Posted on

Anna’s Hummingbird (Photo of the week)

An anna's hummingbird poses long enough for a quick portrait
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
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
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
Posted on

Lunar eclipse, December 20, 2010

Last night I stayed up late to photograph the lunar eclipse from my front patio. While not the best of locations as far as light pollution goes, it doesn’t matter that much for moon photography, given the moon casts off so much reflected light. I started photographing just before 11pm, as the earth’s shadow was just touching the outer edge of the moon. The progression was as follows:

The eclipse begins
The eclipse begins
The earth's shadow moves across the moon
The earth's shadow moves across the moon
The earth's shadow consumes more than half of the moon
The earth's shadow consumes more than half of the moon
The moon reflects a dull red from the shadow of the earth
The moon reflects a dull red from the shadow of the earth
The lunar eclipse at its peak
The lunar eclipse at its peak

The last photo was taken at the peak of the eclipse, with the sun and the moon on exact opposite sides of the earth. To understand why the moon glows red when fully in the earth’s shadow, it is easier to think of what the earth would look like from the moon. From the moon’s perspective, at the peak of the eclipse, the earth would be ringed with red outline of the sun. It would be like watching all sunrises and sunsets all across the planet, all at the same time. This red wavelength is cast by the earth’s atmosphere into the earth’s shadow (the center of the silhouetted earth, ringed by the sun), which is then reflected by the moon back to us as a dull red glow. It was definitely a cool phenomenon to witness and photograph.

Posted on

Northern Mockingbird (Photo of the week)

A northern mockingbird perches atop a bush filled with berries
A northern mockingbird perches atop a bush filled with berries. Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens with the EOS-7D. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +2/3: 1/2500 sec. at f/5.6

Recently I photographed a Northern Mockingbird perched on a berry bush. It appeared as if he was gorging himself on berries, stuffing one after another into his mouth. Soon after this feast, he flew from the bush to a nearby tree. He began working his mouth up and down, and to my surprise, a berry emerged from his mouth and into his beak, as seen in the photo below. After he ate one berry, he again worked his beak up and down, and a second berry emerged.

A northern mockingbird perches on a small branch with a berry in its mouth
A northern mockingbird perches on a small branch with a berry in its mouth. Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens with the EOS-7D. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1 1/3: 1/1250 sec. at f/5.6

I realized that when I first saw the mockingbird chowing down on berries, he was actually stuffing them into his mouth for later consumption. I couldn’t find any notes about this behavior online, but it was quite a sight to see berry after berry magically appear in his beak. However, not every berry worked out so successfully, as can be seen in the photo below.

A northern mockingbird drops a berry as it tries to eat it
A northern mockingbird drops a berry as it tries to eat it. Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens with the EOS-7D. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1 1/3: 1/1600 sec. at f/5.6
Posted on

Belted Kingfisher (Photo of the week)

A belted kingfisher perches on a chain-linked fence, ready to take flight
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
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.