Photo Stories – Page 10

December 27, 2011January 14, 2013

Use What Ya Got

A yellow garden spider waits patiently on its web for prey to get caught

Throughout the year, we see these yellow garden spiders spinning their webs around our front garden. I came across this nice specimen and wanted to capture him on my camera. However, lacking any real macro gear, I had to figure out how to make do with what I did have on hand. If I had my choice of any equipment I wanted for this shot, I would have used:

1. A small tripod with a swing arm (to get close to the web which was inconveniently placed between some hard-to-reach plants)
2. A Canon 180mm macro lens (so I could keep my distance from the creepy spider)
3. A focusing rail (to achieve that manual pin point focus on the beast)

However, I had none of that. What I did have was a 100-400mm zoom lens (non-macro). None of my tripods work work well in this area because of the spacing of the plants, so I was stuck hand-holding. In order to increase the magnification, I was able to reduce the lens’ minimum focusing distance using 3 stacked extension tubes. This allowed me to move the lens closer to the subject, filling the frame with only the spider.

Because I was not using a tripod, I had to keep the shutter speed relatively fast. That meant a larger aperture, and a smaller depth of field than I would have otherwise used (f/8 in this case). In order to compensate, I decided to try the digital technique of focus stacking to achieve the look of a larger depth of field. This image is actually a composite of two shots – one focusing on the spider’s abdomen, and the other focusing on the legs. The sharpest part of each image was blended together.

So, after all applying all these work-arounds, what is the moral of the story? Get some decent macro equipment! 🙂

August 1, 2011January 14, 2013

Anna’s Hummingbird On Nest

An anna's hummingbird perches on the edge of its nest as it prepares to feed its chicks. Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens with the EOS-7D. ISO 800. Evaluative metering -2/3: 1/640 sec. at f/10.

Purchase

Recently I was alerted to the location of an anna’s hummingbird nest near my house. After much searching, I found a nest the size of an espresso clinging to a narrow tree branch. No hummingbirds were visible, but I knew this nest contained several recently hatched chicks. I could hear them making faint sounds as they waited for their parent to show up with food. Finally, an adult approached and perched on the edge of the tiny nest.

An anna's hummingbird feeds hungry chicks while perching on the edge of its tiny nest. Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens with the EOS-7D. ISO 800. Evaluative metering -2/3: 1/800 sec. at f/10.

Purchase

The hummingbird proceeded to feed each chick one by one. Once it was finished feeding them, it settled down for a short rest on to of the nest, incubating the chicks.

An anna's hummingbird sits on top of its nest, incubating young chicks. Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens with the EOS-7D. ISO 800. Evaluative metering -2/3: 1/800 sec. at f/10.

Purchase

I took these photos from 20 feet away, which is the minimum focusing distance of my lens. It is important to never approach any kind of nest too closely. Doing so will disturb the nest and stress the birds, potentially causing the death of the chicks.

In fact, after taking these photos, I saw a couple approach the nest, and start trying to pull away some of the pine needles you see in the above photos, so that they could get a better view. This is perhaps the most destructive thing they could do, short of picking up the nest and dumping the chicks on the ground. After asking them to back away from the nest, I explained that in pulling away cover, they were exposing the nest to predators, and leaving the nestlings vulnerable. That exact scenario had played out with a similar nest in the area only weeks before. Someone had broken away protective branches around the nest, and all the chicks were killed.

Hopefully these little ones made it.

July 27, 2011January 14, 2013

Ring-necked Pheasant

A male ring-necked pheasant cranes his neck and stretches his body upward. Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens with the EOS-7D. ISO 400. Evaluative metering -1/3 EV: 1/1600 sec. at f/7.1.

Purchase

Recently I had a great morning photo session with one of the resident ring-necked pheasants at Palo Alto Baylands. Usually hiding under bushes or barely visible in the tall grass, he spent a few moments out in the open, giving me some nice opportunities for some close-up portraits.

A female ring-necked pheasant grazes on short grass. Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens with the EOS-7D. ISO 640. Evaluative metering 0 EV: 1/640 sec. at f/7.1.

Purchase

After a while, his lady friend emerged from the thick scrub brush to partake in pecking at seeds. This was the first time I had seen a female in this area. I remained very still and got down low behind my lens. Soon they began to move in my direction, allowing me to get closer than ever before. The morning was quiet and either they were comfortable with my presence or they didn’t even know I was there.

A male ring-necked pheasant cranes his neck in between bits of grass. Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens with the EOS-7D. ISO 640. Evaluative metering 0 EV: 1/200 sec. at f/7.1.

Purchase

Introduced to North America in the mid-1800s, the ring-necked pheasant has become a popular game bird throughout the United States. The males will defend their territory against other males, though I did see four of them in one day at various points throughout this area of wetlands.

A male ring-necked pheasant fluffs out his feathers. Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens with the EOS-7D. ISO 640. Evaluative metering +1/3 EV: 1/160 sec. at f/7.1.

Purchase

After covering the short grasses at the edge of the bushes, they quickly disappeared into the thicket and ended our photo session. I was very happy to have gotten myself into a good position at a time when no one else was around and these two pheasants felt comfortable to be out in the open.

June 20, 2011January 14, 2013

From the archives: Long-billed Curlew

A long-billed curlew stands in shallow water, reflected in the morning light. Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens with the EOS-7D. ISO 1000. Evaluative metering +2/3 EV: 1/320 sec. at f/5.6

Purchase

I’ve been busy with summer activities, and haven’t had time to process new photos lately. So I thought I’d share one from my archives that I like. Sometimes a very simple portrait composition can work well, especially if the bird has interesting features.

This curlew was standing as still as a statue is calm water. It was a good thing he was still, because the morning was a bit dark – the sun was just starting to rise behind some thick clouds, creating a gloomy morning atmosphere. On darker days, I have to bump up the ISO slightly in order to hold a reasonable shutter speed. In this case 1/320 seconds was fast enough to capture this immobile curlew. If he’d been feeding, it would have been much harder to capture his movements without blurring the photo.

My favorite feature of this photo is that the water was so still that it fades into a solid color abstract, both behind the bird, and around the bird’s reflection. This has the same effect as using a solid color backdrop for a studio portrait – it isolates the subject and removes all extraneous elements from the image. When I see a subject I want to photograph out in nature (be it a bird, sunset, tree or rock), I am constantly thinking about how I can simplify the image. After the initial excitement of a new shot passes, I step back and think, “What is this image all about?” Once I identify the aspects that drew my to that rock or that tree in the first place, I set about trying to remove any elements that don’t support the story I’m trying to tell in the image.

Sometimes, working an area can be difficult and frustrating – after all, nature is never a sterile, controlled environment. Sometimes however, as in the image above, a simplified image is given to me as a gift. I’m never one to complain about those images that come easily!