Moose in Africa
Osprey Dive
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Ospreys or what used to be called the Fish Hawk are just downright bloody cool! In the late 70’s I became good friends with Roger Tory Peterson who infected me with his love for these birds and it’s never stopped. When I started out in wildlife photography, they were just making a comeback, hard hit by pesticides.They are quite the characters when they are on the wing except when going after prey. Then it’s all business and when it comes to aerial aerobatics, it’s some of the finest flying you’ll ever see. Well, how do you tell that story in a still image? I’m still working on that and this past week at Ding Darling, I worked on it some more.
It was late afternoon at Ding Darling, the sun already making a dash for the horizon. Chuck and I were busy spinning in circles as there was so much activity, hard to know which way to point the lens. I love bird photography like that! It was during this time this Osprey started to tease us. You know what I’m talking about, with the wind and sun on your back, perfect conditions, they start in your direction. They keep coming and just as you’re ready to hit the shutter release, they turn and go the other direction. Chuck and I were both there with our D4s / 800mm w/TC-1.25e all primed as the Osprey went away and then turned back. Finally he made a couple of clockwise circles nearly overhead and then at the right moment photographically, it made a break in the circle and dove. You see the series of shots above. And the one single image is my favorite, it’s what I’m after. It might be just a tad too close to the corner, but I like the energy this totally unconventional composition has and what it says about the artistry of the air when the Osprey dives.
The Vertical Flight Shot
Speaking of pelicans … there are the Brown Pelicans in Florida. Not sure what it is about the Brown Pelican, I just gravitate towards them whenever they are within range of my lens. They are so prehistoric lookin, have a helluva bite but I know first hand they have a big heart. And when it comes to flight, they are masters of the air riding currents we can’t even feel. So photographing them in flight always fascinates me and as you’ve seen, photographing them floating on the crest of a wave is one way I love to tell the story of their flight. Then there is the another ….
When pelicans decide they are going to land, there is a moment as they change their flight that another aspect of their ability is displayed. The thing is, in order to land they need to dump air from their wings so they can land. In doing so, they twist and torque in all sorts of ways depending on how fast they want to land on a particular spot. And in photographing this folly, you have to pan in a vertical rather then the typical horizontal style. This is where the challenge comes.
While at Ding Darling, had a couple of opportunities to work on my vertical panning as the pelicans flew in. Shooting with the D4s / 800mm w/TC-1.25e, one “trick” I find helpful is picking up the subject long before it’s even in range for a the photo. The reason is to get an idea of how the pelican is flying in. You will see them start to turn their body, lower their feet and twist their primaries. With this, the panning is on a vertical movement and this is done easier when the tripod is high so you don’t have to bend your back. This makes the pan downwards smoother and that helps in getting the sharp image. The last thing is to let the shutter fly! It takes a number of passes to make the shots, but I love the challenge and those successful images. And when telling the story of the Brown Pelican flight, the vertical panning shot works.
Ding Darling Magic!
It has been many years since I’ve been to Ding Darling NWR. Spent so much time there back in the day, film days that is because it was the mecca for wildlife photographers and bird photography. The Refuge has changed a lot in the 30+yrs I’ve been venturing to it. I remember all to well back when it was a dirt road, dust everywhere and photographers around every bush. Then with a hurricane here, water change there, the birds started to be fewer and so the photographers. The once slam dunk for Roseatte Spoonbills and thousands of waders in the viewfinder slowly faded away, and with it the hoards of photographers. Early in 2000, when I planned to shoot at Ding Darling, I would only plan on a couple of hours in the mornings and then head elsewhere to shoot the rest of the day. Well, that was not the case yesterday!
After the great weekend at the FCCC conference, we headed to Ding Darling yesterday for what I thought would be just a morning shoot. We were greeted in the first pond (there are three as we count them) by a group of Roseatte Spoonbills. The top photo is from this first encounter. This “sky pointer” is in gorgeous breeding plumes and a great example of a sexy spoonbill. Well, it was a great start and unknowns to us, just the start of what became a marvelous full day on the refuge! The bird life, variety and access was phenomenal all day at the refuge. Other then the traditional wildlife photographer break for ice cream, we shot all day at Ding Darling. It was magnificent! We ended the day with a gorgeous sunset and with the White Pelicans which entertained us all day. Shot the majority of the time with the D4s / 800mm w/TC-1.25e and the Df / 300 PF on my shoulder for the overhead flight shots. I have lots of stories, thousands of images to share over time but just wanted to say, if you want that old time Ding Darling experience, it’s alive and well there today making Ding Darling a must again for wildlife photographer … the magic is back!
I Love A Good Surprise
Friday morning found us at Harns Marsh Preserve with forty really great folks. We were there with the FCCC field trip and for Sharon & I, it was our first visit to a very well know location for bird photography. Now, like any location, just because you saw the birds there yesterday, doesn’t mean they will be there today. It has been scouted, lots of birds seen prior to our arrival but being wildlife, well, they picked up and moved on. No matter, it was a gorgeous morning so with D4s / 800 w/TC-1.25e attached, we all started to walk the perimeter of the Marsh. One great subject appeared pretty quickly. This Anhinga was T’d up drying its wings. What was cool was the really nice background in really nice light for the Anhinga. Why was it nice light for the Anhinga? If you looked at the reptilian tail it has, you only see those distinct bars in the right light. That barred tail is what really makes the “snake bird” look reptilian. The key in make the shot was a very narrow angle of view so the dead sticks on the right and the blue water on the left could be excluded from the background. With those images safely on the CF card … time to wiggle on.
We walked down the path a ways and had Sandhill Cranes with colts, ducks, herons and then some time with a Bald Eagle. After that, the light was getting hard and it was time to get back to the convention. On the way back, a River Otter was spotted. I hustled on down in time to see it porpoise through the water and then periscope for a second to check us out. I watched as it submerged and ventured underwater to a island of vegetation. I walked along with it along the shore hoping for a better shot.
As you can see, we did get a much better photo up. Ya, the light is a tad on the hard side but it’s a clean shot and with so little of Otter biology in our files, I took advantage of it. The Otter hauled out to the left of where you see here and spent a good couple of rolling, sliding and shaking in an attempt to dry itself off. And in between of all of that, it would take a moment to make sure we were behaving. It was a really fun encounter that, if we hadn’t made the walk we would have never had seen the Otter and had the fun. When it comes to wildlife, I just love a good surprise!
Homage to the GBH
Sharon & I are down in FL for the weekend for the FCCC Conference (come by and say hi!). And here like everywhere in North America (even had one on the ice in the Arctic), the Great Blue Heron waits for the wildlife photographer. I think there’s not a wildlife photographer, anywhere who hasn’t photographed with great earnest the GBH. They are big so you don’t need a lot of lens to get a great image size. They are pretty darn forgiving for all the silly things wildlife photographers do so build our patience. And they really aren’t too bad lookin. And these graceful birds, well, even with all their good intentions, they don’t always come out looking as majestic in some photos as they should. They definitely come under the banner of common, so we must strive to portray them in an uncommon way. There are many ways of doing this, in this instance, I was lying on the sand shooting with a slowish shutter speed to capture some movement while freezing other. Shooting with the D4s / 800mm on a Panning Plate, I used foreground and background as part of the competition. Then I was tight and waited for that gesture to make an unusual photo of this common critter. So, if you’re a wildlife photographer, at some point a Great Blue Heron gave you some time to practice your craft and set the hook as a wildlife photographer a little deeper. So, go out and capture that uncommon photo and pay homage to the GBH!