Posts in Category: flight
Maine! Flight against the light
Ringbilled Gull: York County, Maine, USA, November 2024 — I got down to the beach yesterday to see what was in the river mouth, hoping for a few winter ducks in close. Not much yet, but I had some fun with the gulls in flight with the sun behind them. Sony a6700 with Sony E70-350G at 525mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds-in-flight and action modifications. Processed in Photomator and Luminar Neo (a small amount of motion blur reduction).
Maine! Herring Gull Overhead
Herring Gull: York County, Maine, USA, November 2024 — We will pause my coverage of Yellowstone to bring you this Herring Gull in flight from our local beach. I went down early yesterday specifically to try from some birds-in-flight shots with the new lens…BIF are a challenge with any camera and any lens and it takes continual practice to “keep your eye in”. Sony a6700 with Sony E 70-350 G at 525mm equivalent. Program mode with my BIF and action modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Incoming!
Great Egret: York County, Maine, USA, September 2024 — The group of Egrets and Herons were close, by Maine standards, to the trail already when this Great Egret decided to move to a pool right in front of me. I got the camera in action and flight mode in time to catch a burst of shots as it crossed the marsh toward me and landed. Another study in wing power. Sony a6700 with the Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my action and flight modifications. Processed in Photomator and assembled in FrameMagic.
Maine! See my wings!
Great Blue Heron (and Snowy Egret): York County Maine, USA, September 2024 — The Heron flew 50 yards from one spot in the marsh to another and landed just about on top of the Snowy Egret. Massive wings to lift a relatively massive bird. Sony a6700 with the Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my action and flight modifications. Animal/bird recognition auto focus. Highlight metering. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Great Blue Airways
Great Blue Heron: York County Maine, USA, September 2024 — There seem to be a lot of Great Blue Herons, compared to this time in past years, still hanging out in the marshes at the mouth of the river. There were 3 three together yesterday, with 3 Great Egrets and close to a dozen Snowy Egrets, all feeding in the same area of the marsh. The Herons were more mobile, moving from place to place in full flight and I had a chance to get some decent flight shots of them skimming the grasses and landing. Sony a6700 with the Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my action and flight modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Up, up, and away
Double-crested Cormorant: York County Maine, USA, September 2024 — This Double-crested Cormorant seems to have laid claim to a stretch of unnamed tidal creek in the marsh. It has been regular there for a couple of weeks now. Though you can’t tell from the photos, the creek at this point is only a dozen feet across, and varies in depth from 1 to 10 feet, depending on the tide. Cormorants are never going to win any prizes for deportment or elegance, but they get the job done…generally with a lot of splashing. Sony a6700 with my action and flight modifications. Animal/bird recognition auto focus. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Red over head
Red-tailed Hawk: York County, Maine, USA, September 2024 — I watched this Red-tailed Hawk fly in to the far edge of the marsh, pursued by crows, as I walked out the trail and kept my eye out for it on the way back. Sure enough it came soaring down the berm from behind me, and circled twice right over me. I think it was actually using the thermal from the colder waters of the creek just there to gain a bit of height, but as it circled I was able to get a few relatively close shots of the hawk overhead with an interesting sky behind. Sony a6700 with the Tamron 50-400 Di iii zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my action and flight modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Wild Hummingbird
Ruby-throated Hummingbird: York County, Maine, USA, August 2024 — Until this year I would have said that encountering Ruby-throated Hummingbirds away from any feeder, in the wild, was very rare. This summer I have had half a dozen encounters, and gotten photos in two of them. The problem with wild sightings is that, without a feeder to keep them close and coming back, you only have seconds to react…to get the camera up and get off a burst or two of shots before the hummingbird is off to find fresh flowers. And of course, around a feeder you are “primed” for hummers…ready both physically and psychologically to capture the action. Just out on a stroll, seeing what you can see, it is much more difficult to snap to focus and snap the photos. And, of course, it is a testament to how well bird recognition, eye-tracking auto focus works that any of these chance encounters result in focused images. 🙂 Sony a6700 with the Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC VXD zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife and action and flight modifications. (I switched between the two shots…so these are shots from two different bursts…on is at 1/500th and one is at 1/2000th. Can you tell which is which?) Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Hummer at the fuchsia
Ruby-throated Hummingbird (immature male): York County, Maine, USA, August 2024 — The Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are coming back south down the coast and we have, as I noted a few days ago, a young male that is attempting to dominate the feeder. At the beginning of the summer we hung a fuchsia plant next to the feeder, on the advice of a friend who gets lots of hummers visiting the flowers. We have watched all summer, and this new young male is the first to do so on a regular basis. These images are early morning shots, on a cloudy day, so the light was less than optimal, especially for the high shutter speeds I wanted for the hummer, but still. 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 detection auto focus. ISO 12,800. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Great flyby
Great Egret: York County Maine, USA, August 2024 — One of the great things about bird and wildlife photography is that you just never know what is going to happen. It was such a slow morning yesterday that I was doing macros of fungi in the forest, just to keep myself busy (and, honestly, because I enjoy photographing mushrooms) but when I stepped back out onto the marsh trail what should come flying by but this Great Egret…close too. It made one loop coming down river past me, and then disappeared way up river. This one has it all. The bird. The feather detail. the sun light highlighting the head and beak, the extension of the wings, the cloud mottled blue sky behind! Not expecting that. But so glad to be there when it happened and ready with my camera. Sony a6700 with the Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC VXD zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my action and flight modifications. ISO 200 @ f6.3 +.3EV @ 1/2000th. Processed in Photomator.