A cedar waxwing perches on a tree eating berries. Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS lens with the EOS-7D. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1/3: 1/800 sec. at f/7.1.
This weeks photo features the Cedar Waxwing, one of my favorite passerine species. I love the way this bird’s feather colors blend together into soft gradients, giving the appearance of a painting. Waxwings derive their name from bright red feathers near the tips of their wings, which is thought to resemble sealing wax. Cedar Waxwings travel in flocks and almost always perch off the ground, usually in trees, and rarely in bushes or shrubs.
A cedar waxwing perches on a tree in soft diffused light. Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS lens with the EOS-7D. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1/3: 1/500 sec. at f/7.1.
The waxwings seen here descended on a row of cherry trees, and proceeded to eat with great gusto for about an hour, moving from tree to tree. All shots were taken hand-held with my 100-400mm zoom lens. This is a great walk-around lens, which I use on hikes if I’m expecting the possibility of seeing wildlife.
A cedar waxwing perches on a small branch of a tree. Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS lens with the EOS-7D. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1/3: 1/500 sec. at f/7.1.
A juvenile black-crowned night heron perches among reeds along the edge of a pond. Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens with the EOS-7D. ISO 800. Evaluative metering 0 EV: 1/320 sec. at f/8
I little while ago I found myself in a situation in which I could not have gotten the shot I wanted had I been using film. After being tipped off by a friend, I found this nice looking juvenile black-crowned night heron in some reeds next to a pond. The shoreline was such that in order to get the proper frontal lighting on the heron, with a small angle of inclination between the lens view and the ground, I had to be right up close to him. Luckily, he seemed in no hurry to move, nor did he seem to care about my presence. While this distance was great for making tight head shots like the photo above, there was no way I could “back up” and capture any habitat around the bird.
Then I started thinking digitally. I knew that if I was careful in my photographing, I could take multiple photos and stitch them together later, creating the illusion of a wider angle. An added benefit would be a huge image file, which I could later print at very large sizes if I wanted to.
The process of taking the photos was very similar to the process I use for creating stitched panoramas – set the camera to manual exposure, fix the focus so that it is constant for all images, and fire away. The difference was that instead of moving left to right in a single line, my goal was for an aspect ratio close to a normal 35 mm photograph (2:3). In this case, I created two columns of three photos. I didn’t worry about lining up the overlap perfectly – I just eyeballed it.
Note that this only worked because my subject was completely stationary. If the heron was moving at all, the photos would not have lined up well and the stitched image wouldn’t have been successful. It probably took between five to ten seconds to capture all six shots, which I then stitched in Photoshop, creating the 50 megapixel image below.
Composed of six separate images (two columns of three shots), this stitched photo is 50 megapixels. Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens with the EOS-7D. ISO 800. Evaluative metering 0 EV: 1/250 sec. at f/8
Even though I found myself in a position where I was “too close” (don’t worry, I’m not complaining – its a GREAT problem to have!), I was able to think digitally to solve my problem. By combining multiple shots, I was able to virtually “back up” and capture a wider shot of the heron.
Yesterday I spent the morning in Moss Landing, CA, at the mouth of Elkhorn Slough. While the bird opportunities are always outstanding there, the sea otters are not to be missed. As I was photographing some of these guys grooming themselves, I decided to try my hand at the video capabilities of my camera, and capture them in action. This was my very first time using the camera for video, so please bear with the decidedly non-professional results!
I took many photos as well, but as usual, I am behind of processing, so they won’t be release for a while. Stay tuned for those – for now, enjoy these videos.
A green heron walks along the rocky shore of a water channel. Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens with the EOS-7D. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +2/3: 1/800 sec. at f/7.1
Yesterday I finally got some good views of a green heron that has been reported in Redwood Shores, CA over the past few weeks. I had been out looking several times to no avail, as this is a somewhat uncommon bird for the area. He was perched across a narrow man-made water channel in decent light. Once I moved down to water level to photograph, he began walking along the shoreline with his crest extended. At first I though I might have interrupted his solitude, but he turned and paced back and forth in front of me for a while. He was probably just looking for a better place to fish.
