Maine! Barn Swallow in flight
Barn Swallow: York County, Maine, USA, September 2023 — a small flock of Barn Swallows was feeding avidly on a swarm of insects just above the tops of the trees along the trail. An ideal opportunity to practice the most difficult of birds in flight. The Barn Swallow, apparently, has the widest distribution of any passerine bird in the world. This bird, as did most of the birds flying with it, looks to be a female or sub-adult male…as it lacks the long outer tail feathers. Clearly I still have room to improve my BIF skills. OM Systems OM-1 with the ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds-in-flight modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 200 @ f6.3 @ 1/1000th.
Maine! Monday motivation
Focus stacked image of Begonia flowers from the back deck. OM Systems OMD-EM5Miii with 12-45mm f4 Pro zoom. Program mode with focus stacking at 90mm equivalent. Nominal exposure ISO 200 @ f4.5 @ 1/125th. Processed in Pixelmator Pro.
Maine! A haggle of hen turkeys
Wild Turkey: York County, Maine, USA, September 2023 — last week I posted images from a group of tom turkeys that I encountered out on my trike…that was inland from the house…this is a similarly sized group of hens from the seaward side of the house, again, from the seat of my trike. I can get petty close if I stay seated and just inch up using the peddles, camera at ready. Of course, they are feeding right at the edge of the road, so they are expecting (as much as turkey can expect anything) vehicles to come by. It is very rare to see one hit. OM Systems OM-1 with the ED 100-400mm zoom at 760 and 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. First two ISO 2500 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th @ 760mm. Last one at ISO 4000 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th @ 800mm.
Maine! Greater Yellowlegs
Greater Yellowlegs: York County, Maine, USA, September 2023 — The Greater Yellowlegs seem to be passing through in numbers right now, but I have yet to see a Lesser. They like to feed under the bridge on the way into our local beach, where you cross the tidal creek. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 200 @ f6.3 @ 1/800th.
Maine! Hey! Clear the runway!
Great Egret and Herring Gull: York County, Maine, USA, September 2023 — I am not sure why the Great Egret thought it had to land on top of the Herring Gull…there was lots of empty sand on the sandbar…but then I don’t have access to the flight data either. There must have been a reason. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds in flight modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and assembled in FrameMagic. ISO 640th @ f6.3 @ 1/3200th.
Maine! Friday Surprise. Indian Pipe
Ground level on a small stand of emerging Indian Pipe (Ghost Pipe, Ghost Flower) This is a hand-held focus stack from the OM-1 and the 12-45mm f4 Pro. Program mode. Processed in Pixelmator Pro.
Maine! Strange beach-fellows
Great Blue Heron and Greater Yellowlegs: York County, Maine, USA, September 2023 — Strange beach-fellows. Or not. Both looking for food along the edge of the sandbar at the mouth of one of our local rivers. There are a lot of Greater Yellowlegs coming through headed south at the moment. 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 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th.
Maine! Thursday special. Chipper
Wildlife photography in southern Maine is much more difficult than bird photography. The birds are pretty much everywhere, but you have to look much harder to find wildlife of any kind…unless, of course, you are talking about Chipmunks. I know, many photographers would scoff at the idea that chipmunks count as wildlife…but we take what we can get, and every once in a while, a chipper just sits up so cute that you have to take notice. And if it out in the wild (or at least away from our yard) that is even better. This one was out on the Kennebunk Plains when I was there checking the Blazing Star bloom and photographing insects. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 200 @ f6.3 @ 1/800th.
Maine! Bee in Blazing Star
Common Eastern Bumblebee: Kennebunk Plains, York County, Maine, USA, August 2023 — before Northern Blazing Star season slips completely away, one last shot. Of course the Blazing Star bloom is a magnet to every pollen collecting bug in southern Maine. There were bees of every sort found here, including this common Bumblebee. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 1250 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th.
Maine! Wednesday Damsel
Swamp Spreadwing (?) doing calisthenics. Day Brook Pond, Kennebunk Plains Nature Conservancy, York County, Maine, USA — the spreadwings seem very few in number this year, and very late. ?? I think this is a Swamp Spreadwing doing interesting things with its abdomen. OM Systems OM-1 with the ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications.