchee Wetlands in South Florida. In the flight shots below, the male was flying out to retrieve sticks, which he would then carry back to the nest and hand off to the female.
I hope you enjoy these images. Breeding season is winding down in Florida and looking through these images makes me wish for springtime to begin all over again. To see more of my birds in flight images, click here.
Click any image to enlarge.
Finally, here is a photo of the male pictured above, landed in the nest with the female.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Swallowtail Kite
66409 Swallowtail Kite 
I have wished for an opportunity to photograph a swallowtail kite for quite some time, and until today I had never gotten that chance. It's funny that in my occasional travels with my friend Ken Conger, there was a day when we both thought we would nail that shot. I cannot honestly remember if it was 2007 or 2008, but talk was buzzing around the nature photography forums that a swallowtail kite was building a nest in the Everglades National Park, in a tree right next to the parking lot at Shark Valley. Folks were coming from all around and photographing that bird as it would swoop down to the nest, carrying moss. I had even thought about how I could like to compose a shot if I had gotten the opportunity. We were travelling across Florida and we had already planned a stop there, but when we arrived, we did not see the bird we were seeking. In fact we only saw one swallowtail kite there, and it was far in the distance from our location, and nowhere near the tree where we had been told to look.
66406 Swallowtail Kite
This morning I walked outside to pick up the newspaper and I noticed a swallowtail kite soaring about a hundred feet or so above the street. My first thought was if I go get the camera, it will be gone when I return. But what the heck, I went back inside and grabbed my camera and attached a 100-400 lens to it, then headed for the door. When I got back outside, the bird was about twice has high and getting a decent photo was out of the question. I snapped a few shots anyway just to have a record of bird's visit, and I was about to head back inside when the surprise came. A second swallowtail kite swooped down about 20 feet above me and began to circle my driveway. It was so close that I clipped the wings on a couple shots. I tried to relax and follow the bird and I managed to get a few photos before it flew away toward the lake that is behind our house. According to time in the exif data of the photos, it the whole ordeal lasted only 16 seconds.
66410 Swallowtail Kite
I wasn't sure I got anything worth posting as I realized that I had not even checked the exposure mode of the camera, or any of the settings. When I examined the camera I found that it was in manual mode, iso 200, 1/640 at f8. I had been photographing a construction project the last time out and those were the settings I used last. I pointed the lens toward the sky and looked through the viewfinder to check the exposure, and found that those settings amounted to +2/3 EV against the blue sky, and +1 EV against the white clouds according to the camera's meter. Now how lucky is that? When I shoot birds in flight I always set the camera to either +2/3 or +1 EV because it allows me to properly expose the bird without the meter being fooled by the bright sky. So just by chance, my camera was already set to the perfect settings to photograph that bird.
66412 Swallowtail Kite
One other thing I wish I had done is grab a flash. That would have helped, but perhaps the bird would have been gone before I returned if I had taken any more time. In the soft early morning light the photos came out pretty decent even without it.
66413 Swallowtail Kite
What a nice surprise this was first thing in the morning. You can bet I'll be looking up at the sky from now on when go outside to get the paper.
I have wished for an opportunity to photograph a swallowtail kite for quite some time, and until today I had never gotten that chance. It's funny that in my occasional travels with my friend Ken Conger, there was a day when we both thought we would nail that shot. I cannot honestly remember if it was 2007 or 2008, but talk was buzzing around the nature photography forums that a swallowtail kite was building a nest in the Everglades National Park, in a tree right next to the parking lot at Shark Valley. Folks were coming from all around and photographing that bird as it would swoop down to the nest, carrying moss. I had even thought about how I could like to compose a shot if I had gotten the opportunity. We were travelling across Florida and we had already planned a stop there, but when we arrived, we did not see the bird we were seeking. In fact we only saw one swallowtail kite there, and it was far in the distance from our location, and nowhere near the tree where we had been told to look.
66406 Swallowtail Kite
This morning I walked outside to pick up the newspaper and I noticed a swallowtail kite soaring about a hundred feet or so above the street. My first thought was if I go get the camera, it will be gone when I return. But what the heck, I went back inside and grabbed my camera and attached a 100-400 lens to it, then headed for the door. When I got back outside, the bird was about twice has high and getting a decent photo was out of the question. I snapped a few shots anyway just to have a record of bird's visit, and I was about to head back inside when the surprise came. A second swallowtail kite swooped down about 20 feet above me and began to circle my driveway. It was so close that I clipped the wings on a couple shots. I tried to relax and follow the bird and I managed to get a few photos before it flew away toward the lake that is behind our house. According to time in the exif data of the photos, it the whole ordeal lasted only 16 seconds.66410 Swallowtail Kite
I wasn't sure I got anything worth posting as I realized that I had not even checked the exposure mode of the camera, or any of the settings. When I examined the camera I found that it was in manual mode, iso 200, 1/640 at f8. I had been photographing a construction project the last time out and those were the settings I used last. I pointed the lens toward the sky and looked through the viewfinder to check the exposure, and found that those settings amounted to +2/3 EV against the blue sky, and +1 EV against the white clouds according to the camera's meter. Now how lucky is that? When I shoot birds in flight I always set the camera to either +2/3 or +1 EV because it allows me to properly expose the bird without the meter being fooled by the bright sky. So just by chance, my camera was already set to the perfect settings to photograph that bird.66412 Swallowtail Kite
One other thing I wish I had done is grab a flash. That would have helped, but perhaps the bird would have been gone before I returned if I had taken any more time. In the soft early morning light the photos came out pretty decent even without it. 66413 Swallowtail Kite
What a nice surprise this was first thing in the morning. You can bet I'll be looking up at the sky from now on when go outside to get the paper.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Birding Nirvana
Photographing Birds in Flight
On Tuesday I went out with the intention of getting some bird images and testing my camera that was just back from Canon sporting a brand new shutter. In my previous post, I used my backup camera and was pleasantly surprised at how well it tracked moving birds.
63622 Roseatte Spoonbill 1/3200, f5.6, +2/3EV
But this day I was happy to have my main rig back in my hands, and I also took the 40d just in case. I set out early to drive to my venue of choice, the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm, which is about an hour away. This day would prove to be the best day ever for flight photos. The conditions were nearly perfect and the birds were so numerous that often I had to choose which one to follow and shoot. If there is such a thing as birder's nirvana, this must have been it. In this post I will show camera settings on each photo for the benefit of anyone who might be wondering. All photos in this post were shot with a Canon 1D-Mk2N body and 100-400L IS lens at iso 400. Aperture and shutter speed, as well as exposure compensation (if applicable) are shown above each photo. If exposure compensation is not shown, the photo was shot in full manual mode. Near the bottom of this post, I have shared some additional shooting tips for birds in flight.
I started off looking for an opportunity to photograph some perched birds, but I quickly abandoned that idea when I realized that there was such an abundance of flyers. To me, flyers are the ultimate challenge and I find it difficult NOT to try and photograph them, especially when the conditions are good and the backgrounds are sweet. Most of the morning, I was fortunate to have both.
63837 Great Egret 1/2500, f7.1
By the mid-afternoon, I had shot about 800 images, which is very unusual for me. Normally I will shoot till noon at the latest, and generally will end up with less than half that number. But the action was non-stop and I took advantage of it.
63594 Wood stork 1/2000, f5.6, +2/3EV
I watched as this wood stork repeatedly flew to a tree to rip off a branch, then carry it back to the nest. I loved the look of the wing spread just before he took flight. Below is another shot of him flying with a different branch.
63602 Wood Stork 1/1600, f5.6, +2/3EV
As is usually the case, there were more great egrets in the air than any other species. I did try to capture a cattle egret and snowy egret flyer, but the opportunities were rare. I was fortunate to capture a few shots of roseatte spoonbills in flight, mainly because I just happened to notice them coming before they got too close. There were only two or three chances to get spoonie flyers all day. My favorite shot was the first one posted at the beginning of this post above. The shot below is of a younger bird.
63560 Roseatte Spoonbill 1/1250, f5.6, +1EV
63664 Great Egret 1/2500, f6.3
The next few images are great egrets. I had a blast photographing these guys and even though I felt like I was taking a lot of shots that were almost identical, I never tired of doing it. I had a nice conversation with another bird photographer while I was shooting, and after a while learned that he is Kevin Karlson. Kevin has published several books on bird photography, and you can see his website HERE . Since we were both shooting right next to each other, we got many almost identical shots, and we had fun comparing them on our cameras.
63638 Great Egret 1/2000, f7.1, +2/3EV
63654 Great Egret 1/2500, f6.3
63552 Great Egret 1/2000, f5.6, +1EV
When I am shooting birds in flight, I find that it's generally best to shoot in full manual mode, but sometimes I also use aperture priority. No matter what exposure program you choose, you always have to overexpose the shot by about 2/3 to 1 stop if shooting against a bright sky background. Otherwise you will end up with a dark silhouette instead of a well exposed bird. If shooting white birds against dark foliage, the exact opposite is true and you must underexpose by approximately the same amount. The advantage of using full manual is that you can take a few test shots and set the exposure, and it will be the same no matter what the background. This eliminates the need to keep changing the exposure compensation depending what the background is. Since you never know exactly where the bird is going to fly, manual mode yields a lot more keepers and far fewer missed opportunities. I also prefer using flash rather than relying only on natural light. What I try to do is use just enough flash to fill the shadows, but not so much that the viewer can easily tell that flash was used.
63655 Great Egret 1/2500, f6.3
63693 Snowy Egret 1/2000, f7.1
63995 Snowy Egret 1/2500, f7.1
63833 Tricolor Heron 1/2500, f7.1
I was hoping to get a nice shot of a tricolor heron in flight, but unfortunately the only decent shot I think I got was this one looking almost straight up. Perhaps I'll get a better opportunity at a later time. I was not especially crazy about the wing position of the great egret shot below, but other than that I love the detail and sharpness. I am posting a 100% crop below the full shot, so you can get an idea of what I am seeing on my monitor.
63724 Great Egret 1/2500, f7.1
63724 Great Egret 100% crop 
Snowy egrets and cattle egrets always seem to fly very erratically compared to the larger great egrets. This makes capturing a flight shot especially challenging. On this outing, I only saw 2 or 3 cattle egrets building nests, so the chances were limited. The shot below was my best effort.
64128 Cattle Egret 1/2500, f7.1
Shooting birds in flight is great fun, and it's also rewarding when you have a good day. I've had my share of frustrating days in the past, but this particular outing made up for a lot of them. This is the kind of day that keeps me coming back.
On Tuesday I went out with the intention of getting some bird images and testing my camera that was just back from Canon sporting a brand new shutter. In my previous post, I used my backup camera and was pleasantly surprised at how well it tracked moving birds.
63622 Roseatte Spoonbill 1/3200, f5.6, +2/3EV
But this day I was happy to have my main rig back in my hands, and I also took the 40d just in case. I set out early to drive to my venue of choice, the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm, which is about an hour away. This day would prove to be the best day ever for flight photos. The conditions were nearly perfect and the birds were so numerous that often I had to choose which one to follow and shoot. If there is such a thing as birder's nirvana, this must have been it. In this post I will show camera settings on each photo for the benefit of anyone who might be wondering. All photos in this post were shot with a Canon 1D-Mk2N body and 100-400L IS lens at iso 400. Aperture and shutter speed, as well as exposure compensation (if applicable) are shown above each photo. If exposure compensation is not shown, the photo was shot in full manual mode. Near the bottom of this post, I have shared some additional shooting tips for birds in flight.
I started off looking for an opportunity to photograph some perched birds, but I quickly abandoned that idea when I realized that there was such an abundance of flyers. To me, flyers are the ultimate challenge and I find it difficult NOT to try and photograph them, especially when the conditions are good and the backgrounds are sweet. Most of the morning, I was fortunate to have both.
63837 Great Egret 1/2500, f7.1
By the mid-afternoon, I had shot about 800 images, which is very unusual for me. Normally I will shoot till noon at the latest, and generally will end up with less than half that number. But the action was non-stop and I took advantage of it.63594 Wood stork 1/2000, f5.6, +2/3EV
I watched as this wood stork repeatedly flew to a tree to rip off a branch, then carry it back to the nest. I loved the look of the wing spread just before he took flight. Below is another shot of him flying with a different branch.63602 Wood Stork 1/1600, f5.6, +2/3EV
As is usually the case, there were more great egrets in the air than any other species. I did try to capture a cattle egret and snowy egret flyer, but the opportunities were rare. I was fortunate to capture a few shots of roseatte spoonbills in flight, mainly because I just happened to notice them coming before they got too close. There were only two or three chances to get spoonie flyers all day. My favorite shot was the first one posted at the beginning of this post above. The shot below is of a younger bird. 63560 Roseatte Spoonbill 1/1250, f5.6, +1EV
63664 Great Egret 1/2500, f6.3 
The next few images are great egrets. I had a blast photographing these guys and even though I felt like I was taking a lot of shots that were almost identical, I never tired of doing it. I had a nice conversation with another bird photographer while I was shooting, and after a while learned that he is Kevin Karlson. Kevin has published several books on bird photography, and you can see his website HERE . Since we were both shooting right next to each other, we got many almost identical shots, and we had fun comparing them on our cameras. 63638 Great Egret 1/2000, f7.1, +2/3EV
63654 Great Egret 1/2500, f6.3
63552 Great Egret 1/2000, f5.6, +1EV
When I am shooting birds in flight, I find that it's generally best to shoot in full manual mode, but sometimes I also use aperture priority. No matter what exposure program you choose, you always have to overexpose the shot by about 2/3 to 1 stop if shooting against a bright sky background. Otherwise you will end up with a dark silhouette instead of a well exposed bird. If shooting white birds against dark foliage, the exact opposite is true and you must underexpose by approximately the same amount. The advantage of using full manual is that you can take a few test shots and set the exposure, and it will be the same no matter what the background. This eliminates the need to keep changing the exposure compensation depending what the background is. Since you never know exactly where the bird is going to fly, manual mode yields a lot more keepers and far fewer missed opportunities. I also prefer using flash rather than relying only on natural light. What I try to do is use just enough flash to fill the shadows, but not so much that the viewer can easily tell that flash was used. 63655 Great Egret 1/2500, f6.3
63693 Snowy Egret 1/2000, f7.1
63995 Snowy Egret 1/2500, f7.1
63833 Tricolor Heron 1/2500, f7.1
I was hoping to get a nice shot of a tricolor heron in flight, but unfortunately the only decent shot I think I got was this one looking almost straight up. Perhaps I'll get a better opportunity at a later time. I was not especially crazy about the wing position of the great egret shot below, but other than that I love the detail and sharpness. I am posting a 100% crop below the full shot, so you can get an idea of what I am seeing on my monitor.
63724 Great Egret 1/2500, f7.1
63724 Great Egret 100% crop 
Snowy egrets and cattle egrets always seem to fly very erratically compared to the larger great egrets. This makes capturing a flight shot especially challenging. On this outing, I only saw 2 or 3 cattle egrets building nests, so the chances were limited. The shot below was my best effort.
64128 Cattle Egret 1/2500, f7.1
Shooting birds in flight is great fun, and it's also rewarding when you have a good day. I've had my share of frustrating days in the past, but this particular outing made up for a lot of them. This is the kind of day that keeps me coming back.
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