out-of-focus background

April 10, 2011January 14, 2013

White-brested Nuthatch

A white-breasted nuthatch clings upside down to the trunk of a tree as it hunts for insects. Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens with the EOS-7D. ISO 400. Evaluative metering 0 EV: 1/1000 sec. at f/8

Usually if I’m out photographing birds and I know I’ll be hiking several miles, I take along my smaller 100-400mm zoom lens instead of the gigantic 800mm. The 800 alone weighs 9 pounds, which feels like 50 after a couple of miles. I broke my rule on the day I captured this nuthatch, because I didn’t want to compromise on this day – I was hiking through Arastradero Preserve in Palo Alto, which is a great place to see a wide variety of birds. I’d been there before with my “hiking” lens, but the whole time I kept thinking in my head, “If only I had my big lens!” This time I was giving myself no excuses.

As I set off into the hills, the weight of the lens, camera, and gimbal head weighed heavily on my shoulders. “It will be worth it,” I kept telling myself. I was hoping to see a coyote, as I had on other occasions. Armed with my big lens, I was excited to see what I could capture. No coyotes that day – in fact, even the bird activity seemed rather low. I stopped for a few shots of acorn woodpeckers, flying from tree to tree and squawking at each other.

As I was watching the woodpeckers, a couple of white-breasted nuthatches landed on the tree closest to me and started foraging up and down the tree trunk looking for insects. Unfortunately, they were very fast, practically running up and down the trunk, and disappearing around the back side just as I’d get one in focus. Were they playing games with me? I watched one snatch a spider from within the tree bark, but he was too high in the branches to make a good photo. Finally, my patience paid off. One the nuthatches came around to my side of the tree, perched upside down, and proceeded to call out. A few clicks later and I knew I had it.

So were the tired legs, sweat, and shoulder pain worth the photos that day? I would say yes, even though I got very few keepers from the day. The legs recovered, the sweat dried, and the shoulder pain faded, but my photos will be there forever.

April 2, 2011January 14, 2013

Snowy Plover and friends

A snowy plover just coming into breeding plumage rests in the sand. Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens with the EOS-7D. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +2/3: 1/1250 sec. at f/8

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When I was in Moss Landing recently, I knew it would be a good opportunity to photograph snowy plovers in the sand, because they nest along the beach at the mouth of the harbor. Snowy plovers nest right in the open sand, which is why their nesting grounds are frequently protected along the California coast. It was still a little too early to see established nest sites, but they should be scoping some out.

After some searching, I found a few of them sitting down in the sand. They were just starting to come into breeding plumage. Not wanting to disturb them, I spend a good ten minutes creeping slowly closer, until I could create frame-filling shots like the one above. My tripod legs were fully splayed out in order to get the lens closer to the ground. I was pretty happy with my position and the fact that I had gotten as close as I needed to without disrupting the birds.

After making some shots, I looked up and saw a surfer emerge from the water a little ways up the beach. I thought he would continue walking toward the road, but then he saw me and starting walking in my direction. Unbelievably, he walked directly toward me fully in my lens’s line of sight. And he didn’t stop until he was standing next to me looking down at my prone form! Needless to see, the birds scattered as he tromped through their would-be nesting area. I was just staring at him (probably with a dropped jaw), incredulous that he would have so little common sense or self awareness.

“Getting some good photographs?” he asked.

“Well, I was,” I relied wryly. As the acclaimed bird photographer Art Morris is fond of saying, you gotta love it!

The scattered plovers were not to be refound, and I had to settle for the photos I already had. However, I spent some more time creeping up on some sanderlings and western sandpipers who were busy poking through shells and seaweed that had been washed up on the beach. These photos can be seen below.

I quick word to the non-photographers out there. If you are in a remote area and see someone concentrating on something with their camera, please please please don’t just walk up to them and interrupt without understanding what they’re photographing. This is especially important with wildlife that you can spook. The photographers of the world thank you.

A sanderling calls out as it walks along the sand. Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens with the EOS-7D. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +2/3: 1/2000 sec. at f/8

March 27, 2011January 14, 2013

Mandarin Duck (Photo of the week)

A mandarin duck swims through smooth, still water. Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens with the EOS-7D. ISO 640. Evaluative metering +1/3: 1/320 sec. at f/8

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I photographed this Mandarin duck today at a city park in San Jose. This is a very strange location for this species, as it is most often found in Asia. After speaking to some of the locals who visit the park often, I learned that this drake has been seen on and off at the lake over the last three years.

The Mandarin duck once flourished across eastern Asia, but today there are only about 1000 pairs throughout all of China, and about 1000 pairs in Russia. Japan is thought to have about 5000 pairs. They have also appeared in various locations in Europe, numbering about 1000 pairs in total. Because this species is not native to Europe, it is surmised that this population grew from escaped captive birds and flourished as a feral population. They have been breeding in the wild ever since. But where did this guy come from?

A head and shoulders portrait of a mandarin duck is captured as it swims through still water. Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens with the EOS-7D. ISO 640. Evaluative metering +1/3: 1/320 sec. at f/8

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It turns out that something similar to what happened in Europe may have also happened in Sonoma, California, only on a much smaller scale. Sonoma is a couple hours drive north from San Jose, and has about 100 feral Mandarin ducks. I’m just guessing here, but this bird may be associated with that population. And apparently he enjoys coming to this lake!

A mandarin duck looks up after taking a sip of water. Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens with the EOS-7D. ISO 640. Evaluative metering +1/3: 1/320 sec. at f/8

Purchase

It was fairly overcast today, which has its advantages and disadvantages for bird photography. One of the downsides is that the sky is much darker, which means that shutter speeds must be slower than on a sunny day. However, benefits include a lack of harsh shadows from the sun (meaning I could photograph this bird from any angle, instead of with the sun directly behind me), and more saturated colors due to reduced glare. I was very happy to be able to photograph this species in decent conditions. The biggest bonus of course was that I only had to drive half an hour instead of flying to Asia or Europe!

February 15, 2011January 14, 2013

Great Egret Perched On Wheel (Photo of the week)

A great egret perches on a wheel of an old pump station. Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens with the EOS-7D. ISO 640. Evaluative metering +2/3: 1/1600 sec. at f/8

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I’m a sucker for a photo with a perfect background, and that’s what sets this week’s photo apart for me. I usually try not to include man-made objects in my wildlife photography, but in this case, I thought the old rusty pump wheel juxtaposed against the smooth white feathers of the egret added to this photo. And there’s that background! Smooth green, with just enough abstract shapes to hint at lush vegetation. Yes, I know it’s another egret shot, but why not? After all, they are a pretty photogenic bird.

Because I wanted to make sure that both the egret’s face and its back were in sharp focus, I stopped down to f/8. I knew that the background was far enough away to still render out of focus. As I often do with stationary birds, I used only the center focus point on the egret’s eye, then recomposed while holding the shutter button half way. This ensured that if I didn’t stop down the aperture enough to include both the back and face in focus, at least it would be the eye that had the sharpest focus. If the eye isn’t in focus, the shot goes in the trash.

This photo was taken on a very overcast day, so I didn’t have to worry about the sun angle. The shadows would be soft and even, without bringing in too much contrast. Therefore I positioned myself according to the nicest background I could find. This had the egret facing away from me, so I had to wait until its head came into view, and was at least parallel to the sensor plane, or pointed slightly toward me. No one wants to see a photo of just an egret’s back. I made a noise, prompting the egret to swing its head and neck around to look back over its shoulder. That was it – I knew I had the shot!