I really enjoyed watching this Willet last summer.
I was amazed at how habituated to people this bird was. Maybe my birding skills are improving and he really didn’t see me! I have not come across any other Willet that was not bothered by my approach or presence.
With any luck I will find another just like him.
Im really looking forward to some time off. The coming Fourth of July holiday weekend will provide me with some opportunities to get out shooting again, that is if the weather cooperates. I thought this week I would share with you some of the species I am going to attempt to find and photograph over the coming weekend.
The first species will be the American Oystercatcher. They will not be easy to find but I plan on making them a target 😉
Stay tuned!
As I mentioned a few posts back (post here), I have been a little obsessed with making some images of American Goldfinches in garden and woodland settings.
As I mentioned in Monday’s post, I decided to use some fill flash to compensate for the flat,overcast, drama-less light that has been the large part of our spring here in New England. One of the benefits (definitely think it is a benefit here) of the really shallow depth of field is how the Goldfinches pop off the black background.
Normally, people only like the images of the male of the species this time of year due to their rich, explosive color. This last image of a female however has me captivated. Maybe its because there is a subtle beauty in her feathers against the black background and not the bold yellow seen in the male.
While these images are better than anything else I have taken of this species, I still think I have more work to do. 😉
Images captured on Nikon D3x with 600mm f/4 and Tce-II 1.4 on Lexar Digital film.
Lets face it. If you live in New England, the spring has been pretty terrible….weather wise. We have had a ton of rain. Every weekend seems to be a rain out. Now don’t get me wrong, lots of great photography happens during the most unappealing weather conditions. One of the great benefits of overcast days for wildlife (especially big game) is that animals coats exhibit a different texture and look, especially when wet. Another benefit is longer shooting day. The high angle of the sun during the period of the day when wildlife photographers work on their images (or sleep) is usually 10-3, the time light quality is considered poor. Unfortunately, since Connecticut is not considered the big game capital of the world, I have to work with what I have….birds. And frankly, bird photography is difficult in the rain and overcast conditions. The birds feathers just don’t seem to pop in overcast conditions. So what can I do to make some images this spring given the poor weather conditions? Introduce flash! I recently started using the Better Beamer flash extender. This tool allows you to extend the range of your flash.
As you can see from the images above, the first one using just the natural light has 2 qualities on an overcast day you might not like in your images. The first being flat light and the second being little drama or detail in the color of the bird. In the second image, the one using the better beamer on my SB-900, you can see much greater color saturation and feather detail. One unintended consequence however is that the background now is out of the exposure calculation (the flash extender does not reach that far) and the background is completely black!
You can see from the image of this female, that the characteristics of the feathers are much more noticeable with the help of a little kiss of light. Look how the brown pops off the page against the black background. I mention kiss of light here for a reason. I am using the flash just to draw out a little color from the subject, not to “light” the subject. In this application the intention of introducing flash is only to provide fill flash. so next time bad weather gets in the way of your bird photography, try introducing a little flash!
I need a little help here identifying this bird I recently watched at one of my feeders.
Im usually more certain when it comes to identifying birds but I have some doubts here about my initial thought of it being a juvenile House Sparrow.
Appreciate any thoughts!
I was asked not too long ago by a photo buyer for a major publication if I had any good images of Gold Finches in a garden. Unfortunately I did not. The result of not having the image has sent me on a mission to make such an image.
While I think these images are getting me closer, I still don’t have the image I want. I have been a little surprised at just how timid this species is. They really don’t like my presence, even when I am very quiet and don’t move hardly at all.
I guess I will have to keep trying!
Images captured on Nikon D3x w/600mm f/4 and TCe II 1.4 on Lexar digital film
