Hank – Page 54

June 5, 2011January 14, 2013

California Quail

The California quail is a very common bird, but one that is difficult to photograph. I usually only see them scampering from underneath one bush to the next, or flushing from a bush with a great commotion (and giving me a heart attack!) if I approach too closely. If there are other people around making any kind of noise, you can forget about any kind of photo. The only shots I have gotten in the past are of a quail streaking off into the forest.

A couple of weeks ago, I lucked upon one poking around for food on the ground out in the open. It was after sunset, and getting dark quickly. I was alone and trying to move quietly, hoping to see some wildlife before they saw me. When I rounded the corner and saw the quail, my heart skipped a beat and I silently lowered my tripod and prepared my camera.

It is then that I made a classic photographer mistake: I failed to recheck all of my camera settings from my previous shots. I had just been shooting a small song bird on a branch, surrounded by bright white sky. This required an exposure compensation of + 1 2/3 stops, in order to prevent the bird from being rendered as a dark silhouette. As soon as I saw the quail, I readjusted all the other important settings (shutter speed, aperture, ISO) but failed to realize I was over exposing. Luckily the magic of shooting in RAW format saved me, and I was able to recover any blown highlights. However, if I had exposed using a lower compensation (probably +1/3 or +2/3 would have worked here), I could have shot faster than the very slow 1/160 seconds that I used here. Thankfully I had locked down the gimbal head and the quail granted me with a brief over-the-shoulder glance, and I was able to come away with a decent shot.

This shot reaffirmed an old lesson – always know your settings. Sometimes if one setting is off, your images may be ruined, and it is not always immediately apparent from the camera’s LCD. I know wildlife photographers who always reset their cameras to a basic setup whenever they are finished photographing a particular subject. This is especially important in situations with varying light conditions. I know I’ll be following that lesson in the future!

June 2, 2011January 14, 2013

Turn a head shot into a portrait

A western scrub jay perches in early morning light. Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens with the EOS-7D. ISO 640. Evaluative metering 0 EV: 1/250 sec. at f/6.3

Purchase

Recently I was out photographing birds when a western scrub jay landed fairly close to me on a wooden post. Even though this was not a species I was targeting that day, I took advantage of this opportunity, and slowly and quietly swung my lens around to point at the bird. He was so close that his head filled my frame.

I took several tight head shots, and decided I also wanted to capture the entire bird, as I had a great background to work with, and wanted to get as many different types of shots as possible. I used the techniques I described in my thinking digitally post, and took several horizontal slices of the bird, knowing that I could stitch them later.

A western scrub jay perches in early morning light. Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens with the EOS-7D. ISO 640. Evaluative metering 0 EV: 1/200 sec. at f/6.3

Purchase

Of course I could have backed up in order to fit the jay’s entire body in the frame, but I didn’t for several reasons. First, I didn’t want to spook the bird by picking up my tripod and walking backward. In this case, the bird came to me, so I hadn’t had to stalk it. Second, being able to stitch multiple frames yields a much larger file size than a single shot, allowing for bigger prints. Finally, being so close to this bird allowed me to capture fine detail in the feathers. If I backed further away, my lens wouldn’t be able to resolve this amount of detail.

May 30, 2011January 14, 2013

Lazuli Bunting

Purchase

Last week I spent the evening in Arastradero Preserve in Palo Alto in order to photograph Lazuli Buntings as they returned to the Bay Area for the summer. I hiked for a while through grassy hills spotted with oak trees, past wet marshy areas, and through dark oak woodland, still not seeing any of the buntings. I stopped and played their call on my iPhone. From every direction, dozens of voices answered my call. I then realized that I had been surrounded by buntings all day, I just had not recognized their bird song.

It was as though a veil had been lifted, and I started seeing them everywhere. As the sun started to drop to the west, I saw many buntings move to the treetops, hoping to sing out to the world in those last rays of the day.

A lazuli bunting perches on a branch in the sun, Arastradero Preserve, Palo Alto, CA. Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens with the EOS-7D. ISO 400. Evaluative metering 0 EV: 1/2000 sec. at f/7.1

Purchase

By the end of the day, I had my target species in the bag, plus a few other surprises.

May 26, 2011January 14, 2013

Great-Horned Owl Siblings

Two great horned owlets sit side by side on a tree branch. Both have yet to fledge and are awaiting food from a parent. Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens with the EOS-7D. ISO 640. Evaluative metering 0 EV: 1/400 sec. at f/8

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I photographed these two great-horned owlets this past weekend, as they cuddled up together on a branch. They had not fledged, making them easy to find close to their nest. Both parents were still around (as was a third sibling), performing the duties of food gathering for their new brood. Occasionally, the left most owl would become unsettled, and scoot closer to the other, even though his body was already pressed up tight against its sibling. Just as the owl on the right was drifting off to sleep, here comes his brother (or sister), snuggling up close.

After a few minutes, the alert owl decided that it wasn’t time for sleeping, but for a grooming session. With that, he began to lick the other owl’s feathers, rearranging them just so.

While sitting side-by-side, one owlet begins to groom its sibling. Neither owlets have fledged. Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens with the EOS-7D. ISO 400. Evaluative metering 0 EV: 1/250 sec. at f/8

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This continued for quite a while, and I eventually left to see what else I could find. When I returned to the owls, it looked as though the sleepy owl had left and found a quieter place to roost, leaving the alert owl to sit and stare at the world.

A young great-horned owl that has yet to fledge perches on a tree branch, awaiting food from a parent. Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens with the EOS-7D. ISO 500. Evaluative metering +1/3 EV: 1/400 sec. at f/8

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I was lucky that these young owls had not yet learned to fly. While they’ll still remain dependent on their parents after fledging, they will be much harder to find among the many trees in the area.