I captured this herring gull last month at Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge. I had a good combination of nice late-morning lighting, glassy water (creating a mirror-like reflection), and a neat, clean gull.
Gull identification can be quite challenging (gulls and sandpipers give me endless ID trouble!) Certain characteristics to pay attention to include wing tip pattern, eye color, bill markings, and leg color. What really makes gull identification difficult is that fact that you can line up five gulls of the same species, and they can look completely different from one another. Juveniles can have different eye and leg color as their adult counterparts, as well as vastly different feather patterns and coloring. Additionally, breeding season can also change a gull’s appearance. While these same issues exist for many other birds as well, I find them particularly challenging with gulls, as so many gulls look similar.
An anna's hummingbird poses long enough for a quick portrait. Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS lens with the EOS-7D. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +2/3: 1/1000 sec. at f/7.1
This week’s photo features an anna’s hummingbird that frequents my front yard. Her favorite perch is the top of a cherry tree, offering her an expansive view of her surroundings. Hummingbirds can be very territorial – I have seen brief squabbles that have sent the loser zooming away to find flowers elsewhere.
An anna's hummingbird poses long enough for a quick portrait. Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS lens with the EOS-7D. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +2/3: 1/500 sec. at f/7.1
These shots were all taken hand held with the Canon 7D and the 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS lens. Although this lens has been available on the market for a long time, it is still a great walking around lens (for wildlife anyway), and is a great asset for birds-in-flight shots. With zoom capability, it is much easier to find and track subjects in air than with longer lenses.
An anna's hummingbird perches at the top of a cherry tree. Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS lens with the EOS-7D. ISO 800. Evaluative metering 0: 1/2500 sec. at f/7.1
A belted kingfisher perches on a chain-linked fence, ready to take flight. Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens with the EOS-7D. ISO 400. Evaluative metering 0: 1/2000 sec. at f/5.6
This week’s photo features the ever elusive belted kingfisher. Its not that the bird is all that uncommon, but it can be quite difficult to get close enough to photograph. They tend to be very flighty, and don’t hang around the same area too often. Some bird photographers have done well using bait fish and photo setups to capture this bird, but this type of activity is best done on private land over the course of several days.
A belted kingfisher perches on a metal fencepost. Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens with the EOS-7D. ISO 400. Evaluative metering 0: 1/2000 sec. at f/5.6
I had two brief opportunities with this kingfisher. I first saw him land and perch on one chain link fence (not the most aesthetic of perches). I took several safety photos and tried to get closer. As soon as I moved, he was off and out of sight. I managed to track him down to a nearby second chain link fence, where I took the two photos featured here. I stayed low and crept forward slowly. I had the opportunity for a half dozen shots before he took off once again, this time for good.
Okay, so I like to cheat every once in a while. There are “purists” out there who would shake their head with shame at the image above, and I have to admit, I used to side with them more often then not. But I couldn’t help myself the other day playing around with some of my photos to see how I could create other successful photos just by cropping heavily.
The photo above is a head and shoulder crop of the photo below. My distance to this red-tailed hawk was limited by the height of the pole on which he was perched. I was already in pretty close, with an 800mm lens on a 1.6x crop sensor, giving me a 35mm equivalent focal length of 1280mm. If I’d walked any closer to pole, the angle of inclination would have been too severe, which was not the kind of shot I was going after. The photo was okay, but that pole really bothered me. I much prefer natural scenes without visible “hand-of-man” elements.
A red-tailed hawk perches on a tall pole, looking for prey
So, once I got the photo onto my computer, I decided to start playing with the crop, if only to see what my photo might have looked like if I’d had more lens reach. I was fully expecting a pixelated mess, but to my astonishment, the cropped image wasn’t that bad. I won’t be making a 30×40 inch print of it any time soon, but for small prints and web use, it works. Here, the win definitely goes to the massive 18 megapixel sensor and the amazing amount of detail it can capture. Of course, some credit should go to me for the technique required for the razor sharpness of the image!
There are many new opportunities for photographers to express their creativity as a direct result of improvements in technology. Five years ago, I could not have done what I did above. The image quality of the cropped photo would have been too poor to stand up on its own. It is truly amazing how far the world of digital photography has advanced in recent years. Who knows what the next ten years will bring?
