Posts in Category: flight
Maine! Snail in flight
Herring Gull: York County, Maine, USA, August 2023 — It might not be about the gull…it is more about the snail that the gull is taking high up in the air, undoubtedly on its first flight, and then dropping it to the rocky verge below in hopes of cracking it open. Thus ends the snail. The first two images are overexposed slightly because I had the exposure compensation turned up in anticipation of shooting birds against the sky, and was caught on the wrong foot, so to speak, when this bird took off from the sand bar with the snail. I am still practicing my birds in flight skills with the OM Systems OM-1. Program mode with my custom birds in flight modifications. ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 1600 and 640 @ f6.3 @ 1/3200th.
Maine! Herring Gull catches eel
Herring Gull: York County, Maine, USA, August 2023 — During my birds in flight practice on Sunday morning, I managed to catch a sequence of this Herring Gull catching what appears to be an eel from the waters where a tidal creek meets our local river. Birds in flight are one thing, but a sequence like this is always special! 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. ISO 1000 @ f6.3 @ 1/3200th. Plus .7 EV.
Maine! Ring-bills in flight!
Ring-billed Gull: York County, Maine, USA, August 2023 — I am still trying to figure out my birds-in-fight modifications to program mode on my relatively new OM Systems OM-1…so I went down to the beach and river mouth to practice on some gulls and whatever else I could find there on a Sunday morning. There were lots of gulls in flight, but I only had one close flyover. These are three frames from one burst at 5fps as the gull swept by only maybe 20 feet over me, filling the frame at 800mm equivalent. I still need a lot of practice, and I am still tweaking the settings, but getting there. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds-in-flight modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 320 @ f6.3 @ 1/3200th. Plus .7EV
Maine! Snowy Egret in flight
Snowy Egret (and Canada Geese): York County, Maine, USA, August 2023 — Great Egrets outnumber Snowy Egrets by about 5 to 1 this summer on the sandbar at the mouth of one of our local rivers…but that does not mean the Snowies don’t put on a good show. 🙂 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 @ f8 @ 1/1250th. -.7EV.
Maine! — Ruby-throats
Ruby-throated Hummingbirds: York County, Maine, USA, August 2023 — we have unprecedented numbers of hummingbirds coming to our feeder this week. We have at least one male, one sub-adult male, and half a dozen “female/immature” types — often up to 4 around the feeder at the same time. The male and what I assume is an immature male are both attempting to guard the feeder from perches in the Maple tree above the deck. These shots were not in the best of light…early, on a rainy day, but they were all taken standing in our open deck door within 30 minutes of each other. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. Females at ISO 12800 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th, males at ISO 5000 and 4000 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th.
New Mexico! Red Crossbill
Red Crossbill: Randell Davey Audubon Center, Santa Fe, New Mexico, July 2023 — A couple more shots of the Red Crossbills currently visiting the Randell Davey Audubon Center in the foothills above Santa Fe: perched and caught in the act of taking flight. OM Systems OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 200 @ f7.1 @ 1/1000th.
New Mexico! Immature Red-tailed Hawk
Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk: Randell Davey Audubon Center, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA, July 2023 — I went up to Randell Davey Audubon Center, in the foothills above Santa Fe, one last time on our last day in New Mexico. We are home now and I am about half unpacked, but taking a break to revisit this very healthy looking juvenile Red-tailed Hawk which was circling the parking lot with one of its parents. OM Systems OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds in flight modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 1250 @ f6.3 @ 1/3200th. Plus .7EV.
Magpie
Black-billed Magpie: South Valley Park, Denver, Colorado, USA, July 2023 — a lucky shot from our hike in South Valley Park on the mountain edge of Denver. When I saw the bird it was on the rock, of course, but as I pressed the shutter button, it took off. Happens sometimes 🙂 OM Systems OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 200 @ f6.3 @ 1/800th.
Maine! More Great Egret in flight
Great Egret: York County, Maine, USA, July 2023 — Two more shots from the sequence of the Great Egret coming in from far out in the Little River Marsh. Elegance personified. OM Systems OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my evolving birds-in-flight modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 2000 @ f6.3 @ 1/4000th. +.7EV.
Maine! Snowy Egret fun
Snowy Egret: York County, Maine, USA, July 2023 — Just for fun. There were at least a dozen Egrets, Snowy and Great, on a sand bar where a tidal creek comes into our local river just inland from the mouth. These two were apparently trying to decide whether to go airborne or not for a short hop down the sandbar. The photos were taken from across the river with my OM Systems OM-1 and the 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and assembled in FrameMagic. ISO 200 @ f6.3 @ 1/800th.