Posted on by Anne Sandler · 22 Comments

Catching Up: The nesting tree

I have been remiss in posting. This is caused by some traveling and a broken computer. You don’t realize how much, as a photographer, you depend on your computer until you don’t have it. Not only could I not edit photos, I couldn’t get to my archived images. Frustrated doesn’t begin to explain how I felt.

So here I am playing catch up. For this post I’m showing you images from the nesting trees where great egrets and blue herons build their nests each year. The birds feel safe there because the two trees are in the middle of a gully. One sits in the nest while its mate flies and brings back twigs. It’s fun to watch them.

This is a stretch for my Tamron 18 – 300mm lens but I did get some nice images.

This is about the only instance where I can predict they will be flying. This type of photography helps me learn how to watch carefully and be fast.

More to come!

Posted on by Anne Sandler · 38 Comments

Lens Artists Challenge #212: Motion

Patti’s motion challenge propelled (good motion word) me to try panning which is why this response is just a little late. My experiment of panning a car as it past by was a dismal failure. Therefore, there won’t be any panning in this post. But I will not give up! Someday there will be a panning image in a post!

So back to other forms of motion.

Stop action. A fast shutter speed usually works. I’ve even tried continuous shutter. Here are some examples.

Next is slow shutter speed which blurs the action. I do enjoy playing with this type of photography.

And I do like creating motion by zooming my lens. Try it when your at a carnival, out at night around neon signs or during Christmas time when all the lights are shining.

So there’s my photographic range of motion. Thank you Patti for this fun challenge. I will be working on learning how to pan and welcome any advice. When you reply to this challenge be sure to link to Patti’s original post and use the Lens-Artist tag. And thank you all for joining in with your groovy images last week. It was fun seeing what motivates you. Next week Amy will present the LAPC Challenge. Be sure to look for her post.

Interested in joining the Lens-Artists challenge? Click here for more information.

Posted on by Anne Sandler · 5 Comments

An uneventful photo outing: Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge

It was windy. Maybe that’s why the birds were scarce at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, near Willows, this month. The driving tour at this wildlife refuge is a 6-mile circle with three places to get out of the car. Otherwise we are to be in the car. So, it pays to have a long lens and be on the correct side of the car to photograph out the window.

Our (Ray, Richard were with me.) first trip around, there were hardly any birds. We thought it was probably because of the wind. I didn’t even see flocks of snow geese in the water. Other wildlife that usually inhabit the refuge found a better spot or were hiding.

Since it takes 1 1/2 hours to get there and a lot of gas, I was disappointed, and soon got hungry. We had a great meal in town and then went back to the refuge. It wasn’t as windy this time, and this is when I got the bulk of my pictures (Still down from previous visits.).

The snow geese were back in numbers. We were lucky to catch a fly off.

Now for the really sad part: the only bald eagles we saw were out of range for my Nikon 7100 and prime F/4 300 lens. But that didn’t stop me! You know what they say, “Garbage in; garbage out!” I worked on those eagles, but couldn’t get them to the point of putting them in the blog. I will tell you it was a pair with their juvenile.

This is why I titled this post “An uneventful photo outing!” Maybe next time we will have better luck.

I hope you’ve been having a great holiday season and will have a wonderful New Year!

Posted on by Anne Sandler · 17 Comments

With a little help: The Nesting Tree

Yes, with a little help we can accomplish what we thought we couldn’t. One of the reasons I bought a mirrorless camera was the need for a lighter camera. I could still hold my Nikon D7100, but with some lenses it was getting heavy, and I’m not getting younger. I currently use my Nikon for two types of shooting: ultra wide and telephoto.

The last time I tried shooting with my Nikon and an old prime (meaning metal casing) 300 mm, my photo buddy Ray saw I was having difficulty holding it steady. It was more than that, I couldn’t hold it steady. So, he made me a short monopod to anchor the lens.

I wanted to show him what I call the nesting trees in Lincoln and he wanted me to try out my new small, hand-held monopod, so off we went. And guess what, it worked. With just a little help from my friend I can now use a telephoto on my Nikon. If I ever get a telephoto for my Fuji, it would also help. The birds were across a small gully and a stretch for any 300 mm lens, but I was able to photograph them and really crop in.

The second bit of help also came through Ray. He let me know that Topaz was having a sale. Now I can’t resist a sale, can I? I bought Topaz Sharpen AI and DeNoise AI. I used Sharpen AI on all the birds and it was amazing.

We didn’t stay long. The egrets’ and herons’ mates were not flying back with food/nesting material. But I was able to get a shot of one flying in without branches and twigs in the way.

I’ll be going back to the nesting tree with my new monopod soon! Thank you Ray!!