Herons, Fishing & Stuff (5 pics and a 100% crop, 20D)

[Scottes]

I went out to Great Meadows after work to test the 20D. Sadly, the clouds came out ruining the light. Almost. I played while shooting some geese flying overhead, but it was too dark for that sort of stuff. At the first opening in the grass I shot at a distant Egret, then threw the 1.4 TC on just to play some more.

I heard a bunch of splashing - big splashes - at the next opening, so I tossed the tripod over my shoulder and went to take a looksee.

I came to the opening and saw a Great Blue Heron a relatively short distance away, fishing and ignoring me. I slammed the tripod down - no reaction - and clunked things into place - still ignoring me - and aimed and focused.

Or attempted to, but it wouldn't autofocus. Nothing was happening.

I stood there puzzled, and he got a fish.

Well I was about to lose the opportunity in case he flew away, so I manual focused and shot a few frames. And that's when I realized that I still had the 1.4 TC attached.

http://www.itsanadventure.com/postimages/Heron_50811.jpg

And a 100% crop of the above - 20D, 400 Prime, and a 1.4 TC, ISO 400:

http://www.itsanadventure.com/postimages/HeronCrop_50811.jpg


Well this GBH wasn't going anywhere and didn't care that I existed. I had time to muck with the tripod, remove the 1.4 TC, and bang the tripod to the far side of the dike. (Zoom out using feet - what a pain!) But I had to get far enough away to get him all in the frame.

http://www.itsanadventure.com/postimages/Heron_50834.jpg


I got bored watching him after 20 minutes, and walked down to the water's edge. He never even flinched. But then I saw a Bittern (Edit: Green Heron) off to one side:

http://www.itsanadventure.com/postimages/Bittern_50848.jpg


The Bittern left, and the heron hopped/flew a little ways off, stood for a while, then caught another fish. The grass and bushes make this a bit busy, but I don't often get to shoot a heron actually *doing* something, so I took it.

http://www.itsanadventure.com/postimages/Heron_50889.jpg


I have to say that I seemed to have had a hard time with focus. MANY of the shots were definitely out of focus. Maybe it was the light, maybe user error. I'll have to try again on a bright day before I get worried about anything.

Edit: I checked through the images and found that the *fastest* shutter speed I was getting was 1/160. Almost all of the good ones were 1/125, but it often went down to as low as 1/30. If I had been doing my normal "standard egret posing" shots I would have been fine, but this heron was actually *doing* something so his movements blurred the shots. No focus issues at all.

[CyberDyneSystems]

Fantastic Scott.. it was all cloudy here.. so I did not even try.. other than walking the dogs on the state house lawn.

That GBH has certainly got himself a nice sized fish!

The second bird by the way is an Immature Green Heron.. actually it's in a sort of in between phase.. a lanky teenager of sorts.. very difficult to ID.

[Chris1le]

Looks like your day was a little better than mine. :D nice shots of the GBH. All the heron in these parts take off as soon as they hear footsteps. You were pretty lucky to find a willing model. :D Although I did have one stand up in a tree and watch me for about half an hour.

http://www.pbase.com/chris1le/image/33878246.jpg

[cmM]

Very nice pics Scottes !

So no autofocus with the TC?... :x

Do you like the 20D so far? Looking forward to seeing more bird shots from you ;)

[Scottes]

That GBH has certainly got himself a nice sized fish!

You think?

http://www.itsanadventure.com/postimages/Heron_50884.jpg

You shoulda seen him swallowing it.


The second bird by the way is an Immature Green Heron.. actually it's in a sort of in between phase.. a lanky teenager of sorts.. very difficult to ID.

It's even more difficult to ID when you listen to someone with a birding scope and decide you're too tired to look it up. <Grrrr> I've *got* to stop listening to these people.

[JCK]

Great job despite the conditions! And I really like the story around each shot, Aloha!

[JZaun]

Wow Scottes,, not you really got me excited, that fish the GBH got is as big as anything I ever caught :lol: :lol: Great shot!!

Where is my 20!!!!

JZ

[CyberDyneSystems]

A "birder" IDed it as a bittern? Hah! Wishfull thinking on his part.. now he's got a "lifebook" that's just a big lie :lol:

That Sunfish/rockbass would be big enough to go well with eggs and bacon for breakfast... I'm positively drooling :P

[GenEOS]

Green Heron... And a nice shot of him too. That bird is hard to catchin one spot too long. I have one I have been chasing around my neck of the woods for a couple of months now.

Did you get a shot of the TCH swallowing? That woudl have been a good test of FPS....

Nice work.

[HJMinard]

I see you went with the gratuitous 20D reference in your title to boost viewiership. :wink:

Seriously though ... great work as always. I really enjoy your shots and hope to become a ninja apprentice after I get the 400/5.6L (my next lens purchase?).

[psk4363]

So, so jealous :cry: :cry: :cry:

Excellent pics! :wink:

Barry

[Scottes]

Thanks for the comments, folks.

Now I just hope that the sun comes out some day soon. I mean, the camera is just *sitting* there... Unused... Lonely...


Where are my cats?

[MT]

any secrets for us poor guys without the long lenses?

Within the next couple of weeks the annual migration of brown pelicans should be coming thru and my longest gun is 28-135.

[Scottes]

any secrets for us poor guys without the long lenses?

Within the next couple of weeks the annual migration of brown pelicans should be coming thru and my longest gun is 28-135.

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=42510

Camouflage would help, too. But if you go after the big birds you may be surprised with the 135mm. With the GBH above I could have easily used 135mm at times.


This reminds me to add another tip to that thread....

[cmM]

Scottes, that is one great post. There are many things I don't know.

[MT]

when they pass thru I'm going to give it a shot.

[boomer1959]

Awsome shots Scottes as usual. Can't wait to get my 20D.

[eric1]

any secrets for us poor guys without the long lenses?

Within the next couple of weeks the annual migration of brown pelicans should be coming thru and my longest gun is 28-135.

i got a suggestion, check your PM!

[LazyPhotographer]

Great shots... the fish is huge!