American Oystercatcher - Fort Myers Beach, Florida

American Oystercatcher, Fort Myers Beach, Florida. Canon 1D mk IV, Sigma 300/2.8.

For about a decade, my family spent the Christmas holidays in Fort Myers Beach, Florida. We were lured here by the warm weather, inexpensive wine, great seafood and the incredible bird photography on the beach. Fort Myers Beach is one of the best places on the continent to shoot shorebirds and waders. I'd lug my big lens and tripod up and down the beach every day at dawn and dusk to shoot birds along the beach or in the tidal lagoons. Many of my best bird photos were shot here.

It has been about 5 years since I've been to Fort Myers Beach, so when I arrived here this afternoon it was complete nostalgic bliss. I took a scouting walk down the beach tonight carrying only a 300 mm lens, with no expectation to actually shoot anything. To my great amazement, I found the most cooperative American Oystercatchers I've ever seen on the beach. I ended up shooting hundreds of photos of them at point plank range with a 300 mm lens (typically I use a 500mm-800mm lens).

I'm looking forward to much more shooting along the beach and capturing a ton of photo ideas that are brewing in my brain.

Wicked waves on Georgian Bay compliments of Sandy!

I watch weather forecasts closely and when I saw potential for 90km/hr NE winds on Georgian Bay compliments of Hurricane Sandy, I paid attention! Northerly winds smash the Georgian Bay shoreline of Bruce Peninsula National Park with great power. Would Frankenstorm deliver photographic awesomeness?

I arrived on the shoreline at 8am decked out in clothing for a, ummm, hurricane. The waves were the largest I've ever seen on the Great Lakes and were engulphing the 50 ft cliffs adjacent to Indian Head Cove. The best protection I could find was in the lee of Halfway Rock, which offered modest protection from the torrential spray. A plastic bag was all I had with me to protect my Canon 5d mk II and Sigma 70-200/2.8 lens from the water. For an hour, I battled blowing spray to shoot still photos and videos of the best waves I've ever seen. Here's a still photo of the wave smashing over the west side of Indian Head Cove (often mistakenly referred to as the Grotto):

And I couldn't resist shooting video of the same scene:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0okh6dxfgs&feature=plcp

This was one of the most incredible scenes I've ever shot! My cameras (and myself) were totally soaked, but everything survived without any problems. What fun!

Birds – the cure for late autumn photography blues!

Once the leaves have dropped off the trees and the landscape turns brownish, many nature photographers fall into a slump of low photo motivation. The good news is that there is a cure and it’s flying towards you…. birds. In fact, late fall and early winter is one of the best times to photograph some families of birds as they stream through Ontario, or settle in here for the winter.  Pull on your toque and get your zoom lens ready!

Common Redpoll

The finch family tops my list of fall favourite birds to photograph in Ontario. There are a whole bunch of different finch species that can be found here during late fall and winter including goldfinches, siskins, redpolls, crossbills and grosbeaks. They all share an appetite for seeds and will travel widely in search of the best wild crops, especially the seed cones of conifer trees.  Finches are also fairly easy to attract to bird feeders. Hey, why pass up an easy meal?!

Evening Grosbeak

Finches can be found all over Ontario at this time of year, although I hone in on central Ontario to get the best mix of species.  Algonquin Provincial Park, in particular, ranks as one of the premier finch locations in the province.  In addition to cruising along the park’s Highway 60 watching for finch flocks, I always check out the Spruce Bog Trail, along Opeongo Lake Road and the feeders located at the park Visitor Centre.

If you’re a beginner birder and photographer, be sure to park a field guide to help identify the finches. Or better yet, learn the bird calls so you can find them with your ears! But be careful, before long you’ll become a bird geek like me, wandering around Ontario with your camera in pursuit of finches!

Click here for more exciting Ontario outdoor adventures.

Pine Grosbeak

Wildlife Photographer of the Year - my favorite images

The winners of the Veolia Environment Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest have just been announced. I always look forward to browsing through the categories. Here are my favorite images from among all of the winning and commended photos. Which ones do you like?

Caiman underwater

Sea turtle

Microscopic life

Penguin jumping onto ice

Cormorant in Fishball

Alligator at night

Aurora Borealis

Shoreline at night

Alan Murphy's e- book "The Photographer's Guide to Attracting Birds"

Here's a plug for Alan Murphy's new e-book "The Photographer's Guide to Attracting Birds". Alan is one of the top bird photographers on the continent, best known for his images of birds in stunning settings (beautiful perches, in flowers, etc). If you read birding or nature magazines, you've seen his photos grace many covers.    

I've been photographing birds for about 20 years, often with setups involving attractants (food, calls), and yet I still learned so much from this book. Alan goes into great detail about how to attract different families of birds, including species that I didn't think could be easily coaxed in. This book is an instant classic, in my opinion the very best resource about bird photography since Arthur Morris' 1998 landmark book "The Art of Bird Photography" which helped to popularize the activity.  

Alan's e-book is available for $50 from his website at this link. Some people might think that's a lot of cash for an e-book, but it's worth every penny and more. If you want to capture incredible bird photos, this book is one of the best investments you'll ever make to learn the techniques to attract birds in front of your lens! 

Tips for capturing great photos of Ontario’s fall foliage!

Autumn Maple, Missisagi Provincial Park, Ontario

Few things get my photo mojo kicked into high gear more than the fall season here in Ontario, when the leaves turn from green to crimson, orange and gold. The peak of fall colours varies each year and by location, but in general you can count on the last week of September and first week of October as the best for photography. Checking the Ontario Parks Fall Report (http://www.parkreports.com/fall/) helps me decide where and when I’ll head off to the woods with my camera. I have my usual haunts – Algonquin Park, the Parry Sound area, and wrapping northwest around Georgian Bay and up towards the north shore of Lake Superior. During autumn, I’m a photo nomad in search of the best colours!

Lake of Two Rivers, Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario

If you’re as inspired as I am to photograph fall colours, here are a few tips that will help you create the most jaw-dropping, eye-popping photos possible!

1. Shoot at sunrise or sunset when the light is golden, or on drizzly, overcast days to capture rich colour saturation.
2. Use a polarizer to cut glare off leaves and wet surfaces. This will make the colours pop out of the scene!
3. Use a tripod to make razor sharp photos, or so you can slow down the shutter speed to create artistic effects such as blurred water or moving leaves.  
4. Try lots of different perspectives! Get close to leaves with your wide-angle lens, shoot up from the ground towards the canopy or get farther back and use a telephoto lens.

Have a great autumn season and I hope to bump into you in the woods somewhere!

Click here for more exciting Ontario outdoor adventures.

Oxtongue River Rapids, near Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario

Results of Bruce Peninsula Landscape Photo Workshop 2012

Just finished a great photo workshop focused on the awe-inspiring landscapes of the northern Bruce Peninsula. The participants were enthusiastic and fun! Thanks to Rick, David, Glen, Kyle, Nancy, Lee Anne, Edith and Ross for enduring intermittent rain showers to be rewarded by dramatic fall skies! Thanks to Colin Field for helping out with instruction and Laura for logistics! Here are a few shots from the weekend...

2012 Bruce Peninsula landscape photo workshop gang. 

Halfway Rock, Bruce Peninsula National Park, Ontario.

Photo workshop at Halfway Log Dump, Bruce Peninsula National Park, Ontario.

Conchoidal fractures in the dolostone bedrock at Little Cove, Bruce Peninsula National Park, Ontario.

An un-bearably funny camping story from Killarney

My girlfriend snapped this pic of me this morning, dead to the world in our tent, due to lack of sleep caused by a campsite ruckus. Killarney Provincial Park, Ontario 

I heard the first honk around 4am. At first I thought it was just a dream, but there was another honk... and then another and another. There were honks in rapid succession and other times just an individual honk. In the still of a beautiful starry night in the George Lake campground of Killarney Provincial Park, someone on a neighboring campsite was disturbing my peaceful sleep by continuously honking their car horn. They'd woke me up from a deep sleep and since I was supposed to be getting up in a couple hours for a sunrise shoot, I  was pretty cranky. Sleeping in a tent is uncomfortable in the best of situations, so there's nothing worse then some unscrupulous neighboring camper making it even worse.  

I put on some clothes, grabbed my flashlight and told my girlfriend I was going to get to the bottom of this. With Chuck Norris courage, I stumbled down the lane towards the lake. Sure enough, the problem was at campsite 105, just as I'd expected. I'd known these guys were trouble since first laying eyes on them when we arrived.

The next horn blast confirmed my suspicions - the guy was in his tent, operating the car horn with his key remote. I shone my light at the tent and said "What the hell are you doing? You've woke up every camper around."

He whimpered, "There's an animal here, I think it's a black bear. I'm scared."

If I wasn't so tired, I'm sure I would have laughed out loud. Although there are bears that wander through the campground, I'd seen the condition of their campsite earlier and figured they were probably being raided by a raccoon. In the still of the night, any small animal sounds like a bear. Even Chipmunks sound like axe-wielding psychos crashing through the forest at night.

I said that it was probably a raccoon and that he should check to make sure the site was clean. He was very apologetic about the horn (which he'd honked about 50 times) and asked if it was safe to come out of his tent. He crawled out of his tent, rather glad to see me there with a flashlight and exclaimed that he was sure it must be a bear - 'snorting and rooting around their gear' and I once again suggested it was probably a raccoon. Ironically, he was a big guy, an adult in his late 40s or early 50s and he definitely didn't agree with me, based on his 'considerable' experience back-country camping. [For the record, I've never met a back-country camper who would leave a messy campsite like that and be so irrational about wildlife].

At that point, I suggested he clean his campsite and stop honking his horn, then returned to my campsite. I finally fell asleep after my girlfriend and I laughed about the story. Unfortunately, I was so tired in the morning I could not wake up for a sunrise shoot. My girlfriend took the above picture of me, in my cranky morning state - completely unwilling to get out of bed. I may have missed getting the morning shot, but it worth the funny story!

Shooting the Spectacular Shoreline Scenery of Ontario

One of the best things about being an outdoor photographer in Ontario is that there is water just about everywhere. Point your camera in any direction and chances are there is a pond, creek, river, marsh, bay, small lake, big lake or a Great Lake nearby!  It’s a core part of our human biology to be drawn to water, so is it any wonder that we go to the shoreline to play, relax or simply be inspired?

The magic of shorelines has a firm grasp on my brain, to the extent that I spend more time photographing shorelines than any other subject. Seriously, how could I possibly resist with so many great opportunities nearby?!

I’ve travelled all over Ontario with my camera in search of inspiring scenery and there are three locations that make my all-time favourite list because of their utterly awesome, world-class scenery.

Lake Superior Provincial Park

Lake Superior Provincial Park claims the top spot, hands down. This park has spectacular shoreline scenery (ancient granite + Lake Superior = wow) and fairly easy access. That’s a winning combination for landscape photography, which is best in the rich light at sunrise and sunset.

Bruce Peninsula National Park

Bruce Peninsula National Park, in my own backyard, claims number two. The rugged cliffs, boulders, caves and overhangs along this stretch of Niagara Escarpment are stunning on their own, but when you add the topaz waters of Georgian Bay to the mix, it’s over the top for scenic photography.

Killarney Provincial Park

Killarney Provincial Park ranks as a close third and has great vistas on both Georgian Bay and the granite-rimmed interior lakes. The classic scene that comes to mind in Killarney is of white pine trees on stark granite over a crystalline lake. That’s a quintessential Canadian landscape to me!

Click here for exciting Ontario Arts in the Wild adventures. 

My foray into HDR images - Bruce Peninsula National Park

I'm a luddite when it comes to new digital technologies and I've been particularly slow in adopting HDR as a way to achieve a wide tonal range in my images. Most of the HDRs that I see are grossly over-processed to the point of looking unnatural, so I've steered clear until recently. 

In most cases, I simply prefer to use ND grad filters to bag the photo in-camera rather than rely on post processing (I hate spending more time at my computer). However, there are some situations when this isn't possible, including when the composition is complex and a grad won't fit the scene, or when I'm shooting with an ultra-wide lens that has a curved front element that cannot be easily filtered.

In these situations, I've been relying on HDR lately. I shoot 5 images of the scene bracketed at various exposures (- 0, -1,. -2, +1, +2) and use PhotoMatix Pro software to combine them into single HDR image. It took me a while to get the hang of the adjustments (there are lots of sliders and it's easy to make the image look very fake!) but I'm finally getting ok at it. 

Here are a couple HDR images that I've shot recently in Bruce Peninsula National Park, near my home. Let me know how they look to you.

Thanks and happy shooting!

Ethan

The Grotto. Techs: Canon 5d mk II, Sigma 12-24mm. 

Halfway Rock. Techs: Canon 1d mk IV, Sigma 12-24mm.

Top 10 Spots to Shoot Photos of Georgian Bay

Thought I'd share this article I recently wrote about Georgian Bay. What are your favourite spots to shoot photos around the bay?
cheers,
Ethan-


Halfway Log Dump in Bruce Peninsula National Park, Ontario.


You could spend a lifetime photographing scenic vistas around Georgian Bay and never shoot the same place twice. The Bay has some incredible scenery - from the limestone cliffs of the Niagara Escarpment plunging into Caribbean-blue waters, to granite islands dotted with wind-swept white pines. This makes it incredibly difficult to come up with a top 10 list. It’s probably more accurate to call this “My 10 Favourite Places to Shoot the Georgian Bay Shoreline… so far!” Why “so far”? Because I’m continually finding new locations and never know what amazing scene awaits me around that next bend.

I’ve deliberately picked locations that have fairly easy access, either by a short hike or boat ride with a commercial operator. But I’ve also included a couple that require a bit of adventure to get to! Enjoy exploring and adding your own personal favourite places to the list! For more information about touring around Georgian Bay, visit: www.visitgeorgianbay.com .

1. Bruce Peninsula National Park
I’m slightly biased since this is my backyard, but the stretch of Georgian Bay shoreline between Halfway Log Dump and the famous Grotto is one of the most scenic shorelines in all of Canada. Reach Halfway Log Dump (sunrise shoot) from Emmett Lake Road plus a 15 minute easy hike. To reach the Grotto and adjacent Indian Head Cove (best in afternoon light), take Cyprus Lake Road and hike the Georgian Bay Trail (20 minutes). If you’re up for a rugged hike, the Bruce Trail follows this shoreline and offers numerous extraordinary lookouts for the adventure photographer.

2. Flowerpot Island, Fathom Five National Marine Park, Tobermory
The two rock pillars on the shoreline of Flowerpot Island are marvels of geomorphology and icons of Fathom Five National Marine Park. Catch a tour boat from the town of Tobermory for the short cruise over to the island, followed by a 10 minute hike to the flowerpot rock stacks. This is a morning shoot, so take the first boat of the day, or better yet book one of the 6 campsites on the island and get over there the night before so you’re ready for first light.

3. Lion's Head harbour, Bruce Peninsula
I’d bet my hiking boots that you can’t find a prettier harbour on Georgian Bay than Lion’s Head. There’s a sand beach and quaint marina, but the real beauty is the small lighthouse marking entrance to the clear blue harbour and the backdrop of huge cliffs. Shoot from the public beach in the evening with a telephoto lens to catch the light illuminating the lighthouse and distant cliffs.

4. Craigleith Provincial Park
There’s no easier place to bag a panoramic photo of Georgian Bay than Craigleith. This spot is literally right along Highway 26 as you drive around the southern part of the Bay between Collingwood and Thornbury. I like to catch a stormy sky over the flat rocky shoreline, but you might prefer to search for fossil Trilobites in the bedrock.

5. Georgian Bay Islands National Park
The 63 islands of this park stretch from the hardwood forests on the south end of Beausoleil Island northwards up to the granite islands near the mouth of Twelve Mile Bay. If you’re a boater, you’ll have access to many great spots in this park. Most visitors, however, take the park’s DayTripper boat service to reach Beausoleil Island where you can camp, or better yet – stay in a cabin. Hike up to the north end of the island and spend your time shooting the beautiful scenes around Fairy Lake (either sunrise or sunset).

6. The Massasauga Provincial Park
You’re going to have to work a bit harder to shoot this park, but it is well worth it. Plan a multi-day canoe or kayak trip to explore the myriad islands that comprise Massasauga. The closer you paddle to the barrier islands on the edge of open Georgian Bay, the better the scenery gets. The white pines on granite rock around Wreck Island are iconic Georgian Bay scenes.

7. Killbear Provincial Park
Located just west of Parry Sound, Killbear Provincial Park is a popular camping park with 881 campsites. Killbear is one of the few places where you have easy access to the eastern shoreline of Georgian Bay. There are several trails to hike, each offering classic views of the Bay. The definitive Killbear photo however, and a truly iconic Georgian Bay image, is the lonely windswept white pine located at Sunset Rock.

8. French River Provincial Park
Most people catch the classic shot of the French at the bridge where Highway 69 crosses the river, but for an awesome Georgian Bay experience, book a few days at one of the fishing lodges down the river. Most of the lodges have reasonably priced rustic cabins and rental canoes, so you can explore the mouth of the river at Georgian Bay.

9. Killarney Provincial Park

Mouth of Chickanishing Creek in Killarney Provincial Park, Ontario.

Killarney boasts some of the best scenery in Ontario with its granite ridges, towering white pines, wilderness lakes and stunning Georgian Bay shoreline. My favourite location to photograph in the park, which also gets my vote as the single most iconic Georgian Bay scene, is at the mouth of the Chickanishing River. Just east of the town of Killarney, take the Chickanishing Road to the end, then walk the 20 minute Chickanishing Trail until it ends at Georgian Bay. The island just off the mouth of the creek is the perfect backdrop and lights up the best at sunrise.

10. Manitoulin Island
The world’s largest freshwater island, Manitoulin is a rural paradise where you feel like you’ve stepped back in time. Largely undeveloped, the island has many quaint shoreline locations to be discovered. One of the best panoramic views on all of Georgian Bay is Ten Mile Point, located right along Highway 6 between Little Current and Manitowaning. Bring a telephoto lens for this photo, so you’re able to zoom in on the myriad distant islands.

When you’re on the island, be sure to lace up your hiking boots for a trek on the famous Cup and Saucer Trail. Make the short, but steep trek at sunrise, to a spectacular overlook. The trailhead is located 18km west of Little Current at the junction of Highway 540 and Bidwell Road.

The Grotto in Bruce Peninsula National Park and Stand up Paddlers in Tobermory

The Grotto in Bruce Peninsula National Park

It's the busiest time of year for me - June is that magical month that keeps me close to home, yet pulls me in so many directions. On any given day I could be shooting birds, wildflowers, landscapes with lush green forests or outdoor recreation photos. I have been avoiding my computer and the blog for a while, so thought I should post a couple favorite images from the past week.

The top photo is the famous Grotto cave near Cyprus Lake in Bruce Peninsula National Park. At this time of year, the sun angle perfectly illuminates the Grotto at dusk.

The bottom photo is of my friends stand-up-paddling on a beautifully calm morning on Georgian Bay. We set the photo up to have the iconic Big Tub Lighthouse as a backdrop. I shot this from my small motor boat. To get a high enough angle so their heads wouldn't be merging with the distant shoreline, I got up as high as I could standing on the bow of the boat.

Happy shooting!

Stand up Paddlers near the Big Tub Lighthouse in Tobermory, Ontario.

Georgian Bay shoreline - first boat trip of year

I made my first boat trip of the year last night down the shoreline of Bruce Peninsula National Park. Georgian Bay was flat calm and the light was great! Handheld image of Halfway Rock with a Canon 1D mk IV and Sigma 12-24mm lens.

Many more boat excursions to come!

Wildflower Photography using Medium Telephoto lenses with Extension Tubes

One of the first lenses I bought almost 20 years ago was a macro so I could photograph small things in nature such as wildflowers and salamanders. Although I still love to photograph small subjects, I rarely ever use or carry a macro lens with me any more. Instead, I use my 70-200mm medium telelphoto zoom lens (which I always have in my camera bag anyway) with a 25mm extension tube to achieve close focus. An extension tube is just a spacer that goes between your lens and body that changes the ability to close focus. There is no glass in the extension tube, but there are electrical contacts so your camera and lens can still talk to each other.

It takes a bit of practice to get the hang of using an extension tube on a medium telephoto lens and it requires that you still use the same methodical and precise technique as you would shooting with a macro lens. But the beauty of this combination is that if you already carry a medium telephoto lens (as many outdoor photographers do) you don't need to lug around an additional macro lens.... only a light weight extension tube. Virtually every close-up wildflower photo I've taken in the last 5 years has been shot with this combination. Here are some spring wildflowers I've shot with a Sigma 70-200/2.8 lens and Canon 25mm extension tube over the past few weeks. 

Bloodroot

25mm extension tube with Sigma 70-200/2.8 lens

White Trillium

My typical  wildflower photo gear - shooting the flowers below. 

Spring Beauties

Western Tanager on the Bruce Peninsula

Amazing to see this Western Tanager yesterday at a friends' feeder here on the Bruce Peninsula. A western species, they rarely show up this far east. This bird was likely blown off course during migration, due to high winds a few days ago. The bird geek in me was excited just to see it, but I couldn't resist hanging out to get a few photos. I shot the photo with a Canon 1D mk IV, 500/4 IS lens and 1.4x tele-converter.

Wide-angle White-tailed Deer - Behind the Scenes

White-tailed Deer. Gear: Canon 1D mk IV, Sigma 12-24 lens

I have never spent much time, or had much luck for that matter, photographing White-tailed Deer. So when my friend Dave Gignac started posting great photos of tame deer he was photographing in a city park near his home, I jumped at the chance to join him for a morning. The cool thing about this situation is that the deer were being regularly fed by people and had become extraordinarily approachable at times. This was an opportunity to do things a bit differently, so I opted for wide-angle and medium telephoto lenses instead of the usual super-telephotos typically used for wildlife photography.

When I met Dave before sunrise for our photo shoot, I had high expectations - and they were far exceeded. The deer came in as predicted and at times were within minimum focusing distance of my ultra-wide angle lens. It's so much fun to be this close to animals. Here's a short behind the scenes video of that photo shoot, taken with a GoPro HD Hero video camera that I usually have along with me just for these kinds of moments:

Ever since being awestruck by Jim Brandenburg's famous photo of a wolf peeking from behind a tree, I always get excited by opportunities to capture this style of photo.  

White-tailed Deer. Gear: Canon 1D mk IV, Sigma 70-200/2.8

Upcoming Nature Photography Seminar - May 5 @ Niagara on the Lake, Ontario

Come on out to an all day seminar I'm leading about nature photography at the Welland Camera Club in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario on Saturday, May 5. There will be sessions about bird, wildlife, landscape and travel photography. I'll be sharing all of the secrets! Click the link for details.

http://wellandcameraclub.com/wcc-calendar/wcc-spring-seminar/

And there are some great prizes at the event, including a Sigma macro lens!

Monkey business in the Amazon Jungle, Ecuador

During my recent trip to Ecuador, I spent a few days at the beautiful Sacha Lodge, which is located in lowland tropical rainforest (Amazon jungle). I'd done my homework and knew that Sacha was a good place for monkeys, but I had no idea just how good! During my short time there, I saw 5 species and had extraordinary opportunities to photograph 3 species: Squirrel Monkey, Black-mantled Tamarin and Pygmy Marmoset (the world's smallest monkey). Even the guides who'd worked at the lodge for years were raving about how unusually obliging the monkeys were. That's exactly the kind of luck that a nature photographer dreams about!

My guides must have thought I was crazy... although the divesity of life in the area is staggeringly huge (it's a famous spot for birding), I simply could not drag myself away from the monkeys. Here are a few early favorites that I've managed to process from the thousands of images. These were taken with a Canon 1Dmk IV and 500/4IS lens, sometimes with teleconvertors.

A trip into Ecuador's Amazon basin is something I highly recommend on your nature photography bucket list!

Squirrel Monkey baby on mother, primary Amazon rainforest, Ecuador, South America

Black-mantled Tamarin monkey, primary Amazon rainforest, Ecuador, South America

Pygmy Marmoset, primary Amazon rainforest, Ecuador, South America

Ecuador - Tandayapa Valley birds

Here's a quick post with a few photos from down here in Ecuador. I spent the the past few days between the Tandayapa Valley (cloud forest) and Milpe (rainforest). The fruit feeders at Tandayapa were unbeliveably productive..... some of the best tropical bird photography I've ever had! Tomorrow I cross over to the east side of the Andes for a few days before descending down into the Amazonia lowlands. Not sure how good the internet access will be for the rest of the trip, but I'll try to post more photos if I can!

The photos below were all taken with a Canon 1D mk IV and 500mm f/4 IS lens often with a 1.4x teleconvertor.

Blue-winged Mountain Tanager, Ecaudor

Blue-winged Mountain Tanager, Ecuador

Red-headed Barbet, Ecuador

Silver-throated Tanager, Ecuador

Silver-throated Tanager, Ecuador

Golden Tanager, Ecuador

Algonquin Park winter - follow-up

Just a quick follow-up to my last post with a few more images from Alqonquin Provincial Park. I'm still in awe at how incredible that trip was.... I ended up with my best photos of moose and pine marten, as well as plenty of birds. Here are a few:

This is the context for the photos of the moose in the previous post. Canon 1D mk IV, Sigma 70-200/2.8. 

Pine Marten peaking over snowy ridge. Canon 1D mk IV, EF 500mm f/4 IS lens & 1.4x teleconverter.

Black-capped Chickadee launching off perch. Canon 1D mk IV, EF 500mm f/4 IS lens & 1.4x teleconverter.

Winter moose - Algonquin Provincial Park

I'm up shooting in Algonquin Provincial Park for a couple of days. My targets were winter birds and landscapes, but the unexpected surprise of the day was a pair of bull moose on a frozen lake just before dusk. I stood in awe of the scene, then frantically flipped between lenses to capture the unique situation. I've never had luck with moose in winter before, let alone two of them out in the open! Tipping a glass of wine back now after a hell of a great day!
Techs: Canon EOS 5D mk II, 500/4IS lens.