On Friday past, I photographed on the Laguna Madre (mother lagoon) at South Padre Island under clear skies and light southerly winds. From sunrise until 10:00 AM, we had various ducks and other water birds flying past. It was a blast of a morning and I was doing what I love most in nature photography, photographing birds on the wing.
During the first hour, I used the tripod for support with the camera and lens affixed to a Wimberly gimbal head on a Gitzo cf tripod. Eventually, I got tired of the restrictive tripod and took the camera and lens off to shoot freehand. That’s right, most of the shots you will see below were done while hand holding the Canon 7D and Canon IS 500 mm lens. If you can handle the weight (and there are tricks to that), it is much easier to follow focus and keep the birds in the viewfinder when shooting freehand.
This type shooting is best done in winter on the south Texas coast because that’s when the ducks are here. Otherwise, there are usually lots of herons, egrets and shorebirds about year-round.
Remember, to enlarge and sharpen the photos, click in the upper righthand portion of a photo. That will also open the “next” button to continue viewing photos in the newsletter.
American Wigeon pair at eye level.
ISO 640, 1/2000 second @ f 11 with Canon 7D, Canon IS 500 lens on Wimberly head and Gitzo cf tripod.
Adult and juvenile American Wigeon with wingtips overlapping.
ISO 640, 1/2000 second @ f 10 with tripod
American Oystercatcher on the wing
ISO 640, 1/2500 second @ f 10 with tripod
Like many shots on the wing, it was difficult to get the focus to lock on this bird. He was almost by me before I got a focus lock.
Common Merganser landing straight at the camera.
ISO 640, 1/4000 second @ f 8, handheld
While not a pretty shot, I really like this unusual capture of a common merganser landing head-on with feet down.
High speed redhead drake on the downstroke.
ISO 640, 1/3200 second @ f 10, handheld
Passing redhead drake with wings up.
ISO 640, 1/2500 second @ f 10, tripod support
Adult and first year Redhead males with wings parallel
ISO 640, 1/3200 second @ f 10, handheld
Redhead drake with wing tip in the water.
ISO 640, 1/2000 second @ f 11
The shot above was my favorite of the day because of the unusual proximity of bird to water that presented a reflection and a wing tip touching the water.
Black Skimmer with wings up.
ISO 640, 1/3200 second @ f 10, handheld
Part of the fun of Laguna Madre photography is that you never know what will fly by next. I wasn’t expecting a black skimmer, especially one with relatively good plumage (for a winter bird).
Young Brown Pelican swallowing a mullet. This is a "pelican whose bill can hold more than his belly can".
For me, it is more difficult to focus and compose a still bird than one in flight when I’m holding the big telephoto so, I took a bunch of shots.
Male Mottled Duck showing blue speculum.
ISO 400, 1/2500 second @ f 5.6
While processing this mottled duck photo, I opened up the shadows on the raised wing to show the beautiful speculum we seldom notice on this bird in flight.
Redhead drake in flight with nice view of orange eye.
ISO 640, 1/2500 second @ f 10, handheld
The redhead males have bright, orange eyes that stand out from the surrounding red feathers.
Pintail drakes reflected in the mid-morning blue of the Laguna Madre.
In mid to late winter, no female pintail goes anywhere without an escort.
ISO 640, 1/4000 second @ f 8
Gulls diving for fish left floating by harrassed merganser.
White-tailed Kite dropping on prey.
ISO 400, 1/5000 second @ f 5.6, 1.4X teleconverter, handheld
As we were driving away from the bay, this white-tailed kite was hovering above us. I quickly grabbed the camera, added the teleconverter and made this photo. The only adjustment I did was to add one stop of light off the dark blue sky. With a moment more to think, I would have preferred to change the settings to 1/2500 second @ f 11.
If you are interested in some flight photography instruction and shooting, drop me an email at lditto@larryditto.com. Classes for one or two are very reasonable.
Check out the upcoming workshops on my Photo Tour Schedule on this web site: Hoak Ranch (landscapes and night photography), Caddo Lake (birds) and more.
For a couple of weeks now, I’ve been right here in south Texas photographing on ranches, at the beach, and up river near Falcon Lake at Salineno. The photography has been as good as the weather… great shooting!
To view the photos in a larger, sharper format, click on the upper, righthand area of the first photo. That will open the “next” sign and allow you to click through all the photos as a slide show.
Tricolored Heron grabbing a fish in the Laguna Madre shallows.
ISO 400, 1/3200 second @ f 5.6; Canon 7D, Canon 500 mm IS lens with 1.4X teleconverter.
Roseate Spoonbill landing in the Laguna Madre.
ISO 400, 1/4000 second @ f 5.6; Canon 7D, Canon 500 mm IS lens with 1.4X teleconverter.
Drake redhead landing on a calm Laguna Madre.
ISO 400, 1/4000 second @ f 8; Canon 7D, Canon 500 mm IS lens with 1.4X teleconverter.
Redhead landing gear down with an American Wigeon on the Laguna Madre.
ISO 400, 1/4000 second @ f 8; Canon 7D, Canon 500 mm IS lens with 1.4X teleconverter.
Gulls robbing fish from common merganser.
ISO 400, 1/2500 second @ f 7.1, Canon 7D, Canon 500 mm IS lens with 1.4X teleconverter.
Common Merganser hens fishing in the Laguna Madre shallows.
ISO 800, 1/6400 second @ f 7.1, Canon 7D, Canon 500 mm IS lens with 1.4X teleconverter.
Juvenile Brown Pelican playing with a fish tail.
ISO 400, 1/2500 second @ f 7.1; Canon 7D, Canon 500 mm IS lens with 1.4X teleconverter.
Female Northern Harrier grooming head feathers.
ISO 800, 1/800 second @ f 5.6; Canon 7D, Canon 500 mm IS lens with 1.4X teleconverter.
Pied-billed Grebe stretching on the surface of alligator pond at South Padre Island Convention Center.
ISO 800, 1/1000 second @ f 5.6; Canon 7D, Canon 500 mm IS lens with 1.4X teleconverter.
Photographing at Santa Clara Ranch one afternoon, I captured several nice songbird images, similars of which you have seen. Nevertheless, I liked this female northern cardinal landing so, I’m sharing it with you.
female Northern Cardinal landing on guayacan.
ISO 400, 1/1600 second @ f 5.6; Canon 1D Mark III, Canon 100-400 mm IS lens @ 340 mm.
I like to use the Mark III camera for its 10 frames/second to capture fast action sequences like birds landing at close range.
The following birds were photographed at a Valley Land Fund tract on the Rio Grande about 75 miles up river from McAllen. The day started with fog and quickly improved to open shade. This kiskadee shot was taken in late afternoon after the sun finally appeared. You have to be patient and put in your time to get photos in the best light, right?
Great Kiskadee scolding another for daring to share the same perch.
ISO 640, 1/1250 second @ f 4; Canon 1D Mark III, Canon 500 mm IS lens.
Altamira Oriole perched on the side of a Texas ebony trunk.
ISO 400, 1/200 second @ f 5.6, Canon 7D, 500 mm IS lens with 1.4X teleconverter.
The only wild Brown Jay in the U.S.
ISO 800, 1/320 second @ f 5.6, Canon 7D, 500 mm IS lens with 1.4X teleconverter.
A huge (16+ inches long) brown jay ( the only wild brown jay in the U.S. ) appeared while I was at Salineno. Hundreds of birders have been coming from all over the country to see the bird which comes to a feeding station about three times each morning.
It landed right in front of me while I had the teleconverter on with the big lens for small songbirds so, I was barely able to cram it into the frame. There was no way was I going lose time changing out the converter and risk missing the shot. Moments like this are one of the benefits of photographing on the Rio Grande, 200 yards from Mexico.
Check out my Photo Tour schedule on this web site and join me for some great nature photography this winter and spring.
On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, I took four other photographers to the Rockport-Fulton area of the Texas coast to photograph endangered whooping cranes on their wintering grounds at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. It’s been a tough winter for the birds, even though there is a record number (over 300) of them in that area.
With the severe drought conditions, blue crab (the cranes’ preferred winter diet) production was almost nil this summer and fall. Consequently, the birds were moving inland to feed in burned areas where other food was more readily available. We could see U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service fire crews conducting prescribed burns while we were photographing (you will notice smoke in the background of some of the photos that follow). Food resources in the burns help sustain the birds, but they make it mighty hard for photographers confined to boats in the waterways. Nevertheless, we got plenty of photo action and left with some pleasant memories.
Here are some shots from the whooping crane trip:
Adult whooping crane in flight.
This is a series of flight shots taken under stressful circumstances for yours truly.
Whooper pair circling near our boat at mid-morning.
Whooping crane pair in flight.
Fourth shot of a whooping crane flight series.
When I am leading a bird photography group, they depend on me to read the birds’ body language to anticipate what will happen next. In this case, the birds simply walked out of the water and took off…no craning of the necks or bugling. I had the photographers alerted that something unusual was going to happen, but I didn’t have time to get my own equipment adjusted for this series of flight shots.
These shots were done at ISO 400, 1/8000 second @ f 4. Each of the frame filling photos appears to have adequate depth of field, but I would have preferred something more like 1/2000 second @ f 11. I was using my trusty Canon 7D camera shooting at 8 frames per second, a Canon IS 500 mm lens, Wimberley head and Gitzo 1348 cf tripod from the deck of a large boat. Suspecting a take-off was eminent, I quickly removed a 1.4X teleconverter and remounted the lens. There was no time to release all the tightened Wimberley knobs before the birds were in the air. As a result, I had to lift camera, lens and tripod into the air as I swung and panned with the birds in flight…not an easy task, but I did it.
Pelicans take off with prescribed burn smoking in the background.
Are these pelicans accustomed to boat traffic?
Both previous photos were made with the Canon 1D Mark III and Canon IS 100-400 mm lens hand held. I keep this rig ready while shooting with the big lens because it allows me more versatility for flight shots and large birds/mammals. I should have grabbed it for the whooping crane flight sequence.
Brown Pelican shaking off water after a bath at Port Aransas.
Northern Harrier at a Port Aransas marsh.
Northern Harrier cruising above the cattails at a Port Aransas marsh.
Both harrier photos were made with the Canon 7D camera and Canon 500 mm lens, hand held to improve my ability to keep the bird in the view finder.
A juvenile white ibis with small crab at Goose Island State Park, Texas.
Announcing Change of Location for the April 4-6 Prairie Chicken Interpretive Photo Tour!
The April 4-6 Lesser Prairie Chicken Interpretive Photo Tour has been moved to Canadian, Texas. We will have the most experienced prairie chicken photo guide available for this one, so don’t miss it. This shoot is limited to four photographers and two of the slots are already spoken for, so sign up quickly if you are serious about this trip. More details will be available soon on my web site Photo Tour Schedule.
