Posts in Category: flight
Maine! Great Egret
Great Egret: York County, Maine, USA, July 2023 — Great Egret banking into a turn as it flew in from far out in the marsh. Not ideal lighting for a white bird…mid-day sun on our first sunny day in more than a week here in southern Maine. 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 @ 1/3200th. +.7EV (because I was expecting flight shots to be against the sky 🙂
Maine! More Least Terns
Least Tern: York County, Maine, USA, June 2023 — More Least Terns in flight at the mouth of our local river. I got so dizzy following these birds with the long lens on my camera that I came perilously close to a falling down faint once I stopped and started walking back. Worth it though! 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 640 @ f6.3 @ 1/4000th. +.7EV for backlight.
Maine! Hunting Least Tern
Least Tern: York County, Maine, USA, June 2023 — There were at least a half-dozen Least Terns hunting over the mouth of our local river. This is, as I have mentioned, a new colony this year I think…as the Least Terns reclaim more of their territory, moving up the coast from the main colony at the river mouth south of us. Terns are graceful hunters, and the Least Tern is among the most graceful. 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 250 @ f6.3 @ 1/4000th.
Maine! Willet on approach…
Willet: York County, Maine, USA, June 2023 — Another composite of three shots of an approaching Willet. It came in from many hundreds of yards out in the marsh, and I followed it all the way at 25 frames per second. These are the three shots I saved out of several hundred. 🙂 I had no idea when I started shooting that it was coming to me. OM Systems OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds-in-flight modifications. Processed and composited in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 640 @ f6.3 @ 1/3200th. Plus .7EV for the bird against the sky.
Maine! Tern in flight…
Least Tern: York County, Maine, USA, June 2023 — Another composited image of a Least Tern in flight at the mouth of one of our local rivers…entering hunting mode. Three shots at 25 frames per second, clipped out and arranged and processed in Pixelmator Pro. Program mode with my evolving birds-in-flight modifications. OM Systems OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. ISO 320 @ f6.3 @ 1/3200th. +.3EV.
Biggest Week in American Birding! Landing!
Trumpeter Swan: Metzger Marsh Wildlife Area, Beno, Ohio, USA, May 2023 — Landing gear fully down. OM Systems OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds-in-flight modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 800 @ f6.3 @ 1/4000th.
Maine! Terns in flight
Least Terns: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — I am just beginning to learn to shoot birds in flight with my new OM Systems OM-1 and the 100-400mm lens. The camera makes it easier, but I don’t get enough chances to practice. These shots of Least Terns hunting over the mouth of the Mousam River here in Kennebunk were all underexposed, for the bird, as the camera did not fully compensate for the bright sky background. I had to bring up shadows in post processing. Still, for what amounts to a first try at small birds, I am pretty happy with the results. 🙂 I have attempted Least Terns with each new camera I have owned, and the OM-1 certainly makes it easier. Program mode with my evolving birds-in-flight modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. 800mm equivalent. ISO 200 @ f7.1 and f6.3 @ 1/3200th.
White Pelicans in Ohio!
White Pelican: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2022 — Maybe it is just me, but I don’t immediately think of White Pelicans when I think of Ohio. Considering the long shoreline of Lake Erie, maybe I should, but I don’t. So I was surprised to look up from the boardwalk at Magee and see a large flock of them coming overhead. I even managed to get my camera up in time. 🙂 I happened to be with a “local” at the time, and she assured me that they are common along the Erie shore, and had already been in Ohio for more than a month at that point during the Biggest Week in American Birding in mid-May. Who knew? Sony Rx10iv at 526mm equivalent. Program mode with my “birds-in-flight” modifications (I have BIF programed into the AEL button, so I just swung the camera up, pressed the AEL button, zoomed out a bit to frame a section of the flock, and shot.) Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f5 @ 1/1000th. + .7 EV for the backlight.
Magnificent Frigatebird
Magnificent Frigatebird: Playa Blanca, Costa Rica (Osa Peninsula) — One afternoon late, we drove out to Playa Blanca, a beach on the Gulf of Deluce near Danta Corcovado Lodge, to look for Macaws. While we were looking, I grabbed this shot of one of the many Magnificent Frigatebirds soaring over the Gulf in the evening light. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f7.1 @ 1/1000th.
Eagles in the air…
Bald Eagle: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — Something a bit different than my perched backyard birds. I walked to Roger’s Pond the other day, checking to see if there were Eagles on the river there. None. However, on the way back, crossing the bridge over the Mousam, I looked up-river just as these two cleared the tree-line. Thankfully I had the presence of mind to get my camera up and press my “birds in flight” button for a series of shots as they spiraled up and away. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent (cropped significantly). Program mode with my Birds in Flight modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f5 @ 1/1000th. +1 EV exposure compensation.