Daily Archives: July 7, 2024
Maine! Caught on the wind
Least Tern: York County, Maine, USA, July 2024 — I have taken over 20,000 shots of Least Terns in flight (or attempted at any rate) over the past month. I go out for a few hours and come back with 2500 exposures…of which I pick maybe 50 to process, and out of that 50 I might get 5 that somewhat satisfy me…and out of the 5, I might be happy enough with one of them to post. But that is just the way photographing Least Terns in flight goes…at least at my level of skill and with my equipment. In the month I have tried two different cameras and three different lenses. I bought a new camera and a new lens primarily because I was not happy with the results my current setup was producing. But of course the equipment is the least important thing about tern in flight photography. Mostly it is just practice and waiting on grace. Most of the keepers are pure gifts…they just happen if you are out there trying. Anyway. Sony A6700 with the Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my evolving birds in flight and action modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Hatchlings!
Piping Plover: York County, Maine, USA, July 2024 — This shot was taken with a 600mm equivalent zoom lens from a respectable distance and then cropped to less than a sixth of the frame…down to 2mp from 26mp. Even when they nest on a busy beach, it is important that we give these endangered birds their space. I have been watching this nest for a month now, checking it almost every day, hoping to be on hand for the hatching, or at least soon after. Yesterday the sun did not fight its way free of the cloud cover until afternoon, and the beach was still fogged in when I got there, but I had a look anyway. The Plover was certainly looking unsettled on the nest, and sure enough I caught a chick peaking out from under. I am not certain, but I think it had hatched only moments before I got there, and I am pretty sure the second chick hatched while I watched. She had 4 eggs, so I will have to go back today to see if the other two hatched as well. The chicks were still staying mostly under the cover of the parent, and were not able to fully stand yet, though by now, 16 hours later, they are probably up and running around. I hope so anyway. Sony A6700 with the Tamron 50-400mm Di iii VC zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my evolving bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.