Posts in Category: Laudholm Farm
Maine! Sunday Supplement 2: Autumn’s touch
Fall is coming! This wet maple forest is right next to the marsh just inland from the sea, so it will be a while before peek foliage…but already the tallest maples are touched by fall. OM Systems OMD EM5Mkiii with 12-45mm Pro zoom at 24mm equivalent. In-camera HDR mode. Processed in Pixomator Pro.
Maine! Catbird in the berries
Grey Catbird: York County, Maine, USA, September 2023 — The Winterberries are ripe and a host of Catbirds, staging for the trip south here on the Southern Maine coast, are feeding on them. I can’t ever remember seeing so many Catbirds as are in the woods right now. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixomator Pro. ISO 500 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th.
Maine! Apple eater
Eastern Chipmunk, Laudholm Farms, Wells, Maine, USA — There are lots of fallen apples in the old orchards at Laudholm Farms right now, and the Chipmunks are having a feast. They are so busy eating that they play little attention to passing humans, even those with cameras who very likely stop for a few photos. Or more. OM Systems OM1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixomator Pro. ISO 6400 @ f6.3 @ 1/1600th.
Maine! Fresh on Friday. Little River Marsh
Little River Marsh from the overlook at Laudholm Farms, Wells, Maine, USA, September 2023 — OM Systems OMD EM5MKiii with 12-45mm Pro zoom at 24mm equivalent. HDR Scene mode. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. Nominal exposure: ISO 200 @ f10 @ 1/400th. (4 shots combined in camera).
Maine! Goldfinch in Joe Pye Weed
American Goldfinch: York County, Maine, USA, September 2023 — Though it looks like it might be an exotic, this plant is growing, thriving in fact, in a display of native plants at a local reserve…It is Joe Pye Weed, and it is the perfect setting to show off the bright yellow of this fall Goldfinch. As you can imagine there is an interesting story behind the name of the plant. It is named for the Joe Pye, who, legend has it, was a New England tribal medicine man who treated typhoid among early European settlers with native plants…though not, probably, the Joe Pye Weed…though it has been used to treat fever, among other ailments. It is a great host plant for bees and butterflies, and, apparently the Goldfinches enjoy it as well. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 1600mm equivalent (2x digital tel-extender). Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 250 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th.
Maine! Bee in Goldenrod
Common Eastern Bumblebee: Laudholm Farms (Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve), Wells, Maine, USA, September 2023 — At least three species of bees and one of hoverflies were out in great numbers in the Goldenrod at Laudholm Farms on a sunny afternoon…all busy harvesting pollen. This Bumblebee is well on the way to carrying a full load. OM Systems OM-1 with the ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent from just over 4 feet. Program mode with my custom bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 200 @ f6.3 @ 1/800th.
Maine! Oh deer
White-tailed Deer: Laudholm Farms (Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve), Wells, Maine, USA — I don’t get much chance to practice wildlife photography in Southern Maine…I am apparently just not in the right places at the right time…but on this day I noticed a group of people staring intently out under the trees of the old orchard at Laudholm and one using his phone in camera mode, and took a little detour from my chosen path to see what they were seeing. This large fawn, already loosing its spots, was enjoying the fallen apples at the back of clearing under the apple trees, and waited patiently as I took a few photos…maneuvering to get a line of sight through the foreground brush along the trail. Such a treat! OM Systems OM-1 with the ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 640 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th.
Maine! Barn Swallow in flight
Barn Swallow: York County, Maine, USA, September 2023 — a small flock of Barn Swallows was feeding avidly on a swarm of insects just above the tops of the trees along the trail. An ideal opportunity to practice the most difficult of birds in flight. The Barn Swallow, apparently, has the widest distribution of any passerine bird in the world. This bird, as did most of the birds flying with it, looks to be a female or sub-adult male…as it lacks the long outer tail feathers. Clearly I still have room to improve my BIF skills. 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 @ f6.3 @ 1/1000th.
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! Grass-pink Orchid (focus stack)
Grass-pink Orchid: Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve at Laudholm Farms, Wells, Maine, USA — I always go check for the Grass-pink Orchids too early…before they bloom…and then, sometimes miss them…getting to the little remnant bog at Laudholm Farms too late. This year I caught them (though there were no Rose Pagonias, the other orchid of that bog). The OM Systems OM-1 does in-camera focus stacking, and the 100-400mm zoom focuses to just over 4 feet at 800mm equivalent…making the system pretty amazing for flower macros (or close-ups at any rate.) I know from past experiences with other cameras (I have been photographing these Grass-pinks for many years now) that it is very difficult to get a close up of the flower with every part in focus in the same image. The flower is just too three-dimensional. Focus stacking (hand held here…and a tripod would not have helped as there was breeze and the flowers were moving) gives us the depth of filed needed. It took a couple of tries because of the breeze, but it is hard to fault the results. 770mm equivalent (to frame the flower from closest focus). Equivalent exposure ISO 200 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th.