circadianreflections

Bushtit

November 21, 2013November 21, 2013Posted in Birds, California, Copyright 2013 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved., PhotographyTagged Birding, Gear, Photography, San Jose Nature PhotographerLeave a comment

Bushtit, originally uploaded by CircadianReflections Photography.

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Copyright © 2013 Deborah M Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

Testing the Nikkor 14E II Teleconverter that I purchased. It isn’t Auto-focusing on either the D700 or D300s with my AF-S 300mm f/4 lens. Once in awhile when manual focusing the AF would work, but not consistently like it should have. This was manually focused. It looks like this unit is a lemon. I’m sending it back for an exchange. I’m very disappointed.
I’m not good at manually focusing on birds. I don’t have many keepers from the hour and half I was out testing this TC today. In the meantime my Tamron TC will have to do.

Comet ISON Novemeber 18, 2013

November 18, 2013November 18, 2013Posted in Photography1 Comment

Comet ISON Novemeber 18, 2013, originally uploaded by CircadianReflections Photography.

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Copyright © 2013 Deborah M Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

I got up really early to try to photograph the Comet ISON. It wasn’t easy locating it. I had binoculars and I scoured the sky looking for it, but never could say for sure I’d seen it. It wasn’t until I uploaded my frames from the morning that I felt I captured it. There’s a tiny green dot with with fuzzy edges just where I’ve placed a label ISON.
I believe that’s it with Spica above it to the right.

As my friend Marsha just said, ” Seeing it compels me to try again”. I totally agree!

Quenching their Thirst

November 17, 2013Posted in PhotographyLeave a comment

Quenching their Thirst, originally uploaded by CircadianReflections Photography.

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Copyright © 2013 Deborah M Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

This group flew in and started drinking straight-away. I’ve visited a few Refuges in the last few weeks and the Cranes, Swans, Geese, and other birds are arriving in more numbers each week.
It’s an exciting time to be visiting the Pacific Flyway area of California.

Sandhill Cranes, California Pacific Fly-way, birding, In the Wild

There’s something cheesy going on…

November 15, 2013Posted in Photography1 Comment

There’s something cheesy going on…, originally uploaded by CircadianReflections Photography.

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Copyright © 2013 Deborah M Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

I made Baked Potatoes with Broccoli Cheese Sauce for dinner and had a little help.

Willow Flycatcher

November 12, 2013November 12, 2013Posted in Birds, California, Copyright 2013 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved., Travel, WildlifeTagged Birding; San Jose California Nature Photographer;, California Pacific Flyway;, Flycatcher, Veterans Day, Willow FlycatcherLeave a comment

While out birding for Sandhill Cranes and other birds that are migrating to Central California for the winter I got a quick glimpse of this little Flycatcher. I got three rapid bursts off before a Black Phoebe came flying in to chase this bird off the post.

This is a first sighting of this bird for me. I think it’s a Willow Flycatcher. Please correct me if I’m wrong. If it is a Willow Flycatcher it too is wintering here from the Northeast, Mountain, and Northwest states.

I saw him at 3:30pm when the shadows were getting long, and cloudy, diffused light was getting more golden by the minute. I was shooting at f8 to get as much in focus as I could which resulted in this photo being a bit under-exposed, noisy, and a bit soft. I like the painterly effect it’s given the image.

I boosted the contrast,opened up the exposure value, sharpened, and did a little noise clean up when I developed this image.

An image I took of the Phoebe taking control of the post. I wasn’t quite fast enough to get the whole Flycatcher in the frame.

Yesterday was Veteran’s Day in the States and while at lunch we were lucky enough to see the last few passes of an Air Show in honor of our Veterans. Here are some photos I snapped before our lunch arrived.