Dotsie
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Viewing 8 posts - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)
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Uh-oh, here's my Brown Pelican in flight. Melissa warned against shots with the bird's bill merging visually with the wing, and here the bill is right in front of the wing. It is visually distinct, though, and it has more dynamism than the other 50 photos I took.
Next are the sandhill cranes, my attempt at panning in flight. I only had a few chances with this pair, and the speed here was 1/200 sec, not a deep pan of 1/30 sec. So the background isn't as streaked as it ought to be, and the wings are in the pancake position. Oh well, the birds look good and I like it anyway.
Lastly, there's this osprey named Rachel, and she's not a happy bird, because a certified bird bander has got her young'uns. He gave them back a few minutes later, with jewelry attached. I didn't use a fast enough shutter speed here, but hey, it was before I took this course! -
And now (of course these 3 posts are in reverse order), the pileated woodpecker digs this way, then that way, until he is finally satisfied that he's worked that hole for all it's worth. And that's my story.
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But the pileated woodpecker isn't satisfied with the pickings on the first log. With what an anthropomorphizing person might call a glare of annoyance, he hops to another. On the buggy warpath, he attacks with a vengeance, pecking straight on, then digging around the edge of his previous hole.
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I was standing near a pond where there was an ancient pile of long logs. Suddenly I hear a pileated woodpecker, and a bright red cap - just the cap - peaks up from behind a log. Then he jumps on a log and surveys his domain. He digs in. (Now, with only 3 photos per reply, it's going to take 3 replies to tell the story.)
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The chickadee on snow is shutter priority 1/1600, spot metering, focused on the eye. The charming mourning dove was caught in the act of making herself beautiful, and she succeeded! How many layers of feathers she has! This photo says phooey to the rules but has the highest light on the head and upper wing, and the more shadowed areas emphasize the layers of feathers. The tufted titmouse is has a shadow from a stick, but its alignment emphasizes her crest. Half her face is in shadow, but the combination of the two shadow regions goes to emphasize her beak and eye. And she is in a wonderful dynamic pose.
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My first sit-try was to hike through the woods last winter to a field and sit at the edge where I could see the edge vegetation, stubble sticking up in the snow, and the lone tree in the open area. There were a few slate-gray juncos, chickadees, titmice and a crow. Just like in my yard. When I checked my location with my phone, I had circled back to about 1/4 mile from my house! As it was the nearest house by far, these birds were not only the same species as those that come to my feeder, but probably the same individual birds! The second try was in March. I set out, and heard frogs croaking. High pitched, but not as high as spring peepers. I made my way over to a small shallow wetland, and found dozens - really!- dozens of freshly emerged male wood frogs, all singing madly, gaining energy to disperse to their own places and find a mate. The third was to perch on the embankment where a rail trail bisected a pond. It was nearly sunset. I photographed a pair of mallards for a while, and then a pair of mergansers swam into view. Distant, but nice.
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One major goal is clear crisp images - not easy when significantly cropping a photo to feature the bird. To that end, a couple of years ago I upgraded my camera to the D7500 and lens to the 300mm f/4 PF with a 1.4x teleconverter and the 200-500mm beast. Both produce nice sharp photos, but I may be the only person on the planet who prefers the 300mm+1.4x combo. I can carry it anywhere and hold it up in shooting position for a long time. But I still need improved sharpness on distant birdies and poorer light conditions. So using advice from Melissa's lectures, I got a gimbal head for my tripod and a beanbag for my car and for low-down shooting. You'll see a photo below from each stabilizer. The Macaulay library is new to me and its a great resource. The other day I was walking in foggy conditions and suddenly an owl flew out from the top of a spar about 200 feet off the road. Followed by another owl from the trees! Our local owls are Barred and Great Horned. I didn't even have time to raise my binocs before they were back into trees. While the underwing coloring was more pale like a Barred, the library shows several photos of the Great Horned from atop spars, while Barred owls were pictured from within trees, which is what I'm familiar with. So it could have been a Great Horned Owl, which would be a life-lister for me. But that's not a definitive sighting.
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Hi! My bird is the Red-Bellied Woodpecker. I've only seen them here in NH since 2015. They've been gradually extending their range northward. Literature says they will eat from seed feeders and suet feeders in winter, and indeed the male and female I see do just that. This week (Feb 19) they have just started singing their quavery spring song. Glad they think it's spring, but it's snowing!
Next are the sandhill cranes, my attempt at panning in flight. I only had a few chances with this pair, and the speed here was 1/200 sec, not a deep pan of 1/30 sec. So the background isn't as streaked as it ought to be, and the wings are in the pancake position. Oh well, the birds look good and I like it anyway.
Lastly, there's this osprey named Rachel, and she's not a happy bird, because a certified bird bander has got her young'uns. He gave them back a few minutes later, with jewelry attached. I didn't use a fast enough shutter speed here, but hey, it was before I took this course!
Viewing 8 posts - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)