Calm and Frenzy

Tags

atlantic ocean, birds, galveston, galveston island, galveston texas, motion, motion blur, nature, ocean, salt water, sand, seagulls, seashore, water, waves, wildlife

Shot at Galveston Island in April 2016. Slow shutter used. Varying degrees of motion depicted.

Two Doves

Tags

bird, dove, nature, texas wildlife, white winged doves, wildlife

Go Away, Kid, You Bother Me!

Tags

bird, bird of prey, birds, digital, Digital Photography, hawk, mockingbird, nature, nature in texas, nature photography, nikon d7100, rapine bird, red tailed hawk, sigma 150 - 600, territorial instinct, texas, wildlife

I was out yesterday with my little Nikon D7100…I call it little because attached to it was the Sigma 150 – 600 lens. It’s a relative perception. This lens could register on seismographs out in Alpine if it were dropped. Anyway, I was sitting on the grass in the park waiting for the red tail hawk you see here to fly back over to a tree that was on public property. In the photo he’s currently perched atop a tree in someone’s front yard. While I was waiting, I noticed this mockingbird, whose territory the rapine creature was apparently encroached upon, attempt to show enough bluster to make his visit a shorter one. Not that the mocker is a bad host, but the feisty feathered flyer was fresh out of rabbits in the fridge and didn’t want to disappoint his guest. I took several shots totally depending on a chance depression of the shutter button at the right instant to get something…good…goodish? I chose this particular version of the situation to try to impress people “out there” whom I’ve never met and whom I’ll never meet, such as one lady who liked my pond sunset yesterday and whose western photos make me look like my granny with her Box Brownie that she just dropped into her gruel…anyway, I chose this one (speaking of rabbits) because the red tail had his or her head turned back enough to see the profile. The bird did soon return to my legal territory and I’ll post a shot of it below. Thanks for looking and for thinking this was a good bit of luck.

 

Common Egret

Tags

bird, bird in tree, common egret, nature, texas wildlife, wading bird, wildlife

It’s an exciting day today because I’ve gone out and taken a picture I’ve postponed for a while. We notice an egret sitting in a tree in a park during our cycling outings and I’ve often thought about returning there on foot with my little Nikon D7100 and huge Sigma 150 – 600 to see what is possible. The fellow here can be a little skittish, so I stay low and slowly, in stages, scoot my way towards him, allowing time for getting accustomed to my presence and to the presence of the threatening-looking Sigma (OK, BIGMA!)

I took 58 clicks of the button and narrowed that to these, using content aware fill in PS CS6 to eliminate some stray twigs obtruding into the area near the bird and providing unneeded distraction.

It was nice to get out again with a camera!

 

 

One Morning on the Beach

Tags

birds, dawn, dead shark, galveston, galveston island, galveston texas, gulf of mexico, morning, ocean, shark, sunrise, wildlife

We got up early in Houston to make the 40 something mile drive to East Beach on Galveston Island. My goal was really to catch some waves with camera on a tripod to get the dreamy blur effect. However, as soon as the sun was rising, I couldn’t use the shutter speeds needed for the blur. I got these:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Houston Ship Channel is here and I got this of a ship on the horizon:

There was a shark on the beach that, apparently, his friend buried in the sand and then swam off and forgot to extract him:

This could be his friend, a hammerhead supine nearby. Maybe he died from the exertion of burying this shark:

While you would think other animals would be in mourning, these guys weren’t at all upset:

Laughing gulls!

The camera was a Nikon D7100 with dirty sensor and a Nikon 16 – 85 zoom (using split graduated ND filter) except for the gulls which were captured the next day with same body and Sigma 150 – 600 Sports version of that lens.

 

Brazos Bend State Park

Tags

brazos bend state park, Digital Photography, sigma 150-600 for nikon, super telephoto zoom lens, texas, texas wildlife, wildlife

This is a great state park in Texas just about 30 minutes south of Houston. It features alligators and a nice variety of bird life.

Camera was a Nikon D7100 and the lens a Sigma 150- 600, effectively with the crop a 225 – 900. It is a large lens, of course, and it is even suggested that a monopod is the minimum support requirement. However, use a high enough ISO and shutter speed and that impediment to quick response to wildlife subjects (the monopod) can be fairly well avoided.

The shallow depth of field of a super telephoto allowed me to give sharp focus to the end of the snout and its reflection while making a pleasant blur in the other areas.

While the alligator looks sluggish, it’s said that they can dart out of the water fairly quickly to seize its victim (or camera-wielding tormentor). I wouldn’t have done this with a 50mm lens! He or she seems somewhat perturbed.

Now on the nicer side, a gallinule calmly graces the ripples with its vibrant beak looking like a corn candy.

Here is a group of gallinules in the fen.

The American bittern stalks its unwary fare.

Maw and Paw blue-winged teal rest on the lounge log.

I did shoot some black and white with a Fuji GA something or other 6 x 4.5 film camera, but here is a quickie digital rendition.

The ibis prepares to pounce.

The lazy gator a log mounts.

Gallinule walks the branch.

Double crested cormorant.

Gallinule and cormorant.

Great blue heron surveys his or her domain.

Ibis shows off for the gallinules. They are common, after all.

A herd of ibis feeds.

Ibis herd, another view.

Three ibises.

Common grebe.

More gallinule action.

Common egret I.

Common egret II.

Common egret three, frazzled.

The Sigma 150-600 is a reasonable solution to the common wildlife photographer who’d like to “get out there” a little further!