More from North Beach

One of my favorite things to do when I'm down visiting my mom in law is try, usually unsuccessfully, to capture images of the many aquatic birds that are abundant down there. Mom has a beautiful marsh area just behind her house which is the home of a flock of snowy egrets and there are osprey nests in several location up and down the shore. The problem is getting close enough to get good photos. These birds are no dodo's. They make sure they keep their distance.

Well last weekend was no exception. The very first thing I did when I got down there was walk into the house and straight back to the kitchen which over looks the marsh. Oh boy the egrets are out there in force. The weather was perfect, the sky was clear and all I had to do was wait for the right time of the day and I was certain I would get some great pictures as long as I could find a good spot.

Well the day goes by and the sun starts to set so I head out to find a spot.... A good spot. Hmmmmm. Around this side? Nope... Down the street? Nope. Can I walking in through the reeds a ways? Not with out sinking in to my knees.

Damn it.

I gave up getting close and setup right along the road. Pulled out the tripod and the 100-400 attached my 1D Mark III and took a look. Here is all I could get at 400mm.

1D Mark III w/ 100-400L IS, 1/160 s, f/8, 400 mm, iso 200


Very disappointing. What to do....

I pulled out my 2x Tele Converter and added it to my lens to get these.

1D Mark III w/ 100-400L IS & 2x TC, 1/200 s, f/13, 730 mm, iso 800

1D Mark III w/ 100-400L IS & 2x TC, 1/200 s, f/13, 730 mm, iso 800

Still not great but its the best I can do with the location and equipment. Note: to cut down on the sun glare off the water a polarizer filter probably would have been a good choice here but I was too lazy to pull it off my 17-40. Note to self... Need one more Circular Polarizer.

The sun was setting to the left and front of me meaning I'm on the dark side of the egrets. Again, not the ideal location but it was the best I could do. :-/ I do actually like the shots but I'm still on the quest to get up close and personal. Oh and yes that is an old tire just peaking out of the water in the second photo.


After the Egrets I turned my attention to the other side of the road to shoot the bayscapes you saw in a previous blog entry. While setting up on the beach I managed to catch this guy screaming across the sky and right over me.

1d Mark III w/ 100-400L IS, 1/320 s, f/8, 1 EV, 400 mm, iso 400

He's just a common tern but these suckers are fast. I fired off a couple more frames but nothing worth posting.

Now it was time to switch lenses and do a few bayscapes. While shooting I happened to look up in the sky over my shoulder and up there looking down at me were 3... that's right 3... osprey circling overhead and here I am with my wide angle lens mounted to the camera. Where's that 100-400? Back in the car!!! Well of course. I walked back to get it but by the time I got back to the beach the osprey had moved on. Grrr

I finished up the bayscapes and while heading back to the car I caught this green heron hopping out of the weeds. Not really a great pic but its the only green heron I have so its a keeper for now.

1D Mark III w/ 100-400L IS, 1/100 s, f/5.6, 1 EV, 400 mm

Back at the car I looked up one more time in the sky for the osprey and sure enough they were back but this time circling much higher in the sky. None the less I did manage to get of a few good shots.

1D Mark III w/ 100-400L IS, 1/160 s, f/8, 1 EV, 400 mm, iso 400

1D Mark III w/ 100-400L IS, 1/320 s, f/8, 1 EV, 400 mm

Notice this guy has a half eaten fish in his talons.

1D Mark III w/ 100-400L IS, 1/160 s, f/8, 1 EV, 400 mm, iso 400

All in all I'd say a pretty productive afternoon but the images still leave me with the desire to shoot even better and closer images of all these birds. Good thing I like going down there isn't in. :-)