I guess I'm drawn to Redheads - Finally caught a hot one; Didn't last but 8 minutes

tom turner

tom turner

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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!
19054369633_17a2541956_b.jpg


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

Hope you liked the photos, Tom
 
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THEWELSHM said:
I'm assuming Nikon/ Canon 70 to 300 lens on manual? f5 at 800?

thewelshm
Click to expand...

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."
 
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.
 
Redhead

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.
 
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.
 
mqqn said:
Nice, Tom!

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

DSC_2384.JPG


D71_2035.jpg


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 -

DSC_2522.JPG


best

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