Posts in Category: OM-1 & 100-400mm
Maine! Sanderlings
Sanderlings: York County, Maine, USA — As Hurricane Lee passed by off-shore, we had our first real inundation of Sanderlings on our local beaches, likely forced in trying to get around the storm. If you look at a distribution map you will see that they breed at the very north fringes to the continent. Their winter range starts just south of us on the east coast, and we do see them into winter, but mostly we just get them as they pass through. They were feeding furiously and very hard to catch in the frame. Another tidbit gleaned in this morning’s research is that the name comes from “sand plowman”…makes sense 🙂 OM Systems OM1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixomator Pro. Mostly ISO 200 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th and 1/800th.
Maine! Baird’s Sandpiper
Baird’s Sandpiper: York County, Maine, USA, September 2023 — Though they are classified as rare on the east coast and in Maine, I am pretty sure this is a Baird’s Sandpiper…a lone bird feeding quite far from all the Semi-palmated Sandpipers and Plovers, in the dry sand above the surf line. 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 200 @ f7.1 @ 1/1000th.
Maine! Semi-palms (focus stack)
Semi-palmated Sandpipers and Plover: York County, Maine, USA, September 2023 — This looks different. It is different. It is a focus stacked image of a group of Semi-palmated Sandpipers, and one Semi-Palmated Plover from our local beach the day before Hurricane Lee went by off-shore. The birds were still! Still enough that I attempted a hand held (well bean-bag monopod supported) in-camera focus stack. I set the OM-1 to take 8 shots at different focus points and combine them into one shot…otherwise I could have only focused on one of these birds at a time with an 800mm equivalent lens. Though the result is much closer to reality…that is to the way our eye sees it from 12 feet away…in a photo where we expect a narrow focus plane it can look unreal. OM-Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with focus stacking. Processed in Pixomator Pro. Nominal exposure: ISO 200 @ f7.1 @ 1/1000th.
Maine! Plover Attitude
Semi-palmated Plovers: York County, Maine, USA, September 2023 — Semi-palmated Plovers have a lot of attitude and they were showing several varieties last week on our local beach as they waited for hurricane Lee to pass by. Maybe it was the weather? 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 200 @ f8 @ 1/1000th.
Maine! Semi-palmated Sandpipers
Semi-palmated Sandpipers: York County, Maine, USA — Just before Lee arrived off-shore, the birds came into our beaches to get away from the storm and they were most confiding. They were not actively feeding…just waiting and happy to have their photos taken while they waited. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modificaitons. Processed in Pixomator Pro. ISO 200 @ f7.1 @ 1/1000th.
Maine! Juvenile Cardinal
Northern Cardinal: York County, Maine, USA — Though we have Cardinals nesting in the neighborhood every summer, they only come to our yard once or twice a day…and most days we are not looking when they come. Recently we have had this juvenile Cardinal coming regularly, or regularly enough so we see it, every day. The adults are generally with it, but they mostly hang back under the big pines at the far edge of our lot. Though the juvenile does not have a lot of color yet, it is still a handsome bird! OM Systems OM-1 with the ED 100-400mm zoom. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife settings. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 20000 and 16000 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th.
Maine! Sunday Supplement. As Lee goes by.
Mid-afternoon yesterday the trailing edge of hurricane Lee passed off-shore from Kennebunk, Maine, and hundreds of local residents and tourists went down to the beach to watch the wave and cloud action…just about the same time I did. We got very little of the storm’s effects. Moderate rain and some gusty wind, but honestly you could have been forgiven for not realizing there was a hurricane out there. I finally found a place to park and spent an hour trying to photograph the frantic shorebirds, but I did pay some attention to the passing storm. 🙂 OM Systems OM-1 and Olympus OMD EM5Miii with the 100-400mm zoom at 800mm and the 12-45 zoom at 24mm equivalents. Program and HDR scene modes.
Maine! Those legs! (or that leg).
Greater Yellowlegs: York County, Maine, September 2023 — Before Lee, the Greater Yellowlegs were coming through in good numbers. I have to get out this morning to see how Lee changed the birdscape, but in the meantime, here is a Yellowlegs really showing off the leg. 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 200 @ f7.1 @ 1/1000th.
Maine! Rimlighted Hummer
Ruby-throated Hummingbird: York County, Maine, USA, September 2023 — It seems like the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds were with us late this year…a week ago we still had them coming to the feeder. I think they all slipped down the coast ahead of Lee. We have not seen one in several days. These are from a week ago one morning while I as practicing my flute and watching the feeder action just as the sun was coming up over the trees in the back yard. I like the light on the wings…or in the wings. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds-in-flight modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and assembled in FrameMagic. ISO 12800 @ f6.3 @ 1/2000th.
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.