Ok... this is a BIG one. Had a really, really good day yesterday. The river (American River near sacramento) is a good 4-5 ft higher now than just a few days ago. This changes EVERYTHING. The large pond that is the center of my photo activity is again taking in water and discharging downstream. It's the outlet that attracts the snowy egrets that I love to shoot. It's ideal because the hunting there is SO good that the bird will be extremely focused on the hunt and not so much on me. Plus the water is LOUD - negates that jump from every little noise that I usually see. It's ideal also because this spot is very accessible (by me).

BUT before I got to the spot, I had lot of other good shots...

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I usually wouldn't bother with a common blue jay, but this is a pretty shot...


I got a shot of this family about a week ago - there were 12 babies - now only 4.


This cute little birdy takes a drink nearby...




Managed to catch a jack rabbit sleeping in the warm sunshine...


There has been a pair of Northern Harriers in this area the last month or so - I've photographed them before...


This give you an idea of how sudden the rise in water level has been - this flower is about a foot under water...


A family of mergansers - the punk rockers of duck type birds...


Here at THE SPOT. I KNEW the water level was high and I thought I might find a snowy egret at the spot so I approached from downstream along the water instead of across the terrain as usual. IT was shadowy along the water and the noise of the water covered the noise I was making. This was a great approach. I'd sit on the little bank for a bit, then move another foot closer every time he turned his attention to the fish in the water. You'll see that I get a little closer as I go...


















EXTREMELY RARE SHOT - I just happened to be pointing the camera at this guy and had the camera set for photographing a very white thing at high speed when he fluffed. I caught him right in mid-fluff. I've NEVER been able to do that before... woohoo!




EXTREME close up!


Funny... while I was in my own tiny little world with my egret buddy, there was an escalating goose war going on around us. I've seen these from a distance, but have never been in the middle of one. It ended without a big battle this time, but this pair was on a stealth mission - they sneaked up on a group for an attack that didn't happen. The only time I've seen geese swimming like this, was out in the real wild and a family of geese saw me from a mile away and got up to leave. Since they had babies, they couldn't just bolt - they swam like this and were quite hard to see from a distance, but here it seems that they use the technique for offensive stealth. Interesting...


all taken with my canon sx40 P&S

Wow!

Keep them coming hal.

beautiful work!

i dare say you've earned an equipment upgrade.

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Double wow!

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JoeM

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mattkime
beautiful work!

i dare say you've earned an equipment upgrade.

THANKS! I'll PM my shipping address to you. Thank god - I could NEVER afford an upgrade myself. I love this place!

SO EXTREME!

Wow, that egret seems to be posing for you... as if he (she?) knows she is being captured on film.

Shots like these should remind all of us why it's important to be environmentally conscious... lest we lose this kind of a sight.

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Freya says, 'Hello from NOLA, baby!' (Laissez bon temps rouler!)

Great shots! Looks like paradise to me.

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Grateful11

Terrific shots! The fluffing one was great!

I had no idea that Canada geese would do that. What a great shot!

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"Stop thinking about art works as objects, and start thinking about them as triggers for experiences." ~ Brian Eno

Really cool.

I love close-up shots of fluffers!

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hal


There has been a pair of Northern Harriers in this area the last month or so - I've photographed them before...

Ahh...now I know what that jet is named after...

So are any of those photos taken with the camera on "Auto" mode? Or do you always mess with the settings?

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The UnDoug
So are any of those photos taken with the camera on "Auto" mode? Or do you always mess with the settings?

no, none are taken at full auto. There isn't a single P&S that can handle shooting something as white as an egret in bright daylight without adjustment. Full auto would produce bright vivid colors and completely overblown whites. The egret would just be a white blob with no definition.

I do most shots with the speed manually set. ASA is usually set as well.

Every time I get a new camera, it takes me a while to get these shots to look right.

Awesome pix, hal!

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=TC
"Ye Olde Farte of Ye Internette"--a Wilted Tindmill® Production

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The UnDoug
So are any of those photos taken with the camera on "Auto" mode? Or do you always mess with the settings?

yes, I'd like to know too how you shoot t hese pics, and if you post-process (besides re-sizing). Any chance you could post a full-size one, I am curious how sharp they are. Maybe one that is not a "keeper" so no big deal if someone steals the full-size image. You do shoot JPEG right, AFAIK SX40 does not support RAW

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space-time

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The UnDoug
So are any of those photos taken with the camera on "Auto" mode? Or do you always mess with the settings?

yes, I'd like to know too how you shoot t hese pics, and if you post-process (besides re-sizing). Any chance you could post a full-size one, I am curious how sharp they are. Maybe one that is not a "keeper" so no big deal if someone steals the full-size image. You do shoot JPEG right, AFAIK SX40 does not support RAW

oh yes, I do post processing and yes, the sx40 only shoots JPEG.

The pics are really too big to post here. I tend to shoot really dark because I'm afraid that egret highlights will be lost. So much of the time, I use Shadows/Highlights (PS CS5) to bright out missing highlights, then play with the Levels (often auto-level works). Then I might do auto color and dial it back if needed using Fade. Oh - and Smart Sharpen at the default setting. Not much - I don't want to spend all day on photoshop.

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hal
oh yes, I do post processing and yes, the sx40 only shoots JPEG.

The pics are really too big to post here. I tend to shoot really dark because I'm afraid that egret highlights will be lost. So much of the time, I use Shadows/Highlights (PS CS5) to bright out missing highlights, then play with the Levels (often auto-level works). Then I might do auto color and dial it back if needed using Fade. Oh - and Smart Sharpen at the default setting. Not much - I don't want to spend all day on photoshop.

thanks for revealing part of your secrets

Does the Sx40 have an exposure adjustment feature? for instance, you're still using auto but you tell it to under expose by two stops.

chdk will allow you to shoot raw but you'd need to set aside some nerd time to get it to work and be comfortable with it.

you're doing quite well with not much, which is great. a lot of beginner photographers spend a ton of time thinking about lenses when they should be thinking about their subject. you obviously don't have that problem. RAW + sports mode for rapid shots would be valuable tools for you. of course, you'd need to learn to ignore everything else the camera does.

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You are having more fun shooting photos than anybody I know. That's what it's all about.

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mattkime
Does the Sx40 have an exposure adjustment feature? for instance, you're still using auto but you tell it to under expose by two stops.

chdk will allow you to shoot raw but you'd need to set aside some nerd time to get it to work and be comfortable with it.

you're doing quite well with not much, which is great. a lot of beginner photographers spend a ton of time thinking about lenses when they should be thinking about their subject. you obviously don't have that problem. RAW + sports mode for rapid shots would be valuable tools for you. of course, you'd need to learn to ignore everything else the camera does.

I'm a little nervous about zapping with unsupported firmware. Dealing with RAW is a lot more work (ie, less fun). This camera has a sports mode, but I haven't been able to get much out of it yet. My skill in being steady for the snap is a lot of why my pics look nice, but I've found that I have this 'burst' of stillness that only lasts as long as it takes for one snap. The first one is always the best.

I still have LOTS to learn...

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"You are having more fun shooting photos than anybody I know. That's what it's all about."

darned straight!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/29/2012 08:03PM by hal.

>>Dealing with RAW is a lot more work (ie, less fun).

I think most people shoot RAW + JPEG and only use RAW if the JPEG is poorly exposed.

>>but I've found that I have this 'burst' of stillness that only lasts as long as it takes for one snap.

monopod? tripod?

Wow. Just wow. Love the fluff and the close-ups.

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Be here now. Be someplace else later. Is that so complicated?
Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkes.

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