Archive for November, 2011

On a recent drive through Black Point Drive, Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, I came across a Great Blue Heron searching for breakfast. The bird was not concerned about my presence. I was in my truck photographing through the window. When I use this technique I always use my Puffin Pad. It rests on the window providing support to my various camera and lens setups including the 500mm lens. In the image below, the bird had gone after something but appears to come up with nothing but a ball of water.

Tech specs: Canon EOS-1D Mark IV, ISO 400, f/8, 1/800th sec. shutter speed, manual mode, 500mm f/4 lens.

Regards,

Jim

 

Actually…. this one was calling to another Limpkin. I selected this image for several reasons. First of all, Limpkins are secretive birds and I really did not have any good Limpkin photos. After the Veira Wetlands visit last Wednesday, now I have a lot of them! This particular bird was communicating with another bird and, as it called, the tongue would show (second reason). I also had a great sun angle, great head angle, and a pleasing, clean composition (third, fourth, and fifth reasons).

Technicals: EOS 7D, 500mm lens with 1.4X tele-extender (700mm total) ISO 400, f/8 Aprture, 1/1000 second shutter speed, in manual mode.

I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving!

Jim

Recently I made an early morning run to The Viera Wetlands to see what was stirring. Viera Wetlands is a waste water treatment system in Viera, Florida. It has been a consistent go-to spot for birding and photography. On this trip I was able to get a good variety of birds which I will be sharing over the next few posts.

One shot that I have lacked in my portfolio was a close up head shot of a Sandhill Crane. These birds are quite common here in east central Florida but the situation has never presented itself….. until now. I had parked my truck so I could det up to photograph a Limpkin in the top of a dead palm tree in one of the waste water cells. I had my 500mm with a 1.4 tele-extender on it. I was taking images of the Limpkin when I heard a crane calling close by. The Sandhill crane was at my truck checking it out. The bird casually walk close by sometimes getting too close for me to focus the lens. It finally settled down at a good distance away and started calling for it’s mate. In this image it is calling, that’s why you can see the tongue.

In this set up I was using my EOS 7D camera, 500mm f/4 lens with the tele-extender (see above) resulting in a 700mm lens, manual mode, ISO 400, f/8 aperture, 1/1000 shutter speed.

Other images from the day will be coming in future posts.

Regards,

Jim

The bird I identified in the last post as a Double-crested Cormorant is actually an adult female Anhinga. Ooops, my bad.

This morning I had some business down in Viera. So I left the house early so I could visit the Viera Wetlands before the government offices opened up. It was a great trip. Today has been crazy busy so I haven’t had a chance to go through the images. I had a Sandhill Crane approach me while I was out of my truck. I had the 500mm with 1.4X tele-extender. The Crane literally got too close to focus the lens. I did get some head shots while the crane was calling out to its mate. I’ll post some of the photos soon.

 

Jim

After we returned from the Lakeridge Winery Festival we had to put up, fix up, clean up. I was unloading my prints and canvases from the car and placing them in the house when I noticed a Little Blue Heron (image 1) in a tree in the backyard. Typically you would see these birds in the marsh or lakeside but this one has adapted its hunting to look for lizards and insects up high. I was able to prop open the back door to capture a few images before it flew off. I processed this image in Light Room 3 , including adding the vignette. I then took it into Photoshop where I applied Nik Color Efex Pro 4 and On One Focal Point.

The second image was taken just a little later. Image 2 is a Double Breasted Cormorant. It was in a small cypress tree next to our dock when I first saw it. I eased out onto the dock but the bird was uncomfortable with me being there and soon flew to the water. This image is of the bird just hitting the water. After it gathered itself, it swam / paddled away. I used Nik Color Efex Pro 4 and Vivenza for this image.

If any of you want more information about these or any other images, feel free to ask.

 

Regards,

Jim

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This past weekend, I was pressure washing our back deck / dock. We live on a 5 1/2 acre storm water retention pond (lake). The water level rises and falls with how much rain we have received. Right now it is pretty high, though not full. We are having a lot of people at our house for Thanksgiving so we started a couple of weeks ago getting everything in place and cleaned up for the big event. Anyway, I was out back pressure washing when I look up to see one of our seasonal Great Blue Herons on the shore line with a huge blue gill bream in its beak and mouth. The fish is way too big for the bird to swallow. Usually, I continue on with my work because as soon as I stop what I am doing, go into the house, get the camera out, and return, the bird usually flies off just as I come back outside. This time, I knew the heron was going to be in there for awhile. The two images captured the struggle both the fish and the bird were having.

Reminder – Lakeridge Winery, Clermont, Fl – Friday thru Sunday!

Regards,

Jim

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

….. Fort Christmas Park.

Fort Christmas is located in of all places Christmas, Florida in the east central part of the state.  It is just off State Road 50, twenty miles east of Orlando enroute to Kennedy Space Center, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, and Canaveral National Seashore in Titusville. The park contains seven restored historical homes preserve the ‘Cracker’ architecture of East Orange County. The houses are interpreted to show pioneer life from the 1870s through the 1930s. Key themes are homesteading, cattle, citrus, hunting, fishing and trapping.  It also has a killer playground for the kids and grand kids , a basketball court, tennis courts, and softball fields. The park is operated and maintained by The Fort Christmas Historical Society and Orange County Parks and Recreation Division.

The image below is of the entrance to the fort. There was a dark overcast when I captured the image. All of the images including some of inside of the restored can be found here:

http://www.photostockplus.com/home.php?tmpl=31&user_id=53630&action=viewalbum&event=937178

Enjoy!

Jim

P.S. I will have my event tent this weekend at the Lakeridge Winery, Clermont, Florida for their Holiday Festival Event. If you are in the area, please stop and say hello!