Maine! Juvenile Cardinal
Northern Cardinal: York County, Maine, USA — Though we have Cardinals nesting in the neighborhood every summer, they only come to our yard once or twice a day…and most days we are not looking when they come. Recently we have had this juvenile Cardinal coming regularly, or regularly enough so we see it, every day. The adults are generally with it, but they mostly hang back under the big pines at the far edge of our lot. Though the juvenile does not have a lot of color yet, it is still a handsome bird! OM Systems OM-1 with the ED 100-400mm zoom. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife settings. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 20000 and 16000 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th.
Maine! Sunday Supplement. As Lee goes by.
Mid-afternoon yesterday the trailing edge of hurricane Lee passed off-shore from Kennebunk, Maine, and hundreds of local residents and tourists went down to the beach to watch the wave and cloud action…just about the same time I did. We got very little of the storm’s effects. Moderate rain and some gusty wind, but honestly you could have been forgiven for not realizing there was a hurricane out there. I finally found a place to park and spent an hour trying to photograph the frantic shorebirds, but I did pay some attention to the passing storm. 🙂 OM Systems OM-1 and Olympus OMD EM5Miii with the 100-400mm zoom at 800mm and the 12-45 zoom at 24mm equivalents. Program and HDR scene modes.
Maine! Those legs! (or that leg).
Greater Yellowlegs: York County, Maine, September 2023 — Before Lee, the Greater Yellowlegs were coming through in good numbers. I have to get out this morning to see how Lee changed the birdscape, but in the meantime, here is a Yellowlegs really showing off the leg. OM Systems OM-1 with the ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 200 @ f7.1 @ 1/1000th.
Maine! Prior to Lee
As Lee churns up the Atlantic, it is producing some interesting weather and some great skies. This was the day before yesterday, looking south and and a bit west down the coast. Olympus OMD EM5Miii with the 12-45mm Pro zoom at 24mm equivalent. In camera HDR. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. Nominal exposure ISO 200 @ f11 @ 1/500th.
Maine! Rimlighted Hummer
Ruby-throated Hummingbird: York County, Maine, USA, September 2023 — It seems like the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds were with us late this year…a week ago we still had them coming to the feeder. I think they all slipped down the coast ahead of Lee. We have not seen one in several days. These are from a week ago one morning while I as practicing my flute and watching the feeder action just as the sun was coming up over the trees in the back yard. I like the light on the wings…or in the wings. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds-in-flight modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and assembled in FrameMagic. ISO 12800 @ f6.3 @ 1/2000th.
Maine! Focus stacked fungi
One of my excuses for buying the Olympus OMD EM5Miii and the 12-45mm zoom was so that I could do focus stacked macro without taking the 100-400mm zoom off my OM-1. I have a December trip to Costa Rica that features at least 2 macro photography outings. 🙂 And I have not done much real macro while using the Sony RX10iv as it did not lend itself to really close work (and did not have in-camera focus stacking anyway). For those who do not know, focus stacking takes 8-10 exposures, automatically moving focus by a set increment, and then combines those images in the camera to produce an image that has much greater depth of field than a normal exposure…so that macro subjects in particular where depth of field is a real issue, can appear sharp from the very front to the very back. These are a few mushrooms I found along the Bridle Path in Kennebunk last week. I have a little, light weight Sirui carbon fiber tripod that I bought for this purpose exactly, and it works really well. Olympus OMD EM5Miii with the 12-45mm zoom at various focal lengths. Program mode with focus stacking. The only issue is the mosquitoes working this close to the ground for any length of time 🙂
Maine! Goldfinch in Joe Pye Weed
American Goldfinch: York County, Maine, USA, September 2023 — Though it looks like it might be an exotic, this plant is growing, thriving in fact, in a display of native plants at a local reserve…It is Joe Pye Weed, and it is the perfect setting to show off the bright yellow of this fall Goldfinch. As you can imagine there is an interesting story behind the name of the plant. It is named for the Joe Pye, who, legend has it, was a New England tribal medicine man who treated typhoid among early European settlers with native plants…though not, probably, the Joe Pye Weed…though it has been used to treat fever, among other ailments. It is a great host plant for bees and butterflies, and, apparently the Goldfinches enjoy it as well. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 1600mm equivalent (2x digital tel-extender). Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 250 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th.
Maine! Bee in Goldenrod
Common Eastern Bumblebee: Laudholm Farms (Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve), Wells, Maine, USA, September 2023 — At least three species of bees and one of hoverflies were out in great numbers in the Goldenrod at Laudholm Farms on a sunny afternoon…all busy harvesting pollen. This Bumblebee is well on the way to carrying a full load. OM Systems OM-1 with the ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent from just over 4 feet. Program mode with my custom bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 200 @ f6.3 @ 1/800th.
Maine! Oh deer
White-tailed Deer: Laudholm Farms (Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve), Wells, Maine, USA — I don’t get much chance to practice wildlife photography in Southern Maine…I am apparently just not in the right places at the right time…but on this day I noticed a group of people staring intently out under the trees of the old orchard at Laudholm and one using his phone in camera mode, and took a little detour from my chosen path to see what they were seeing. This large fawn, already loosing its spots, was enjoying the fallen apples at the back of clearing under the apple trees, and waited patiently as I took a few photos…maneuvering to get a line of sight through the foreground brush along the trail. Such a treat! OM Systems OM-1 with the ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 640 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th.
Maine! Meadow Marsh
One of my favorite local views. This is along the Bridle Path inland from Rt. 9. Testing HDR on the new to me OMD E-M5iii with the 12-45mm zoom at 24mm equivalent. The in-camera HDR mode (in the Scene Modes) seems to produce a nice understated effect. This particular scene can be hard because of the dark pines and maples this time of year, but I am happy with this. 🙂 Good thing. Processed in Pixelmator Pro.