Posts in Category: Florida
3/28/2009
Least Bittern: Viera Wetlands, FL
For the Bittern fans out there, and while we are on Florida Bitterns. The American Bittern from yesterday was a gift. This Least was a stake out. People had been seeing this bird in this clump of reeds at Viera Wetlands for close to 2 mouths when I got there, and it was easy to find. Just drive up behind the 7 or 8 cars already stopped and ask where it was. It did take me several visits to the spot over the course of a morning to get a semi-acceptable view, as the bittern was not exactly posing for photo-opps. Eventually though I was able to get a line on her long enough to get a few decent shots.
Sony DSC N1 behind the eyepiece of the Zeiss Diascope 85FL spotting scope at a total equivalent focal length of 2300mm. F5.0 @ 1/100 @ ISO 64 (F-stop limited by the scope). Programed Auto with selective spot focus.
Minimal adjustments in Lightroom for Presence and sharpness (some Fill Light used to open shadows).
From Space Coast Birding.
3/27/2009
American Bittern in the Reeds
Revisiting Florida, and the Viera Wetlands, for a digiscoped shot of an American Bittern. A difficult bird to photograph. Digiscoping is mostly about being in the right place at the right time. Right bird. Right light. Success is directly related to the amount of time spent in the field.
Of course you hone your skills…but again that is accomplished by spending a lot of time in the field doing it. Of course you learn your equipment, and you have assembled a kit that works for you. Once more, that happens through trial and error (lots of error), over a lot of time in the field.
So, being ready when that perfect bird happens is important, but being there in the first place is critical.
This bittern was the right bird in the right light. How could I miss?
Sony DSC N1 behind the eyepiece of the Zeiss Diascope 85FL. Manfrotto 190 carbon fiber legs and a 701RC2 video head. Zeiss Digital Camera Adapter. Camera on Programed Auto, spot metering. F5.0 @ 1/100th @ ISO 100.
Only the most basic processing for Presence and sharpness in Lightroom.
From Space Coast Birding.
Bonas shot:
American Bittern
2/2/2009
Sanibel Shells
Sanibel Island is famous for its shelling and I have already featured one shot of its shells…taken on a shell heap, where storms have pushed up the shells to a great depth. This is different. This is the fresh shell line that forms along the surf. Constantly renewed and constantly changing, never the same from moment to moment. This is what keeps the serious shellers walking the beach all day long.
I took several shots attempting to find a harmonious arrangement of shells that would somehow cohere in the frame.
Sony DSC H50 at about 60mm equiv. F5.6 @ 1/1000 @ ISO 100. Programed Auto.
Recovery in Lightroom for the highlight detail, Clarity, Vibrance and Sharpen. Cropped for composition.
2/1/2009
Standing Tall
While digiscoping I always carry two cameras…whatever I am digiscoping with, and my Sony DSC H50 superzoom. Some birds are just too close, and there are always sunsets and sunrises, irresistible vistas, and quirky fellow birders.
This was taken out the window of the rental car, from the dike road, not even at full zoom on the H50.
Sony DSC H50 at about 365mm equiv. F5.6 @ 1/1000th @ ISO 100. Programed Auto. -.7 EV exposure compensation.
Clarity, Vibrance and Sharpen in Lightroom. Cropped for effect.
From Space Coast Birding.
1/31/2009
Right of Way
In a pond on the back side of Blackpoint Wildlife Drive on Merrett Island NWR a mixed group of waders (Egrets, Herons, Ibises [Ibi maybe]) were feeding avidly. It made for some interesting intersections as they worked actively back and forth across the water. I attempted several of these shots: two birds passing, and this was the best of them. Great Egret in the foreground. Little Blue Heron in the background.
Sony DSC N1 behind the eyepiece of a Zeiss Diascope 85FL. Equiv. total focal length (in 35mm terms) of around 2000mm. Camera exif: F5.6 @ 1/250th @ ISO 64. Programed Auto. Matrix focus.
Minimal processing in Lightroom. Clarity, Vibrance, Sharpen.
From Space Coast Birding.
1/30/2009
Close up Snowy
Almost too close for digiscoping, but such close shots make for drama. This bird’s pose also creates interesting shapes and forms within the frame. Since we are photographing close in and tight, exposure is not nearly so difficult as it would be on most white birds in full sun. The -.7 EV exposure compensation brings out feather detail even in the highlights. A bit of Fill Light in Lightroom picks up the detail in the beak. And, of course, the yellow eye in the sun really stands out, and conveys a lot of personality in the bird (to be consciously anthropomorphic).
Sony DSC N1 behind the eyepiece of a Zeiss Diascope 85FL at an equiv. of approximately 2500mm. F6.3 @ 1/500th @ ISO 64. Programed Auto with -.7 EV exposure compensation.
From Space Coast Birding.
1/29/2009
Roseate Spoonbill
I will eventually run out of digiscoping images from my time at Space Coast. I hope to go out today to photograph the new snow we got yesterday. This, however is another digiscoped bird: Roseate Spoonbill. Spoonbills are colorful all year, but during breeding season they are spectacular. The pink deepens. The exposed skin of the skull cap goes green, setting off the bright ruby eye. Then too, the utterly bizarre spoon of the bill is pretty unique. Behavior is also worth watching. The birds get into some amazing shapes, especially while preening.
All those elements, along with some excellent light, come together for me in this image. Tight cropped in camera by using the full 3000 plus mm of effective focal length of the digiscoping rig, the image catches all the color, the shape, and the personality of the bird. The interesting (to my eye) bokeh pattern completes the effect.
Sony DSC N1 behind the eyepiece of a Zeiss Diascope 85FL at 3000mm equiv. effective focal length. F8.0 @ 1/160 @ ISO 64. Programed Auto. Selective spot focus on the eye.
From the Space Coast Birding Gallery.
1/28/2009
Hooded Merganser
The Hooded Merganser is one of my most sought after subjects…in that I have, to date, not gotten a completely satisfying image of one. Part of the problem is that 1) I only reliably see them in Florida or New Mexico, 2) I am only in FL and NM a few times a year, always the same weeks, and the Hoodies may or may not be there then, 3) they are never close enough, 4) the brilliant white markings on the jet black body are almost impossible to expose for, and 5) even the yellow eye is so intense against the black that it often burns out.
I went to Viera Wetlands specifically for Hooded Merganser. I knew there would be a lot of bonus birds (though I did not expect the treasures I actually found), but it was the reported Hoodeds, and some images my friend Roy Halpen had taken there a year ago, that inspired me to spend the morning of my flight home there.
It took me three loops of the dike roads to find this guy. The distance was right. The light was a bit more intense than I would have liked by that time of day. And he never did flare his head crest all the way out, but this is my best Hooded Merganser shot so far. Softer light would have maybe allowed me to maintain some feather detail in the crest, but then I would have lost the drama of the reeds and their reflections, and the highlighted ripples. All in all, pretty good okay. I still hope for a better shot someday…but I am pretty happy with this.
Sony DSC N1 behind the eyepiece of a Zeiss Diascope 85FL. Equiv. combined focal length approximately 3000mm. F5.0 @ 1/250th @ ISO 64. -.7 EV exposure compensation. Selective spot focus placed on eye.
From the Space Coast Birding Gallery.
1/27/2009
Wing Maintenance
Viera Wetlands is a manufactured wetlands (aka Sewer Treatment Plant) near Melbourne Florida, and is, acre for acre, one of the most productive locations for rare birds in North America…and is certainly one of the best venues for bird photography.
Great Blue Herons at Viera like to perch on top of dead palm trunks, 12 feet off the water, and just above eye-level from the dikes around the ponds. They are spectacular against the blue Florida sky. This fellow was grooming and I caught him with his wing fully extended, working on flight feathers. The sky-light coming through the wing makes for what I consider an interesting study.
At this distance (less than 100 feet) even the wide end of the Sony zoom on my digiscoping rig was a bit tight for the heron.
Sony DSC N1 behind the eyepiece of a Zeiss Diascope 85FL. 1100mm total focal length equivalent. F4.0 @ 1/250 @ ISO 64. Programed Auto with Selective Spot Focus. No EV compensation.
Just the most basic sharpening, Clarity, and Vibrance in Lightroom.
From the Space Coast Birding Gallery.
1/26/2009
Snowy
Snowy Egrets like to stand on the lower lip of culverts where water moves from one pond or channel to the next at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. The moving water carries fish, and the fish are easy prey as they dump disorientated out of the culvert. Why hunt when you can stand still and wait for the food to be delivered?
I saw this one and knew it had real possibilities. White bird. Black background. There was no safe stopping for several hundred yards so I walked back with my digiscoping rig.
Of course, white bird on black background poses an real problem for the camera’s exposure system. I cranked the EV compensation to -2 (as far as it will go). As you see, I still lost the brightest highlights, but I doubt I could have fond a better exposure by going manual. The contrast range is simply beyond what the sensor can capture, and I wanted to keep the white bird white, after all.
The black background turns the image into a study in shape and texture, almost a still life. It looks like something much more contrived than it is: simply a white bird standing in the mouth of culvert. The Snowy Egret is certainly one of God’s most elegant creations, and this image brings out all that elegance.
Sony DSC N1 behind the eyepiece of a Zeiss Diascope 85FL spotting scope. F8.0 @ 1/250th @ ISO 64. Programed Auto. Selective Spot Focus and -2 EV.
Recovery for highlights in Lightroom. Just a bit of Vibrance and Clarity and the Sharpen portrait preset.
From the Space Coast Birding Gallery.
For the bird in a wider context, see this image.