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

Timber (Grey) Wolves

Today I went to a private game park to photograph captive Timber (Grey) Wolves. The weather conditions were idyllic - bright overcast with periods of snow. And of course, the wolves were magnificent!

Photos with EOS 1DsmIII; 500/4 IS lens (some with 1.4 x & 2x teleconvertors)
ISO 400; manual metering off snow + 2 (confirmed by checking histogram)

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: