King Of The Hill - Snowy Owl
I have a particular bent towards birds in flight or dynamic poses, but occasionally I like to post a nice portrait, as is the case with this Snowy Owl.
I love it when they perch on a fresh drift of snow with their claws overhanging.
Canon 100-400L f4.5/6.5 lens handheld at 1/1600, f11, ISO 200.
This was a vertical shot, so there is minimal cropping to fit a 12 x 9 framing format.
A bit of shadow in the bird's left eye reduced by dodging.
As usual, the background was despeckled after sharpening to reduce noise.
Cheers,
Mike
Spring-Loaded Snowy Owl
Canon 100-400L f4.5-5.6 lens handheld @ 1/2000, f6.3, ISO 200.
Horizon tilted to straighten then cropped to fit a 16 x 12 frame. A couple of darker annoying vegetation stalks clonned away. A couple of dust bunnies clonned away. Background despeckled after sharpening. Slightly re-sharpened again after reducing image for web.
Cheers,
Mike
Full Frontal - Snowy Owl
Canon 100-400L lens handheld @ 1/1600, f18, ISO 400, -2/3 exposure compensation.
Slight crop to straighten the horizon and to format for a 12 x 16 frame.
Severl snow reflections clonned away. I decided to leave the corn stalks. Eyes slightly lightened to reduce shadow and unveil the yellow. The sky looks a little blotchy, but that's because of a combination of the image's low optimised resolution for the gallery and colour correction- the original is okay.
Cheers,
Mike
Dawn Departure - Snowy Owl
Taken literally at the crack of dawn, this Snowy Owl is proof that you can't always "balance your whites" when treating a digital image.
Canon's 100-400L f4.5-5.6 lens handheld @ 1/1250, f5.6, ISO 400, + 1 1/3 exposure compensation.
Horizon straightened then cropped to a 12 x 16 framing format. One snow/lens reflection removed behind my signature.
Is there noise in this image - at full framing size? Of course there is! This image was much darker. When adding contrast and brightness, extra noise was created - remember, the sun had barely pierced the horizon!
Noise reduction applied. Even after sharpening, I despeckled the background as usual to reduce noise even more.
I lightened up the eyes a bit.
Cheers,
Mike
Kick Boxing, Snow Bunting-Style
The disputes between Snow Buntings are very brief and without injury but still amazing to witness.
Canon 400L f5.6 lens handheld @ 1/1250, f14, ISO 400, + 2/3 exposure compensation.
This is a 50% crop formatted for a 9 x 12 framing. The birds were off-centered to the left of the image, that is one reason why I had to crop down to centre the image properly.
When shooting two birds in dispute, I usually do not shoot tight, I prefer to crop in afterwards. These birds move so fast that it is almost impossible to get a tight shot off the bat without cutting off a wing, tail or a head.
A small clone of the upper right corner to unify the background. Background despeckled after sharpening to reduce noise.
Cheers,
Mike
Super Bowl Goal Post Winner - Snowy Owl
This Snowy Owl seems to be flying through the uprights at a football game.
I had a bit of difficulty deciding how to crop and frame this image - by keeping the two fence posts in symmetry or keeping the owl centered.
Canon 100-400L 4.5/5.6 lens handheld @ 1/4000, f6.3, ISO 200, +2/3 exposure compensation.
A few dust bunnies cloned away from the sky. The horizon slightly levelled. Slight dodging of the shadowy portion of the eyes. After sharpening, I despeckled the background to put more emphasis on the Snowy and to reduce noise in the blue sky.
Cheers,
Mike
Not The Best Of Dance Partners - Snow Buntings
Snow Buntings are so much fun to photograph.
Canon 400L f5.6 lens handheld @ 1/1250, f/16, ISO 400, + 2/3 exposure compensation.
I cropped this for a 9 x 12 framing format. The position to the left is a little tight for my taste. I could have played some Photoshop magic to extend the canvas to the left and create more background. This would have moved the bird's tail away from the left border. With more room to play with on the left, I would not need to crop in so tight to maintain the 9 x 12 format.
I might redo this image if I decide to use it in a future exhibit.
Cheers,
Mike
Okay, Not Exactly A Bird . . .
Well, not exactly one of my usual birds but a fine subject regardlerss.
Canon 7D with my old trusty 100-400L lens handheld @ 1/500, f5.6, ISO 800, +2 exposure compensation.
This was a Hail Mary low light level shot with the sun already set behind trees and behind a cloud cover - you take 'em as you get 'em!
Cropped in slightly to fit a 12 x 9 framming format. Noise reduction applied.
My good photo companions, Dom and Éric, and I had completed the day's shoot and were walking towards our vehicles when this opportunity presented itself.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - Winter Visitor
An iconic Quebec winter scene.
Taken with my usual Canon gear - this time with my trusty 100-400L f4.5-5.6 lens handhaeld at 1/1600, f/10, ISO 200.
Who says the 100-400 is a bad lens?
With this shot, I had to slightly level the horizon, I cropped to an 8 x 16 format for exposition framing. After sharpening, I despeckled everything but the bird for added emphasis.
My biggest headache with this image was to clone out 150-200 small highlight relection spots in the snow.
Cheers,
Mike
A Uplifting Experience - Snowy Owl
My usual Canon gear with 100-400L lens handheld @ 1/1600, f/10, ISO 200, +1/3 exposure compensation.
Again, cropped for an 8 x 16 framing which I like. Horizon had to be straightened. Colour correction was a little dicey, there is still a bit of cyan/blue on the owl. I had to reduce an important amount on its right wing. But this is acceptable for me - you rarely find pure white in these situations in real life. Finally, too much colour correction to reduce to white would have destroyed much feather details.
Eyes slightly dodged to reduce shadow and bring out more of the yellow.
I deliberately avoided to add too much contrast and sharpening - this gives the owl a nice soft look.
Selective despeckling of the background to reduce noise.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl Tight-Branch Walker
When a Snowy Owl perches on the summit of a tree, it's often on a thin branch.
This gives ample opportunities for a variety of shots with wings deployed as the owl finds its balance while waiting for its weight to bend the branch.
My usual Canon gear handheld at 1/1250, f/7.1, ISO 200, 400mm lens focal distance.
Cheers,
Mike
How Low Can You Go? Male Snowy Owl
This old male Snowy Owl is trying to break a low level flight record!
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/2000, f/8, ISO 400.
Formatted to an 8 x 16 frame, this image was slightly cropped to offset the owl more to the right, as he was leaving the original frame on the left. Again, this is my way of saving a badly-framed image.
I didn't want to over-compensate the balancing of whites, after all, the morning January winter light contains lots of cyan. The eye on the left was dodged to bring it out of a shadow. Background despeckled to reduce noise and to put more emphasis on the sharpening of the bird.
Cheers,
Mike
Time For Me To Leave - Blue jay
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1250, f/4, ISO 400, +1/3 exposure compensation.
Framed to a 12 x 16 format. A branch in the upper left corner clonned away using the blur, clone and smudge tools.
Cheers,
Mike
Late Afternoon Snowy Owl
This Snowy Owl faces the setting sun and basks in a wonderful light.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens handheld at 1/1600, f/4, ISO 200.
Formatted to 8 x 16, a size that I often use for framing. A couple of annoying dark vegetation blotches clonned away and the usual adjustments for colour, contrast, sharpening applied.
Cheers,
Mike
Bye-Bye 2010 - Barred Owl
This Barred Owl leaves 2010 to join the New Year!
Canon 7D with 500L f4 on monopod @ 1/1000, f/5.6, ISO 400, +2/3 exposure compensation.
Full-frame, no crop. A branch which crossed the tail clonned away. Background and foreground blurred to isolate the bird and the perch.
Happy New Year
Bonne Année
Z Novym Rokom
Mike
Freedom Flight - Mallard Duck
Ducks make for fun birds-in-flight photos. This lovely lady is heading for the hills.
Canon 7D with 400L 5.6 lens handheld @ 1/1250, f/5.6, ISO 400.
Top and bottom cropped away to frame for a 8 x 16.
As long as the eye is in focus, I'm a happy camper. Some people want the bird's movement to be completely frozen, which is fine. But, I don't mind wing blur - it gives a better sensation of movement.
Cheers,
Mike
Barred Owl With Its Prey
This Barred Owl had just hunted its prey moments before this shot.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/640, f/6.3, ISO 400, +1/3 exposure compensation.
The choise of lens is always a problem with these sort of birds. The 500 f4 is superb for those close-ups or inaccesible shots penetrating those annoying branches. Also, by moving back, you get a better hight perspective if the bird is perched too high. And not to be neglected is the luminiosity of the lens when the bird is hidden from light or at the close of the day when there is minimal light present.
But, at times I use my old trusty 400L f5.6 when I'm anticipating a flight shot - so that I don't clip those wings.
I had my camera mounted on a monopod shooting some portraits when the bird took off, captured its prey and perched on a branch. I quickly unclamped my camera from the monopod and headed for the bird - a hard task for me with my wobbbly knees. That explains the lower shutter speed which I didn't have time to adjust in the excitement.
Cropped in for a more dramatic effect. The eye to the right lightened-up to remove it from the shadow and to expose the refelction of the trees. Bottom half of owl and tail of the shrew burnt in a bit to darken. A bit of blur applied to the sky at top left after sharpening to remove noise.
Cheers,
Mike
Joyeux Noël - Merry Christmas - Xrystos Narodyvsija
Morning Run - Snowy Owl
This old male Snowy Owl was caught in a beam of light early in the morning.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/2000, f/5, ISO 400.
Slight horizon shift to level it. Slight crop from composition purposes. Framed as a 12 x 16. Background despeckled after sharpening as a form of selective sharpening on the bird - that's about it.
Voici la photo promis, Pappy!! :-)
Mike
Bird On A Stick - Canada or Grey Jay
Well, a soon-to-be bird on a stick!
Canon 7D with EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM lens @ 1/1250, f/6.3, ISO 400, + 1/3 exposure compensation.
Cropped in horizontally to 10 x 8 from a vertical frame. The background is a little busy, but considering the pose, I don't mind.
Cheers,
Mike
I'm Keeping You Posted - Snowy Owl
This Snowy is keeping me "posted" as to what is going on.
A lot of Snowy photographers prefer the "Arctic" look - with just snow and without any human structures present.
Here in Quebec, Snowys are often found perched on farmer's fence-posts and other structures, which frankly, adds depth to a photo.
The usual Canon equipment @ 1/1600, f/14, ISO 400.
This one was formatted and framed at 12 x 16.
Cheers,
Mike
Dispute - Snow Buntings
Snow Buntings have finally arrived in our Quebec City region for this winter season - a season which has hit us hard with multiple snow storms to date.
These Snow Buntings dispute a valued perch site.
Canon 7D with the 500L f/4 lens @ 1/2000, f/11, ISO 400.
Cropped for composition purposes. A multitude of snow reflection spots clonned away. The despeckling noise filter applied to background.
Cheers,
Mike
Face-To-Face In Flight - Snowy Owl
Winter conditions have hit the Quebec City region in full force the last couple of weeks, heralding the start of a new, and hopefully plentiful Snowy Owl season.
Here is an example of how to rescue a badly composed shot.
This bird was close, and by the time I released the shutter, the head was way left leading out of the frame.
A judicious crop formatted to 8 x 16 saved the day by eliminating the dead space to the right of the bird. In the original, the tips of the wings were clipped away, so it didn't bother me clip more of the wings to obtain this more intimate flight portrait.
I didn't totally balance for whites either - I was happy to let the feathers blend with the background colour. This also prevented the blowing away details in the highlighted areas.
Canon 7D with the 500L lens, handheld @ 1/2500 (shutter priority), f13, ISO 400. Background despeckled after sharpening.
Cheers,
Mike
Winter Jay
To catch this Jay in flight, I went back to my old 400L f5.6 lens instead of my usual 500L f4. I found it easier to follow the bird.
Canon 7D with 400L f5.6 lens @ 1/1250, f6.3, ISO 400, +1/3 exposure compensation.
Slight crop for composition purposes - to de-centre the bird. A couple of reflection circles clonned away to the left of the bird's head. A bit of blur applied to the bottom of the image.
Cheers,
Mike
Adieu Jean-Claude Germain
In Memoriam.
Le temps passe trop vite.
Il y a déjà un an depuis qu’on a perdu notre ami et collègue en photo animalier, Jean-Claude Germain.
Nous-nous souviendrons.
Mike
Fruit-Fest For A Bohemian Waxwing
With the cold weather and snow which hit Quebec recently, Bohemian Waxwings invaded a local municipal arboritum where fruit-bearing trees grow. The birds made short work of the fruit, but provided a great spectacle for bird photographers.
Canon 7D with 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1000, f5.6, +2/3 exposure compensation, ISO 400.
Cropped to straighten horizon, a bit of sky filled in where canvas was skewed due to my horizon straightening, same with a small portion of snow on bottom left of image. Background despeckled to reduce noise - a form of selective sharpening.
Cheers,
Mike
Autumn Frolic At Cap Tourmente - Greater Snow Geese
Today, Quebec City had it's first major snow fall of the season. With a full moon tomorrow, the Greater Snow Geese still in our region will say goodbye and undertake the final leg of their migration south.
This is a very early morning shot at sunrise taken at Cap Tourmente nature reserve last month. The autumn colours of Cap Tourmente's cliffs are a photgrapher's dream when the geese fly by them.
As you can see from my other photos, I particulary enjoy closeups of flying birds, but here I couldn't resist a more panoramic selection.
Canon 7D with 500L f4 lens @ 1/1000, f4, ISO 400, +2/3 exposure compensation.
Formatted for future 8 x 16 framing. This is one frame from a series of about 5-6 frames. You can bet your booties that my wife Louise will use the others as an inspiration for a future painting.
Cheers,
Mike
Final Run At Dusk - Greater Snow Geese
It pays not to leave the scene when the sun sets!
The sun was literally on the horizon and barely visible two days ago when I took this shot of Snow Geese moving off to their night roosting site.
Canon 7D with 500L f4 lens with 1.4 II extender on tripod with stabilizer on @ 1/800, f5.6, ISO 400, 1 2/3 exposure compensation.
Cropped for future 8 x 16 framing. Selective despeckling of background to redeuce noise. Three or four water droplets clonned away.
Cheers,
Mike
Autumn Dawn Glory
There are many opportunities for great autumn colours early in the morning at the crack of dawn when photographing flying ducks. It may be cold near water before the sun rises, but it is worth it.
Canon 7D with 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/800, f4, ISO 400, +1 2/3 exposure compensation.
Full-frame with no composition crop for once. I normally don't use flash - I didn't use it here.
The normal digital corrections applied and a bit of despeckling of the otherwise untouched background after final sharpening.
Cheers,
Mike
What Have They Put In The Water?
The ducks have been mating like there's no tomorrow in an area where many of us go to photograph Hooded Mergansers.
Canon 7D with 500L f4 lens with 1.4II extender on a Jobu Scorpion ground pod @ 1/800, f 5.6, ISO 400, +1 1/3 exposure compensation. A slight crop to lower the horizon. A small floating leaf clonned away behind the tail.
Cheers,
Mike
Big Rush To Happy Hour - Greater Snow Geese
It always takes my breath away to watch thousands of Snow Geese (in this case, 70,000 of them)suddenly take off in a swirling whirlwind.
Canon 7D with the 500 f4 lens handheld @ 1/1000, f9, ISO 400, -1/3 exposure compensation.
Full frame without any crop. A bit of colour correction and sharpening.
Cheers,
Mike
Any Moment Now! - Greater Snow Goose
This Greater Snow Goose adopts the canonball position in preperation for a water landing.
Canon 7D with 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1250, f7.1, ISO 400. Slight crop to off-centre the bird.
I chose not to "balance the whites". Because of the large amount of white in the goose,I didn't want to risk blowing away fine feather details created by the tones of grey. And after all,in real life, the light off the blue water did reflect onto the bird! Background despeckled as a form of selective sharpening on the bird.
Cheers,
Mike
Great Egret On The Downswing
Canon 7D with 500L f4 len plus 1.4 II extender on tripod @ 1/800, f 6.3, ISO 400, -1/3 exposure compensation.
Cropped down for composition purposes, background despeckled, the usual colour correction, contrast and a light amount of sharpening.
If you don't see the typical Quebec Fall colours in the background, well it's simply because this shot was taken over a month ago :-)
Cheers,
Mike
All In A Flap - Eastern Bluebird
Canon 7D with 500L f4 lens at 1/1250, f5.6, ISO 400.
Cropped for composition purposes and to print as an 8 x 10.
This shot is from a series shot earlier this summer with Pierre Bonenfant and Carro.
Cheers,
Mike
Raptor On The Run
A migration run, that is, in the Cap Tourmente region.
Canon 7D with 500L f4 lens, handheld at 1/1250, f5.6, ISO 400, +2/3 exposure compensation. Cropped from the original horizontal to veftical view.
Cheers,
Mike
Taking In The Last Light Of The Day - Blue Jay
This Blue Jay soaks in the last rays of the sun at dusk.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens handheld at 1/640, f4, ISO 640, +2 1/2 exposue compensation. My settings reflect the very low level of light present. With a very shallow depth of field due to lack of light, the emphasis is on the bird's face. The tail is out-of-focus, again, this is okay because the emphasis is on the eyes and face.
Cropped slightly for composition purposes and to eliminate the lower part of the wooden ramp where the wood pattern changed.
A small string of cobweb clonned away. Application of blur tool to background after sharpening to remove noise and as a form of selective sharpening to the bird.
Cheers,
Mike