Bird on an ice sheet (and a few ducks too)
Dec 27, 2016 21:39:36 #
I went out by Lake Monroe marina this morning and was taking pictures from a fishing pier. The first image was taken from the walkway out to the fishing area. I was captivated by the sun/sun reflection and the way the ice formed along the shoreline. The wind was blowing from picture-right to picture-left, and it was slowing warming up (to about 37F or so in the afternoon). After a few hours I finally got cold enough so I went back home to get warm.
Went back to the same spot in the mid-afternoon and it had warmed up enough, and the wind had blown consistently enough, that the ice melted a bit and the bulging area of ice in image 1 separated from the shoreline and was being blown out into the channel towards mooring buoys. Image 2 shows a bird landing on that ice sheet. He stayed on the ice sheet for over 1/2 hour, and eventually the ice sheet wound up going through the mooring buoys in picture 3. Finally he flew away once he figured out there were no worms on the ice sheet.
The technical challenge for pictures 2 and 3 (bird on the ice sheet) was having to manual focus my Nikkor 300mm f/4 lens as my Nikon D5300 does not have a built-in focus motor. (This lens is the lens immediately prior to the lens with the built-in focus motor.) Given that my eye sight is not like it once was, these are about as good as the focus was going to get.
The ducks were a lucky shot. I was watching some birds land to my right when I heard a loud flapping of wings and saw the flock of ducks in mid-flight. I just turned towards them and sort of framed/semi-focused and hoped for the best.
Best in download.
Constructive C&C welcome.
Gary
Went back to the same spot in the mid-afternoon and it had warmed up enough, and the wind had blown consistently enough, that the ice melted a bit and the bulging area of ice in image 1 separated from the shoreline and was being blown out into the channel towards mooring buoys. Image 2 shows a bird landing on that ice sheet. He stayed on the ice sheet for over 1/2 hour, and eventually the ice sheet wound up going through the mooring buoys in picture 3. Finally he flew away once he figured out there were no worms on the ice sheet.
The technical challenge for pictures 2 and 3 (bird on the ice sheet) was having to manual focus my Nikkor 300mm f/4 lens as my Nikon D5300 does not have a built-in focus motor. (This lens is the lens immediately prior to the lens with the built-in focus motor.) Given that my eye sight is not like it once was, these are about as good as the focus was going to get.
The ducks were a lucky shot. I was watching some birds land to my right when I heard a loud flapping of wings and saw the flock of ducks in mid-flight. I just turned towards them and sort of framed/semi-focused and hoped for the best.
Best in download.
Constructive C&C welcome.
Gary
Dec 27, 2016 21:57:26 #
GWZ wrote:
I went out by Lake Monroe marina this morning and ... (show quote)
Picture #1 is the best for me. Well done!👍
Dec 28, 2016 09:10:57 #
Nice photos, Gary. Have you seen the old bald eagle they've been talking about on the news?
Dec 28, 2016 10:17:03 #
jaymatt wrote:
Nice photos, Gary. Have you seen the old bald eagle they've been talking about on the news?
Jaymatt, glad you enjoyed them.
Yes, I saw the bald eagle twice. Each time he was circling about 350 yards away, and then landed in a tree in the same area. This is the only relatively decent picture I got of the eagle. This is with a 300mm hand held/manual focus lens, and is pretty heavily cropped. Tried de-shake, de-noise, and de-anything else that might help but with not great success. Next step is to de-camp and try to get closer. There is a point that extends into the cove that is opposite from where I saw him, which would put me about 200 yards away. Only issue is the point is low-lying, and the rain we had recently makes this area very moist. If it would freeze or dry out I would be in luck.
Dec 28, 2016 10:19:33 #
Dec 28, 2016 10:23:30 #
Dec 28, 2016 10:38:12 #
danniepolley wrote:
All nice but I really like the ducks.
danniepolley, glad you liked the duck picture. I do to, but wish I had the time to get focused in better. I had a few others of the ducks, but since it happened so fast the auto focus was looking at the trees in the background.
gary
Dec 28, 2016 21:53:39 #
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