Posts in Category: p&s 4 wildlife
10/27/2011: Biology Lesson: Green Darners
The mating wheel of the Green Darner Dragonfly.
Which leads inevitably to this: the female depositing eggs, with the male still attached.
San Joaquin National Wildlife Refuge, Irvine CA.
Canon SX40HS at 1) 780mm equivalent field of view, f5.8 @ 1/200th @ ISO 200, 2) 780mm, f5.8 @ 1/320th @ ISO 200, 3) 840mm plus 1.5 digital tel=extender for 1260mm equivalent, f5.8 @ 1/200th @ ISO 250. Program with iContrast.
Processed in Lightroom for Intensity and Sharpness.
10/26/2011: The stare of the Kestrel
I worked around this female American Kestrel at San Joaquin National Wildlife Refuge in Irvine CA for the better part of 20 minutes. She was very aware of my presence and clearly wondered just what I was doing circling her tree, but she was not worried enough to fly away. I left before she did.
It was miserable light for photography. The bird was on a bare branch against a relatively bright foggy sky (the famous CA Marine Layer), but I had to try. My best shots are at relatively high power, where the bird filled more of the frame, but all required processing for edge flare and purple shadows. Small digital sensors really strain with backlight…and of course, under the Marine Layer, there was not as much light as I might have liked…the ISO values were elevated…and that seems to compound the flare and purple problem.
Still, I got a few keepers. And it is a Kestrel. One of my two favorite birds (the other is the Green Kingfisher). Any encounter with a Kestrel is worth memorializing.
Nikon Coolpix P300 behind the 15-56x Vario eyepiece on the ZEISS DiaScope 65FL. Program. 1) 4000mm equivalent field of view, 1/125th @ ISO 320. f11 effective. 2) 2000mm equivalent, 1/200th @ ISO 160, f5.5 effective. 3) 4000mm equivalent, 1/125th @ ISO 180, f11 effective. (The exposure varied quite a bit shot to shot at the highest power, depending on the position of the bird in the frame. I had to equalize brightness in Lightroom.)
Processed for Clarity and Sharpness in Lightroom. 3) received considerable fill light and brightening to bring up the exposure.
10/25/2011: Coy. Great Blue Heron
Great Blue Herons are actually easier to photograph when hunting than when preening. When hunting they freeze for moments at a time, waiting perfectly still for a glimpse of prey below the surface of the water. When preening they are in constant motion. Still, you take what you can get. This bird was preening in one of the far back ponds at San Joaquin National Wildlife Refuge in Irvine CA last week while I was setting up for the ZEISS / Sea and Sage Audubon Point & Shoot for Wildlife workshop. The light was subdued…fog in the air and a heavy Marine Layer (fog) above to filter the sun.
Nikon Coolpix P300 behind the 15-56x Vario Eyepiece on the ZEISS DiaScope 65FL spotting scope for the equivalent field of view of a 3000mm lens on a full frame DSLR. 1/200th @ ISO 160. f8 effective, limited by the scope.
Processed in Lightroom for Clarity and Sharpness.
10/24/2011: Another Green Darner Tel-macro
Like I said a few days ago, the Green Darners are out in force in Orange County California. Here is another telephoto macro. This individual female had green where the previous female was mostly turquoise. I do not yet know enough about dragonflies yet to know what makes the difference.
Canon SX40HS at 840mm optical equivalent field of view plus 2x digital tel-extender for 1680mm equivalent. f5.8 @ 1/320th @ ISO 160. Program with iContrast.
Processed in Lightroom for Intensity and Sharpness.
10/11/2011: Northern Leapord Frog in Fall
I was out catching the fall foliage at one of my favorite places, Old Falls on the Mousam River, when this fellow popped out from under my feet. He sat just long enough, half hidden by the fern, for me to get off a few shots. This isbwhere the 4.5 foot close focus on the telephoto (840mm equivalent) comes into its own.
Canon SX40HS St 840mm equivalent field of view. f5.8 @ 1/200th @ ISO 200. Program with iContrast.
Processed in Lightroom for Clarity and Sharpness.
10/7/2011: Carolina on my mind (wren that is ;)
On my last stop on the way out of Henriticus City Park in Chester VA, on the deck overlooking the only open water in the old oxbow marsh, I heard this Carolina Wren singing up a storm in the trees on either side, but, though I tried several times, I could never locate it. Carolina Wren is one of my challenge birds. I don’t see them often, and, though I have several shots and a bit of video, I still don’t have a shot that really satisfies me. Still there was lots to take in on the sunset marsh, and I was using the zoom to frame everything from the broad expanse to little bits of marshy abstract pattern. When I turned to leave, I caught a glimpse of movement down low in the trees under the deck. Sure enough the wren was skulking in fairly dense cover down there. Then it finally popped up in the open and I zoomed out to 840mm equivalent and got on it. I had little hope the new camera would be able to lock focus. It was dark in there, and there was no shot clear of some obstructions in the foreground, so I was surprised when the green focus indicator popped up on the second try with the bird sharp beyond the foreground twigs. Life is good. I took several shots, and then remembered to shoot a bit of video. Handheld video at 840mm equivalent…right! I am totally amazed at how good the image stabilization on the Canon SX40is is. Though I wandered a bit, there is no camera jitter. Amazing.
Canon SX40is at 840mm equivalent field of view. Both shots f5.8 @ 1/100th @ ISO 800. (Again, impressive to be able to hand-hold 840mms at 1/100th of a second…and I am really pleased with the image quality at ISO 800 in relatively difficult lighting.)
Processed in Lightroom for Intensity, Clarity, and Sharpness. Cropped slightly for image scale and composition.
And here is the video, after processing for Sharpness and Contrast in Sony Vegas. The original is full HD. You can see this in 720p.
10/6/2011: Dragonfly at the limits
On my short visit to Henriticus City Park (a historical reenactment site near Chester VA, and the main offices for ZEISS Sports Optics) after work yesterday, I found this dragonfly sitting on the tip of a stripped willow branch out over the marsh…too far away. But, with my new fascination with dragonflies, I had to try.
I like it as an image. I like the arch of the branch and the final wispy twist isolated against the sky…and the way the dragonfly (I think just a well aged Ruby Meadowhawk) in its sun-posting pose echoes it. I like the evening light of the low sun.
And that I got the image at all is somewhat amazing to me. The Canon SX40is locked on focus on the first attempt and I shot several images at the long end of the zoom, 840mm equivalent field of view. The Canon’s image stabilization is amazing. Even at 840mm this is a heavily cropped image…well over 50%, down to 2700×1560 from 4000×3000…leaving about 4.2mp out of 12. That is a pretty heavy crop for a Point and Shoot super-zoom! Clicking the image will take you to my WideEyedInWonder site where you can see an even larger version.
Canon SX40is at 840mm equivalent field of view. f5.8 @ 1/200th @ ISO 100. Program.
Processed in Lightroom for Clarity and Sharpness.
10/5/2011: Eisenhower Bee
While at Eisenhower Park on Sunday, there were multitudes of bees working the flower borders. They munst know how short the season is now, and must be driven to harvest while the harvest is still here.
And I was practicing with the new zoom. It has a great close focus, even at the long end. With the Nikon P500 I have been using, I would put the camera in Close Up mode to engage close focus and then be able to zoom out to about 600mm and maintain macro focus. With the Canon, in my experiments so far, macro does not appear to work well above about 2 feet at the tele end (though it focus down to 0 cm at the wide end…you can focus on something that is touching the outer surface of the lens)…but normal close focus at the long end of the zoom is 4.6 feet (and very fast)…which certainly gives you a tele-macro effect.
This shot was at 840mm equivalent field of view from about 5 feet. Not bad!
Canon SX40is at 840mm equivalent, f6.3 @ 1/1250th @ ISO 160. Program.
Processed in Lightroom for Clarity and Sharpness.
9/28/2011: Great Egrets in Bad Air: Wildlife Wednesday
When you are working with a spotting scope, with a digital camera behind the eyepiece, where you can reach ridiculous equivalent fields of view…1000mm to 5000mm…it is tempting to reach out for those far birds, and occasionally, when the air is just right, you get a reasonable shot. More often, the air between you and the bird, or the heat shimmer and moisture in the air between you and the bird, produce a shot that is not quite satisfying. Astronomers call it “bad air”, and it limits observational astronomy and astro-photography just as it does bird photography. Most of the bird photography you see on the internet and in books and magazines was done at very close range. There is no other way to capture that feather detail. But still…sometimes the light is so fine, and the bird so elegant (or ugly, or cute, or just so full of itself) that you have to try. Sometimes, despite the bad air, it works.
This Great Egret was in an impondment on the Wetlands Trail at East Harbor State Park in Port Clinton OH, just over the first ridge of beach from Lake Erie, in mid-afternoon of a late summer day. The wind was brisk, and through the scope, you could easily see the heat shimmer in the air…so I did not have high hopes. In the first shot it is the lighting, and the posture of the bird that saves the shot. In the second, I really like the delicate reeds in front of the bird.
Then, crossing half the continent to a morning a few days earlier, we have another Great Egret, this time in the marshes of Southern Maine, along the Kennebunk Bridle Path. This image is really about the early morning light on the marsh grasses, already touched with fall, and the way it molds the Egret…folds the Egret…in its golden warmth. The pose helps, beak just parted, and alert, but not yet nervous. Way too much shimmer…bad air…between me and the bird, and little hope of a sharp shot, but still…gotta try, and for me, as an image (in distinction from a bird shot) this works.
All three with the Nikon Coolpix P300 behind the 15-56x Vario eyepiece on the ZEISS DiaScope 65FL spotting scope. 1) about 2000mm equivalent field of view, 1/1000th @ ISO 160, f5.5 effective. 2) about 3500mm, 1/500th @ ISO 160, f9.6 effective. 3) about 1000mm equivalent, 1/320th @ ISO 160, f3.4 effective. All Programmed Auto, and auto focus.
Processed in Lightroom for Clarity and Sharpness.
9/24/2011: Antidote for the Rain, Monarch on Aster
I woke this morning to rain. Still raining. It rained most of the day yesterday and it’s raining now. Rain is predicted for this morning, and then thundershowers this afternoon. So, as an antidote for the rain, I offer this Monarch Butterfly on wild Aster from last Sunday’s excursion to Meadowbrook Marsh Sanctuary in Port Clinton OH.
The monarch is a big bright butterfly at any time, but put it against the contrasting purples of the Aster and it really pops. I chased this specimen along the edge of one of the grassy walks at Meadowbrook for 10 minutes or more, hoping for this shot.
Nikon Coolpix P500 in Close Up mode with the default zoom setting overridden. 669mm equivalent field of view, f5.7 @ 1/400th @ ISO 160.
Processed in Lightroom for Clarity and Sharpness.