Ducks, Swans and packing!

I've recently sold my house and have been packing, organizing, pitching stuff out, etc.... which explains why I've been posting sporadically lately. There's a long story of why I'm moving, which you'll hear in detail later, but in a nutshell I'm freeing myself up to do some epic travelling and photography. As of this fall, I'll be off for a couple year trip to a long list of destinations. For much of that time I'll be living, photographing and running my photo business (thanks to WIFI connections) from a VW campervan. Crazy, but I can't wait!

I have been out shooting quite a bit lately, but haven't had much time to process the files. Yesterday, in anticipation of great light, I went to LaSalle Park Marina in Burlington to photograph ducks. The birds were cooperative and the light was great. Here are some of the results.

All photographed with EOS 1DsmIII; 500/4IS lens; some with 1.4x TC.

Long-tailed Duck:


Bufflehead (a very tough bird to expose for!):


Red-breasted Merganser:


Mute Swan:

Making the most of winter!

I'm not a big fan of winter, but until I'm able to migrate south, I make the best of it. Here's what I've been up to lately.

Ice Jumping
My friend Scott and I went out to shoot ice piles along the Lake Huron shoreline near Tobermory last weekend. As we were waiting for the light to improve at sunset, Scott kindly agreed to pose for some action shots, jumping off the ice piles in his snowshoes. After about 10 repeat jumps, it all came together for this shot. Note the red jacket - every outdoor photographer should have one! EOS 1DSmIII; EF 70-200IS at 200; 1/800s @ f/4; ISO 400



Icy Shoreline Sunset
The two below photos are what we were really after. Once the sun had set, the afterglow was spectacularly deep purple and orange, bathing the ice with rich color. These were long exposures (20-30s) at f/18, using a 2-stop soft edge Singh-Ray 4x6" ND grad, which I handheld in front of the lens. EOS 1DSmIII; 17-40mm lens; ISO 400; cable release & mirror lock-up




Common Redpoll
I shot these today in Penetanguishene in a friend's backyard. There were about 150 redpolls swarming their feeders - it was very busy! There were only a few individuals that were brightly plumaged males and I spent hours trying to get shots of them. I used my classic feeder setup to get these - attaching perches to the feeder poles with zip ties.
EOS 1DSmIII; 500/4IS; ISo 400; 1/320s @ f/6.3