Ducks and Waterfalls

Here are a few photos from today. Started with an early morning drive down to the Lake Ontario shoreline at LaSalle Park, Burlington to photograph ducks. Later in the day it became heavy overcast so I decided to head to Niagara Falls to shoot the falls at night - they illuminate them with colored floodlights. Only have a few processed yet - it's been a long day and I need to crash out for a few hours before shooting again in the morning.

Wood Duck
EOS 1DSmIII; 500/4IS; 1.4x


Niagara Falls at night
EOS 1DSmIII; 70-200/2.8IS; 20-30s exposures; no filters

Winter waterbirds and shorelines

I've finally caught up on my sleep and my body has recovered from lying on the ice for many hours this past weekend, so here are a few more of the resuts. I spent Saturday shooting ducks on the Lake Ontario shoreline and Sunday morning on the Georgian Bay shoreline of the Bruce Peninsula. All of these are taken with my new EOS 1DSmIII.

Hooded Merganser female at LaSalle Park Marina, Burlington.
500/4Is + 1.4x



Tagged Trumpeter Swans
500/4IS



Icicles - Lion's Head, Bruce Peninsula
17-40mm; Singh-Ray Gold'n'Blue polarizer & 2 stop soft edge ND


Sunset over frozen Wasaga Beach (unsual ice balls)
Singh-Ray LB warming polarizer & 2 stop hard edge ND grad



Sunset over frozen Wasaga Beach
17-40mm; Singh-Ray Gold'nBlue polarizer & 2 stop soft edge ND grad

winter shots with 1DSm3

Just got back from a couple long days of shooting..... I'm exhausted and can barely keep my eyes open, but I had to post a couple of my favorite photos from this morning.
Both are along the Georgian Bay shoreline near Lion's Head (on the Bruce Peninsula).
I'll post a bunch more photos once caught up on my sleep!

1DSmIII; 17-40; Singh-Ray Gold'n'blue polarizer & 2 stop soft-edge ND grad:




1DSmIII; 70-200/2.8; Singh-Ray LB warming polarizer:

first photos with 1DSmIII

I finally tracked down a 1DSmIII camera body (from Downtown Camera, Toronto) to replace the body I had stolen back in November when I was in Argentina. These are my first photos with the 1DSmIII - from this morning. The 1DSmIII body has some outstanding upgrades over its predecessors. Notable are a bright viewfinder, large LCD, liveview (wow), auto sensor cleaner (thanks!), smoothest autofocus I've seen and, of course, the huge file size (equals about a 60mb TIFF). I can't wait to put this body through the paces and tell you what I think!

Trumpeter Swans, Wye Marsh in Midland.
EOS 1DSmIII; 500/4IS + 1.4x convertor. Fill flash at -2 stops.

Algonquin Park

I'm running on about 3 hours sleep today, but I'm in Algonquin Provincial Park, so life is good.
We lucked into some brief, but beautiful light this morning, followed by cooperative Pine Grosbeaks.

All photos EOS 1D2N

Lake of Two Rivers (70-200/2.8IS lens; Singh-Ray Gold'n'Blue polarizer with 3 stop soft ND grad:


Snow Angel (thanks Linda!); 17-40mm lens; Singh-Ray Gold'n'Blue polarizer with 2 stop hard ND grad:


Pine Grosbeaks 500/4IS plus 1.4x; fill flash -2

Life is good!

Today ranks among my all-time best days of bird photography. It started with another airboat charter (kissimmeeswamptours.com) to shoot Snail Kites. We also got great shots of Bald Eagle and Belted Kingfisher.
For the afternoon, I shot at the Viera Wetlands and immediately after arrival lucked into a Bald Eagle in great evening light. I ended the day shooting artistic silhouettes of Glossy Ibis flying against a red sky.
What a day!

Snail Kite carrying Apple Snail (Lake Kissimmee):


Bald Eagle in flight (Lake Kisssimmee):


Belted Kingfisher at Lake Kissimmee (my first decent shot after trying for 15 years!):



Bald Eagle in evening light (Viera Wetlands):


Glossy Ibis in flight after sunset (Viera Wetlands):

Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

We spent most of today shooting at Merrit Island NWR. The bird gods were with us....
All shot with EOS 1d2N; 500/4IS with 1.4 or 2x TC. Small crops on a couple of these to improve framing.

Hooded Merganser male:


Great Egret:


Florida Scrub Jay:


Osprey with fish. The midday light was harsh when I shot this, so I used the drop in Singh-Ray LB warming polarizer. Doubt I would have shot this without the polarizer.

Florida's signature birds....

Today was a glory day of bird photography. We started with an air boat ride that put us up close to Snail Kites and then moved on to shoot Brown-headed Nuthatches and Red-cockaded Woodpeckers. I've been trying to shoot these three species every year I visit Florida and this was my first successful attempt.

All with EOS 1D2n; 500/4IS; 1.4x or 2x TC.


Sandhill Cranes:



Snail Kite:


Snail Kite:


Brown-headed Nuthatch:


Red-cockaded Woodpecker:

Loggerhead Shrikes

I spent a very overcast morning today shooting Loggerhead Shrikes. Tomorrow we're heading out on an airboat to photograph Snail Kites - I can't wait!

All with EOS 1D2n; 500/4 IS (some with 1.4x convertor); 580EXII (fill flash).






That's me in central Florida pinewood forest yesterday, shooting Pine Warblers:

Florida birds...

I'm sitting in a hotel parking lot hijacking their WIFI connection.... so will keep this short. Shooting is great - having a blast with the 500/4IS lens - this is my first serious bird photography trip with that lens and it's incredible.

Here are a few shots from the past couple days. I have so many more to post... next time I find a good internet connection.
Happy holidays!
Ethan-

Wood Stork (at Loxahatchee NWR):


Turkey Vulture (at TM Goodwin marsh):


Tricolor Heron reflection (at Loxahatchee NWR):


Pine Warbler (at Three Lakes WMU):


Carolina Wren (at Three Lakes WMU):

Key Deer to Green Cay

Today was an incredible day of shooting, starting with more Key Deer and ending at Green Cay with some of the best wetland bird photography I've experienced. I'm tired and have barely started to process the birds - more to come soon!

Key West

I've been having lots of fun here in Key West - a mix of photography, suntanning with my Ipod cranked and eating tons of seafood. I certainly wouldn't consider Key West a great destination for nature photography (underwater excluded). There are a few tame waterbird opportunities and the requisite palm trees on the beach, but otherwise it's over-developed. Not to mention all the crazy hippies, who gravitate towards big lenses and don't stop talking. The culture is interesting down here, to say the least.

Tomorrow we head north and I'm looking forward to some very good bird photo spots.

Here are a few I shot yesterday and today.

1) Palm trees: EOS 1DmIIn; 17-40mm; Singh-Ray Warming Polarizer LB

2-3) Black Skimmers in flight: EOS 1DmIIn; 500f4IS

4-5) Double-crested Cormorant stretching wings: EOS 1DmIIn; 500f4IS with Singh-Ray Warming Polarizer LB (retrofitted to Canon drop in polarizer).

Happy shooting!

Ethan

Key Deer - southern Florida

Hello everyone - it's been a long time since my last post. Sorry! I've been consumed with moving (to the Midland, Ontario area) and getting my life and office back in order.

I escaped the snow today and flew to Florida to join my folks for a holiday trip. We're in Key West for a few days then off to central Florida, a hub for many great bird photo locations.

Driving to Key West this afternoon we stopped to look for Key Deer, a small endangered deer endemic to the southern Florida Keys. Our timing was perfect, the deer were active at sunset feeding along the roadsides. I only had about a half hour of shooting, but was pleased to get these - my first photos of the species.

Techs:
EOS 1DmIIN (loaner from Canon); 500/4IS
Prepared on a brand-new, uncalibrated laptop. Let me know if they look ok.

Keep your eyes out for many more posts over the holidays!
cheers,
Ethan-