Photography – Page 81 – Circadianreflections Blog

Ring-necked Pheasants

January 27, 2016January 27, 2016Posted in Bird Photography, birding, Birds of North America, National Wildlife Refuges in California, Photography, Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, Sacramento Valley, CATagged Bird Photography, Birding, Birds in the Wild, Birds of North America, National Wildlife Refuges, Ring-necked Pheasant, Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge29 Comments

I don’t see these birds too often, and seeing two together last Saturday was very exciting!

Ring-necked Pheasants

It was a challenging image to make. I was in the backseat, the birds were in front of us; we were on an auto-route only in a National Wildlife Refuge, we had to stop a good distance from them to keep them from dashing off too soon, the driver’s mirror was in the way, and the back windows only rolled down halfway or a tad less. Why are manufacturer’s doing that? GRRR!! There should be a way to roll them down completely!

I had removed my shoes earlier to be able to sit with my legs tucked under me to get more height to shoot down on birds that were near the shore edges, or grassy levies and it helped to get me over the challenges of shooting this pair from the car.

The sound of my shutter clicking spooked the pair and off they flew!

I can’t tell you how pleased I am to have one keeper image of the pair together!

Nikon D300s| Nikkor 200-500mm VR| Lexar Professional Digital Film| hand-held from a car| rental lens- san jose camera & video

MM2 42/52 Silos of Sacramento Valley

January 26, 2016Posted in Agriculture, Black and White Photography, Industrial Photography, Monochrome Madness2, Photography, Sacramento Valley, CATagged Agriculture, Architecture, Black and White Photography, Industrial Photography, Monochrome Madness 2, Rice Silos, Sacramento Valley, CA9 Comments

These are rice silos in Sacramento Valley, California. The Sacramento Valley produces medium, and short grain rices. There are a lot of silos here that I’ve wanted to photograph every time I come up for birding.

This past week-end while on my way from refuge to another for sunset I was just fooling around with the 200-500mm lens and took several images of silos we passed. I boosted my ISO to increase my shutter speed and made this image from the car while it was zipping along the freeway at 65MPH.

I’d love to spend some time making images of these with the right lens and framing.

MM2 42 of 52 Rice Silos Sacramento Valley CA

This is my entry to Leanne Cole’s Monochrome Madness 2 this week. To see all this week’s entries click here.

Nikon D300s| Nikkor 200-500mm| Lexar Professional Digital Film

Blue Heron

January 25, 2016January 25, 2016Posted in Birds in the Wild, Birds of North America, Blue Heron, California, National Wildlife Refuge, PhotographyTagged Bird Photography, Birding, Blue Heron, California National Wildlife Refuge, Nikon10 Comments

It was pretty windy Saturday morning in Sacramento Valley while on the refuge birding. I loved the way its breast feathers/hair looked all fanned out, and don’t you just love that log/perch he chose to stand on? I did! 🙂

Nikon D300s| Nikkor 200-500mm VR:hired lens| Lexar Professional Digital Film| PS CC 2015

More to come…

Anna’s Hummingbird-Female

January 24, 2016January 24, 2016Posted in Anna's Hummingbird, birding, Birds in Flight, Birds in the Wild, Birds of North America, Nikon Lenses, Photography, Santa Clara County BirdingTagged Annas Hummingbird, Birding, Birds in the Wild, Birds of North America, Camera Gear, Nikon AF-S 200-500mm VR, Nikon Lenses, Photography30 Comments

I hired the Nikon AF-S 200-500mm 1:5.6E ED VR lens to try out for the week-end since my old 300mm f4 AF-S ED lens is acting weird, and I’ve always wanted more reach.

I spent all day Saturday out birding using the lens, and several hours on Sunday before having to return it. I hated to part with it! I LIKE IT A LOT!

Anna's Hummingbird

I used it on my Nikon D300s and found the lens very quick to focus with very little hunting even in low contrast areas, and the images have lovely colors, and contrast. The VR was quite snappy and worked very well on the few images I shot hand-held. I won’t be doing that often.

The lens weighs 4.6 pounds so, I used this lens on a tripod with my Wimberley Arca Sidekick Ball to Gimbal Adapter, and let my rig carry the weight, or I shot from the car window using the door frame as my base on the auto-route parts of the refuges I visited.

This little Anna’s Hummingbird feeding on this succulent plant is an image I made this morning. The sky was overcast and gray, and she was in the shade.
Camera Settings: 1/320s| ISO 1000| Manual Priority| Matrix Metering| Single AF

A challenging situation that I think came out well. So, I guess you know I want this lens!

I shot just under 1000 images this week-end and have begun culling them. I’ll be sharing more images as I go through them.

More to come…

Iguana-Male

January 22, 2016Posted in Belize, Iguana, Photography, Travel and Tourism, Travel Photography, WildlifeTagged Belize, Honduras, Iguanas, Lizards, Nikon Df, Panasonic Lumix FZ200, Photography, Travel and Tourism, Travel Photography15 Comments

While in Belize and Honduras last September we saw quite a few Iguanas. They’re the biggest I’ve ever seen!
I also didn’t realize they can be orange.

Iguana Male

They’re so prehistoric looking aren’t they.

Here’s the back end of an Iguana showing its huge tail, and really long toes.

Tail of Iguana Male

Another one chillin’ high over the Ladies Den

Iguana Male Honduras

Some of the Females hung out together in the shade on a slab of cement:

Iguanas Females

… and this one posed for me. “)

Iguana- The Poser

We saw some really neat wildlife in addition to the Iguana while on this trip. The Capuchin Monkey’s were super cute! I’ll be sharing images of them in the future.

Nikon Df & Lumix FZ200| Hand-held

I hope you all have a great week-end, and to those of you in the northeast USA I’m keeping you in my thoughts, and am hoping the storm isn’t too bad. Stay warm and safe!

More to come…

P52 3/52 That first step is a doozy!

January 21, 2016Posted in Photography, Project 52:Doors, Thursday's Doors, Travel and TourismTagged Belize, Project 52 Doors, Thursday Doors, Travel and Tourism14 Comments

I saw this door without a step while in Belize last year and had to make a photo of it.

That First Step is Doozy

Panasonic Lumix FZ200| Lexar Professional Digital Film

This door is also part of Norm 2.0’s Thursday Doors. To see all the images posted this week or add your own click here.

More to come…

Monochrome Madness 2 41/52 Cowboys

January 19, 2016January 19, 2016Posted in Black and White Photography, Monochrome Madness2, Photography, Rodeos, San Benito County, San Benito County RodeoTagged Big Belt Buckles, Black and White Photography, Cowboys, Monochrome Madness2, Photography, Rodeos, San Benito County6 Comments

I made this image last summer at the Rodeo. These guys would have a laugh or two in between riders, and events, but man they worked hard when it was time to work, and making sure the arena was ready for the show. Cowboys

I do love those BIG belt buckles!

This image is part of Leanne Cole’s Monochrome Madness 2. To see all the great images posted this week click here.

More to come…

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