Posts in Category: beach
Maine! Eye to eye
Semi-palmated Plover: York County, Maine, USA, September 2024 — I went to the beach yesterday to see if the shorebird migration has reached us. Lots of Semi-palmated Plovers and Sandpipers but no Sanderlings yet. Still on their way I guess or they hopped over us. I sat on the sand for a while to see how close the plovers and sandpipers would come to me in my bright yellow triking shirt and hat. They came close. Sony a6700 with the Tamron 50-400 Di iii zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my (momentarily messed up) bird and wildlife modifications (I had been researching a setting for a follower and did not get my modifications set back correctly, so this was taken at an uncharacteristically slow shutter speed of 1/160th.) Processed in Photomator.
Maine! The 15mm view
First photos from my new (used, like new) Sony E 10-18 f4 wide angle zoom. This is 15mm equivalent on an overcast morning with more than a little smoke from western wildfires in the air. With this lens it is all about perspective. 🙂 Sony a5100. Superior Auto, Landscape mode. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Feed me!
Least Tern: York County Maine, USA, August 2024 — The Least Tern chicks are fully fledged and have been flying around the beach for weeks, but they aren’t hunting on their own yet. They gather in little pods to wait for mom or dad to bring them a Sand Eel or Rock Gunnel, all calling out softy until an adult appears and then really squawking. It can’t be long now before the adults leave them to their own devices. Sony a6700 with the Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC VXD zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my action and flight modifications. Animal/bird subject recognition auto focus. Processed in Photomator and assembled in FrameMagic.
Maine! Monarch on Rose Hips
The Monarch Butterflies are coming back through, down the coast, on their way to Mexico. They come around Great Head point and across the Mousam River mouth, over the beach and the marsh, and continue on south, 20 or so of them in the short time I am looking. They rarely light for more than a few seconds, and most don’t light at all while I am looking. This one settled a moment on the ripening Beach Rose hips (Rosa Rugosa). Sony a6700 with my action and flight modifications (just in case it did not sit for me). Insect recognition auto focus. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! The family that hunts together stays together
Snowy Egrets: York County Maine, USA, August 2024 — I am pretty sure, from other photos taken at the same time, that this is an adult and this year’s immature Snowy Egret feeding in a tidal creek. Sony a6700 with the Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC VXD zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Animal/Bird recognition auto focus. Highlight metering. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Little black clouds
Something in every layer of interest…from the beach rose pips and weathered post in the foreground to the snow fence and wind combed marsh grasses in the mid-ground, to the little black clouds just above the horizon…something to take the eye. I am sometimes accused of taking photos with nothing in them…but I say that is exactly what I am photographing…the too much to fit in a frame shots. Sony a5100 with 16-50 kit lens at 24mm equivalent. Intelligent Auto, Landscape Scene Mode. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Debby sky over the dunes
As the remnants of Hurricane Debby approached the northeast coast, the skies heralded her coming. 🙂 Lots of drama. Sony a5100 with 16-50 kit zoom at 24mm equivalent. Intelligent Auto. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Song on the rocks
Song Sparrow: York County, Maine, USA, August 2024 — I was taking photos of a Snow Egret in the tidal creek when I heard a russel in the beach rose right at my feet. It was a Song Sparrow, this Song Sparrow, and it came out onto the gravel just below the road foraging, totally unconcerned with my close presence. Sony a6700 with the Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC VXD zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. ISO 640 @ f6.3 @ 1/1000th. (Experimenting with the “faster” setting under Min SS ISO Auto 🙂 Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Common in name only
Common Tern: York County, Maine, USA, August 2024 — There was a large flock of Terns actively feeding at the junction of creek and river behind the beach the other day…mostly Common Terns. A thing of beauty to watch and a challenge to photograph. Such grace. Such power. Such a mastery of the air. Sony a6700 with the Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC VXD zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my action and flight modifications. Animal/bird recognition auto focus. Auto ISO set to faster for higher shutter speeds (1/2000th). Processed in Photomator.
Maine! After the rains
Parson’s Beach and the Mousam River, Kennebunk, Maine, USA. August 2024 — The rains had passed and we were treated to some late afternoon sun, so of course I rode my trike down to the beach to see what I could find. This is looking back up the Mousam from the point of Parson’s Beach. Notice the Common Terns wheeling and diving over the water. Sony a5100 with the 16-50 kit lens at 24mm equivalent. Intelligent Auto, landscape scene mode. Processed in Photomator.