I guess I'm drawn to Redheads . . . and they are hard to catch! I finally nailed a hot one, but I didn't last eight minutes! No . . . it's not like you think . . .

Man, what a HOT day at Pinckney National Wildlife Refuge, SC Sunday. It was 100 with almost no shade, no breeze, HIGH HUMIDITY, and a heat index of over 115. Also, no vehicles, no facilities and a mile walking in. I'd driven 160 miles and thought I could handle it. WRONG!

I shot only eight minutes after hiking to arrive at Ibis Lake. Yep, eight minutes after beginning to shoot and I was overcome by Heat Exhaustion!

Virtually no shade, no facilites, no place to cool off and a 40 pound pack full of long lenses, tripod, other stuff and water. I finally got out of there with help from strangers . . .

Eight minutes of paradise, followed by several hours of hell. Folks, that high heat and humidity right now can kill. Be careful.

Here's the hot redhead . . . a gorgeous Red-headed Woodpecker! Hope you enjoy "her" like I did! PS: I got a bunch of wonderful shots in those following eight minutes!


Here's my first Blue Heron. It isn't dark blue with purple because it is a juvenile, and nature protects the juvies from big egrets and herons by making it as white as a Snowy Egret for their first year . . .


Then he had to show off! All the wading birds build nests in the spindly tree/bush tops above the shallow water, in this breeding "rookery," which when referring to a spot where wading birds congregate to breed is called a "Congress." Yep, a "congress" that gets things done while having fun, LOL . . .


This juvenile Tri-colored Heron looked stunning in the treetops, and I told my wife when I shot it that it would be a magical photo . . .


Yep, I'm glad I survived that redhead! LOL

Hope you liked the photos, Tom

I only know one hot redhead 'round these parts.

I know a couple

Those look more tame than the ones I've known.

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Cheers, Charles
SWCA #2442

I'm assuming Nikon/ Canon 70 to 300 lens on manual? f5 at 800?

thewelshm

Very nice but not as hot as the one I married.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

Nikon makes some great cameras and lenses, so that's a good guess!

However, I used Canon's new 7D mkII, a 10 fps camera aimed at the action sports/birding photographer, with a Canon EF400/5.6 "L" Super-telephoto, a classic lens for birding.

Indeed I shot in manual mode. That's about the only way to properly expose the bird's body against the harsh, much brighter sky.

I just checked the settings, and it was a "400 Moment": 400mm, aperture wide-open at 5.6 (this legendary lens is sharp even wide open). 1/400th of a second, and ISO manually set also at ISO 400. At that shutter speed, my tripod insured sharpness if the bird cooperated.

That danged tripod felt like 300 pounds, toting it in the heat, but I didn't want to drop the ISO to 800 or higher to get a faster shutter speed for hand-holding. Sadly, I left my monopod in the car . . . to "save weight."

Eight minutes? At your age?! I am impressed! Oh... wait a sec here...

Tom, joking aside, you take some very fine bird photos. Keep 'em coming!

looks like that redhead has eye on you

I think THE redhead would be understanding if I complemented this redhead, but I ain't taking the chance.

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John 3:16 .

Nice, Tom!

We have a mating pair that have been around for a few years - I have several pictures of them at our feeder -





they love peanuts.

We also get Orioles - another nesting pair on our property - they bring the young out for some jelly this time of year -



best

mqqn

Tom, great shots. Getting the exposure right on solid white birds takes skill.

The 400 f5.6 L is lens I wish I never sold. It was razor sharp, gives a pleasing bokeh, light weight and most of all focused very fast. I sure miss that lens.

I traded mine off for a 100-400 f4-5.6 L IS which is nice but it is slow to focus. Like most things with photography there are always trade offs with that trade I gave up focus speed for flexibility and image stabilization. The slower focus speed really bugs me and I've missed more than one shot because of it.

How are you liking the 7DkII? I got tired of waiting for the update to 7D and bought a 70D which is nice but I could use the weather sealing of the 7D for some of my work.

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Bill Bates

BUT you survived. Don't think my 28 years with one could be called surviving. Just too dumb to give up.

Great photos. It is truly amazing the beauty that surrounds us each day.

I have had a couple of times when the "bear" got me. Took a couple of days to feel right. Glad you're OK.

Great shots, Tom! We share a surname, but your photography skills are far above mine.

I recently lost - as in left in a hotel room (I think) - my best comera and my favorite lens. It was an old Sony DSLR and a Tamron 28-300 zoom. Not at all comparable to your pro level equipment, though.

One of my local buds uses a cheapo Canon "bridge" camera with a long zoom to take some pretty high quality shots. I didn't want to drop $1000-$1500 to replace that camera and lens, so I picked up a little Pentax with a 52x zoom. I figure with my modest abilities it's good enough. At least it has true manual exposure ability, but sadly lacks the ability to focus manually - sometimes that's the only way to get a good shot.

One of these days when I feel "richer" I'll probably pick up another Sony. After all, I still have two other lenses for it.

But if you only last eight minutes, you won't know her long...

Very nice photos Tom. I shoot a Nikon 800, but not a lot of bird photography.

Lovely as usual, Tom.

I used to see the red-headed wps around my place fairly regularly, but haven't seen one for a while. They're just stunning little birds.

How AWESOME! Those redheads are usually quite skittish. What a treat! Ditto for the BAORs too!

Wonderful camera! What kind of photography do you like?

Wonderful captures!

Thanks Bill! I usually shoot manual so I can meter to make sure the BIRD'S exposure is correct for, just like good focus, the subject needs to be sharp AND perfectly exposed.

A hard thing is for me to let go, put the camera in the correct on of many special menus, and then trust the camera to do better than one can do manually. That's strange but it is true with the 7D mkII in the correct menu mode!

Yes, I'm finally loving the mkII, after learning how to "drive" the thing. For bird-in-flight photography there are SIX types of shooting menus, some for birds of predictable speed and direction, one for erratic moving birds, another for erratic motions and varying speeds of flight. Wow! I've had wonderful results with it too . . . when I yield control. In the fastest locking custom menus, which allow the camera to start firing even just before focus is perfect, to get the fastest lock on time, it can shoot 10fps. Then in other modes it won't fire until it absolutely nails the focus for less throw away images.

A NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN . . .
The new EF 100-400 II zoom has changed everything! All the reviews are raves, and I've seen so many stunning images from this lens on the POTN site!

1. It actually locks on FASTER than the 400/5.6 L
2. It has such an advanced IS system in it, that it is supposed to give one FIVE STOPS of stabilization . . . a true tripod-less revelation.
3. Image qualitly is BETTER than the prime too
4. Sharpness? Ditto
5. Bokeh? Better too!

Check out the new version II if you are interested. It amazes me that it could lock on faster, and I could handhold five stops slower. It is a game changer! Oh yeah, and it is a conventional zoom vs. a push/pull "Dust Pump!"

PS: The 70D is a very fine camera in its own right, it its sensor is more like the 7DmkII than the old 7D.

Birds with red heads are OK, but my "X" was a redhead...
Nothing more need be said.

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Only difference Fool/Mule-ears

Feed em everyday in the back yard

Photo taken with a inexpensive Canon SX500is, not a bad little camera.

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Doesn't hasta call me Johnson

Tom, thanks for the review of the &D MKII.

There was a time when I spent a bit of time photographing birds but it has been years. These days it is 40 hours a week of taking the same lame 10 or 12 photos of firearms 40 hours a week with the occasional odd job shooting sports, glamour photos, senior pics and a wedding here or there. Heck, I bought the 70D with a couple of junk kit lenses because it shoots video for a wedding shoot in Mexico. It was light compact package that if it went missing it wouldn't be huge lose. I'm glad I picked it up my old 20D died recently but it had over a 1/4 million clicks on the shutter which was a good 100K more than it was rated for. My next upgrade will likely be a 5DS R to replace my old 5D which is getting pretty long in the tooth.

Here are a few from the past shot with a Canon 20D plus 400 f/5.6L







And one shot with the 20D and a 300mm f/2.8 plus 2x extender for 600mm By far and away the 300 f/2.8 L IS is my favorite lens.

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Bill Bates

Wow . . . MAGICAL images. Outstanding!!! Thanks for sharing . . . and inspiring!

Since I posted about my red headed wife already I thought I would give equal time to the real subject matter. Really funny. The main office of my employer is 25 miles from my office and I have to attend meetings weekly. My custom is to get my coffee, paper and cigar and go to a park about a block away from Main Office, quietly read my paper, enjoy my coffee and cigar. No one is ever around at that time of morning, very early, really quiet. One morning deeply engrossed in my paper, there was suddenly a burst of tinny sounds like a machine gun and then it quit. Scared the dickens out of me. As I try to look around and see what is going on, it suddenly starts again, like a burst from a sub gun, loud and metallic. It quits before I can locate the source. My bench is next to a baseball field for little leaguers and it has night lights all around the field Metal light fixtures on metal poles. It starts again and this time lasts long enough for me to locate this red headed woodpecker on top of one of the metallic light fixtures and he is giving it He**, I mean he is trying to knock the bottom out of it. I started laughing and for the next 30 minutes trying to read the paper I would have to stop and laugh at him when he started up. He was still at it when I had to leave. I had to think about my wife, being red headed, she has a head that hard.I look for him every time I stop for coffee and paper time.

I am using a Nikon D-800 and just bought a "new 10 year old " 300 mm afs F4 lens- It`s one of those lt grey painted ones ,trying to look like a Canon??? Anyway I think I`m really going to like it-once I learn how to use it.
Tom you better be careful with that heat each incident makes it easier to get another. I know, since I`ve had heatstroke/heat exhaustion many times, Its awful!

Attached Images

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Thanks for the tip, I didn't know that!

I have the 70D. Last December, I bought a Sigma 150-500 lens for it.

This is a 208yd shot at 439MM croped.


I was surprised at the detail.

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Corripe Cervisiam