I went for a walk on Monday and took about 800 photos of the waterfowl that make their home here in Burlington. Some, of course, are just visiting or wintering. It was a beautiful warm day—very un-typical weather for this time of year in Burlington.
Photos were all taken with a Nikon D300 digital SLR and an AF-S VR Nikkor 300mm f/2.8G IF-ED mounted on a Manfrotto 055XB tripod with a Black Widow Heavy Duty Mark 2 Gimbal Head.
One of the most regal birds in Ontario is the Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). The photo below is of a youngster who does not yet have his white head. these birds are making a comeback in my area—north-west corner of Lake Ontario, and are a welcome sight from time to time.
Nikon D300 DSLR with 300mm f/4 lens + 1.7x teleconverter
1/1250 sec at f/6.7, ISO 720 (handheld)
The American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) is a small falcon. It is sometimes (mistakenly) called a “Sparrow Hawk.” American Kestrels are widely distributed across the Americas, with their breeding range extending from Alaska, across northern Canada and south to Mexico and the Caribbean.
Most of the birds breeding in Canada migrate south in the winter, though some do stay as year-round residents. Another tiny jewel of the forest.
Nikon D300 DSLR with 300mm f/4 lens
1/400 sec at f/4.0, ISO 280
This is the famous Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus), the tiger of the forest. This magnificent raptor sits haughtily atop the food chain in his forest environment—his only predator being man.
The Barred Owl (Strix varia) is a medium-sized owl about 20 inches long with a wingspan of about 44 inches. Some are as small as 16 in long and as big as 25 in long. The Barred Owl is also known as the Hoot Owl and is widespread in North America, occurring across most of the eastern half of the continent from Florida in the south up into southern regions of Canada.
In the north, these owls are spreading westward causing concern that their aggressive defense of territory will endanger the Spotted Owl.
Nikon D300 DSLR with 300mm f/4 lens
1/400 sec at f/4.0, ISO 200
This little beauty is yet another example of natures perfect creations. The Northern Saw-Whet Owl (Aegolius acadicus) is a tiny owl growing to about 18 cm long (7 to 8 in) with a 43 cm wingspan—proof positive that sometimes the most beautiful things, like jewelry, come in small packages.
Nikon D300 DSLR with 300mm f/4 lens
1/500 sec at f/4.0, ISO 320
The thing I enjoy almost as much as taking pictures of birds is to browse through pictures I have already taken. I have almost 11,000 images on my computer and I’ve started to process some of my favourites as prints to hang around the house.
Printing is a new ballgame, requiring a separate set of acquired skills and a whole new respect for patience. Trying to match what comes out of the printer to what one sees on the screen can be daunting at times. But my motto is, Persevere, so I do, and am slowly getting the hang of it.
I use a Huey to calibrate my computer screens and download paper-specific profiles for my Epson R1800 printer. This has cut down on wasted paper from test images. I now usually do one test, then make final adjustments and print away.
I find it convenient to use Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for most of my “lab” work, including making prints.
The weather is not cooperating so I had to dig into the archives for today’s image, which is another Barn Owl (Tyto alba).
As with most images on this blog, if you click on it you will be taken to Flickr.com where they are hosted. Once at Flickr, your can select the “ALL SIZES” option above the image to see a full size version of the photograph. Unfortunately, I have to limit maximum dimensions to 600 X 800 to discourage misuse.
Nikon D300 DSLR with 300mm f/4 lens
1/500 sec at f/4.5, ISO 200
The Barn Owl (Tyto alba) is another of natures countless beauties. It’s birds like these that make nature photography such a delight. This is a captive bird, but no less enjoyable to photograph. My objective is to record for my collection as many birds as I can; it’s not the wilderness experience per se that I seek.
This bird’s name is Gwen. Gwen was hatched at the Raptor Centre at Mountsberg. She was hand raised by the Mountsberg staff and, subsequently, became human-imprinted. As a result she can never be released into the wild. She is a beautiful, healthy, well-adjusted bird and a real treat to photograph.
This image is from my archives—I took it at last summer—but just love seeing it again. It was taken at a relatively slow 1/500 second to not completely stop the motion of her wings. I like this a lot.
Nikon D300 DSLR with 300mm f/4 lens at 1/500 sec, f/5.6 and ISO 220
I went for a walk along the shores of Lake Ontario today and took several photographs as I went along. It seems to me that I’ve seen more mergansers this fall than I saw all last year.
Please remember that I own the copyright to these images, so do not use them without my permission.
I went for a walk along the shores of Lake Ontario today and took several photographs as I went along. It seems to me that I’ve seen more mergansers this fall than I saw all last year.
Please remember that I own the copyright to these images, so do not use them without my permission.
Tripods are among the most under-used piece of photographic equipment. Many amateurs don’t bother with them because of the inconvenience of carrying this extra piece of gear around for an uncertain benefit to the quality of their shots. For years I have owned a tripod, but seldom used it. This all changed recently when I bought a 300mm f/2.8 lens which weighs a bit more than six pounds—add my D300 DSLR and I’m handholding 8lbs+.
From a distance, a Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis) 1/500 sec at f/5.6, ISO 220
So, for me, a tripod has become a necessity, and therefore I need to master its use. To start with, I bought a gimbal-style tripod head (mentioned earlier), and I am now trying to get used to the new setup.
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) 1/1250 sec at f/5.6, ISO 200
Airborne Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) 1/1250 sec at f/5.6, ISO 200
This means getting as much practice as possible with the tripod, and resisting the temptation to shoot handheld. This is a lot easier, of course, when the birds cooperate and sit still—something not at all guaranteed.
Mallard pair (Anas Platyrhynchos) cooperating nicely 1/1000 sec at f/5.6, ISO 200
Mallard drake (Anas Platyrhynchos) looking like he’s about to take off. 1/1000 sec at f/5.6, ISO 200
Mallard drake (Anas Platyrhynchos) taking off. 1/1000 sec at f/5.6, ISO 200
Greater Scaup (Aythya marila) 1/500 sec at f/5.6, ISO 200
So, am I happy with the results so far? To a point only. I believe I now have the optimum combination of gear for the sort of bird photography I like. The 1.7x teleconverter gives me a 35mm film equivalent of 750mm in reach—not so bad really. And at 300mm f/2.8 (35mm film equivalent of 450mm), this lens is still very usable handheld.
At times when the light is not bright enough, that f/2.8 is great. And even with a 1.4x teleconverter attached, I am able to work at f/4 with a 35mm film equivalent of 630mm in reach—not too shabby at all.
What I really need to work on is being able to quickly locate bird in flight in the lens and focus before it is out of range. A lot easier said than done.
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