outdoor photography

Ovenbird This morning I found an Ovenbird at Central Winds.  It was in pretty deep cover, but it was pretty close, so I decided to set my camera to 6400 ISO and take a bunch of shots, hoping a couple might be sharp.  Thankfully a couple did, and here are the couple photos that turned out. My shutter speed was only 1/60 sec or so, so I was a bit lucky I think. Ovenbird

Veery My father and I drove out to Oak Hammock on Merritt Island today.  We'd heard some nice reports about some fun warblers there, so I thought I'd give it a try.  Unfortunately, I left my camera battery in my charger, but my dad let me borrow one his cameras, a Canon EOS 1D mark 4.  It was pretty fun to use--nice and fast, and noise levels were lower than my 7D.  I didn't see a lot of warblers there, but it was nice to find a couple Veery. It was also fun to see many Ovenbirds and a Northern Waterthrush. Ovenbird It was interesting, though.  Noise levels with the 1D mark 4 were better than my 7D, but there was a bit more noise than I anticipated. I took these shots at 2500 ISO, and noise was pretty visible, so I had to work on the backgrounds a little. The Ovenbird above is sharp, but a bit grainy; the waterthrush below is more tightly cropped, and the grain is also affecting the sharpness of the image. It just goes to show that there's no magic cam...

Ovenbird I had a good morning at Central Winds.  I visited there for a little bit in the morning and on the way home. Between my two visits I had 11 warblers: Ovenbird, Louisiana Waterthrush (late arrival), Black-and-white Warbler, American Redstart, Northern Parula, Yellow Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler and Prairie Warbler in the morning. I added a Blackburnian and Common Yellowthroat in the evening.  I also found my first Veery of the fall, an Eastern Wood-Pewee and possibly two Acadian Flycatchers (I saw one in the morning and one in a different location in the evening). It's really nice to see thrushes coming back. Northern Parula I figure this Common Yellowthroat thinks she's in heaven.  I saw her grab several spiders in these webs. Common Yellowthroat This Veery just would not behave.  First it was behind a branch so I could only see its head.  Then it moved into clear vi...

Ovenbird This morning the Ovenbirds were making their presence known. It was like they were trying to see who could chirp the loudest. I suspect there were at least 4 there, though there may have been other less vocal ones that I couldn't find. We had a total of 9 warblers including the Ovenbird, Black & White Warbler, Prothonotary Warbler, American Redstart, Northern Parula, Yellow Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler, Worm-eating Warbler, and Prairie Warbler.

Swainson's Warbler This morning I drove by Mead Gardens hoping to find one of the Swainson's Warblers that were seen there yesterday.  A friend of mine was there too, and we ended up finding both Swainson's Warblers, plus 12 other warbler species: Ovenbird, Worm-eating Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Northern Parula, Palm Warbler, Pine Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler, and Prairie Warbler.  We also saw a waterthrush, but we did not get good enough looks at it to tell which one. Swainson's Warbler Swainson's Warbler Ovenbird Other highlights were male Indigo and Painted Buntings, American Goldfinches, Blue-headed Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, and Ruby-crowned Kinglets.  It was also fun to see a Marsh Hare. American Goldfinch Marsh Hare

Northern Mockingbird #1 (2200 x 1385 crop) Canon EOS 7D with EF 400mm f/5.6L (ISO 250 | f5/6 | 1/500sec) Lightroom Adjustments: Vibrance +62 Sharpening: +25 | Luminance Noise Reduction: +10 I acquired a Canon EOS 7D in September, and now that I've been using it extensively for a few months I thought it would be good to write reviews of its various features.  This camera has been on the market for a while and there are many reviews already available, but I thought it would be helpful to review the features of this camera that make it hands down the best Canon APS-C DSLR for wildlife photography.  In the past I've used the Canon Rebel 2000 and Elan 7 (film) and the 10D, 40D and 50D (digital), and all of these cameras have been wonderful cameras that have served me well.  But the 7D easily out shines them all. In this review, I'd like to examine the ISO performance of the camera. Before I begin, though, it may be useful for me to make a cou...

Prairie Warbler Contortionist At some point, I'm going to have to try visiting some place else in the mornings before work, but this place never seems to disappoint. I added one more warbler to my list of birds seen here, a Chestnut-sided Warbler.  Others seen this morning were an Ovenbird, Tennessee Warbler, American Redstart, Northern Parula, Yellow Warbler (lots of them), Yellow-throated Warbler, and Prairie Warbler.  This comparatively was a slow morning (only 8 warbler species).  But several of my photos turned out pretty well, so I'm pretty happy about that. Prairie Warbler looking far more respectable Yellow-throated Warbler Northern Parula Ovenbird

Ovenbird Canon EOS 7D with EF 400mm f/5.6L (f5.6 | ISO 1600 | 1/125 sec) I just received a new (used) Canon EOS 7D yesterday afternoon.  I was eager this morning to test it out at Central Winds Park.  It was a pretty good morning, but nothing like it's been earlier this week.  There was a small group of people there, and between all of us we found 9 warbler species: Yellow, Prothonotary,Yellow-throated, Black-throated Blue, Prairie, American Redstart, Ovenbird, Common Yellowthroat, and Northern Parula.  I didn't see all of these myself, partly because I wanted to go back into the woods to find an Ovenbird and challenge my new camera at higher ISOs.  Compared to the 50D I've been using, I was extremely happy with the results.  If you want to compare these shots to what I've been able to get on th 50D, see my Ovenbird photos from Sept. 5th. In those shots, I decreased the sharpness and clarity in the out of focus leaves and background to minimize noise ...

Ovenbird It's a conspiracy, I'm now convinced.  This morning at Central Winds Park, I heard some nice activity  in one of the more heavily wooded areas near the lake.  I'm somewhat leery of this area because the mosquitoes are particularly fierce there.  But I heard the sounds, and decided to venture into the area.  As I walked down the path, I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of mosquitoes. I wasn't being bitten at all!  But then I saw one of the birds I was hoping to find this morning--an Ovenbird.  It was beautiful.  It was active.  I found it perched up in a tree for me rather than hiding under bushes.  I lifted my camera, and I was immediately swarmed by mosquitoes.  They were everywhere, biting my arms and hands, buzzing in my ears, making a general nuisance of themselves. Ovenbird And then it hit me.  This was all part of the plan.  They were using this magnificent Ovenbird as a lure to bring me into t...