Sympathetic Eyes
Again, another Snowy photo from my past files. The title says it all!
On The Money
This Snowy is hoping that the field post doesn't move before it lands!
Cropped for composition. Bumped up the contrast. Removed some sensor dust bunnies. A bit of sharpening applied.
I like the upturned feather on its right wing!
I Use My Own Patented Springboard!
As usual, the colours are that of a late afternoon winter day, therefore no balancing for whites. There is no white at around 16:00h, just before sunset- lots of magenta, though.
Cropped for composition, because I always center a moving/flying bird in the center of my viewfinder so that my autofocus can follow the bird.
Arise Oh Beautiful One
Another Snowy from my files.
For Snowy take-off photos, you should have the wind to your back, because Snowys take off into the wind - even if it means they must fly towards you at first. Once in flight, they will, of course, deviate to avoid you.
Also, for good lighting of the eyes, you should also have the sun directly to your back. This is especially important if you want the eyes well lit.
In this photo, although the sun was at my back, the Snowy looked off slightly to the side as she took off. Therefore, the sun was not directly in her eyes. This is why one eye is 'shadowed'.
And the Journey Begins
You always have to position yourself with the wind at your back to photograph a Snowy taking off.
The Snowy, like many birds, take off into the wind. Then of course, you also have to be positioned to have the sun at your back to prevent possible unmanageable backlit shots.
Lights - Action - Camera
A cold light with a hint of golden vegetation adds to beauty of the Snowy in movement.
Not Much To Land On
The Snowy had no difficulty perching on this this post.
This Is My Domain
Snowys in flight are my favourite, but you can't deny that a portrait pose is also great!
Cropped for composition. Again, no balancing for whites - at that time of day, there is no pure white.
Nature's F-35
No balancing for whites with this file photo from my past. The light was a late winter setting sun -therefore, not much pure white to be seen :-)
Nape-of-the-Earth Snowy Flight
Another Snowy from my files
31-Jan-2024
Dramatic Light For a Dramatic Snowy
Venturing Into the Warm Golden Light
Another of my many Snowy Owl photos from my files. Good thing I have them, because I stopped bird photography around six years ago due to pain and mobility issues with my knees.
I, of course, did not balance my colours to white with this photo, to preserve the warm light rendering. The golden-coloured vegetation also adds to the warmth of the photo.
The Big Embrace
Here is another from my files from the year 2014. The wingspan of these birds is incredible.
Don't You Dare Follow Me
Another one from my files unpublished, circa 2014.
I have a couple of other "looking over my shoulder while in flight" photos of this type on my site, but they are always a pleasure to look at.
Male Snowy Surprise
Again from my files of several years ago.
The older adult male Snowy Owls tend to turn white in colour, and are a minority in my region.
New Years 2021-2022 - Sweetie Snowy Curiosity
Another of my many Snowy Owl photos from my files from several years ago.
Happy New Years.
A Blast From the Past
It's been about six years since I stopped my bird photography due to bad knees. Here is a Snowy Owl from my files taken about that time with my Canon 5D Mark III.
Delicate Repose on Dom's Rock
Another Snowy photo from my files of several years ago.
Taken with my Canon 5D Mark III handheld with the fantastic 500L f4 lens.
It appears that the Snowy Owl had a strand of dried vegetation caught in her feathers.
The afternoon light was beginning to turn the scene warm, but for this one, I decided to cool it off a bit. It was not late enough for a real golden light.
If I took the photo late in the afternoon with a real golden glow, I would have left it that way.
As I've mentioned before, I ceased bird photography at that time because it was too difficult and painful due to multiple knee surgeries, and of course, age :-)
This pile of rocks bears the name Dom's Rock as a callout to my good friend Dominic (Dom) who first spotted the owl using it as a perch at the time.
Apart from bird photography, Dom is also an avid astronomy photographer.
Salut, Dom.
A Donald Trump Farewell, Snowy-Style
An old file photo for the occasion.
V For Victory - Snowy Owl
Another Snowy Owl from my files. Taken in 2015, just before I stopped my bird photography due to my bum knees.
Fence-Hopping Juvenile Snowy Owl
From my files in the final year of my bird photography days five or so years ago.
Holiday Northern Hawk-Owl
This photo taken on Christmas in 2016. A small branch cloned out just below and to the rear of the bird.
Happy Holidays.
Alert Tree Hugger
Once again, even though I had to give up my bird photo outings several years ago, I still have lots of photos on file to add to my site.
This young Cooper Hawk is checking out for mom or dad for a possible yummy meal delivery.
Only the Shadow Knows
I haven't been out doing bird photography for several years now due to my knee-related mobility problems. But, I do have many Snowy Owl photos that I have on file.
Here is one with a shadow following the bird.
Snowy Owl - Phantom Menace
On a Level Plane - Snowy Owl
Formatted to a 1:2 frame.
Snowy Owl - Rock and Roll
Snowy Owl - Flashback On the Fly
Snowy Owl - Off to Meet the New Year
Taken under shadow/cloudy light - which explains the white/dark look with lack of detail in some of the highlights after post-processing.
Joyeux Noël - Merry Christmas - Xrystos Narodyvsija
Snowy Owl - Picket Patrol
I just love these dynamic Snowy picket perching photos.
As usual, later afternoon shot, which explains the dark-patched snow.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - Get Ready, Here I Come!
It has benn quite some time since I added photos to my site. So, here we go!
I deliberately left this image on the cold-side with its blue tinge, to give the felling of extreme cold with this later-afternoon shot.
Cheers,
Mike
Fox Pup - I'm So Darn Cute!
Canon 5D Mark III with my 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/400, f4, ISO 1250, +3 exposure compensation. Cropped for composition. Eyes slightly dodged.
Very late afternoon shot before sunset with a veil of clouds. The veiled sky provides for great portrait lighting in this case.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - Hey, This Is Not the Arctic!
With the trees in the background and vegetation peeking through the snow, this Snowy Owl will soon leave us to fly back to its breeding ground.
Canon 5D Mark III with my 500L f4 lens, handheld as usual @ 1/1000, f6.7, ISO 400, no exposure compensation. A late-afternoon photo. Slight crop for composition purposes. This time, balanced for whites with a touch of selective sharpening to the face, and that's about it for post-processing.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - Spring Is In The Air
Although it is still winter, the extended daily sunlight with its longer shadows an greater palate of colours gives us a taste of the coming spring.
This is an end-of-the-day photo, with the sun just lowered behind the cloudless horizon, giving us the resulting colours. The lighting condition is reflected in my camera settings. Another advantage of early and late afternoon Snowy photos - the bird's eyes are wide open without any dark shadows due to mid-day overhead sunlight.
Canon 5D Mark III with my 500L f4 lens, handheld @ 1/750, f4, ISO 1250, +3 exposure compensation. Small crop for composition purposes. Selective sharpening of only the face.
Cheers,
Mike
Moon Landing - Snowy Owl
Another of my hard to take annual moon photos with a Snowy Owl. The sun behind me had just dropped off the horizon as the moon came up. As usual, impossible to get both bird and moon in focus due to the zoom lens used and distance to the bird. Therefore, it is one or the other.
Canon 5D Mark III with my 500L f4 lens handheld as usual @ 1/1000, f4, ISO 800, +3 exposure compensation.
Cropped for compositions purposes. Two annoying small branches at the bottom of the photo cloned away. Because the whole of the image was almost a monotone cyan/blue, I selected only the bird to reduce the cyan/blue to bring it closer to a white. Therefore, a miniscule blur brush as applied along the outline of the bird to reduce the resulting contrast line between bird and sky.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - I'll Soon Have No Place To Perch!
An abundance of snow doesn't leave much of a fence post to land on in this late-afternoon photo!
Canon 5D Mark III with my 500L f4 lens, handheld as usual @ 1/1000, f5.6, ISO 400, + 1 1/3 exposure compensation.
Slight crop for composition purposes. A few small snow white reflection spots healed away.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - The Elusive White Knight
A rare opportunity for me, thanks to a good friend, to capture on camera an almost totally-white male Snowy Owl. As a bonus, I was accompanied by two old dear Snowy photography friends. And yes, it was freeking cold and windy out there. The location of the bird must remain confidential at my friend's request.
My Snowy Owl photography, as indeed all bird photography, is unfortunately on the decline due to increasingly painful and unstable knees and an ankle which is reducing my mobility. I guess it's life's way of telling me to slow down. But I couldn't miss this opportunity, so it was worth it.
Canon 5D Mark III with my 500L f4 lens with the 1.4 Extender, handheld as usual @ 1/1000, f11, ISO 400, no exposure compensation.
About 30% of the image cropped away for composition purposes and formatted for a 12 x 16 exposition frame.
Merci Les Boys!
Mike
Snowy Owl - Picket Projectile
This is a later afternoon shot. Love the shadow of a wing on the picket.
Canon 5D Mark III with my 500L f4 lens handheld as usual @ 1/1000, f11, ISO 400, no exposure compensation.
Cropped to s vertical format.
Despeckled the background, (the whole image is despeckled, then with the history brush, I paint over the bird and picket to remove the despeckling. Slight selective sharpening of the face only.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - Cloudy Day Delight
With a bit of post processing tweaking, even a cloudy day can be okay for Snowy Owl photos.
I chose a warmer golden tint to complement the vegetation over the cooler blue one, all the while not wanting to overcorrect for white.
Canon 5D Mark III with my 500L f4 lens handheld @v 1/1000, f4, ISO 400, + 1/2 exposure compensation.
Cropped in for composition purposes.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - Snow Storm Sortie
Always a challenge to photograph birds during a snow storm. The one big advantage – regardless of species photographed, I’m almost assured to be alone because no one else usually ventures out in these conditions.
This Snowy photo does bring with it its lot of problems in post-production. The original .raw is dark and uniformly bleu/cyan in colour with little detail. But, surprisingly, there is a lot of information in the .raw file – it’s just a question of tweaking it out.
The bird, foreground and background are all treated separately so as not to conflict with each other. The result is not perfect, and I’m sure others can arrive at a much better result, but I am satisfied.
Canon 5D Mark III with my 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1000, f8, ISO 800, + 1 exposure compensation. The relatively high f stop at 800 ISO is for me surprising for the scene – a sufficient amount of light was available.
Cropped slightly for composition and framing purposes. Two annoying big snow flakes “healed” away from the face. Background despeckled.
And yes, it was cold out there that day.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - Post-It
Canon 5D Mark III with my 500L f4 lens with the 1.4 Expander handheld @ 1/1000, f9.5, ISO 400, + 1/2 exposure compensation.
Taken in the late afternoon, therefore a non-white golden glow on the bird. Cropped from a horizontal to a vertical format, although the horizontal view is great too, with more of the post and barbed-wire visible. Background despeckled, but effect probably reduced due to slight sharpening.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - Happy New Year
Canon 5D Mark III with my 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1000, f16, ISO 400, + 2/3 exposure compensation.
Because the Snowy was a bit forward to the left in the frame, I cropped to a more fitting composition frame.
Cropping the sky behind/to the right of the owl to attempt the usual rectangular format would have necessitated clipping the wings.
I could also have "created" more sky into the left of the frame in Photoshop by expanding the canvas, but I opted to work with what I had and cropped to a more squarish frame.
At f16, when I lightened up the sky, a lot of dust bunny spots appeared. I used the heal brush to eliminated the majority. I despeckled the sky in hopes of removing the remainder that I missed.
Happy New Year 2017
Bonne année 2017,
Mike
Christmas Northern Hawk-Owl
Canon 5D Mark III with my 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1000, f9.5, ISO 400, +1/2 exposure compensation. Cropped for composition purposes.
An amazing swift bird whose colours complimented the wooded background.
Merci à ceux qui ont trouvé et rendu accessible l'oiseau.
Sans vos efforts je n'aurais jamais eux cette belle opportunité.
Mike
Great Grey Owl Once Again!
Always an exciting experience to photograph these birds.
Canon 5D Mark III with my 500L f4 lens handheld @b 1/1000, f8, ISO 400, + 2/3 exposure compensation.
Cropped to my 8x16 frame format. Selective sharpening applied only to the face.
Cheers,
Mike
Great Grey Owl on Patrol
Taken with my ay aging Canon 5D Mark III with a 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1000, f4, ISO 400, +1 exposure compensation. Cropped for composition purposes.
Background darkened to highlight the owl. Spot sharpening to face.
Taken late afternoon at around 16:00, with little light left for a winter's day.
Cheers,
Mike
Scramble - Greater Snow Geese
Canon 5D Mark III with my 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/750, f5.6, ISO 800, + 2 1/2 exposure compensation.
AS usual, taken in one of my favourite types of light - a very late afternoon setting sun light.
Cheers,
Mike
Greater Snow Geese - Late Afternoon Movement
I always enjoy late afternoon light, where whites are transformed into a warmer golden hue and colours are more saturated.
Canon 5D Mark III with my 500L f4 lens on monopod @ 1/1000, f8, ISO 800, no exposure compensation, slight crop for composition purposes.
Background despeckled to blur out noise.
Cheers,
Mike
Moon Blasters - Greater Snow Geese
Taken late last Tuesday afternoon as the moon was on the rise.
The geese are nearing the end of their migration rest here in our region. Following the full November moon, as the temperature drops at night and their water haven freezes up, they will leave to finish their migration run to the Atlantic coast for the winter.
Cropped for composition purposes with the cropping out of a couple of other geese and/or parts.
Background despeckled and a bit of blur brush applied to reduce sky noise.
Cheers,
Mike
Autumn Mallard On the Fly
Canon Mark III with my 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1000, f4, ISO 800.
Cropped for composition purposes.
No Photoshop manipulation of colours here, apart from exposure correction - we have here what the camera captured shortly after sunrise.
With the 500mm zoom lens, the duck is in focus but the rest is not, adding to artsy palate of colours. The Fall trees are reflected in the water also.
Cheers,
Mike
Fall Follies
Canada Geese heading out to their feeding grounds just after sun rise.
Canon 5D Mark III with my 500L f4 lens, on monopod @ 1/1000, f6.7, ISO 800, no exposure compensation. Cropped to an 8 x 16 format.
Cheers,
Mike
Fall Heron Passing By
After a long absence photo-wise, I was tempted by the autumn colours to snap a few pictures.
This full-frame heron flew past me this morning as if to say, "welcome back Mike", permitting me with a nice grab-shot.
Harsh lighting conditions made life a bit difficult - the heron was not in complete sunlight, whilst the background was, therefore I had to adjust the heron to reduce shadows. On top of that, there was a lifting fog which sort of hazed out the background, therefore I upped the saturation overall. Due to the shadow-light contrast between heron and background, a narrow halo was created surrounding part of the bird. This I eliminated by using a 3-point blur brush while zoomed in at about 200%.
Canon 5D Mark III with my 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/500, f9.5, ISO 800, +1 exposure compensation - no crop.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - Quit Tailing Me!
It's been very hot and humid here in Quebec City this week, therefore, here is a little something to cool you off.
Canon 5D Mark III with my 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1000, f14, +2/3 exposure compensation.
I formatted this photo in two versions.
First, the original which shows the whole bird. But, since the focal point of the action is on the Snowy's expression, I opted for this closer view but with clipped wings.
There is no law that you can't clip a bird's wings, so listen to your heart instead of some self-proclaimed Internet photo guru:- )
Cheers,
Mike
Cooper Hawk - Supper Time
This young Cooper Hawk is enjoying a late supper provided by a parent.
Taken late at sunset in lowering light blocked by trees, resulting in some background sky being blown out.
Cropped in to a vertical format.
Canon 5D Mark III with my 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/350, f4, ISO 1250,+ 2 1/2 exposure compensation.
Cheers,
Mike
Cooper Hawk - Feather Fetish
This very young Cooper Hawk keeps things tidy on the advice of, and to eventually look like, mom and dad.
Cheers,
Mike
Young Fox - Okay, You've Caught Me!
Canon 5d Mark III with my 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/800, f/4, ISO 640, +1 exposure compensation. Minimal crop for composition purposes.
Cheers,
Mike
Exposition d'art Village En Arts 2016
Exposition d'art Village En Arts - au plaisir de vous voir
EXPOSITION d'art champêtre: Village en arts, le 1, 2 et 3 juillet, 2016 sous les chapiteaux dans le parc Le Picart et rue De l'Entente du quartier Saint-Nicolas à Lévis. Vendredi: 12h à 17h, samedi et dimanche: 10h à 17h.
Snowy Owl - Ultimate Extension
It has been a while since I've posted a photo - life's many other activities and my aching knees has diverted my attention from bird photography this spring :- )
With the Snowys gone back north to their breeding grounds, I'm left to visit my photo archives to remind me of their mysterious and majestic beauty.
Here is another example.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - Branching Out
It is amazing to watch Snowys as they perch upon the slimmest of branches.
Here, this Snowy moves out in a late setting sun giving the photo rich colours.
Canon 5D Mark III with my 500L f4 lens handheld as usual @ 1/1000, f6.7, ISO 400, +1 exposure compensation.
Slight crop for composition purposes. A few annoying branches shortened by cloning back.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - Closeup and Personal
Canon 5D Mark III with my 500L f4 lens handheld as usual @ 1/1000, f9.5, ISO 400, no exposure compensation.
I had several choices as to presentation. I chose to crop close at original ratio for that dynamic look, although I did clip the wings.
I processed this one on the fly on my laptop instead of my main computer, therefore colours and white-balance contamination may vary. I applied selective sharpening only to the face.
I could have crop to a sleek 1:2 ratio to get in more of the wings, or I could have kept it at the original ratio without crop to preserve the full wings and to emphasise the Snowy's fore and background environment. All three presentations are acceptable, yet different - three for the price of one!
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - Morning Arrival
With the rapidly melting snow and immanent departure of these majestic birds for their natural habitat in the north, my Snowy Owl season for 2015-2016 has unfortunately come to an end. This doesn't mean, though, that I won't post new photos - there are many many more in my collection not yet published :- )
I will miss passing quality time with this, my favourite of all species.
Thanks to good friends who helped me find the birds in secret locations and who understand my need to be alone with them, Regretfully, the same cannot be said for many photographers who practically stalk you to disturb the peace, tranquility and trust established with individual birds - such is the nature of bird photography.
All-in-all despite some bumps in the road, it has been a very good season. New individual birds found, several returning birds from previous years were also located (identified by individual physical features).
It is getting harder and harder for me to carry on with my Snowy pursuit. My bad knees and other new bodily aches and pains are slowing me down, not to mention age. I have already greatly reduced by photo sessions with other species throughout the rest of the year. I suspect I'll have to reduce my Snowy activities next year also. New interesting pursuits and interests are replacing the time spent photographing birds.
As for this photo, an early morning light nicely illuminates this Snowy and guarantees wide open eyes, contrary to mid-day when heavy shadows obscure them and the bright light forces the Snowys to keep their eyes squinted.
Canon 5d Mark III with my 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1000, f5.6, ISO 400, + 1/2 exposure compensation. Slight crop to bring the bird leftwards towards the centre, he was leaving my frame to the right which caused a slight clip of the wing - no big deal. Some unnatural white reflection spots in the snow removed.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - Just Me and My Shadow
The late afternoon setting sun provides a cool-looking light on the snow and shadow for this departing Snowy, who has his beak covered with snow. The Snowy itself is in a warm pre-golden tone due to the setting sun.
Canon 5D Mark III with my 500L f4 lens handheld as usual @ 1/1000, f9.5, ISO 400, - 1/2 exposure compensation.
Slight crop to straighten the level of the shadow. A zillion annoying snow reflection spots and a huge dust bunny removed. I could have removed the three strands of vegetation, but decided to leave them there for now.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - Winged Wonder
The wingspan of Snowy's is amazing to witness.
Canon 5D Mark III with my 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1000, F11, ISO 400, no exposure compensation.
Slight crop to level the snow horizon line.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - Get A Grip
Again, with a very early morning light just after dawn. Just love the shadow created by the Snowy.
Canon 5D Mark III with my 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1000, f4.5, ISO 400, + 1 1/2 exposure compensation.
Cropped slightly to straighten background horizon.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - These Fence Posts Are Getting Shorter and Shorter
Here is another photo of a Snowy Owl perched on a different short-looking fence post.
Heavy snow drifts in the field also accumulated around this post to make it look short!
Canon Mark III with my 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1000, f4.5, ISO 400, +1 1/3 exposure compensation due to the late afternoon setting sun.
Originally taken horizontally, I cropped this one vertically for composition purposes.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - My Post Is Getting Shorter and Shorter
Heavy rising snow drifts cover the field and make for a short-looking fence post, but this Snowy Owl doesn't seem to mind.
Canon 5D Mark III with my 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/800, f16, ISO 400.
Cropped for composition purposes.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - The Caped Avenger Strikes Again
One of my favourite inflight Snowy Owl poses which shows the powerful force of the bird's takeoff mechanism.
Canon 5D Mark III with my 500L f4 lens handheld as usual. Small crop for composition purposes. The usual colour/exposure/contrast corrections.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - Fence Fantasy
You don't always have to have snow in a Snowy Owl photo.
This late-afternoon shot harmonizes background and foreground with the fence while contrasting with a mostly white bird.
The handholding of my camera gear is getting harder and harder to with age, and my painful wobbly knees are restricting me more and more. The recuperation period following my birding sessions is keeping me in bed more often and for longer periods of time - such is life!
Canon Mark III with my 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1000, f8, ISO 400, no exposure compensation.
Cropped slightly for composition purposes to fit a 12 X 16 frame.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - Snowshoe Jockey
Here is another one of my attempts to get a Snowy Owl to perch upon one of my snowshoes. It is never an easy thing for me to do and I have a very low rate of success.
I can never seem to get my snowshoe level with the ground when I do manage to pull of this type of photo.
Canon 5D Mark III with my 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1000, f18, ISO 400, +2/3 exposure compensation.
This horizontal photo was cropped vertically for composition purposes.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - Billiard Cue-Stick Bird
Well, not exactly a billiard cue-stick! Still, it is amazing to watch how Snowy Owls perch on even the thinnest branch or post. In this case, the stick was some sort of trail marker in a field.
Canon with my 500L f4 lens, handheld @ 1/1000, f10, ISO 400, with - 2/3 exposure compensation.
Small crop for composition purposes.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - Showing Off My Goodies
The wingspan of a Snowy Owl is quite impressive - an average of about 1.5 yards, with males a bit shorter than females.
Canon 5D Mark III with my 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1000, f16, ISO 400 with no exposure compensation.
Cropped slightly for composition purposes. Toned down the cyan tint due to a late afternoon setting sun a bit just on the owl without affecting the back and foreground.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - Snow-bound
This Snowy was taken under a dull grey cloud-covered sky while it was snowing.
Despite balancing for whites to reduce the dull blue-grey tint, it makes for a rather monochromatic photo. But the yellow eyes, which are the only other colour in the image, do stand out.
Canon 5D Mark III with my 500L f4 lens handheld.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - I'm Late For Mass!
This is a scene that I always wanted to photograph, and in effect, I did manage to do so with another Snowy a few years ago which is somewhere in one of my galleries. Therefore, it is a repeat performance!
Canon 5D Mark III with my 500L f4 lens with a 1.4 Extender, handheld @ 1/1000, f9, ISO 400, + 1/3 exposure compensation.
Slight crop for exposure compensation. Left side of face and upper body slightly dodged due to side-lighting which rendered a shadow.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - Taking In The Setting Sun
The pastel colours of a setting sun on this scene gives this Snowy Owl a majestic look.
The snowy slope in the foreground leading up to the post and owl evokes a dreamy look.
Canon 5D Mark III with my 500L f4 lens plus the 1.4 Extender handheld as usual @ 1/1000, f5.6, ISO 800 with a +1 1/2 exposure compensation.
Slight crop for composition purposes.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - Fly Me To the Moon
Parts of the following text are a repeat from my last years Snowy moon photo shoot:
Friday, January 22, 2016.
Full-moon time again. Actually a day before the full moon with about 97.7% of the moon's illumination. With just days before my 62nd birthday, this was for me the perfect Snowy Owl gift!
These moon shots take some planning ahead of time. As you will see below, it's a bit like winning a lottery, because so many factors have to come together.
Charts have to be consulted to find out date, times and direction that the moon rises. Then there is the work and chance of having both a Snowy and a moon at the same place at the same time.
You should have the setting sun facing the rising moon; in this case, it was dusk with the sun having just disappeared beyond the horizon.
You have to have the luck that the rising moon isn't covered by clouds - same with the setting sun or the dusk horizon after sunset. You don't want humidity hanging in the air, either.
You should also have the wind at your back, facing the Snowy, because if they chance to take-off, they do so into the wind (ie, facing your camera).
To make things harder after all this planning and chance, you only have 5-10 minutes to get your shoots before the moon is too high, and boy, does it rise fast! It doesn't always work, and you have to wait another year to try again :- )
And finally, because I use a 500mm lens, I can never hope to get both a relative close Snowy and the moon both in focus. It's either one or the other because of the small depth of field due to the long lens. Also, I tried to expose more for the Snowy, therefore moon landscape details were washed out.
I did take pictures of the moon on it's own, including shots with the Snowy blurred but moon behind in focus. This will permit me, if I decide to do so, to montage the focused moon behind the Snowy.
I mused with the idea of cloning away some of the branches, but decided against it. I may do so if I ever try the moon-montage version mentioned above.
By the way, there was present this golden/orangey glow on the interior circumference of the moon as seen here.
The advantage of the lens, though is that it is very luminous and has a stabilizer. When matched with the superb full-frame Canon 5D Mark III camera, great-quality low-noise photos can be acquired with minimal light.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - Against the Light
This Snowy Owl flies facing a sun already setting on the horizon.
Canon 5D Mark III with my 500L f4 lens, handheld as usual, @ 1/1000, f5.6, ISO 800, +2 exposure compensation.
Small crop for composition purposes.
Chees,
Mike
Snowy Owl - Flight Time
Classic takeoff pose off a fence post.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - In Your Face Big Boy!
Canon 5D Mark III with my 50-0L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1000, f11, ISO 400, no exposure compensation.
Cropped for composition purposes due to the Snowy being slightly down and to the right.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - Post Partum
Canon 5D Mark III with my 500l f4 lens handheld @ 1/1000, f11, ISO 400.
Cropped vertically with no loss to either top or bottom of frame - that is why the wing tips are a little tight at the top. Leaving it in its original horizontal view was the worst option composition-wise.
Tons of dust bunnies cloned away. Background despeckled.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl Leaving Its Fencepost
Canon 5D Mark III with my 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1000, f11, ISO 400, no exposure compensation.
Cropped for composition purposes. Background noise (not the owl nor the post) despeckled.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Snow Scene
Photographing Snowy Owls while it is snowing can be a bit challenging. If you are lucky, the sky may not be too grey, with a bit of diffuse light getting through. Otherwise, the scene is so monotone as to erase many of the bird's and background details.
Post production in this situation was a little easier - not all the fine details were washed out after applying some colour correction.
Watch out for the eyes. In these low light winter situations, the eyes usually turn dark orange when you correct the image. Try to convert the orange to a more natural yellow, if you can.
Cropped vertically in a non-standard size format for composition purposes due to the top of the extended wing being soo close to the top of the frame.
If the bird is perched and not moving, you can try changing shutter speeds, especially much slower speeds, to increase the illusion of more and bigger snowflakes in the background.
Taken handheld with my usual Canon 5D Mark III with 500L f4 lens.
Cheers,
Mike
Joyeux Noël - Merry Christmas - Xrystos Narodyvsija
Avec une pensée spéciale pour Pierre Roy, chez qui j'ai pris cette photo il y a plusieurs années.
Snowy Owl - Opera Singer Wannabe
Actually, this Snowy was caught just before dusk during a big deep yawn :- )
Canon 5D Mark III with my 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1000, f6.7, ISO 400 with no exposure compensation. Shot horizontally, but cropped vertically. Despeckling of the photo, except the Snowy, after sharpening.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - Hunter On His Blind
This Snowy was perched on an abandoned hunter's blind at low tide on a river tide mud flat. The blind is used for hunting Snow Geese during their migration run.
Late afternoon shot, therefore my balancing for white may be a touch too much for my liking.
Canon 5D Mark III with my 500L f4 lens handheld at 1/1000, f8, ISO 400, no exposure compensation. Cropped in for composition purposes. Two annoying and out-of-place plastic tie-wrap ends cloned away.
Thanks to my friend Joël who pushed me to go on and on despite my aching knees to reach the Snowy to get this shot. Merci!
Cheers,
Mike
Ice Capades - Greater Snow Geese Style
November was colder than the current December.
Although my beloved Snowy Owls have arrived in our region, the skies have been heavily overcast with and without rain the last two weeks which dampened any good photo opportunities. A upsurge of chronic knee pain has kept me resting more, too.
Therefore, I present here a photo taken last month.
Here, the Snow Geese take off in a late afternoon light from the water and a thin layer of ice that had formed overnight.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - I'm Off To See The Wizard
After about 45 minutes of waiting, this young one with unusual upper eyelids finally decided to leave its perch for a better hunting ground.
Canon 5D Mark III with my 500L f4 lens with 1.4 Extender handheld @ 1/1000, f6.7, ISO 400, + 1 exposure compensation.
Cropped for composition purposes.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - Dusk at the Snowy's
This new Snowy basks in a golden light.
Taken yesterday almost at last light. Again, Snowy Owl photos are really different than when snow is on the ground.
Cheers,
Mike
Hight Tide Override - First Snowy Of The 2015-16 Season
My first Snowy of the season was perched at sunset on a rock in a river which was being covered by a fast rising tide.
It was a question of waiting with my other good friends - the Snowy had no choice but to eventually take off or get wet!
Good thing this young one took off at that time, because the rising tide was already lapping at my boots.
The setting sun provided the yellow eyes and rich colours.
Canon 5D Mark III with my 500L f4 lens with 1.4 Extender offhand @ 1/100, f9.5, ISO 800, +1 exposure compensation which in reality wasn't needed.
The slightest of crop to properly centre the bird.
Cheers,
Mike
Golden Geese - Greater Snow Geese
Caught in the warm light of a setting sun.
Cheers,
Mike
Big Blue - Greater Snow Geese
Here is a nice example of the "Blue" variant of the Greater Snow Geese coming in for a landing.
Canon 5D Mark III with my 500L f4 lens offhand @ 1/1000, f9.5, ISO 400, with no exposure compensation. Very slight crop for composition purpose. A bit of Gaussian blur applied to background due to rising warm humidity distortion.
Cheers,
Mike
Splish-Splash - Canada Geese
At the break of dawn, these Canada Geese fly off towards the rising sun.
Canon 5D Mark III with my 500L f4 lens with the 1.4 Extender II, handheld.
Cropped to form a horizontal format.
Cheers,
Mike
Morning Mist - Canada Geese
These Canada Geese arrived at dawn while a mist was still rising.
Canon 5D Mark III with my 500L f4 lens with 1.4 Extender II offhand @ 1/500, f5.6, ISO 800, +2 exposure compensation.
Formatted to my usual 8 x 16 frame due to the horizontal spread of the photo.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - Getting a Grip On Things
Just a reminder of cooler days past and cooler days to come :- )
Cheers,
Mike
Slip Me Some Tongue - Fox Pup
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens, offhand @ 1/800, f8, ISO 400, +1/3 exposure compensation. Cropped vertically.
Cheers,
Mike
Supper At The Coopers' - Young Cooper Hawk
At the Crack Of Dawn With Mom
These Canada Geese chicks with their mom were caught in the golden glow of a rising sun.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens with a 1.4 Extender, offhand @ 1/1000, f5.6, ISO 800, +1/2 exposure compensation.
Cropped for composition.
Cheers,
Mike
Fox Cub - Are You Following Me?
This young fox cub is as cute as can be.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens offhand @ 1/800, f4.5, ISO 400, + 2/3 exposure compensation.
Formatted for a 12 x 16 frame for my next exhibit on 3-4-5 July.
Cheers,
Mike
It's Getting Tight In Here!
This clutch of three very young Red-shouldered Hawk chicks go about their daily routine while waiting for their feathers to grow in.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens, offhand at 1/350, f4, ISO 1250, +2 exposure compensation. Cropped in and formatted to an 8 x 12 frame.
The diagonal branch in the foreground as well as the other closer to the nest are distracting, but beggars can't be choosers in a situation like this. It's okay for my site, but not for printing/exhibiting.
There was cloud cover, therefore very little light, which explains why I didn't use my 1.4 Extender and the low shutter speed used while handheld.
Cheers,
Mike
Curious New Kid In Town
These two very young Red-shouldered Hawk chicks, from a clutch of three, take in a bit of sun while waiting for their parents to bring them their next meal.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens with 1.4 Extender, offhand at 1/500, f6, ISO 1250, +1 1/2 exposure compensation. Cropped in.
Cheers,
Mike
Exposition d'art Village En Arts - au plaisir de vous voir
EXPOSITION d'art champêtre: Village en arts, le 3, 4 et 5 juillet, 2015 sous les chapiteaux dans le parc Le Picart et rue De l'Entente du quartier Saint-Nicolas à Lévis. Vendredi: 12h à 17h, samedi et dimanche: 10h à 17h.
Snowy Owl - Warm and Cold!
The late afternoon setting sun winter light gave a strange look to this Snowy photo.
The foreground snow retained a blue cool (despite a slight magenta tint) look while the bird and background give off more of a warm golden glow.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens offhand @ 1/1000, f4.5, ISO 400, + 1/2 exposure compensation. Highlights slider in Camera Raw pulled to the left to extract and protect details in the Snowy's face and the snow disturbed by the takeoff. Colours unchanged except for increase in contrast. Some white reflective spots cloned away from the snow.
Cheers,
Mike
American Bittern
It's always amazing to see how this bird blends in so well with its environment.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens with 1.4 Extender offhand @ 1/1000, f8, ISO 800, +1 exposure compensation. Cropped for composition purposes. Upper background slightly blurred due to lens and atmospheric distortions of the branches/vegetation.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - Just me And My Shadow
A late afternoon play of light gives zones of lit and shadow snow zones, complimented by a darker band due to trees at the top of the image.
The slight sidelight shows off the Snowy's shadow. Of course, the eyes and claws add to the dramatic look of the photo.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens offhand @ 1/1000, f4 ISO 400, + 1 1/2 exposure compensation.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - Welcome To My Branch Office
A daytime shot in ordinary light of a Snowy perched upon an evergreen. I like having some cloud with the blue sky to add depth to the background.
My usual Canon 5D Mark III with 500L f4 lens. Offhand, as usual, since I find tripods and such limitating for my birds in motion. This is a non-standard format ratio to better suit the composition.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - I Spy With My Little Eye . . . !
Taken in the morning on my last Snowy Owl session of the season.
This Snowy Owl bobs and weaves his body and head as it tries to look past me to focus on some distant object. In this case, it was another Snowy in the same field over 1 kilometre away!
The Snowy then suddenly tookoff to escort and chase away the other from his territory. The Snowy then landed at the edge of his territory to stand guard for a long period of time against his intruder.
Before posting this photo, a friend remarked that there were five distinct neat layers of foreground and background: snow, vegetation, trees, mountain and sky.
Canon 5D Mark III with my 500L f4 lens offhand @ 1/1000, f13, ISO 400.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - Don't Fence Me In
Snowy Owl - Extreme Dusk
The ball of the sun had just set behind the horizon for about 5 minutes before I managed to get this non-crop shot off.
The ability for the Canon 5D Mark III to get great low-light shots is amazing. I was only at ISO 1250, 1/750 with +3 exposure compensation. Offhand using my 500L f4 lens. What a combo.
I did punch up the contrast and cloned away one bad dust-bunny - that's all! The background magenta colours were as is, as witness by a friend that was with me.
Some bird-photo purists will complain that the tip of one wing is clipped. That's okay, this is my photo and not theirs :- )
Cheers,
Mike
Rock Me Baby - Snowy Owl
There are some scenes that you just can't pass up.
The uncovered portion of the rock conveys the passage of strength to the Snowy's powerful liftoff. The pyramid formed by the snow-covered rock leads the eye directly to the main subject of the photo - the Snowy.
Due to a setting sun situation where the background was already in the shadows due to high tress blocking the light, the almost black-brown and white look of the photo, the "white" Snowy stands out without other colour distractions to the eye.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens offhand @ 1/1000, f4.5, ISO 400, + 1 exposure compensation. Cropped a bit for composition purposes and leveling of horizon.
With the overnight rain and quickly-melting snow, my season with my valued feathered friends has come to an end for this season. But, as you can imagine, I have a good archive of unpublished photos to keep my site updated in the future.
This species above all others gives me the most pleasure being with for study, photography, the challenges with at times extreme cold and personal well-being.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - Two-Point Landing
The Snowy Owl 2014-2015 season in my area is rapidly coming to a close.
The owls will soon be migrating back north - they have to be on site for mating towards the end of April, and I'll be giving my poor wrecked knees a good rest.
March in Quebec City has been very cold, and we recently had two good back-to-back snow falls which did not melt, which probably extends the owls' stay. The Snowys still have a nice snow cover in the fields to entice me to go out after them.
Today, there was a veil of clouds, which prevented me from getting the setting sun with its magnificent light that I so much love. Also with the cloud cover, the colours were muted to a more dull pastel look. This was late afternoon, so on top of that, the cloud cover reduced the normal intensity of light making the image darker.
I had two options in formatting the photo - keep it pastel, or add a bit of contrast and saturation to boost the overall look so that it pops out more. Either one would have looked good - just different. Although my camera saw the scene as dull pastel, my eye on site saw it more as my interpretation here.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens offhand at 1/1000, f/11, ISO 800, +1/2 exposures compensation. Slight crop for composition purposes. The sky and wood background blurred to reduce noise. Some dust-bunnies cloned away.
Snowy Owl - Sunset Touchdown
Great setting sun light for this shot.
Despite a reasonable temperature of -7C, the arctic-type winds blowing across the field put an unusual deep chill on the day's activities, but it was worth the discomfort.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - I Stand On Guard For Thee
Basking in a golden late afternoon light, this Snowy appears as if performing sentry duty with the Royal 22nd Regiment at Quebec City's famed Citadel.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens offhand @ 1/1000, f5.6, ISO 400, + 1 exposure compensation. Formatted vertically from a horizontal shot.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - Moon Raker
Full-moon time again. Actually a day before the full moon with about 97.7% of the moon's illumination.
These moon shots take some planning ahead of time. Charts have to be consulted to find out date, times and direction that the moon rises. Then there is the work and chance of having both a Snowy and a moon at the same place at the same time.
To make things harder after all this planning and chance, you only have a couple of minutes to get your shoots before the moon is too high, and boy, does it rise fast! It doesn't always work, and you have to wait another year to try again :- )
And finally, because I use a 500mm lens, I can never hope to get both a close Snowy and the moon in focus. It's either one or the other because of small depth of field due to the long lens.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - All Flaps Deployed For Landing
The title says it all!
Caught in a late afternoon setting-sun light.
Cheers,
Mike
Pole Vaulting Snowy-Style
An almost perfect V-form departure for a 9.8 score.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens offhand @ 1/1000, f9.5, ISO 400, no exposure compensation.
Cropped to a vertical aspect from its horizontal original.
It's at times difficult to judge your distance from the Snowys for these take-off photos.
It's a balance of not being too close, to avoid the clipping of wings, or too far, so that you limit how large you can print the image due to resolution loss.
Cheers,
Mike
Peek-a-boo, I See You - Snowy Owl
Cute pictures of Snowy Owls don't always have to be on the fly.
Because of the structure of Snowy's eyes (their eyeballs can't move within their sockets like our eyes), they at times bob and weave their heads to accurately identify what they are trying to focus on.
Cheers,
Mike
Sunset Super-Stretch - Snowy Owl
Despite menacing cloud cover weather predictions for late this afternoon, the sky held out for me till sunset for today's outing.
This one of Ti-Beau (Little-Good Looker in French), was taken about 45 minutes before sunset.
And of course, the golden vegetation gives depth and contrasting colours to the image plus complementing the Snowy's eyes.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens with the 1.4 Extender II, offhand as usual @ 1/1000, f9.5, ISO 400, + 1/2 exposure compensation.
Cheers,
Mike
On The Picket Line - Snowy Owl
Canon 5D Mark III with my 500L f4 lens offhand @ 1/1000, f9.5, ISO 400, no exposure compensation.
A very slight crop for composition purposes.
Cheers,
Mike
I'm On Fire - Snowy Owl
Again,a late afternoon shot of this magnificent bird, but this time with a bit of sidelighting.
As usual, freehand with my 500L lens.
Cheers,
Mike
When The Sun Sets In The West - Snowy Owl
Dusk is one of my favourite times to photograph Snowys, due to the extreme light conditions.
This one, named Ti-Beau in French (Little-Good Looker), gives a nice dynamic pose on the horizon in the fading light with the sun also on the horizon.
The golden vegetation adds depth to the image and compliments the Snowy with its colours.
As usual, free-hand with my Canon 5D Mark III with my 500L f4 lens with the 1.4 Extender II.
Cheers,
Mike
Horizon Landing - Snowy Owl
Late afternoon colours are neat.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - I see a bad moon rising. I see trouble on the way
The title is from an old Creedence Clearwater Revival song.
Using a 500mm lens with a 1.4 extender with resulting zoom compression, I can't get both the owl and the moon in focus - obviously, the Snowy takes priority :- )
Cheers
Mike
Snowy Owl - Night Moves
Well, it was actually towards sunset and not night. I just wanted to play with the title of an old Bob Seger song.
It was important here for me to keep the golden and brown tint on the owl due to the general lighting and time of day, and to avoid the error of "balancing for whites" to render the owl pure white, as many photographers seem to want to do.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - Nice 61th Birthday Gift
This Snowy Owl offered me a nice 61st birthday present.
The body and the knees are not happy campers on these outings, which I will have to gradually slow down :- )
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - Sunset Departure
I love the colours at late afternoon and sunset.
Today, because of light passing clouds dancing on and off in front of the setting sun, I had a great variety of light and colours to capture my Snowy in.
In this shot, instead of a dominant reddish magenta colour, the cyan and blues took over as a light cloud veiled the sun.
Canon 5D Mark III with my 500L f4 lens with 1.4II Extender, offhand @ 1/1000, f8, ISO 800, +1 1/2 exposure compensation. Full-frame, no crop, but I did a small free transform skew of the upper left corner to straighten the tree horizon.
Cheers,
Mike
Do You Mind If I Zoom Through?
Another from my unpublished files, circa 2015.
Snowy Owl - Pastel Parting
Sometimes a light-cover of clouds hiding the sun can give a pastel look, as seen here with this Snowy.
These winter photos tend to turn on the cool or blue side, so you can always adjust to warm it up as you feel necessary.
Cheers,
Mike
Great Grey Owl On The Glide
Taken with my trusty Canon 5D Mark III, but this time with my lighter and older 100-400L lens, handheld @ 1/750, f8, ISO 800, +1 exposure compensation.
I often format wide wing shots at a 2:1 ratio for an 8 x 16 inch frame. To achieve it in this case, I basically only had to crop away horizontally above and below the bird.
I did a bit of despeckling of the background to reduce noise. Despeckling also adds a very small touch of blur.
And yes, it was very cold out there!
Cheers,
Mike
When Will This Frigid Wind Finally Die Down? Snowy Owl
Did I mention it was cooold out there?!
Cropped for a vertical look.
Cheers,
Mike
Moving On Out - Snowy Owl
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f2 lens handheld @ 1/1000, f9.5, ISO 400 + 1/2 exposure compensation.
Cheers,
Mike
Barred Owl Snow Tippy-Toe
Again, we have terrible light conditions in our area recently with lots of grey skies and snowfalls. Add to that, for this late-afternoon shot, the sun had just set behind the trees - a moot point since it was also behind a grey cloudy sky.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 100-400L lens handheld @ 1/500, f4.5, ISO 1250, +3 exposure compensation.
Had to play with the image to better white balance to reduce a heavy dull blue-grey cast.
Cheers,
Mike
Low-balling Young Snowy
Unfortunately, Mother Nature was not co-operating the other day when I took this shot.
It was late afternoon and the sky was grey - not a great combo when photographing a white bird against a snowy white background.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1000, f6.7, ISO 800, + 1 1/2 exposure compensation. White balanced to remove the dull grey look.
On these dull grey days, the camera has difficulty focusing on moving white/grey objects against a white/grey background, therefore my keepers were very limited, but we take what we can get.
Cheers,
Mike
I'm Just Fitting In - Barred Owl
Under a cloud cover.
I find that owls and their background give a nicer more even result than if taken on a sunny day with its harsh shadows.
Cheers,
Mike
Golden-Eye For This Snowy Guy
I normally don't like to take my Snowy photos when the sun is high in the sky, for example at noon, but hey, if they're there, I won't turn a blind eye.
With my Canon 500L f4 lens handheld at 1/1600, f8, ISO 400, - 1/3 exposure compensation.
A minimal crop to re-center the bird which was leading out towards the left. Because of the very high contrasting noon light, which my sensor recorded an unrealistic dark blue sky, I therefore had to desaturate the blues to bring them down to a more reasonable level.
Cheers,
Mike
Enjoying The Light - Snowy Owl
Side-lit male Snowy Owl gives the image some depth against this less-than-total snow-covered scene.
Cheers,
Mike
Joyeux Noël - Merry Christmas - Xrystos Narodyvsija
Avec une pensée spéciale pour Pierre Roy, chez qui j'ai pris cette photo il y a plusieurs années.
Mike
A Winter Encounter
Caught in the shadow just before sunset.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - I Choose This Fence Post
The line of receding and blurring fence posts adds a bit of depth to this Snowy Owl shot.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 1.4 Extender II handheld @ 1/640, f13, ISO 800, +1 2/3 exposure compensation. There was a light cloud cover which explains my settings, such as ISO 800, etc.
This was a vertical shot, but had some annoying distant building distractions way above the bird's head. Therefore, I cropped for a horizontal view at the native 3/2 proportion. I also cloned away some remaining bits and pieces of the far-off out-of-focus buildings which were still at the top of the crop.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - I Can't Seem To Blend In!
Nature's F-22 Stealth Raptor - The Snowy Owl
Taken with my usual Canon 5D Mark III with 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1000, f13, ISO 400, +1 exposure compensation.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - Time Out, Please!
Eh oui, une autre pour ma ka-ka collection :- )
Mike
Merci Jean
Jean Beliveau 1931-2014
Une photo que j'ai pris de lui en 2001 ici à Québec
Mike
Where Did All the Snow Go To? Snowy Owl
Blizzard Fu Manchu Snowy Owl
Quebec City had its first good solid snow blizzard of the year yesterday, and this Snowy was part of it.
She was sporting a Fu Manchu moustache made of some vegetation stuck to her fur.
50% crop of my Canon 5d Mark III with the 500L f4 lens with 1.4 Extender II, handheld in the swaying bitter cold wind blowing off the river while low on the ground.
Despite the lack of light due to the grey snow-laden clouds, my settings were pretty decent, f 5.6 @ f5.6, ISO 1250 with +1 exposure compensation. Three strands of out-of-place vegetation strands cloned away to the right of my signature.
What a camera that 5D Mark III!
As can be expected, the moment I lowered my lens because my glasses were full of blowing snow, Fu Manchu took off before my eyes and I missed the shot. Oh, well, the season is still young.
Merci pour l'accompagnement, Christian!
Fall Portrait - Snowy Owl
What can I say for this first of the 2014-15 season, the pose and colours say it all!
Merci, Pappy.
Mike
The Geese Of Autumn
This Greater Snow Goose is coming in for a landing on a light cloudy cold autumn day.
The line of white at the bottom of the photo is composed of geese which are in the water.
An advantage of a light cloud cover when photographing the white geese is that there is a more uniform palate of saturated colours, the whites are not washed out due to direct sunlight thereby showing more detail and you reduce harsh black shadows.
It's a mug's game, of course. Too many grey clouds renders everything dull.
Cheers,
Mike
Modern Moonies - Greater Snow Geese
The Fall Greater Snow Goose migration is in full swing in the Quebec City region.
Always a challenge, it's fun to try to capture the geese as they pass in front of the moon, which I managed to do late this afternoon.
This is a family of geese, two parents with their two 3-4 month-old goslings. Whether flying in line or in file, the geese usually fly with the parents on the ouside with the young in between.
Formatted to my 2:1 format to remove excess sky below and above the principle subject.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens with the 1.4 Extender II, handheld @ 1/1000, f11, ISO 400, + 1/2 exposure compensation.
Cheers,
Mike
Autumn Heron
Taken with my trusty Canon 500L f4 lens with the 1.4 II Extender handheld.
I cropped it vertically from its original horizontal frame, and because of excess space above its head, I formatted to a 4/3 ratio instead of the usual 3/2.
Cheers,
Mike
Canada Geese At The Race Track
Formatted to fit my usual 8 x 16 frame.
And yes, there is a hybrid amongst the Canada Geese!
Crack Of Dawn Bittern
While waiting for Canada Geese before sunrise, I caught this guy just as the first rays of light hit it at the crack of dawn.
Canon 5d Mark III with the 500L f4 lens with the 1.4 Teleconverter, handheld at yes, 1/200, f5.6, ISO 1250, +4 exposure compensation.
As you can see by my settings, there was very little light, even less with the 1.4 Teleconverter attached, but I somehow managed not to shake too much for use at 1/200.
Small crop for composition purposes. Despeckle filter used to reduce noise.
Cheers,
Mike
Olympic Trials - Canada Geese
No digital zoom here, just the unwanted top third of the image cropped away horizontally.
Cheers,
Mike
Last Quick Peek At Dusk - Snowy Owl
Taken last February at sunset and now serves as a reminder that winter is not that far away.
But in the meanwhile, the Fall migration also brings great photo opportunities.
Cheers,
Mike
Airborne Squak Box - Canada Goose
Wood Duck A-Go-Go
Anticipation of an action due to observation helps in capturing ducks in movement. This duck was giving me signs that it wanted to take off, therefore I immediately pre-focused to wait for that "decisive moment" . . .
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens and 1.4 Extender II handheld @ 1/800, f 5.6, ISO 640, + 1/3 exposure compensation. Cropped for composition purposes.
Cheers,
Mike
Cooper Hawk Rocket
Up, up and away!
Cheers,
Mike
Autumn Is Around The Corner - Canada Geese
The Canada Geese are back to their autumn staging site. Here, they takeoff early in the morning to fly off to their daily feeding ground.
Cheers,
Mike
Lunchtime At the Coopers
This young bird munches on its prey. The bird is covering its food to protect it against his siblings (called mantling, as photog friend Chuck Kling reminded me recently) who are more than eager to make off with it!
As usual when with these birds, the lighting situation was very poor. I unfortunately had to play clone-and-burn with portions of the background to remove overexposed white-patches that appeared through a few of the leaves and that were made worse by brightening up the image. As I don't normally do much background corrections, I can use more practice and experience.
Due to low light, the green-yellow reflections and tinting of the image was very strong. Although I did manage to reduce it, some still remains. My Canon 5D Mark III camera is a godsend.
Cheers,
Mike
Defensive Juvenile Cooper's Hawk
This young Cooper's Hawk spreads his wings to cover his food to hide it from his brothers and sisters while warning them off. A parent had just dropped fresh food for them and he was the first to make off with it.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/400, f4, ISO 800, +4 exposure compensation.
Full-frame, no crop. Although it doesn't appear as so, there was little light available which explains my camera settings, These fledglings, who left their nest a couple of weeks ago, are readily approachable and simply ignore you.
Cheers,
Mike
Two For The Price Of One
Two Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers share a wood post in search for a suitable location for feeding.
They were found on a friend's property while photographing Blue Birds.
I'm not too pleased with the annoying diagonal line crossing the background,but beggers cannot be choosers.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 400mm 5.6 USM lens handheld @ 1/640, f5.6, ISO 400, +1 1/3 exposure compensation. Cropped for composition purposes at a 4/3 format. I had put aside my 500mm lens to give my old 400mm a try for the Blue Birds.
Cheers,
Mike
Ready Or Not, Here I Come - Blue Birds
I prefer catching these birds in flight without the nesting box, but I made an exception here due to the dynamic scene and interaction presented. Although I do not normally approach natural nests, the birds in this nesting box in a friend's yard are used to his comings and going.
This is a very late-in-the-evening situation, minutes before the sun set behind some trees, and my camera settings reflect this.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/640, f4, ISO 800, +2 exposure compensation. Minimal crop for composition purposes, and a bit of dodging of the hungry nestling.
Cheers,
Mike
EXPOSITION d'art champêtre: Village en arts
Vous pouvez visionner un vidéo/entrevu de notre participation de l'exposition de l'année passée en suivant le lien (entre 16:47 et 23:08)
http://www.tvcb.ca/index.php?vID=3582
Golden Glow - Fox Pup
This cute young fox pup gives a final pose for the day. The golden glow is due to the last few minutes of light before sunset.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/800, f6.3, ISO 400, +1/3 exposure compensation.
Cheers,
Mike
Tale of a Tail - Cooper's Hawk
No great tale to tell here, but it is a good-looking tail!
Cooper's Hawk caught in a late afternoon/early evening low light.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/200, f4, ISO 1600, +3 exposure compensation.
Cropped for composition purposes.
Cheers,
Mike
Get Out Of My Way - Blue Birds
There's lots of early-morning traffic coming in and out of a Blue Bird nesting box as one parent brings in food for the young while the other parent blasts out with a fecal sac for disposal.
Canon 5 D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens with 1.4 Extender II on tripod @ 1/1000, f5.6, ISO 400, +1 1/3 exposure compensation. Cropped in for composition purposes.
Cheers,
Mike
Blue Bird Bugged Out
This Blue Bird transports breakfast on the fly.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens with the 1.4 Extender II on tripod @ 1/1000, f5.6, +2/3 exposure compensation, ISO 400.
This is an early morning shot, with the greens of a background treeline very saturated.
This is a 50% crop - not easy to get them on the fly in focus if too close with a long telephoto lens. The longer the lens, the less depth of field therefore the less chance of a decent focus even if you do manage to get the full bird in the frame. That is why I tend to keep a little further back and crop in.
Cheers,
Mike
Tongue Action Portrait - Fox Pup
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/800, f10, ISO 400, +1/3 exposure compensation.
Cropped in slightly for effect.
Although my slight cropping clipped away some of the ears, I find the closer result far more dramatic because the point of interest of the shot is on the eyes and tongue.
Cheers,
Mike
Sunset Shinanigans - Fox Pups
The golden colours of dusk come into the fore as these two young fox pups play.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/800, f7.1, ISO 400, +1/3 exposure compensation. Very slight crop for composition purposes.
Cheers,
Mike
Cute As A Button - Fox Pup
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens handheld lying down @ 1/500, f5, ISO 640, + 1/3 exposure compensation.
Full-frame no crop, although I did tilt the image about 1-3 degrees and used the free transform tool to stretch the resulting small white space created in a corner.
Late afternoon shot with a light cloud cover in front of the sun which explains my lower shutter speed and higher ISO settings than normal.
Cheers,
Mike
Dance Partners - Fox Pups
These approximately 5-week-old fox pups enjoy playing with each other in a carefree manner in a warm spring sun.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens handheld at 1/800, f7.1, ISO 400, +2/3 exposure compensation.
Cheers,
Mike
Osprey Artistic Spray
Some of my photographer friends call me the King of Ca-Ca because of my humerous shots of birds doing their thing.
Here is my latest such photo - I've a reputation to maintain!
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens with 1.4 Extender II on monopod @ 1/1000, f6.3, ISO 400, +1 exposure compensation.
Although I had my preferred 5D Mark III with me, I used the 7D for that extra 1.6 crop factor to zoom closer to the perched bird. The disadvantage is the increased background noise as compared to the superb 5D, but I used the despecking filter in Photoshop to reduce it.
Cropped a bit for composition purposes and a few annoying branches were cloned away.
Cheers,
Mike
Spring Lust Is In The Air - Greater Snow Geese
Mating Greater Snow Geese.
Canon 7D with the 500L f lens with 1.4 Extender II, handheld @ 1/1000. f11. ISO 400, -2/3 exposure compensation.
Cropped for composition purposes. Background despeckled after sharpening.
Cheers,
Mike
Osprey - Target Spotted
This Osprey just spotted breakfast and is in his initial turn before his dive.
I used my older Canon 7D to get some more range due to its 1.6 crop factor.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens with the 1.4 Extender II on a monopod at 1/1000, f5.6, ISO 640, + 1 1/3 exposure compensation.
Cropped for composition purposes.
Cheers,
Mike
Balancing Act - Osprey
With the arrival of migrating Ospreys, we have the annual opportunity to catch these superb birds in action, in this case, the bird with a fish in one claw and the branch in the other.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500l f4 lens with 1.4 Extender II on monopod @ 1/1000, f10, ISO 400, +1 exposure compensation for the sky.
This is a crop to eliminate many unwanted branches and the tree trunk, although it would have been okay to include them.
Cheers,
Mike
Street Brawl - Greater Snow Geese
It is not uncommon to see members of a family of Snow Geese attack members of another family. These disputes for territory last but a few seconds with little or no harm done.
But, in those few seconds, very dramatic poses can be captured on camera.
I used my Canon 7D instead of my 5D Mark III for the session, because I though I needed the extra 60% reach of this 1.6 crop camera versus my full-frame. The extra zoom reach was great, but did I ever get a shock when I saw how much noise there was in the .raw files as compared to the 5D Mark III! I hadn't used the 7D in a while and forgot about how much cleaner the 5D Mark III is. It's a trade-off, and most of the noise is reduced post-processing.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens with 1.4 Extender II handheld at 1/1000, f10, ISO 400, -1/3 exposure compensation. Small crop to level the horizon. My usual processing, but I did apply 3% of the cooling filter 82 to reduce an overly warm photo.
Cheers,
Mike
Encounter With The Sun - Canada Geese
I'm often on the lookout for birds passing in front of the sun or moon when conditions are right.
Here, two Canada Geese pass in front of a setting sun which was surrounded by clouds, leaving a sort of hole. This was the best one from a burst of about 6 shots. As I tracked the birds, as soon as I start seeing the sun in the view-finder, I close my eyes to protect then, and hope that the follow-through and auto-focus does the trick. Never look at the sun directly through the lens.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens with the 1.4 Extender II handheld @ 1/1000, f40, ISO 800, +2 exposure compensation. Slight crop for composition purposes. A multitude of mini sensor dust specks cloned away.
Cheers,
Mike
Spring Arrival - Canada and Greater Snow Geese
With the my winter Snowy Owl season over, my camera is now turned towards the spring migration.
Don't worry, I've lots of Snowy Owl photos in my archives and I will be posting new ones throughout the summer, both for your viewing pleasure and for my nostalgic well-being.
These Canada Geese are on the move. In the background, you can see white blotches which are in fact a line of Greater Snow Geese feeding in the field.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens with the 1.4 Extender II on monopod @ 1/1000, f8, ISO 400, +1 exposure compensation. Cropped slightly to properly level the horizons.
Many of my photos on this day suffered from a background distortion due to the rapid evaporation of humidity by a warm sun. In the best of situations, this can give the impression of a painter's brush-stroke. This one here isn't too bad, although many others are almost unusable.
Cheers,
Mike
Northern Harrier On The Prowl
It was a windy day and this otherwise skittish bird had to fight a headwind to avoid me once I was spotted. This gave me another precious second or two to rattle off a series of shots.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens with the 1.4 Extender II @ 1/1000m f10, ISO 400, +2/3 exposure compensation. Small crop for composition purposes.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - All Dressed Up For The Winter Ball
This Snowy Owl taken just before sunset looks like a princes with her finest winter coat ready to go out to some high-class posh event. It's hard to beat the late afternoon winter colours.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1000, f5.6, ISO 800, +1 1/3 exposure compensation. Small crop for composition purposes.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - Late Afternoon Balancing Act
With the Québec provincial election drama now over, it's time again to post another of my Snowy Owl photos.
This one was taken in a late afternoon light about 45 minutes before sunset.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1000, f5.6, ISO 400, +1 exposure compensation. Slight crop for composition purposes.
Cheers,
Mike
You Are The Wind Beneath My Wings - Snowy Owl
Grab-shot as the owl passed overhead. Always looking for a different pose.
No crop lengthwise, but the top half height-wise cropped away to eliminate unwanted sky, therefore formatted for an often-used 8 x 16 frame.
Handheld Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens @ 1/1000 f/14, ISO 400, +2/3 exposure compensation.
Cheers,
Mike
Strong Reaction To Putin's Russian Invasion Of Ukraine
As an ethnic Ukrainian, I'm of course outraged by Vladimir Putin's Russian invasion of Ukraine.
This interference in Ukraine's affairs and long-standing attempts at assimilation has been an ongoing process by the Russians and their "useful idiots" for over 400 years.
My outrage is to be expected, but I was curious to gauge the reaction of my Snowy Owl friends that I photograph to this naked aggression.
This Snowy Owl best showed his opinion by expressing: "Putin and his Russian thugs make me s**t"!
I Dare You To Take My Snowshoe Away - Snowy Owl
Again a Snowy Owl took possession of my snowshoe for use as a perch.
This full-frame no-crop photo was taken handheld with my Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens.
Taken about 30 minutes before sunset, but with a veiled sky which accentuated the pastel cyan hues.
I tried a version without balancing for whites, but changed my mind because the cyan was too overwhelming.
This low-light shot was the last photo of the day, due to incoming clouds. Therefore, I knew this was my last chance.
Although my Snowy Owl season is basically over, I have many good photos still on file to upload in the near future.
Cheers,
Mike
One Final Effort For Mike! - Snowy Owl
This evening's dusk session with a Snowy Owl may possibly be my last for the 2013-14 season. Towards the end of March the Snowys start to think about their long trek back home to the Arctic. The extended daylight acts a signal for them to leave, as well as the requirement to find a partner for mating towards the end of April. This photo was taken an hour and a half or so before the sun set on the horizon.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens with the 1.4 Extender II handheld at 1/1000, f11, ISO 400, +1 exposure compensation. Very minimal crop for composition purposes.
This winter was unusually cold with much snow, which hasn't melted yet. I'm curious to see whether this will affect them and delay their departure. If so, I just might be tempted to give another "last visit", but if I don't, my goodbyes have been given and I will await the return of these majestic birds who share their time with me and provide for me a feeling of well-being - more than just photos.
Many thanks to my friends with whom I had the pleasure to photograph with this season and to the many more who gave me lots of breathing room and privacy.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl's Dusk Departure
As I always say, it's all in the light; or in this case it's all in the lack of light with a bit of side lighting!
Canon 5d Mark III with the 500L f4 lens with the 1.4 Extender II handheld @ 1/1000,f5.6, ISO 400 +1 exposure compensation. Slight crop for composition purposes. A couple of small branches cloned away.
Cheers,
Mike
A Long Stretch - Snowy Owl
My Snowy photos aren't always taken in unusual light. This one, for example, was taken in ordinary late morning light. The dynamic pose presented by this beautiful bird was worth capturing at any time of the day.
Canon 5D Mark III handheld as usual with my 500L f4 lens. A bit of uneven snow due to footprints behind the owl cleaned up.
Cheers,
Mike
Just Checking To See Whether I'm Taller Than My Fence Post - Snowy Owl
I find this one a little humorous.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/800, f20, ISO 400 +2/3 exposure compensation. Ordinary daylight. Cropped vertically.
Cheers,
Mike
My Day Is Done - Snowy Owl At Dusk
Many in the bird photography world of my region prefer full-daylight photos with the whites of the light "balanced".
This is fine, and I enjoy them also, but I also enjoy the light of early morning or late afternoon where pure white doesn't exist - a concept called Red-5 by world renowned nature photographer Andy Rouse. Visual artists such as my painter wife understand and appreciate this much more.
Here we have an example and as I said, it is not necessarily everyone's cup of tea.
This Snowy is back-lit minutes after the sun had already set behind the low trees. It was my last shot of the day before heading home.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L lens handheld @ 1/800, f4, ISO 1250, +3 1/3 exposure compensation. Taken vertically, I cropped it to format the image horizontally, eliminating the lower part of the fence-post. Slight snow horizon tilt corrected (merci Dom).
The incredible capacity of this camera gives me low-light performance that I didn't have with previous cameras.
Cheers,
Mike
The Spotlight Is On Me - Snowy Owl
What can I say - it's all in the light!
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens with the 1.4 Extender II handheld @ 1/1000, f7.1 ISO 400 and +2/3 exposure compensation. No crop.
Cheers,
Mike
Adding My Own Decoration - Male Snowy Owl
This older male leaves some genetic material to mark his passage on a very cold snow-covered field.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1000, f20, ISO 400, -1 exposure compensation.
Some of my colleagues have been disappointed because I haven't posted any of my interesting "dump shots" recently :-)
Well, here you go, enjoy.
Mike
Curious Kate - Snowy Owl
Canon 5d Mark III with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1000, f10, ISO 400, +2/3 exposure compensation. Cropped vertically. Late afternoon therefore the light was not "bright and white".
Cheers,
Mike
Great Grey Owl Faceoff
These long-spread shots are formatted to fit a 8 x 16 frame.
The length is full-frame, no crop, but I did crop away above and below the bird to attain my desired format.
Handheld Canon 5D Mark III with my 500L f4 lens. Cloudy day with a bit of a snowfall, which I think was to my advantage here.
Cheers,
Mike
Winged Wonder - Snowy Owl
At dusk with a light veil of cloud cover.
Cheers,
Mike
Are You Looking For Your Snowshoe, Mike?
Armed and Dangerous - Snowy Owl
This young Snowy Owl shows off his deadly claws, three forward and one back on each foot, as he takes off at dusk with a lightly veiled sky.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1000, f7.1, ISO 640, +1 2/3 exposure compensation. The width is full-sized without crop, but vertically cropped to a 8 x 16 (1:2) framing format that I like.
The veiled setting sun reduced contrast and the magenta-heavy palette normally found and gives a cooler-colour look.
Cheers,
Mike
Crack Of Dawn - Snowy Owl
The sun has literally just peeked over the horizon, giving us a colour palette which enhances the beauty of this bird.
Cheers,
Mike
Bright Morning Light Delight - Snowy Owl
This apparent early morning full bright-light shot was a challenge to process. Shot at ISO 1250 because it was early and there was less light than actually seen here, the sensor screwed up the sky colour as it often does when the background is blue and the main subject (here the owl) is white.
Anyway, this involved the reduction of saturation and overwhelming contrast of the sky without affecting the bird. I had to tone way down the blue to render it a more pleasing pastel. I also had to blur away a gaggle of halos around the branches and part of the bird - skies are still a weak point with me when processing my images :-)
Cheers,
Mike
Feather Fan - Great Grey Owl
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1000, f8, ISO 400, +2/3 exposure compensation.
This helps with my observations of wing and feather positions of owls as they take off.
Cheers,
Mike
Great Grey Owl
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens @ 1/1000, f9, ISO 400 +1/3 exposure compensation. Minor crop for composition.
One of the rare times my camera was on a tripod.
Cheers,
Mike
This Condo Is Too Small For Me! - Snowy Owl
The title says it all.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1000, f5, ISO 400, +2/3 exposure compensation.
Cheers,
Mike
One Great Feather Duster - Great Grey Owl
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1000, f6.3, ISO 800, +2/3 exposure compensation. Full-frame with no crop.
It was cloudy so I had to up the contrast and saturation to spice up an otherwise dull-looking image- perhaps a touch too much.
Merci D.
Cheers,
Mike
Snow-Job - Great Grey Owl
The falling snow adds to the drama of this Great Grey Owl's hover before landing.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1000, f4, ISO 1250, + 1 2/3 exposure compensation.
Cheers,
Mike
60th Birthday Surprise - Great Grey Owl
Yesterday, my 60th birthday on a bitter cold day was capped off by a close encounter with this Great Grey Owl who had just taken flight and passed across my lens!
This was a vertical shot because he was perched nearby and my 500mm lens couldn't take him all in horizontally - so basically what I cropped to make this image horizontal is the empty background that was above his head as he took off.
Thanks to friends André, Gilles and others who helped me share this wonderful experience.
Cheers,
Mike
Dancing The Old Soft Shoe - Snowy Owl
Although landing, this Snowy seems to be performing 'the old soft shoe' - a kind of tap dancing performed in soft-soled shoes, popular in vaudeville.
Taken with the superb 5D Mark III with my 500L f4 lens handheld, as usual.
Cheers,
Mike
Colour Manipulation Of Previous Snowy Owl Photo
Two for the price of one!
My previous photo shows the Snowy in the dawn light as I saw it, as it was.
With a click of a button in Photoshop, this version gives the impression that it was taken during the daytime. Although this version is not true to reality, I suspect many people will prefer this 'white-balanced' rendition, which is fine.
All this to show you that our digital darkroom is very powerful, and the quality of today's camera's image files are great and forgiving.
Cheers,
Mike
Get To The Point! - Snowy Owl
There is a lot of 'claw' hidden beneath those feathers!
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens handheld in early morning light.
Cheers,
Mike
Face-off - Snowy Owl
Full-frame with my handheld Canon 5D Mark III with 500L f4 lens.
Cheers, Mike
I Stand On Guard For Thee - Snowy Owl
The cyan in the sky and background is a bit overpowering, but that is to be expected in an early morning light, as can be see by the long shadows. Handheld as usual, and yes, taken vertically.
Cheers,
Mike
Whatcha lookin at boy? - Snowy Owl
These classic "glance-back" views are always great to capture. I'm posting this one to tease a friend of mine who likes these views.
Canon 5D III with the 500L f4 lens handheld as usual - minor composition crop.
Cheers,
Mike
Rock On, Baby - Snowy Owl
Again with low high-contrast light.
Cheers,
Mike
Skating On Thin Ice - Snowy Owl
Flying Snowy photos aren't the only ones I take.
This humorous-looking Snowy seems to be skating on thin ice! Not particularly graceful walkers, the Snowy was bobbing from side to side while taking a few steps in a late afternoon light on an ice-covered field.
Canon 5D III with my 500L f4 lens handheld as usual.
Cheers,
Mike
Golden Dusk Delight - Snowy Owl
The combination of the cool colours of the ice (the fields are like a skating rink following the rain last weekend) and the warm golden glow of last light make for an interesting palate.
Cheers,
Mike
Light On Dark - Male Snowy Owl
I like the contrast between a white male Snowy Owl and his dark background in this low-light situation.
Cheers,
Mike
My Wingspan Is Longer Than Mike's Snowshoe!
With an average 1.3 to 1.5m wingspan, the Snowy Owl is an impressive sight when fully deployed.
Formatted for an 8 x 16 frame.
Cheers,
Mike
A 10-Year-Old Dream Realized - Snowy Owl
As several of my friends are aware, ever since I've been shooting Snowy Owls, I've always dreamed of having one land on my snowshoe. Well, just three weeks before my 60th birthday, this young Snowy gave me this gift!
The cold was bitter today, and for the first time this winter season, my camera froze enough that some of the buttons and settings just wouldn't work.
My knees are paying for today's outing with a very painful evening, but it was worth it. Thank God for painkillers.
Cheers,
Mike
New Years Baby - Snowy Owl
New Years Day presented me with this young Snowy Owl, probably 6-8 months old.
Cheers,
Mike
Up And At 'Em - Snowy Owl
I like the combination of action, pose, and the two distinct layers of scenery colours with a hint of a third sky layer in this photo.
Cheers,
Mike
Get Off My Back - Snowy Owl
These looking-back-over-the-shoulder shots are always interesting with Snowy Owls.
Cheers,
Mike
Total Concentration - Snowy Owl
The details of the adult Snowy's flawless inner wing feathers are easily visible when coming in at that defining moment of landing. It helps when the whites are not blown out as happens when taken with a harsh noon sun.
Cheers,
Mike
I Hope I Make It - Snowy Owl
I just love the dynamic action here.
I left the very early cool morning light as it was.
Cheers,
Mike
Joyeux Noël - Merry Christmas - Xrystos Narodyvsija
Avec une pensée spéciale pour Pierre Roy, chez qui j'ai pris cette photo il y a plusieurs années.
Mike
Where Are My Feet? - Snowy Owl
My Snowy Owl photos are not always flight shots.
This impish-looking Snowy looks like he just popped out of the snow. He apparently landed in deep snow without disturbing it at all!
A few tiny annoying white reflective specks removed here and there from the photo. His right side of the face and eye dodged a bit to reduce shadow.
My wrecked knees where in too much pain for me to kneel or lie down to grab this handheld shot more at the bird's level - but, it's better than nothing.
Cheers,
Mike
Branch Connection Established - Snowy Owl
The dynamic reach, poses and natural beauty offered by these birds never cease to enthral me.
And yes, they somehow do manage to perch on even the smallest of branches!
The usual Canon 5D III with 500mm lens handheld.
A few annoying branch twigs cloned away.
Cheers,
Mike
Ultimate Contact - Snowy Owl
My usual Canon 5D III with 500mm lens handheld.
Cheers,
Mike
Crisp Cold Day Takeoff - Snowy Owl
Taken earlier in the day, the light is less extreme as compared to my previous late-afternoon Snowy Owl photo, and therefore much less saturated. If this image gives you the impression of a very cold day, well let me confirm to you that it was indeed very cold!
Taken with my 500mm lens handheld , as usual.
Cheers,
Mike
Coming In For a Rough Landing - Snowy Owl
Taken in a late afternoon light which explains the saturated colours. Full-frame with no crop taken with my 500mm lens, handheld as usual. A couple of tiny thin vegetation twigs cloned away.
Cheers,
Mike
Postscript: Photo reloaded after I removed some tiny sensor dust bunnies from the sky that I missed last night.
Dispute at Dusk - Snowy Owls
I've always wanted to capture a scene like this - Snowys are usually solitary when wintering south of the Arctic, and fiercely defend their territory. A photog friend of mine had two successful opportunities in the past while I was with him, but I never got the shot and had to suffer his gloating.
Finally, I was my turn . . . but!
This grab-shot taken at the end of the day while limping back to my vehicle, camera not at the ready, very unexpected, very short time frame, setting sun behind a light cloud cover rendering the photo blue, too close for my 500mm lens for the other frames taken and lack of sharpness in the image. But at least this one is full-frame with no crop.
But I figure this is as close as I'll ever get to such a scene, so although not perfect, I am still posting it anyway onto my site. Not too bad if you look at it a bit away from the screen :-)
Cheers,
Mike
Late Afternoon Departure - Male Snowy Owl
White Snow Ghost - Male Snowy Owl
Due to a bright sunny day, I was able to profit by using my 500L f4 lens at 1/1600 @ f16, ISO 400 for some good depth of field.
Cheers,
Mike
Give Me A High Five - Snowy Owl
You don't always have to keep your shots horizontal!
Cheers,
Mike
Participation in a collective art exhibit - Participation à une exposition d’art collective
Snowy Owl 8-Point Landing
Snowy Owls have four pointy claws on each foot, three forward and one behind, for a total of eight, ergo the title "Snowy Owl 8-Point Landing".
Cheers,
Mike
Tandem Greater Snow Geese
The fall Greater Snow Geese migration run has come to an end in my region, but not without some great photo opportunities.
Cheers,
Mike
Canada Geese Train For the Olympics!
This is another of a whole series of Canada Geese early morning take offs that I shot this autumn. I say this autumn, because a winter-like storm hit us overnight and this morning here in Quebec City.
I do enjoy the light early in the morning, as well as the solitude.
I suspect the geese will no longer be with us as they head out for their wintering grounds down south.
Cheers,
Mike
Leaving Her Mark - Mallard Duck
Always on the lookout for something different, this female Mallard duck doesn't disappoint.
Taken just after sunrise, this duck is bathed in a warm-coloured light as she flies past me with her wing tracing a hint of a line in the water. Some days, even with the old knees in pain, it is worth getting up early on a cold morning to get shots like this!
Taken with a Canon 5D Mark III and a 500mm L f/4 lens. The 5D III has superb low-light, low or no noise capabilities.
Cheers,
Mike
Rocket Duck
It never ceases to amaze me the different types of poses the ducks come up with, even after all these years of photographing them!
In the company of good friends this morning.
Cheers,
Mike
Happy Explosive Burst Of Energy
My old knees are limiting me more and more in my photo-adventure sessions, but if we sit around in a convenient place long enough, something interesting is sure to develop.
Mallard ducks seem to always have a perpetual smile, and this guy is no exception as he takes off on a windy day and cloudy day.
Ducks were my first beloved subjets when I started photographing birds.
Cheers,
Mike
Pitter Patter, Let's Get at 'Er
Pitter Patter, Let's Get at 'Er!
Canada Geese on the move to their morning feeding grounds.
In my usual 8 x 16 format.
Cheers,
Mike
Mass Hysteria - Greater Snow Geese
One of nature's and Quebec's premier Fall spectacles - Greater Snow Geese on their migration run.
Cheers,
Mike
Canada Geese On The Go
Again, with my morning light which I like, autumn colours and a touch of reflection on the water.
Cheers,
Mike
Canada Geese at Dawn - Bernaches à l'aube
I just love the light on this one!
The background was despeckled for noise which puts a little bit more emphasis on the birds.
Mike
Morning Escapade - Female Wood Duck
This female Wood Duck was caught on the fly in an early morning beam of sidelight.
Cheers,
Mike
Severe Emission Control Failure
Look out below!!
Cheers,
Mike
Autumn Wood Duck On The Fly
Again, the combo of a colourful male Wood Duck and autumn-coloured background makes for a great partnership.
Cheers,
Mike
Strange Bird Spotted - Drôle d'oiseau au Base de pleine aire
This morning's duck photo session was brought to a halt with the arrival of this strange-looking bird hovering nearby their watering hole.
A detachment of Quebec's provincial police arrived to practice repelling from a helicopter. We were lucky that our duck session was over and that we had the opportunity to observe the practice from front row seats.
Cheers,
Mike
Harfang au crépuscule - demande spéciale
Ceci est une commande spéciale pour celui qui m'a écrit: "awaille...poste des harfangs...." :-)
Tiens twé!!
Mike
Autumn Wood Duck
The colourful male Wood Duck is a beauty to behold on its own, but when added to autumn's vivid colours, you get a winning combo.
Cheers,
Mike
Bernaches à go-go - Canada Geese On The Run
Dawn Departure - Canada Geese
Those early morning scenes and extreme light is to die for!
Cheers,
Mike
Multicoloured Madness - Canada Geese On The Run
Autumn Dusk Delight - Greater Snow Geese
In autumn, there are no white Greater Snow Geese before dusk when the warm golden glow of the setting sun reflects off them.
Cheers,
Mike
"There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs" Ansel Adams
Morning Traffic Along The Canada Geese Autoroute
These Canada Geese leave their night water roost to head for their morning feeding grounds.
Because of the horizontal linear line of the photo, I formatted it to an appropriate 2:1 ratio which I often use.
Cheers,
Mike
Phantom Mallard Duck
I just love the early crack-of-dawn colours.
Cheers,
Mike
I'm A Nice-Looking Guy - Male Wood Duck
Not Exactly A Bird!
As you can see, this is not a bird - not even close.
This female moose takes advantage of the delicacies offered to her along a river bank.
The lighting was a challenge - this was late afternoon and the sun was facing me high above a mountain, heavily shading the moose.
Thanks to Pappy, Gilles and Pierre for a great afternoon.
Cheers,
Mike
A Blast From The Past - Male Snowy Owl
Just an end-of-summer reminder of the joys of our Quebec winters.
Cheers,
Mike
Young Backlit Night Heron
Because of the backlight which presented a dark bird, it was a little difficult to lighten up the heron in post processing.
This was a two-second grab-shot, so my fingers were not quick enough to jiggle the exposure compensation in time. Because we don't see this specie of bird on every street corner in our region, I don't mind going with this flight shot as it is.
Cheers,
Mike
Shake It Up Baby - New Dance Moves
Streamlined Great Egret
Makes you wonder how this bird flies :-)
Cormorant's Very Low Opinion Of The Photographer
Lunch Time - Female Eastern Bluebird
I'm Not Sharing My Lunch - Young Cooper's Hawk
Get Outta My Face!
This young squawker wasn't paying too much attention to me. He was more preoccupied with a young Cooper's Hawk which was perched on a branch just above its head.
Cheers,
Mike
Full Extension - Young Cooper's Hawk
Eastern Bluebird Leaves The Nest
This morning, in the presence of photographer friend Christian Chevalier and another birdwatcher, four hatchling Eastern Bluebirds left their nest for the first time in quick succession.
This image has some movement blur on the bird. But for documentation purposes of this bird's first flight for its baby album, I'm sure the bird doesn't mind :-)
Cheers,
Mike
Cooper's Hawk Portrait
I had to squeeze all I could out of my camera for this portrait of a young Cooper's Hawk found in very poor light - even if the end results seem to contradict me.
Canon 5D III with my 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/200, f4, ISO 800, +3 exposure compensation.
Cropped vertically. Colours balanced. The eyes could be better, but that's life.
Cheers,
Mike
Eastern Blue Bird On The Wing
The Great Escape - Snowy Owl
Yesterday, we had an very hot and muggy day here in Quebec City. What better time to haul out a winter photo to cool down a bit.
When I see this photo, I can't help but think of that old Second World War prisoner of war movie The Great Escape starring Steve McQueen.
Cheers,
Mike
Spring Arrival - Mallard Duckling
Presenting this year's new and improved model.
Cheers,
Mike
Misty Morning Encounter - Wood Ducks
Early morning mist or fog can give pleasing results when photographing ducks. Even better if there some filtered light shining through the clouds.
Cheers,
Mike
Exposition d'art Village En Arts
Bursting With Pride - Northern Cardinal
. . . and now it is the turn of the male to show off.
One Fine Lady - Northern Cardinal
Exposition d'art Village En Arts - au plaisir de vous voir
Dawn Northern Harrier Patrol
With the terrible, bleak, dark and rainy weather that we are having, I have time to go through my large library of winter Snowy Owl pics and some stuff from early spring.
Here's one from a few weeks ago.
Sun rise and sun set are a great time to catch these avian hunters.
Cheers,
Mike
Reach For The Stars - Snowy Owl
Ambitious Landing - Osprey
And yes, the bird did manage to land/perch on it!
Cheers,
Mike
Merv Jones - D-Day Paratrooper
This is a re-post of last year's Merv Jones D-Day anniversary - this year 2013, Merv is 90.
Have a good one, Merv! Airborne all the way.
Merv Jones breezes through another June 6 D-Day anniversary at a weekly veteran's coffee and breakfast gathering at a local Quebec City shopping centre where I hoist my Canadian Airborne Regiment and Canadian Forces Medical Services flags.
Merv, who turned 89 recently, is one the very few surviving members of the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion who jumped into Normandy in the wee hours of the morning, hours before the actual invasion landings begun. Always an optimist, Merv's goal is to hang around for another 11 years to make it to 100!
Bravo Zulu, Merv -
Airborne
Landing Amongst Friends - Cap Tourmente Greater Snow Geese
Finally, the Greater Snow Geese had arrived in sufficient numbers at Cap Tourmente and are munching away in the fields before they leave for their second leg of migration to the north in a few days.
The geese have been in the St. Lawrence River valley for over a month now, and have just this weekend invaded the fields of Cap Tourmente in great numbers.
Although the geese were very cooperative photography-wise (taking poses, location, direction of wind and direction of sun into consideration), there was one big annoying problem.
This weekend, there was a lot of hot/cold air conditions which caused a lot of light diffraction. The air, composed of two densities mixing together causes light to bend. This caused the background to be not only out of focus, but really distorted. This problem is more pronounced when using zoom lenses - the farther the light has to penetrate this type of air, the more distortion.
It was more pronounced Saturday, but less so this morning.
With this photo of geese landing amongst friends, I used a Gaussian blur filter to blur away the distortions in the background.
Greater Snow Geese are naturally white, but at Cap Tourmente, they are environmentally stained rust-colour. This is due to iron minerals staining their feathers as they burrow their heads and necks deep into mud at low tide in search of their favourite food, the roots of an aquatic plant called Schoenoplectus pungens, or Scirpe d'Amérique in French.
Cheers,
Mike
Fly Me To The Moon - Greater Snow Geese
I just love the challenge of getting these moon shots.
Cheers,
Mike
My Opinion On The Weather Last Night . . .
We had a sprinkling of snowflakes last night here in Quebec City after a couple of weeks of 20 degree C. plus temperatures.
This is as good an excuse as any to present another of my Snowy Owl photos, with this guy giving his unflattering opinion on the recent change of temperature :-)
Cheers,
Mike
Out Of This World Snow Geese Encounter!
I've been busy this spring with a couple the unexpected species. But, I did find time for one of my favourite subjects, Greater Snow Geese.
I get a kick trying to capture them in front of the moon, and this year I did have a couple of chances.
With a long-focal lens, the problem is getting both the geese and the moon in focus. Usually only one or the other is in focus due to limited depth of field with long focal lenses.
Here, I was lucky that the geese were far away from me permitting me to capture both in focus.
Cheers,
Mike
Death At Dusk - Cooper's Hawk
This Cooper's Hawk captured a woodpecker in front of myself and a friend just as the sun was setting in a small woods. A sad spectacle, but unfortunately part of nature.
The hawk was backlit and silhouetted against the setting sun, therefore, to save this image, some post-processing tweaking had to be made to extract as much information as possible from the .RAW image file.
Cheers,
Mike
Into My Waiting Arms - Eastern Blue Bird - Merlebleu de l'Est
What an angel.
Thanks/merci to a friend who presented me with this opportunity.
Cheers,
Mike
Adieu à mon bon ami Pierre Roy, ami aux canards
Morning Encounter - Northern Harrier
Although I can go on and on with more Snowy Owl photos, here is a change of pace with this one taken the other day.
Full frame, no crop. The bird veered away when it spotted me, losing a small feather in the process.
The focus on the face can be better - this image is best seen in pbase's 'original' mode setting.
Because I didn't want to crop this one for composition purposes, the bird stays centered in then frame instead of being slightly offset.
Cheers,
Mike
Sing A Song Of Joy - Snowy Owl
The Snowy was actually yawning :-)
Cheers,
Mike
Dusk Departure - Snowy Owl
The sun had just about totaly disappeared on the horizon when this shot was taken - note the vignietting on the corners of the photo due to the extreme light conditions for the lens.
Cheers,
Mike
Angel On Deck - Snowy Owl
Canon 5D with the 500L f4 lens with 1.4 Extender II, handheld @ 1/1000, f11, ISO 400, -1/3 exposure compensation.
Cheers,
Mike
Let's Have Some Serious Face Time - Snowy Owl
My Resurrection - Old Male Snowy Owl
This old Snowy Owl rises above his winter kingdom to say goodbye for another year. He and several other Snowy's provided me with a superb photo season and much joy outdoors facing the cold and wind with them - a real communion with nature.
Many thanks to good friends present and other good people who kindly left me in peace this year, knowing that as I grow older, I need more solitude when with my favourite bird.
Three small branches to the left of my signature clonned away. Image cropped for composition purposes. I usually track my birds in flight dead center in my viewfinder for auto focus purposes. This forces me to compose afterwards.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - Winter March
They don't always have to be flight shots!
The Snowys don't often walk about in the snow, but at times they do take a step or three.
You just have to be there to record it. They are always funny to watch as they hobble and wobble in the snow.
The overall pastel cyan hue, tinted with magenta in a late, veiled, afternoon winter light is different than a harsh contrasty light. I did reduce some of the cyan tint on the bird.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl Caught In Late Afternoon Light
Again, this is but another example of the type of light that I like for my birds.
I think by now, you know what equipment and settings that I use, as well as how I format and frame my shots, so I'll dispense with the repetitions.
Again, for some reason pbase seems to blur the sharpness of the eyes if not viewed in the original size.
Cheers,
Mike
Last Light Delight - Male Snowy Owl
I really enjoy first and last light when photographing birds. Here is a male Snowy Owl caught at almost last light - not much white at that time of day.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens handheld at 1/1000, f4.5, ISO 400, +1 2/3 exposure compensation. Minor crop for composition purposes. A bunch of white reflective snow spots clonned out in the foreground.
For some reason, when not in pbase's original view mode, the sharpness of the eye is lost.
My Snowy Owl season has just about come to an end for this, a good season - there will be many more photos posted in the next few weeks.
Cheers,
Mike
My Svelt Athletic Vertical Lines - Male Snowy Owl
Hi. My name is Ti-blanc. I spent a bit of time on January 10 with Mike. Although I left the region not long after, I did leave Mike some nice souvenir poses for his camera.
I particularly like stretching my wings in this neat vertical position as I fly off my perch.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1000, f20, ISO 400, - 2/3 exposure compensation. Left and right part of image cropped for a vertical format, although not cropped on top nor bottom. Several tiny dust bunnies due to f20 clonned out.
Cheers,
Mike
Tree Hugger - Male Snowy Owl
This Snowy Owl, photographed on January 10, 2013 seems to want to do a bit of tree hugging as he takes off.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1000, f13, ISO 400 and -1 exposure compensation. Cropped to decentre the bird for composition purposes. With moving birds, I always centre the bird in my viewfinder, otherwise my images have no chance to be in focus. I usually underexpose a bit when I have a white bird against a dark backgrouond to prevent blowing out of the whites.
Cheers,
Mike
Late January Afternoon Takeoff - Male Snowy Owl
January winter light quickly diminishes in the afternoon as this Snowy Owl takes off.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens with 1.4 Extender II handheld @ 1/1000, f10, ISO 400, -1 exposure compensation.
Small crop to de-centre the bird for composition purposes.
Cheers,
Mike
January 10, 2013
Fluffy Featherball - Male Snowy Owl
The mass of feather and down protects Snowy Owls to as low as -55 C.
This bird spent an all too-brief period of time last January before moving on.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens with 1.4 Extender II handheld @ 1/1000, f14, ISO 400, no exposure compensation.
Small crop to level the horizon/wire. The short winter afternoons in January shows up here with a touch of magenta tinting the owl's feathers - no question of "balancing for whites" for me here.
The last few months I've posted my photos @ 1000 pixels wide. With this shot, I'm returning to a standard 800 pixels width.
Cheers,
Mike
Great Grey Owl Faceoff
I don't recall the last time I posterd two photos on my site on the same day, anyway here goes.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/800, f4, 800 ISO, +2 1/3 exposure compensation. Because of the wide headon wingspan, I framed to my often-used 8 x 16 printing format.
Cheers,
Mike
Takeoff Spread - Great Grey Owl
This Great Grey Owl shows its generous wingspan as it takes off.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens handhaeld @ 1/1000, f4, ISO 1250, +2 1/3 exposure compensation. Slight crop for composition purposes.
According to Wayne Lynch's Owls of the United States and Canada, the Great Grey has the largest wing surface area, around 437-508 sqaure inches for both wings. The Snowy Owl comes second. To compare, the surface area of a sheet of letter paper has around 93 square inches.
Cheers,
Mike
Great Grey Ghost
Ya just goota love those ballerina workout stockings on this Great Grey Owl!
Canon 5D III with the 500 f4 lens handheld @ 1/800, f4, ISO 800, +2 2/3 exposure compensation.
No crop. The image came out well despite the poor light condiitions.
Cheers,
Mike
Dynamic Concentration - Northern Hawk Owl
The dynamic movement of this hawk owl provides 1/1250 of a second of fascinating observation.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens handheld at 1/1250, f10, ISO 400, +2/3 exposure compensation.
The bird was to the left of my frame due to its speed and my panning, therefore I had to crop away about 50% of the image to properly center for composition purposes - but it was worth it. With the very high pixel count of the 5D III, I have tons of resolution to work with for printing purposes.
Several small branches clonned away behind the bird, and I clonned away a partially buried prey to spare viewers a possibly disturbing sight.
Cheers,
Mike
Northern Hawk Owl
It's finally a good winter for these rapid visitors to our region.
Canon 5D III with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1250, f9, ISO 400, +1 1/3 exposure compensation.
Slight crop for composition purposes.
Cheers,
Mike
PS: I corrected this image to remove a bit iof a cyann cast and replaced the original.
Minimalist Great Grey Owl Takeoff
Canon 5D III with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/800, f4.5, ISO 800, +2 1/3 exposure compensation.
Cheers,
Mike
Great Grey Owl On The Rise
Under difficult lighting conditions, or more accurately the lack of lighting, this Great Grey Owl still gives a decent presentation against snow covered trees and branches.
Canon 5D lll with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/800, f4, ISO 800, + 2 2/3 exposure compensation, minimal crop for composition purposes.
Cheers,
Mike
< Plumes et duvets > Exposition de photos et œufs traditionnels ukrainiens
Bonne année - Happy New Year - Z Novym Rokom
Great Grey Owl Getaway
A cloudy day with poor light didn't spoil this capture of a Great Grey Owl in flight. The woods behind the bird gives us an appreciation of its natural environment. The blur of the wing tips gives a hightened impression of movement.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/800, f4, ISO 800, +2 2/3 exposure compenstion. No crop. Colours balanced.
Cheers,
Mike
Joyeux Noël - Merry Christmas - Xrystos Narodyvsija
Greater Snow Geese Greet The Setting Sun And Moon
These Greater Snow Geese, with the moon as a backdrop, are heading into a setting sun on their way a quick final daily meal in a nearby field. The geese give off a warm golden glow due to the sun so low in the sky. At this time of the day, the blue sky was beginning do turn dull. The grey geese are young juveniles.
Although not the most spectacular of images, I do enjoy the challenge of these moon shots.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 1.4 II Extender handheld @ 1/1000, f9, ISO 400, +1/3 exposure compensation. Because the bulk of the action was to the right of my frame as I panned, I had to crop this one for composition purposes. As often happens with white against blue, I had to eliminate some halo around parts of the birds after downsizing for web and sharpening.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl On A Treecicle
This is my first Snowy Owl of the season, a timid youngster, taken while driving to Montreal for business. It always pays to have your camera with you; as the old saying goes - the best camera is the one that you have with you when an opportunity pops up.
The weather was terrible, with a carpet of fog/smog and humidity hanging in the air, the sun burned through the cloudes a bit for a minute or two for this shot. I had to bump contrast and saturation quite a bit and balance for whites to eliminate the dull greyness of the captured image.
Not as close as I like them, but for a first effort with a scenic setting I can't complain too much.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens with 1.4 II extender from my vehicle supported by my door @ 1/800, f10, ISO 800, + 1 2/3 exposure compensation, cropped for composition purposes.
Cheers,
Mike
Autumn Arrival - Mallard Duck
This female Mallard blends in well with the colours of the morning Fall background as she prepares her oversized galoshes for a water landing.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/800, f4, ISO 400 +2 exposure compensation.
Just a slight crop for frame formatting purposes and the usual basic adjustments, contrast, sharpening etc.
Cheers,
Mike
Screamer - Juvenile Greater Snow Goose
This young Greater Snow Goose screams in for a water landing amongst the 100,000 plus geese present that day.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens with 1.4 Extender II handheld @ 1/1000, f10, ISO 400, no exposure compensation.
Small crop for composition purposes. A couple of annoying circles in the background clonned away.
Cheers,
Mike
Black On White - Canada Geese Meet Greater Snow Geese
It was the unusual combination of these dark Canada Geese landing amongst their white Greater Snow Geese cousins that I found interesting.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens with the 1.4 Extender II handheld @ 1/1000, f5.6, ISO 640, +2 1/3 exposure compensation. Cropped for composition purposes.
Cheers,
Mike
Geese Gone Wild! Greater Snow Geese
This small flock of Greater Snow Geese was spooked and scattered horizontally in front of my camera.
Because of shallow depth-of-field due to a telephoto lens with tele-extender, the hard thing is to focus on one bird only and hope that it is in the front plane of the mass.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens with 1.4 Extender II handheld @ 1/1000, f13, ISO 400, - 1/3 exposure compensation. No crop.
Because of my bad knees, I try to find spots where I can basically sit for very long periods of time not far from my vehicle. The Greater Snow Goose migration stop at Victoriaville, Québec is one such spot with anywhere from 100 to 120 thousand geese present.
Cheers,
Mike
Snow Geese Family Explosion
This family of Snow Geese, with two adults and five young, burst into a seemingly chaotic explosion as they take of at dusk for a final meal.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens with 1.4 Extender II, handheld @ 1/1000, f5.6, ISO 400, no exposure compensation.
Formatted to my usual 8 x 16 frame by cropping away unwanted top and bottom horizontals.
The width of the frame is complete and uncropped. A tiny white speckle clonned away in the background. 16% dodge applied to the eye and beak of far right goose.
Cheers,
Mike
Wood Duck Dawn Foreplay
This pair of young Wood Ducks get all lovey-dovey just after dawn.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens with 1.4 Extender II hand-held @ 1/320 (yup), f5.6, ISO 400 +3 1/3 exposure compensation.
Slight tilt to straighten horizon, small crop for composition purposes - I had to decide whether I should give more bottom to accent the reflection, but decided against it. Three small whitish circles clonned away from the background. Eye and cheek of the male slightly dodged. Despeckling applied to upper half of background following sharpening.
What a camera!!
Cheers,
Mike
Fall Follies - Canada Geese
This flock of Canada Geese has just left its watering hole to fly against a Fall woodline for their morning meal. As you watch them prepare, you have to consider the direction of the wind to place yourself, because they normally turn into the wind for takeoffs.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens with the 1.4 Extender II handheld @ 1/800, f 5.6, 400 ISO, +3 1/3 exposure compensation.
Top and bottom horizontals cropped away to give me my usual 8 x 16 format. In other words, there was no crop across the width of the image. With these flock images, there is always the problem of keeping the bird closest to you in focus so that you don't have out-of-focus birds in the foreground.
Cheers,
Mike
Morning Glory - Male Wood Duck
The light is spectacular early in the morning after sunrise.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens with the 1.4 Extender II handheld @ 1/500, f5.6, ISO 400, +3 exposure compensation.
Cropped in a bit for composition purposes. A 16% highlight burn to the white of the right wing applied.
Cheers,
Mike
Misty Morning Magic
These Green-winged Teal illuminated by a golden dawn light head off to frolic through the rising mist.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f.4 lens handheld at 1/500, f.4, ISO 800, +3 exposure compensation.
Cropped for composition purposes. Added contrast and vibrency to image to reduce the dullness of the rising mist, slightly tilted to align horizon.
Cheers,
Mike
Giving My New Wings A Test Drive - Wood Duck
This young Wood Duck gives his new wings an early morning test drive. The early morning light explains the contrasty look.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500 L f4 lens handheld at 1/1000, f4.5, ISO 400, +1/3 esposure compensation. Slight crop for composition purposes while maintaining the full-frame proportions.
Cheers,
Mike
Road Runner, Duck-Style
This male Mallard runs atop the water like the cartoon Road Runner before lifting off - always a humerous sight to see.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1000, f4, ISO 400, +1/3 exposue compensation.
Very slight crop for composition purposes, a couple of too-obvious round spots removed from background.
Cheers,
Mike
Slip Me Some Tongue! - Green Heron
This Green Heron gives a great display of his tongue technique.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens with 1.4 II Extender handheld @ 1/640, f/5.6, ISO 640, + 1/3 exposure compensation.
Slight crop for composition purposes. Some annoying circles in the background clonned away. Bluish tint on the log behind my name removed.
Cheers,
Mike
Cooper's Hawk - Get Out Of My Way
This juvenile Cooper's Hawk leaves its perch to try his luck with a nearby squirrel.
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/640, f/4, ISO 400, +2 exposure compensation.
The overall lighting was terrible because of the high trees blocking the light.
Cropped to fit an 8 x 16 format. Some blurring of the background to soften the edges of the bright circles.
Cheers,
Mike
Lights, Action, Camera!
It's all about the light with this flying duck shot, taken with the evening sun to its back and to the left - that's why the water isn't blue!
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1000, f4, ISO 400, +1 exposure compensation. Cropped for composition purposes.
Cheers,
Mike
Osprey Dive Bomber
Earlier this spring, this Osprey went into a classic steep dive before hitting the water to capture its fish prey.
Canon 7D with the 500L f/4 lens with 1.4 Extender II handheld @ 1/1000, f/8, ISO 400, +1 exposure compensation.
Cropped vertically.
Cheers,
Mike
Cooper's Hawk On The Move
And now for something a little bit more serious than my previous offering.
This juvenile Cooper's Hawk gives me the high five as it takes off after a parent who delivered a freshly-captured meal.
Canon 5D III with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/500, f4, ISO 1600, +3 1/3 exposure compensation. I don't do this often, but I threw in a bit of Gaussian blur for the background.
The low-light capabilities of the 5D III is superb as compared to my 7D.
Cheers,
Mike
The Exorcist Linda Blair Head Spin - Cooper's Hawk Version
It's summetime, so it's time for some foolishness!
This Cooper's Hawk seems to be giving us the old Linda Blair head spin from the movie The Exorcist.
The bird was feeding on a dead bird and suddenly began vomiting. While vomiting, the bird shook its head violently. With a very slow shutter speed due to a very low light situation, the body stayed in focus while the head gave us this effect.
Certainly not one for exposition purposes, but funny nonetheless!
Canon 5D Mark III with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/160, f4, ISO 800, +2 2/3 exposure compensation. Very slight crop.
Cheers,
Mike
It's All Mine! Juvenile Cooper's Hawk With Breakfast
There's not much light early morninbg in a tall stand of trees with branches.
This young Cooper's Hawk just received breakfast delivered by a parent, and he is in no mood to share it with a sibling.
Canon 5D Mark lll with the 500L f4 lens handheld at 1/200, f/4, ISO 2000, +3 exposure compensation.
Slight crop for composition purposes. A small branch on the left clonned away. Saturation reduced a dull the green/yellow dominance.
This was my first day with my new 5D Mark lll, and the low-light handling is great.
Cheers,
Mike
Snack On The Run - Female American Kestrel
This female American Kestrel whizes by with a yummy snack in her beak.
A hello to good friends who were present!
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1250, f/5.6, ISO 400, +1 1/3 exposure compensation due to the light sky.
Small crop for composition purposes to frame at 12 x 16.
A bit of fill-in in post-processing to lighten up the bird.
Cheers,
Mike
Exposition tableaux et photos
Snowy Owl With Dancing Billowing Snow - Danse De Rafale De Neige
This Snowy Owl at dusk stands on guard in a wind-swept field with dancing billowing snow at its feet and a background formed by a far-off forest.
As you can tell by looking at my photos, I enjoy birds in dynamic poses. But once in a while, I break with my preferences to present a posed bird as a portrait.
This, and many more of my photos will be on exhibit, printed on canvas and framed in wooden frames next weekend the 6, 7 and 8th of July at the outdoor
"Village en arts" art symposium at St-Nicolas on the south shore near Quebec City. My wife, Louise Labbé will also exhibit her nature oil paitings.
Canon 7D with the 500L f/4 lens handheld @ 1/1000, f/8, ISO 400, -2/3 exposure compensation. Very slight crop to format to a 12 x 16 frame.
EXPOSITION d'art champêtre: Village en arts, le 6, 7 et 8 juillet, 2012 sous les chapiteaux dans le parc Le Picart et rue De l'Entente du quartier Saint-Nicolas à Lévis.
Mon épouse Louise Labbé exposera aussi ses tableaux d'oiseaux.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - A Backlit Male On The Go
This older male Snowy Owl leaves his perch with an early morning 9 o'clock sun behind him. This gives a minimalist colour shot with shadows and light the opposite of what is normally seen.
However, this type of lighting accents the transparency of the wings and legs of the bird. The backlight also gives a beautiful highlighted outline of the rest of the bird and specks of snow lifted off the perch. It also gives the image a nice soft pastel look.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1250, f8, ISO 400, no exposure compensation.
Slightly cropped to off-centre the Snowy.
This photo will be available printed on canvas as a 12 x 16 for my next exhibit the weekend of 6-7-8 July at St-Nicolas. When printing on paper or canvas, I don't leave any 255 pure white in the image, but reduce it from about 248 to 250 so as not to leave noticable white patches.
EXPOSITION d'art champêtre: Village en arts, le 6, 7 et 8 juillet, 2012 sous les chapiteaux dans le parc Le Picart et rue De l'Entente du quartier Saint-Nicolas à Lévis.
Cheers,
Mike
Visitor At The Crack Of Dawn
This Great Blue Heron was caught in the light at the crack of dawn. This kind of light provides a high-contrast image with perhaps, as a downside, more noise in the dark background as a trade-off.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens with 1.4II Extender on a monopod @ 1/1000, f5.6, ISO 400, +2 1/3 exposure compensation.
Cropped to decenter for composition purposes. The usual digital treatment of contrast, colour, sharpening, a bit of noise reduction for the background, etc.
Cheers,
Mike
Postscript
A congratulatory greeting is hereby sent to a friend and world-renowned nature photographer from across the Atlantic for his recent wedding. The old fart knows who he is! ;-)
EXPOSITION d'art champêtre: Village en arts, le 6, 7 et 8 juillet, 2012 sous les chapiteaux dans le parc Le Picart et rue De l'Entente du quartier Saint-Nicolas à Lévis.
This Is My Branch!
An osprey and a crow have a little dispute for the possession of the tree.
In this case, the crow eventually won.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens with the 1.4II Extender on a monopod @ 1/1250, f6.3, ISO 400, +1 1/3 exposure compensation.
Slight crop for composition purposes. Two branches behind the crow's beak and wing clonned away. Background despeckled after sharpening to reduce noise.
Cheers,
Mike
EXPOSITION d'art champêtre: Village en arts, le 6, 7 et 8 juillet, 2012 sous les chapiteaux dans le parc Le Picart et rue De l'Entente du quartier Saint-Nicolas à Lévis.
Spring Delight - Ring-Necked Ducks At Dawn
This flight of Ring-necked ducks was caught in an early morning spring light againts a complimentary background. They are not all that common in our area and are probably just briefly here on their migration run.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens with the 1.4 Extender II on a monopod @ 1/1000, f5.6, ISO 400, +2 2/3 exposure compensation.
Slight crop to de-centre the birds for composition purposes. Background despeckled following sharpeninng.
EXPOSITION d'art champêtre: Village en arts, le 6, 7 et 8 juillet, 2012 sous les chapiteaux dans le parc Le Picart et rue De l'Entente du quartier Saint-Nicolas à Lévis.
Cheers,
Mike
Reach For The Top - Osprey
This Osprey wants to make sure that the target is reached with this one-time effort.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens with 1.4II Extender on a monopod @ 1/1000, f5.6, ISO 400, + 3 exposure compensation. Taken eary in the morning. Cropped for composition purposes. Some halo caused by sharpening on the wings reduced by blurring.
Cheers,
Mike
CF-18 Fighter Replacement, and No, It's Not the F-35!
Look out below! What a blast!
This is my proposed replacement for the aging CF-18 fighter for the Canadian Armed Forces. I think you'll agree it's a lot cheaper than the proposed F-35 currently under consideration and is suitable for close air-to-ground support :-)
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens with the 1.4 II Extender on a monopod @ 1/1000, f5.6, ISO 400, +2 exposure compensation.
Slight crop for composition purposes. I had to up the contrast on the heron quite a bit and do some extra selective sharpening because the focus on the bird was not the best. The image was originally darker because of lack of light due to a late sunset. I figured the story told by this image was worth posting despite the lack of total sharpness of the heron.
This one will definitely not be printed for exhibit purposes :-)
Cheers,
Mike
A Parting Gift - Snowy Owl
This Snowy Owl gives me a parting gift just before takeoff.
Well, a little humour never hurts :-)
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens @ 1/1250, f10, ISO 400.
Cropped for composition purposes with about 25% of the image cropped away.
Cheers,
Mike
How Low Can You Go? Springboard Snowy Owl
I just love these unusual poses.
This Snowy Owl adopts a springboard position before takeoff.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1250, f10, ISO 400, no exposure compensation.
Slight crop to remove excess space above the bird.
Cheers,
Mike
Macho Male - Snowy Owl
This male Snowy Owl should be facing a setting sun when this photo was taken, but unfortunately the sky was overcast with clouds. One advantage in this situation is that we can see a little more detail in the feathers of the bird, details which may have been lost in a harsher light.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1000, f4, ISO 400, + 2 2/3 exposure compensation.
Slight crop to de-centre the bird for composition purposes.
Cheers,
Mike
In Your Face - Juvenile Snowy Owl
Although I've been on an extreme-light kick lately for my Snowy Owls, there is nothing wrong with images taken in normal daylight, and I do have many on file.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens handheld at 1/1250, f13, ISO 400, -2/3 exposure compensation.
Slight crop for composition purposes, one dust bunny clonned away, shadow from right eye removed/reduced, background despeckled to reduce noise.
The crop may be a little tight for some, but here, due to the uniform colour of the pale blue sky I wanted to present more of a portrait view of this great pose. I probably would have opened up the image if the background presented with a more diverse scenery and more colour.
Cheers,
Mike
A Saintly Snowy Owl - Eve Of Full Moon
With a full moon tonight, I figured I'd post this one of a Snowy Owl perched on a pole with the rising moon passing behind him. It sort of gives him a saintly angelic look.
Taken on the eve of a full moon with frontal lighting from a setting sun almost on the horizon, these types of shots present many challenges. Of course, the bird and the moon have to be in the right spot, the moon has to be visible in the sky and you only have a few minutes to act.
Another big problem is depth-of-field in trying to get both the owl and moon in focus. Because I was using my 500mm lens with the bird close and almost full-framed, there was not enough depth-of-field to capture the moon in focus.
One way around this is to create a montage by taking a second shot of the moon in focus and combining the two images together.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/400, f4, ISO 400, +2 1/3 exposure compensation.
Very slight crop to reduce the height of the sky above the owl and moon. This was not taken at noon, so I left the cool blue hue on the owl to reflect the time of day the image was taken.
The Snowy Owls will return to their homes in the arctic to mate towards the end of April.
Cheers,
Mike
31 March 2012
Last Quick Look - Snowy Owl
It was a great day with two good friends when this Snowy Owl gave us a quick look.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens handheld at 1/1000, f11, ISO 400, no exposure compensation.
Very slight crop for composition purposes. I left the small dominance of magenta in the image to reflect the reality of the time of day. One dust bunny clonned away.
Cheers,
Mike
Nape-of-The-Earth Phantom Fighter - Snowy Owl
This male Snowy Owl hugs the earth during a swift early morning glide.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1000, f4, ISO 400, + 2 1/3 exposure compensation.
Slight crop for composition purposes.
Cheers,
Mike
Watcha Looking At Buddy? Male Snowy Owl
With a setting sun, this male Snowy Owl takes a quick glance to make sure he's not being pursued.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1600, f4, ISO 400, -1/3 exposure compensation.
Cropped slightly for composition purposes.
Cheers,
Mike
Farewell For This Season - Snowy Owl
This Snowy Owl faces a setting sun on the horizon as it takes off.
This brings to an end my Snowy Owl season for 2011-12, and what a fantastic season it was, probably my best ever.
This doesn't mean I won't be posting more photos of my favourite bird - it's just that my photographic attention will be elsewhere in the coming weeks. The ground conditions are getting too difficult for my poor knees and the Snowys will soon be departing for their homes in the arctic.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1000, f4, ISO 400, +2/3 exposure compensation.
Very slight crop to straighten image. A tiny spec of branch clonned away at the bottom centre of the image.
Cheers,
Mike
My Cold Domaine - Snowy Owl
This Snowy Owl shows off his frigid domaine at dusk with the setting sun long lost behind thick clouds.
The hint of light in the sky gives this otherwise cold image a touch of contrasting warmth.
The ice-covered fence and wire adds to the feeling of winter's harshness. And yet, the Snowy Owl is at home under such conditions.
Again, this type of shot is not for everyone in Quebec's bird photography circles, but it will be framwed and hanging during my next art exhibit in August.
Canon 7D with the 500L lens handheld at 1/1000, f4, ISO 400, +2 exposure conpensation. No crop and no unusual post-processing.
Thanks to Eric Martin who stuck it out with me to the bitter end of the day.
Cheers,
Mike
On Target At Dusk - Snowy Owl
Here we have en extreme light situation with this dramatic image of a Snowy Owl hitting the mark. This simply shows that an otherwise bad light situation can be saved with post-processing instead of finding its way to the trash bin.
The sun was practically below the horizon which created a poor light situation.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1000, f4, ISO 640, +2 2/3 exposure compensation.
Very slight crop to level the horizon straight. I was lucky that the bird was white against a darker background. This permitted the sensor to squeeze a lot more image info on the white bird due to the extra over-exposture caused by the darker background - in normal daytime light, the white of the bird would have been blown out.
After sharpening, I used the despeckling filter to reduce noise, but it wasn't enough. I had trouble with a noticable halo effect around the fence post. My good friend Dom Cantin re-worked my sharpening technique with a much better result.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - Extreme Sunset
This was taken a few weeks ago.
You just had to be there, I suppose!
The combination of cloud placement over a setting sun litterally on the horizon plus reflected light on other clouds above the Snowy gave us this unusual colour palette. It's a good thing for me that I had witnesses to the event. The patch of sky behind the Snowy was cloudless.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1000, f4, ISO 400, +2 exposure compensation.
Because of the wingspan, I frammed to my preferred 8 x 16 for this kind of shot. The width is the same as the original image, it's just the excess top and/or bottom that was cropped away.
Although I don't mention it in my photo explanations, I take for granted that viewers understand that the usual standard digital formatting steps such as contrast, colour correction, sharpening etc. are applied.
Cheers,
Mike
Sunset Surprise - Backlit Snowy Owl
The gods have to be on our side to align bird, pose, sun and light for a shot like this.
I understand that not everone in Quebec's bird photography world enjoys this type of lighting, but after thousands of shots in standard light, it's fun to try something different and deviate from the norm. This kind of shot will probably be more appreciated by people in the arts community. I don't know how much longer my mangled knees will permit me to chase after these magic moments :-)
Also, I've been influenced by my painter wife and good friend and world-class wildlife photographer Andy Rouse the last couple of years.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens handheld at 1/1000, f4, ISO 400, +1 1/3 exposure compensation. No crop.
I selectively enhanced the orangy colour from the sun (in the upper left of the image) in the sky that was slightly blown out by the sensor. Two small branches clonned away at the bottom centre of the image, but for the purist, they could have probably stayed without much distraction.
Cheers,
Mike
What's All This White Stuff? Young Snowy Owl
This young Snowy Owl seems to be at home perched during a snow fall.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1000, f10, ISO 400, +1/3 exposure compensation.
Very slight crop for composition purposes.
I was lucky that the clouds with the snow fall were not the typically dark grey, so there was a tiny minimum of filtered diffused light.
Because the image out of the camera looks almost black and white, I simply upped the vibracy or saturation of the image to a point that my subjective brain remembered seeing in real life - it's surprising how much colour information your sensor captures.
What is important here to catch the snowflakes is to have a dark background, in this case, a very far-off tree line. This way, the snowflakes stand out. You can also play with the shutter speed faster or slower to change the effect of the snowflakes.
Then, of course, you have to have an immobile perched snowy owl that doesn't have a snowflake in front of his eyes!
Cheers,
Mike
Air Assault At Crack Of Dawn - Snowy Owl
With Snowy Owl photos,the colours at dawn or dusk may not be for everyone, but you've got to admit, they sure are unusual.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1000, f4, ISO 400, +2 exposure compensation.
Slight crop for composition purposes. The horizon where snow and background meet could have been tilted a bit for leveling.
Cheers,
Mike
Pumped Up With Pride - Juvenile Snowy Owl
What a difference cloud cover can make on a scene!
Following my last end-of-day shot with high contrasty light, here is the same bird on a different day taken about the same time, but with cloud cover.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1000, f5, ISO 400, +1 exposure compensation.
Slight crop for composition purposes - to decentre the bird. The blue of the background toned down to a more pastel colour - as was present when the pic was taken.
Cheers,
Mike
Oh, To Be Young Again! - Juvenile Snowy Owl
I'm back with another late afternoon shot, about 20-25 minutes before the sun touched the horizon.
My wife will probably use this one for a painting :-)
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens with the 1.4 II extender, handheld @ 1/1600, f7.1, ISO 400, - 1/3 exposure compensation.
I gave it the -1/3 exposure compensation due to the dark background so as not to blow out the whites of the owl. It wasn't enough, but by using the RAW format, I was able to adjust for a bit less exposure.
No crop.
Cheers,
Mike
Olympic Avian Pole Vaulter - Snowy Owl
This young Snowy Owl shows off a dynamic form at the pole vault event.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1250, f10, ISO 400, no exposure compensation.
Minimal crop to format to my usual 12 x 16 frame.
Cheers,
Mike
A Snowy Owl's Domain
With this late afternoon minimalist shot, I'm returning to a more scenic view where the bird compliments the environment instead of vise versa. The clouds add more depth than if there was a clear sky.
Canon 7D with 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1600, f8, ISO 400, no exposure compensation. About a 50% crop with no other special treatment.
Cheers,
Mike
We've Got Lift - Snowy Owl
Last time, I said that I would return to post a closeup. Here we go.
This Snowy Owl looks suspended in air as it takes off.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/4000, f8, ISO 400.
No crop, a small amount of far-off ochre bulrush clonned out fron the upper right corner.
Cheers,
Mike
Windy Sunset - Snowy Owl
I usual post closeup shots with dynamic movements. Here is a shot influenced by by wildlife painter wife, Louise. I'll return to my closeups next time.
The sun was setting and sidelit the young Snowy Owl as a swirling wind blew up a veil of dancing snow low to the ground. The luminous vegetation adds a certain depht to enhance the stalwart Snowy Owl's playground.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1000, f6.3, ISO 400, +1/3 exposure compensation.
Cropped for proper composition purposes, and formatted to my usual 12 x 16 frame.
Cheers,
Mike
The Answer My Friend, Is Blowing In The Wind - Snowy Owl
This young Snowy Owl is all in a flutter while standing fast against a good solid wind. The ground had an thin icy crust so there was no blowing snow, which I would have like to have.
Canon 7D with 500L f4 lens with 1.4 II extender, handheld @ 1/1250, f11, ISO 400, +2/3 exposure compensation.
Cropped for composition purposes and to format to a 12 x 16 frame.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - Flight Of The Phantom
This Snowy Owl presents an unusal display of colours and background side-lit about 20 minutes before sunset.
Certain photographers do not appreciate incomplete birds - in this case, part of the wings are clipped - but I don't mind in certain cases. Incomplete birds are sometimes called portraits :-)
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/800, f4, +2/3 exposure compensation, ISO 400, no crop.
Cheers,
Mike
I'm Going To Make It! Snow Bunting
This Snow Bunting seems to be making a supreme effort to perch on the branch. They are not known as perching birds. We see them more often than not flirting from one part of a field to another and landing on the ground. But, when there is a will there is a way as you will see below.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens mounted on Jobu scorpion ground pod @ 1/1600, f8, ISO 400 +1/3 exposure compensation.
With my painful, old wobby knees, lying flat with the Jobu scorpion pod mount has its advantages apart from shooting low on the ground.
This scene is a setup, what we call here in Quebec 'doing a perch'. The branch is placed in an approriate spot vi-a-vis the light source and background. The birds are enticed to approach using their favourite seeds and with a little luck and a lot of patience, hopefully they land where you want them.
Cropped for composition purposes to an 8 x 12 framing format. Behind the right wing, there was a hint of a far-off out-of-focus telephone pole which I clonned away. Background despeckled to reduce noise.
Cheers,
Mike
Joyeux Noël - Merry Christmas - Xrystos Narodyvsija
Snowy Owl - Taking Care Of Business
This young Snowy Owl leaves a little gift before taking off. This is a common behaviour seen in Snowy Owls and other species before flight.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/800 f4, ISO 400, +1 1/3 exposure compensation.
The sun was low on the late afternoon winter horizon.
I'm getting old, my knees are in terrible shape, and the bulky winter clothing which I'm not used to yet this season destabalized me while getting this low shot. This caused my horizon to be off.
I had to crop a bit to correcet my horizon. Even after correction, it still could use some tweeking.
There is no particular framing size after crop and horizon correction because I doubt I'll frame this one for exposition :-)
Cheers,
Mike
Chasing That Female - Mallard Ducks
While waiting for more snow and colder weather to hit our region so that I can continue searching for Snowy Owls, here is a shot from my files. This is not counting all those Greater Snow Geese pics from this Fall on file, too.
These male mallard ducks seem to be chasing after a lone female in this shot.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens with 1.4 II extender on tripod @ 1/1000, f5.6, ISO 400, +1 exposure compensation.
It's always difficult getting multiple birds in focus when using zoom lenses. The depth of field is often too shallow to capture all the birds in focus - that is why I'm happy with this shot.
With the ducks in a line, I cropped to my favourite 8 x 16 frame. About 5-6 water droplets removed.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - Sneak-Peek On The Fly
This male snowy owl shot is an example of a bad shot gone good.
The owl was perched on a hydro pole and I snapped a few vertical orientated shots of him.
He caught me by surprise and took off while my camera was still in the vertical position.
To save the shot, I cropped away the wasted top and bottom of the image and formatted it to my usual 8 x 16 frame. The full width of the image is uncropped. The result is unusual, but dramatic.
Because the shot was taken at the end of the day - I reduced the cyan in the sky.
Canon 7D with the 500L lens handheld @ 1/400, f 4.5, ISO 400, + 2/3 exposure compensation.
Cheers,
Mike
Dawn Ducks On The Draw
I'm still on my crack-of-dawn kick for photographing birds. The advantage here is of course, the unusual colours.
Here are a couple of mallards pass before the morning's first light.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/500, f4, ISO 800, +2 1/3 exposure compensation.
Formatted to my usual 8 X 16 frame for exposition purposes.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - My Day Is Done
This one scene involved a large investment in time added to the usual dose of good luck.
This male Snowy Owl greets the final moments of dusk on his perch. Not exactly up-close as desired by everyone, but how can I resist!
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens with 1.4 extender II on tripod @ 1/800, f 5.6, ISO 400, +2/3 exposure compensation.
Uncropped. A touch of contrast and sharpening applied.
Cheers,
Mike
Golden Boy - Snowy Owl At Dusk
This male Snowy owl was caught just before the sun set, giving him a golden glow.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens with the 1.4 extender II on tripod @ 1/500, 5.6, ISO 640, +1 2/3 exposure compensation. No crop.
With the very low light and ISO 640, some noise is to be expected, but for me it is a good trade-off for the light obtained. The same goes for the distance to the owl - that will come with time.
All-in-all, a great beginning for a new season.
Cheers,
Mike
Morning Swamp Fog With Ducks And Friend
The Fall weather gives us certain opportunities to photograph ducks in the morning fog at the crack of dawn with colours that are just great!
Here, my friend Régean gets ready to photograph ducks into the sun as it bursts over the horizon and burns through the morning fog.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/500, f32, ISO 400, -1 1/3 exposure compensation.
Not much done here - a bit of cropping for composition purposes and to frame as a 12 x 16, the usual corrections for contrast, etc.
Cheers,
Mike
Paratrooper Greater Snow Goose Showing Off His Size 12 Tootsies
Here is a classic daytime Greater Snow Goose pose, one that I never tire laughing at - in this case, with the added humerous expression on the face.
This Greater Snow Goose shows off his size 12 tootsies as he (or she) turns into the wind to break, lowers the landing gears and awaits for the landing as if on a parachute.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1000, f10, IS0 400, no exposure compensation.
Slight crop to straighten the bird.
Cheers,
Mike
Greater Snow Geese Mooning The Moon
It's hard enough photographing birds in flight - for some added fun, try catching them as they pass in front of a moon!
These Greater Snow Geese are turning into the wind and lowering their landing gear before entering the water where they will roost for the night. The moon wasn't totally full but hey, I'll take what I can.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens with 1.4 II extender on a tripod @ 1/1000, f 13, ISO 400, - 1/3 exposure compensation.
Cropped for composition purposes and to eliminate an unwanted fourth bird and to format to a 12 x 16 frame. The late afternoon light gave a golden glow to the geese and the cyan sky hadn't yet taken on its magenta hue. As the moon rose higher in the sky, it presented with more detail and contrast, but by then it was too high for the passage of the geese.
One of the problems with this type of shot is either the moon or the birds will be in focus, and not both, because of the long focal length and relative lack of depth-of-field of the 500mm lens and 1.4 extender.
I would probably have had greater success in getting both in focus using a 70-200mm or 300mm lens, but at the cost of capturing the action farther away. In both cases, there is also the fun of co-ordinating the release of the shutter just at the right moment!
Ideally, I should have at least removed the 1.4 extender. I didn't do so, because I needed it for other shots of the geese as they arrived at tree-top level at a distance - that is the price to pay for trying to do two types of shots at the same time :-)
Cheers,
Mike
Crack Of Dawn Ducks
The Greater Snow Goose migration is in full force at the moment in our region, but there are other goodies to photograph at the same time.
With this image, I'm once more into my extreme-light kick with these ducks on the fly at first light. I love the heavily contrasted low-light found at this time of day.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens on tripod @ 1/800, f4, ISO 640, +2 2/3 exposure compensation.
Cropped for composition purposes and to eliminate the head of a third duck behind the Green-winged Teal. The first duck's focus could be better, but considering it was not on the same plane as the second and the poor depth-of-field due to the f4 and lack of light, I'm not expecting perfect sharpness with total absence of noise with these light conditions, therefore I'm happy enough for this kind of shot.
Cheers,
Mike
Salut Marielle Et Daniel . . .
This is an odd title for my Greater Snow Goose pic, but there is a reason.
One of the pleasures of bird photography is the presence of good friends and the meeting of new ones.
I met Marielle and Daniel at a top-notch Greater Snow Goose photography site today, and Marielle asked me to say a hello via my site - as simple as that!
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1000, f7.1, ISO 400, +1/3 exposure compensation. This image was shot using .jpg instead of .raw - I was running out of memory. I did say this is a top-notch site with tons of opportunities!
The light situation was difficult today. The light changed constantly due to variable cloud cover. Added to that, you have to be carefull with these white birds as you shoot a burst while the bird rapidly goes from blue sky then crossing the horizon to a darker background. It is very easy to blow out the whites, and the automatic focus of my Canon camera has the bad habit of losing focus when going from sky to horizon.
Slight crop for composition purposes after the horizon was straightened. The white bar at the bottom of the image, believe it or not, is composed of geese in the water! I ran a blur brush to even things out.
For this shot, I was trying to get a face-on shot with the Fall ochre vegetation in the background. I think these are much more interesting that pure sky shots, but hey, I do take those, too.
Cheers,
Mike
They Don't Call Me The Great Blue Heron For Nothing!
They Don't Call Me The Great Blue Heron For Nothing!
I've been on a kick concentrating on early morning or late afternoon light for my bird photography. Here is an example of what non-standard lighting can do.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens with 1.4II extender @ 1/1250, f5.6, ISO 400, -1/3 exposure compensation.
Very slight crop for composition purposes, and a small patch of light rose colour clonned out on the upper left of the image. The usual despeckling after sharpening of the background.
Cheers,
Mike
Get Out Of My Way, Dude! Mallard Duck
I just love the complimentary background colours with this dynamic crack-of-dawn duck shot.
Canopn 7D with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/800, f4, ISO 400, +1 2/3 exposure compensation.
Formatted to my usual 8 x 16 frame for my next exhibit next month before it was optimised for web use. No fancy treatment - just a bit of background despeckling after sharpening.
The Snow Geese are beginning to arrive at Cap Tourmente nature reserve. For the moment, they are mostly the older single geese that arrive before the mass with their young. These older and single geese stay in the St. Lawrence River on the tidal banks.
When the families arrive shortly, the hungry young - grey in colour - will hopefully lead their parents into the fields for feeding - as they were used to in their breeding grounds.
It is here in the fields, with the crimson-coloured autumn cliffs as a background that the geese will provide the best photo opportunities.
The breeding season was great with a very high 29% increase of the flock!
Cheers,
Mike
Post-scriptum: Today, Tuesday September 27 was a great photo day at Cap Tourmente. Not only was the conjunction of birds, light, poses and backgrounds exceptional, but the first families of Greater Snow Geeses to land and feed off the fields of the reserve arrived - aboput 100-200. I don't know how my poor knees held out!!
The last couple of days has seen the goose count rise from 8,000 to over 17,000, but these for now still spend the day in the river!
Mike
Bald Eagle
I haven't had much luck with Bald Eagles in the past - the opportunities here are not that great.
The bird was at eye level to me which was a bonus.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens with 1.4II extender handheld @ 1/1000, f6.3, ISO 400, +1 2/3 exposure compensation due to the sky. Once reduced to 72ppi, I had to eliminate some halo between parts of the bird and the sky.
Cropped in about 30% and formatted for a 12 x 16 frame. Oversaturated sky tonned down. I'm not happy about the less than 100% focus of the eye, therefore this will probbaly not be printed at the intended 12 x 16. I'll just have to do better next time.
Cheers,
Mike
Do You Want A Bite? Great Blue Heron
This young heron has put a bite on his catfish supper in the dying light at the end of the day. It took a while, but yes, he did manage to swallow it.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/800, f4, ISO 400, -1/3 exposure compensation.
Cropped vertically for a 12 x 9 framing. A bit of blur brush applied to background after sharpening the burn brush applied a bit to the left lower corner - pretty straight forward.
Many thanks to a friendly unknown photographer who shared his find with me!
Cheers,
Mike
Here I Come - Black Duck
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1000, f4.5, ISO 400, +1 exposure compensation.
I had to crop a part to the right of the duck to properly compose the image. Slight tilt of the image to level it. Two small water droplets on the right clonned away. Formatted to my usual 12 x 16 frame.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl Patrol At The Crack Of Dawn
With summer streaking by, it's time for me to post a nostalgia shot of my favourite bird, the Snowy Owl. I also have to dig into my files to prepare for another exhibit next October.
The light is just magnificent with either the rising or setting sun when photographing birds. This one is formatted for an 8 x 16 framing. It will be printed directly on canvas.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/1250, f4, ISO 400 +2/3 exposure compensation.
Cropped to frame at 8 x 16. A bit of out-of-focus vegetation clonned away. With the aperture wide-open, there was a restricted depth of field which naturally blurred both fore and background.
Cheers,
Mike
Merlin Falcon On The Hunt
While photographing a Great Blue Heron yesterday evening, my photog collegue, Patrice Allibert, caught sight of this female Merlin perched just to the right opf us.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens with 1.4II extender on tripod @ 1/1000, f5.6, ISO 400, + 1 exposure compensation.
The first few frames were quickly taken without my extender, and I risked taking the time to slap it on quickly. I was lucky that the bird was perched on a tall branch sticking out of water, with the far bank way behind her - this assured a nice uncluttered background.
Cropped in about 40% to my usual 12 x 16 format. A tiny portion of the tip of the lower branch cropped away because it was curling upwards and was distracting. A touch of halo on this optimized web version blurred away on the branchs and bird's back after reducing to 72ppi. Despeckled the background after sharpening to reduce background noise. Slight dodging of the eye.
Cheers,
Mike
Shake It Up Baby! Male Bobolink
This male Bobolink gives us a bit of the old "shake it up baby" of Beatles's fame.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens with 1.4II extender on tripod @ 1/800, f5.6, ISO 400, +2 1/2 exposure compensation.
Cropped for a 12 x 9 frame - basically the left and right of the shot was cropped away for the vertical look. If I kept the image horizontal, I would have set it off centre.
A plant in the lower right corner where my signature is was clonned away. Eye slightly dodged. Background despeckled aftre sharpening.
Cheers,
Mike
Retreat At Dusk
This Great Egret, the first of the season at Cap Tourmente, leaves its feeding ground to find a night roosting refuge.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens with the 1.4 II extender on a tripod @ 1/800, f6.3, ISO 640, +2/3 exposure compensation.
Slight crop to place the bird at a rule-of-thirds position. A few of the more larger and whiter insect spots removed. Background despeckled after sharpening.
Cheers,
Mike
Snack-Time At The Cooper's
This young Cooper's Hawk has just received a snack delivered by mom.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens on monopod @ 1/400, f4, ISO 1250, +2 1/3 exposure compensation.
As you can see by my settings, this was a very dark scene. But, because of the play of the light on the tree trunk and branch, I found it hard to resist taking my chances with sensor noise and upping the ISO to 1250.
Slight crop to format to my usual 12 x 16. The far background to the right blurred away, although it might look a bit too plastic - I think that I can improve it by desaturating the blue. Background despeckled after sharpening - despeckling was my sole method of noise reduction for this pic. A little boost in vibrancy and contrast, and voila, all done.
Thanks again to Chuck Kling for your helpful info.
Cheers,
Mike
PS: I corrected the original posted image by desaturating the right upper sky background as suggested above - much better.
Bluebird Of Happiness - Male Eastern Bluebird
This male Eastern Bluebird leaves his nesting box to search for more insects to feed his young nestlings.
Canon 7D with a 500L f4 lens with 1.4 II Extender, handheld at 1/800, f5.6, ISO 640, +2 exposure compensation. Taken late in the afternoon.
Here, because of my handheld shakiness, the bulk of the image was high to the right. Therefore, the tail was close to the edge, as was the top of the wings. I don't often do this, but I did reconstruct a bit of background to give more space for the top of the wings. I did this by extending the canvas and clonning in the extended portion. Formatted to my usual 12 x 16 frame.
I clonned out a thin splinter of wood from the nesting box behind the bird's claws.
Background despeckled after sharpening to reduce noise. I also gave a quick blur brush pass to the background to reduce it further.
Thanks to Henri-Paul and Francine for the access to their home and property.
Cheers,
Mike
Early Morning Golden Girl - Mallard Duck
For me, the best light is either early morning or late afternoon.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/800, f4, ISO 400, +1 2/3 exposure compensation.
Minimal work for this one. Cropped to centre for my usual 12 x 16 frame. Face slightly lightened. Background despeckled after sharpening to put more emphasis on the duck - and that's it.
I had no problem with horizon leveling contrary to my last couple of image :-)
Cheers,
Mike
Water Games - Common Grackle
On a hot day, seek out water puddles to catch birds at play. A setting sun helps with the light.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens handheld lying down @ 1/800, f4, +1 exposure compensation, ISO 400.
This one was a little more complicated to format due to my horizon being tilted while shooting lying down.
Image had its horizon corrected. I had to transform/skew the bottom right corner to bring it back onto the canvas without losing the reflection. Cropped to fit my usual 12 x 16 frame. A bunch of water spots clonned away. The pupil of the eye could have benefited with a touch-up to reduce impression of softness.
Cheers,
Mike
A Drop In The Water - Mallard Duckling
This little fella links his reflection with a drop of water from its beak.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens plus a 1.4 II Extender handheld @ 1/1000, f5.6, ISO 400, + 1/3 exposure compensation.
The low late afternoon setting sun gives nice contrasty lighting. Cropped for a 12 x 16 frame, horizon straightened, a whole bunch of annoying white reflection circles clonned away, eye slightly dodged. Background despeckled after sharpening.
Cheers,
Mike
A good friend commented privately that he had a preference for a more leveling of the water.
This was one of three options that I had when I leveled the image to begin with (I did take this image with a heavy lens lying down flat on the ground).
I could level based on the water, based on the line of yellowish vegetation, or crop in to eliminate the reflection and have the yellowish vegetation for the base of the image.
I opted for the second option – and even there, the leveling could have been a touch better. Even so, because the levels of the water and vegetation are not parallel, it’s a no-win situation.
As a fourth option, I suppose I could have applied some Photoshop skewing transformation technique to render both lines parallel.
Cheers,
Mike
I'm Punching My Ticket Out Of Here! Osprey
This Osprey decided it was time to leave its perch.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens and 1.4 II Extender on monopod @ 1/1250, f10, ISO 400, +2/3 exposure compensation due to the sky.
It's always hard for me to format these types of shots due to the extra wing length.
For the purpose of web placement, I chose a more squarish format. If for print, I would probably format to a 4/3 frame.
Apart from cropping for framing and the usual corrections (contrast, ect), no other major changes made to the image. After reducing to 72 ppi and sharpening, I despeckled the background to reduce noise and blurred away a touch of halo between wing and sky. Oh, yes, almost forgot, I desaturated and lightened the blue of the sky.
The first branch on the left is a little annoying and it is possible to clone it away, but hey, that's life.
Cheers,
Mike
Rising Sun With Snow Geese - Cap Tourmente
Just past 5 a.m. at Cap Tourmente this morning with a new rising sun and lots of Greater Snow Geese.
The weather had been terrible for photography the past week, and the time is drawing near before the geese depart for the final leg of their migration north, so we take what we can get.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens with the 1.4 II Extender on a monopod @ 1/8000, f45 (yes, 45 and not 4.5), ISO 100, - 3 exposure compensation.
Cropped to fit a 12 x 16 framing format, a bit of sharpening and signature added, and voila, no tricks just nature's magic!
I would have wished for the geese to be closer, but they were not taking requests today - perhaps another time.
Cheers,
Mike
Wake Up, It's Morning! Greater Snow Geese
Nothing beats spring light at the crack of dawn!
Canon 7D with the 500L F4 lens with 1.4 II Extender on monopod @ 1/800, f5.6, ISO 640, +1 exposure compensation.
Cropped to a 12 x 16 format. One small blade of vegetation cropped out. Background despeckled after a small dose of sharpening to reduce noise.
Cheers,
Mike
Snow Geese Bathing In The Spring's Sun's Rays
Just because I haven't added many images to my site recently doesn't mean that I haven't been active hobbling with my wobbly knees in the field.
The last few weeks have been busy with the arrival of migrating Snow Geese. The geese are presently at their peak at Cap Tourment nature management reserve before they continue their migration north.
This one was taken last night just before the sun set below the horizon. The geese flew past and under the sun's rays. The photos taken at 5:30 in the morning at dawn were equally breathtaking!
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens with the 1.4 II extender, on a tripod @ 1/1000, f5.6, ISO 640, +1/3 exposure compensation.
Image tilted to level the horizon, then cropped to fit a 12 x 16 format.
Yes, for the purists, there is image noise, but I will leave it there - in my view, it adds to the texture of the image.
Cheers,
Mike
Northern Shovler Shoves Off
This guy heads for the hills after a dispute with another male.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens with 1.4 Extender II handheld at 1/1000, f13, ISO 400, +1/3 exposure compensation.
Cropped in a good 35%. Background despeckled after sharpening. Not my best shot as concerns image sharpness, but I like the action pose.
Now if only we can stop getting late winter snow storms in Quebec City so that spring can really set in . . . !!
Cheers,
Mike
Dynamic Face-off - Snow Buntings
The time for winter birds has come to an end with the arrival of warmer weather and melting snow.
Canon 7D with 500L f4 lens on Jobu gimbal mounted on the Jobu Scorpion ground pod @ 1/1600, f13, ISO 400.
Cropped for an 8 x 10 frame.
Cheers,
Mike
Balancing Act - Snowy Owl
A little bit of a balancing act after this Snowy Owl landed on its perch.
Canon 400L f5.6L lens handheld @ 1/5000, f6.3, ISO 200, +2/3 exposure compensation.
Cropped to fit a 12 x 16 frame, backgrouind despeckled after sharpening.
Cheers,
Mike
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
Golden Eye In A Golden Light - Great Egret At Dusk
This Great Egret takes off into a warm late afternoon light at a local marsh.
Canon 7D with 500L f4 lens with 1.4 II extender and IS handheld @ 1/800, f7.1, ISO 400, -1/3 exposure compensation to prevent burning the whites.
As usual with birds in movement, I had to crop slightly for composition purposes because I use the centre AF point on the bird.
Cheers,
Mike
I've Bit Off More Than I Can Chew - Green Heron
This is a late dusk shot in the shadow of a Green Heron as he tries to swallow a rather large meal.
The water drop hanging off the tip of its beak is a plus to the scene.
Canon 7D with a 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/400, f4, ISO 640, +2 exposure compensation.
Cropped for composition purposes.
More than usual saturation and vibrance added because of the dull light, slight blur to upper background to kill the noise after selective sharpening on the parts of the bird in focus and the frog.
A couple of small unwanted spots clonned away in the water.
The low light level also gave me a restricted depth of field which in this case is fortunate - the legs of the bird are out of focus, giving more emphasis on the main action.
My settings reflect the absence of good light. I was originally stationary on a tripod but was ready to leave when the heron caught it's meal and had to go handheld - which I prefer anyway.
So, it was either take the time to reposition the camera on the tripod and lose the moment or go for it handheld snd risk motion blur to the poor light.
Cheers,
Mike
What's Wrong With This Green Heron?
Let's have a little bit of fun!
What is wrong with this Green Heron?
Very simple - the image is upside down! Just love that reflection.
Canon 7D with 500L f4 lens with 1.4 II extender handheld @ 1/1000, f5.6, ISO 400.
Slight crop for composition.
I'll post the original in my main Ducks and Birds gallery.
Cheers,
Mike
Egress Out Of The Sun - Great Egret
And now for something a little bit different!
This shot of a Great Egret - a bird not too common in the Quebec City region - was taken last evening as it passed by the setting sun. The combination of direct sun hitting the camera lens and the egret makes for a very unusual image.
Canon 7D with a 500L f4 lens with a 1.4 II extender handheld @ 1/800, f5.6, ISO 400, +1 1/3 exposure compensation.
Uncropped, a couple of small aberrations clonned away, selctive sharpening only on the bird to reduce background noise.
Cheers,
Mike
Great Egret On The Loose
Canon 7D with 500L f4 lens handheld stabalized at 1/640 @ f4, ISO 400, +1 1/3 exposure compensation.
Slight crop for framing composition purposes.
This is an evening shot, just before I had to bump up my ISO to 640. The low light forced me to up my exposure compensation without worrying about blowing out the whites.
Great day with great friends Dom and Eric.
Cheers,
Mike
Exaltation!
Extreme lighting makes for some dramatic action shots and water reflections such as this duck rising up to dry off its wings.
Cheers,
Mike
How Do I Get Down From Here?
Not exactly a bird, but I couldn't resist.
Separated from mom, this yearling Black Bear cub found a place in a tree to catch an afternoon nap at Cap Tourmente nature reserve.
Canon 7D with 500L f/4 lens handheld at 1/500, f/4, ISO 400, +2 1/3 exposure compensation.
Slight crop for composition purposes. The lighting conditions were not ideal, and because of the shade, I had to up my exposure compensation, thereby blowing out the background. I added a bit of very light blue to fill in the background white, and blured it away. A small branch was clonned away. The usual processing for colour, contrast, etc. I selectively upped the vibrence of the cub and main branch.
Cheers,
Mike
Cooper Hawk Siblings
Canon 50D with 500 f/4L IS lens handheld @ 1/800, f/11, ISO 400, - 1 exposur composition.
No crop, blur tool applied to upper background.
Cheers,
Mike
Captivating Cooper's Hawk
This young Cooper's Hawk juggles for a proper footing before finishing off his meal late in the day.
Canon 7D with 500L f4 lens, handheld @ 1/640, f4, ISO 640, +1 exposure compensation, no flash.
No crop, but the background was treated with Gaussian blur - I had to make due with a bad background situation, but I think the pose is worth the shot. I wouldn't frame this image as is for exhibits, I'd rework the background to get rid of those annoying branches.
There is some green light reflected from leaves on the upper wing and chest - I left that in there instead of sanitizing for the whites.
Cheers,
Mike
Jitterbug-Dancing Pied-billed Grebe
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens with 1.4 II extender @ 1/1000, f5.6, ISO 400.
Slight crop to de-centre the bird.
Had a great day with my friend Dom at the Cap Tourmente nature reserve area despite the high heat and humidity.
Cheers,
Mike
Bye-Bye, Mike - Northern Shoveler Duck
Flying ducks where my number one subject when I first started bird photography a few years ago, so I guess it's about time that I return to my first love with this offering.
This female Northern Shoveler takes off to leave me high and dry, but not before I got this grab shot.
Canon 7D with 500L f4 lens with 1.4 II extender, handheld @ 1/1000, f5.6, ISO 400, +1/3 exposure compensation.
Since the duck was leaving the frame on the right, I had to crop some dead space behind the duck for composition purposes. About four water droplets behind the duck were cloned out.
Cheers,
Mike
Colourful Catch - Osprey
Canon 7D with 500L f4 lens with 1.4 II extender @ 1/1000, f5.6, ISO 400.
Slight crop for compostion purposes to de-centre the bird. I left the water droplets to remind us that this bird is an expert fish diver. I love the background colours, much better, in my mind, than a sky shot.
Cheers,
Mike
Blue Bird On The Rise
Canon 7D with 500L f4 lens with 1.4 II extender on tripod @ 1/1250, f5.6, ISO 400, +2/3 exposure compensation. Slight crop for composition purposes. No change to background.
Cheers,
Mike
Two More Medical Technicians Killed In Action In Afghanistan
Master Cpl. Kristal Giesebrecht and Pte. Andrew Miller were the latest Canadian Forces Medical Technicians to die in action in Afghanistan. With their deaths today, June 26, 2010, the toll of medics who gave their lives in the service of their fellow soldiers rises to eight.
Le Caporal-chef Kristal Giesebrechtl et le Soldat Andrew Miller sont les derniers techniciens médicaux des Forces Armées Canadiennes à mourir au combat en Afghanistan. Après leur mort aujourd'hui le 26 juin 2010, le nombre de médics qui ont donné leur vie au service à leurs camarades se lève à huit.
Militi Succurrimus (We hasten to aid the soldiers)
Indigo Bunting,
Canon 7D with 500L f4 lens with 1.4 II extender @ 1/1000, f8, ISO 400, exposure compensation of +1 because of the background sky.
Cropped for composition purposes. Background untouched. I had to blend away a small halo around parts of the bird due to contrast between bird and sky after sharpening following reduction of file size to 72 ppi.
Cheers,
Mike
Dawn Delight - Green Heron
This Green Heron dips his beak for a quick snack at the break of dawn.
I was lucky there was no wind - this permitted the mirror-like reflection.
Slight crop for composition purposes and a few small water spots cloned away.
Cheers, Mike
Quebec Air Show - Thunderbirds
The Quebec Air Show runs this weekend in Quebec City - and because of work, I will not be able to attend, although I will try to snap a shot or two from the roof of the building where I work where the jet fighters loop on their return back to the airport during their performance.
But, I did attend in the past and present here again a special shot taken in 2003.
Pictured here is the crew of the United States Airforce Thunderbirds as well as members of Quebec City's American community and United States Consul General to Quebec City, Susan Keogh-Fisher.
At the time, I was the photographer for Quebec City's English-language newspaper, Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph. The shot was special, in that Susan arranged for me to take this very exclusive shot!
Best success to the 2010 Thunderbird team, the Canadian Armed Forces and all other participants of this fantastic air show.
A couple of other shots from the 2003 show are found in my gallery:
http://www.pbase.com/madmedic/quebeccityairshow
Cheers,
Mike
Common Moorhen - Gallinule poule d'eau: Hanky-panky in the Marsh
Yesterday afternoon, these guys were caught in action mating at a local marsh - Léon-Provencher near Quebec City.
Not the best technical shot because of the obstructive vegetation - but for our region signifigant enough, because these birds are rarely observed.
Canon 7D with 500f4 lens with 1.4 extender @ 1/1000, f5.6, ISO 400, about 40% cropped away.
Cheers,
Mike
Cooper's Hawk At Dusk
This Cooper's Hawk was caught at almost last light. This is the most recent pic that I formatted for one of my two photo exhibits.
Canon 500L f4 lens handheld @ 1/500, f4, ISO 800.
Cheers,
Mike
Quick Dry Northern Shoveler
Canon 7D with 500L f4 lens with 1.4II extnder at 1/1000, f5.6, ISO 640, +2/3 exposure compensation.
Cropped for composition.
Cheers,
Mike
Flight Of A Mystery Goose
This unexpected extreme light grab-shot with the sun almost behind the horizon may not be the best in a technical sense, but worth formatting and presenting.
At first glance this appears to be a Canada Goose in flight, but seems to have traits of a Greater Snow Goose - a possible hybrid?
And to think, I had completed my day and was walking/limping back to my car when the bird decided to pass over my head.
Canon 7D with 500L f4 lens with 1.4 lens extender @ 1/800, f5.6, ISO 640.
Cropped for framing/composition purposes, brightened up and contrast increased due to poor light - but in this case the increase in noise is worth it.
The background was despeckled and a blur brush was applied, but I decided to keep what little detail there was in the bird by not despeckling at the price of more noise.
Cheers,
Mike
Postscript: Thanks to Louise Simard who runs a Quebec rare birds sighting web site (www.oiseauxrares.qc.ca), who informed me that the bird was reported by photographer Norman Trudel and is probably a hybrid between a Canada Goose and a Greylag Goose.
Mike
Presenting The New 2010 Model - Duckling
The Greater Snow Geese massively left Cap Tourmente the night of Monday, May 17 for their migration north, but nature has replaced my loss with the arrival of the first ducklings for me for the season.
Canon 7D with 500L f4 lens, handheld at 1/1000, f4, ISO 400,-1/3 exposure compensation, cropped in for composition purposes, some cloning of unwanted spots in water.
Cheers,
Mike
Something Fishy Going On Here - Osprey
Canon 7D with 500L f4 lens with 1.4 extender @ 1/1000, f5.6, ISO 400.
Cropped to give me a 1:2 ratio - I like to frame at 8 x 16 inches.
The high contrast is due to a late afternoon light, and I prefer a background than a typical sky shot.
Cheers,
Mike
Catch Of The Day - Osprey
Canon 7D with 500L f4 lens with 1.4 extender, @ f5.6 1/1000, ISO 400, +1 exposure compensation.
Cheers,
Mike
The Great Egret Has Arrived In Quebec City
The Great Egret has made an early appearance in the Quebec City region today.
Canon 7D with 500L f4 lens with 1.4 extender @ 1/1250, f11, ISO 400 with -2/3 exposure compensation.
Cropped for composition purposes, a bit of blurring to the upper background.
Cheers,
Mike
Sticking Together - Greater Snow Geese
Now is the time at Cap Tourmente to catch the annual spring migration of the Greater Snow Geese.
Canon 7D with the 500L f4 lens with the 1.4 extender @ 1/1600, f7.1, ISO 400 with -2/3 exposure compensation. Slight crop for composition purposes due to my always centering my birds in flight in my viewfinder.
The -2/3 exposure compensation was used to prevent blowing out the whites on the geese.
Cheers,
Mike
I'm A Coming In - Greater Snow Goose
In Memory Of All Canadian Forces Medical Technicians (Medics) Killed In Action In Afghanistan
Two More Medical Technicians Killed In Action In Afghanistan.
Master Cpl. Kristal Giesebrecht and Pte. Andrew Miller were the latest Canadian Forces Medical Technicians to die in action in Afghanistan. With their deaths today, June 26, 2010, the toll of medics who gave their lives in the service of their fellow soldiers rises to nine.
Le Caporal-chef Kristal Giesebrechtl et le Soldat Andrew Miller sont les derniers techniciens médicaux des Forces Armées Canadiennes à mourir au combat en Afghanistan. Après leur mort aujourd'hui le 26 juin 2010, le nombre de médics qui ont donné leur vie au service à leurs camarades se lève à neuf.
Militi Succurrimus (We hasten to aid the soldiers)
In Memory Of All Canadian Forces Paratroopers Killed In Action In Afghanistan
Ex coelis (From the Clouds)
Okay, So When Does The Rest Of My Body Lift Off?
This Snowy Owl is on the verge of defying gravity in a stylish fashion. Note the uplifted tail.
Cheers,
Mike
Suspended Snowy Owl
This Snowy Owl in take-off mode seems as if suspended in air.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - Early Morning Flight
This older Snowy Owl is caught in a high-contrast morning light.
Canon 7D with 500L f4 lens hand-held @ 1/2000, f8, ISO 400.
Slight crop to de-centre the image for composition purposes.
Spring Time For A Male Snowy Owl
This old male Snowy Owl springs to life in this spring-time shot. The exposed field in the background bears witness to the early spring's snow melt.
The morning side-light from the right illuminates his underwing and casts a shadow on his head - but I don't mind.
The dynamic pose and lighting for me overwhelms the obligation for the conventional approved lighting desired in bird photography circles.
Also, this bird was hard enough to get close to this winter - so I'm happy to get what I can.
Canon 7D with 500L f4 lens hand-held @ 1/1250, f10, ISO 400. Cropped to de-centre for composition purposes.
Cheers,
Mike
Hitting My Mark - Male Snowy Owl
What a great way to finish this year's Snowy Owl season with this evasive old male coming in for a landing on his post.
Canon 7D with 400L 5.6 lens @ 1/1250, f16, ISO 400. What a time NOT to have my 500 f4 lens in the field beside me!
About 30% of the image cropped away, the usual corrections. Despeckling of the background and spot desaturation of two small colour spots far in the background (probably roofs). Three small corn stalks clonned away.
Cheers,
Mike
Old Male Snowy Owl Skimmer
Canon 7D with 500L f4 lens @ 1/2500, f14, ISO 400.
Horizontally the image is full-sized, but I cropped away the top and bottom to fomat it for an 8 x 16 framing. Background despeckled. A pass of the blur brush used to blur the top fifth of the image.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - Wingtips On The Snow
This Snowy Owl's wingtips seem to glide across the surface of the snow.
Canon 7D with 500L f4 lens @ 1/4000, f8, ISO 400. Horizon tilt corrected. Cropped for a possible 8 x 16 framing, a format which pleases me. Snow reflection spots and one background brown vegetation blotch cloned away. The colours are a little bland compared to early morning or late afternoon light, but hey, beggers can't be choosers.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - Early Morning Nape Of The Earth Flight
Early morning provides for some neat colour possibilities when photographing all-white male Snowy Owls. Here I had a trade-off between colours and the possible better sharpness of the eyes that can be taken later in the day.
Canon 7D with 500L f4 lens @ 1/1600, f5.6, ISO 400. No crop, I believe, but I did add some blur to the top of the image due to a line of brown earth which was too defined.
Cheers,
Mike
Spring-Loaded Snowy Owl
The force and grace of a Snowy Owl during take-off is always a breath-taking sight to behold.
Canon 7D with the 400L f5.6 lens @ 1/2000, f9.0, ISO 200.
Here I cropped away a part of the top to format the image for a possible 8 x 16 framing. A zillion snow reflection spots were cloned away. Some Gaussian blur added to bottom and top of image.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl On Patrol At Dusk
Early winter mornings and late afternoons are great times to add colour to routine Snowy Owl photos.
This one was taken late afternoon before sunset. By this time the relative warmer temperature of the day rapidly drops as the sun sets.
Here, I just added a bit of contrast to the image with a bit of sharpening and despeckling of background noise. I cropped the top and botttom horizontal plane, because this image will be framed at 8 x 16.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - Morning Angel
Let's just say that there is no need to balance for your whites with this early morning shot of a Snowy Owl landing - there's not much pure white at this time of day.
Canon 7D with 500L f4 lens @ 1/1600, f4.5, ISO 400. Slight crop because I had to tilt-correct my horizontal plane. Gaussian blur applied throughout the image with the history brush applied to a strip just below the owl and the owl itself. A couple of specks of reflected snow removed.
Cheers,
Mike
Pick A Feather, Any Feather - Snowy Owl - Blurred
A quick and lazy attempt using gaussian blur and the history brush to blur the previous image for comparison.
Contrary to popular belief, I'm really not that much of a Photoshop wizard. This entry is also a simple demonstration that shows how many bird images on many bird photo sites are not always as initially captured. I personally have no problems with this, it's just nice to be aware.
When I worked as a photojournalist, such manipulations were forbidden. Many high-end commercial customers also forbid such practices.
My image is still not perfect - I used the image as previously formatted and not a full res version. Again, if this was for sale, I would reformat the image from scratch, and probably not use as strong a blur as seen here.
You can format these suckers a million times and never get the same result - your milage may vary. :-)
Then again, you can always not worry about the background and just enjoy the beautiful Snowy.
Cheers,
Mike
Pick A Feather, Any Feather - Snowy Owl
It was a great day last Saturday for Snowy Owl photography with good friends and lots of laughs.
This Snowy shows off a full display of feathers while landing.
Canon 7D with 500L f4 lens @ 1/3200, f8, ISO 400. Slight crop for composition purposes. A whole bunch of snow reflection spots cloned out. Other people may have done heavier Photoshop graphic work to sanitize the image by removing all snow and background imperfections (foot tracks, vegetaion, etc) but I'll let the Snowy Owl speak for itself.
If I was to frame this image for sale, then I would clean it up.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - Field Of Glory
Here again I used my trusty Canon 400L f5.6 lens @ 1/6400, f5.6, ISO 200, +2/3 exposure compensation.
Many people prefer to photograph Snowys surrounded by pure white snow to give that certain "Arctic" impression, which is fine, but hey, this is a Quebec Snowy, and Quebec Snowys are very often found in farmer's fields where crops and grain silos insure a good supply of rodents for them.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - This Is My Post!
Again with my trusty Canon 400L f5.6 lens at 1/6400 @ f5.6 ISO 200 with a + 2/3 exposure compensation.
Full-frame with no crop - hey, I didn't even have to even out my horizon for once. Three sensor dust bunnies cloned out. Simple colour correction. Background despeckled after the image was sharpened.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl - Heavenly Hover
I had to use my trusty Canon 400L f5.6 lens handheld for this shot at 1/4000, f4.5, ISO 200, +2/3 exposure compensation. Slight crop for composition purposes. The sky only was despeckled after sharpening and a few sensor dust bunnies cloned out.
Cheers,
Mike
I'm Off To See The Wizard - Snowy Owl
Another majestic sight which make the shutter release finger twitch, a Snowy Owl on the move! I never tire of spending time with these superb birds.
Taken with my usual Canon gear @ 1/4000, f7.1, ISO 200. Slightly cropped because I had to tilt-level the horizon, a couple of sensor dust bunnies cloned out.
The blue skies on this pbase page seem blocked up, I'm not sure there is much I can do to control the way pbase loads this image, but trust me, on my computer, it looks fine - even the optimized-for-web version.
Cheers,
Mike
Happy New Years - Male Snowy Owl
This male Snowy Owl was a perfect find, but the image is a bit soft. It was incredibly cold, with cruel high bone-chilling winds. There was a lot of blowing snow and in these conditions I had to change my 1.4 Exteder II on and off my 500L f4 lens a couple of times, possibly causeing a bit of fogging.
Thanks to my friend Chrisitan Chevalier and his eagle-eye who was my partner on this expedition two days ago, December 29.
This owl unfortunately is no longer where he was first spotted. He had moved to another area to rest and hide from the intense cold wind on the 30th where he was hounded by photographers who made him burn precoious calories. By the 31st, he was spotted far, far away from the usual area, he is probably still on his migration run.
Canon 7D with 500L f4 lens, 1/1250, ISO 400, cropped in a bit for composition purposes.
Cheers,
Mike
Out Of The Blue - Snowy Owl
This Snowy Owl seems to be coming out of the blue from a forest - but it is only an illusion due to lens zoom compression. Snowys prefer vast open fields similar to the tundra of the high north where they normally live.
The usual Canon gear at 1/1250, f13, ISO 400, +1/3 exposure compensation, at 400mm focal length/distance.
Cheers,
Mike
Joyeux Noël - Merry Christmas - Xrystos Narodyvsija
Mystery Snowy
The position of wings on a flying bird can make or break a photo, or at least change the look and feeling of what is being viewed.
This Snowy Owl, with only the eyes peering over a wing, gives the appearance of a mysterious character giving me the evil eye (despite being a little soft on the focus). Of course, this is one frame of a sequence of about four shots taken on this fly-by. The wings covering the eyes would render the shot much less interesting.
Taken with my usual Canon equipment using my standard shooting parametres. Slight crop for composition purposes. Although I did try to colour-correct the image, I deliberately left the wings cool - there is no law that says a Snowy Owl must be perfectly white. Because I didn't use layes (lazy me),I had to re-correct the sky colour once the Snowy was corrected.
Cheers,
Mike
I Claim This Spot - Snowy Owl
This young snowy owl shows determination while landing on the roof of a small tractor barn. Note a missing wing feather.
Canon 7D with 500L f4 IS lens at 1/1000, f4, ISO 400, +1/3 exposure compensation, slight crop for composition purposes.
Shot handheld while sitting hunched over in my car from the driver's seat shooting through an open passenger-side window!
I'm formatting this one on my laptop instead of my desk monitor - I hope the the colours are not too far off.
Cheers,
Mike
Concerning Photographing Snowy Owls At St. Vallier This Winter . . .
The past three winters, I was the first to befriend and photograph snowy owls in the St. Vallier region (and other locations) - a process that took much time and effort, with help from a couple of fellow photographers. For example, the winter of 2007-8, it wasn't till February 22 before I managed to get close to my first snowy. By that time, almost everyone gave up hope and abandoned St. Vallier.
I will not be the first do so at St. Vallier this year.
Prior to me, a good friend of mine did the same there. He also stopped at this too-well known area for the same reasons, as I will explain below.
Once the work was done for them, photographers from all over came down to photograph these birds.
I didn't mind good friends with me, and most people know that I am good-natured and giving as to snowy owl photography.
Unfortunately, my patience came to an end last winter when a new disturbing element was added to the mix.
Individuals began arriving with paying groups to profit not only from other people's work, but also off the private property owners where the owls were located. Friendly snowy owl visits became frustrating crowd control sessions with guides and high-paying clients harassing the birds.
Towards the end of the season, I abandoned St. Vallier and went elsewhere in private.
This winter, I will not get the ball rolling at St. Vallier. I have rejected several offers from guides for this season.
I will be befriending snowy owls in private and tranquility. It will also be easier to hobble on my poor mangled knees :-)
I don't know how this will affect the profiteers, perhaps they may have to do actual work for their money, but this is not my problem.
I will still occasionally visit St. Vallier, there are snow buntings there that interest me, and of course, I won't pass up the chance encounter with any snowys that I may cross.
And of course, I will maintain confidentiality as requested by friends who share their friendly owls with me.
Cheers,
Mike
First Snowy Owl Flight Shot Of the 2009-10 Season
Not the best of quality, but it was my first of the new 2009-10 season on November 17, so I'll take it as I can.
The sun was almost gone, the bird was at some distance and I had to crop away about 35%. But again, it's the symbolic first flight shot of the season.
Canon 7D with 500L f/4 lens with 1.4II extender @ 1/1000, f/8, ISO 200, -1/3 exposure compensation, and yes, handheld.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Season Off To An Early Start
This year's 2009-10 Snowy Owl season is off to an early start on November 17.
This guy basks in the late afternoon light, therefore it is to be expected that he is not white in colour. And to think, earlier in the day I was photographing Greater Snow Geese in Victoriaville wearing my trademark shorts!
A local resident who was with me at the time and I named him in French,Charlot, the feminine being Charlotte.
I'd like to thank Chuck Kling from Montreal for getting the ball rolling for me and Drummondville's Martin Isabelle for a favour given - merci les gars!
Canon 7D with the 500L f/4 lens with 1.4 II extender @ 1/1250, f8, ISO 200 handheld. Very slight crop to properly centre the owl.
Life is good!
Cheers,
Mike
Greater Snow Goose Canonball Run
This is a typical pose for a Snow Gooses coming in for a dynamic water landing.
The white in the water are other geese - some of the over 100,000 at Victoriaville's Beaudet reservoir.
Canon 7D with 500IS f4 lens @ 1/1250, f5, ISO 200.
Handheld, no crop. I've processed this pic on my laptop which for me is a little less reliable that my main frame monitor - should be okay, though.
Mike
Greater Snow Goose Alert - Head ForThe Hills!
The Greater Snow Geese at the Victoriaville Beaudet reservoir now number at least 100,000, and is the focal point for fellow photogs to try their luck in photographing at least one of them :-)
There is no problem in photographing individual birds in flight, but it is much more difficult in getting a good pic of several in the same frame.
The available light played an important part with this pic - direct daylight is not the best for white birds with the heavy contrast blowing out the whites. I was fortunate to have a thin shroud of clouds lightly veiling the sun.
Canon 7D with 500IS f4 lens @1/1000, f4, ISO 200, hand-held.
The image was not cropped, although I did clone out a small wingtip on the right edge. I used the blur tool in Photoshop to soften the background.
Cheers,
Mike
Am I Missing Something?
This Greater Snow Goose at Victoriaville's Beaudet Reservoir seems to be caught off guard by the rapid departure of his friends. Yes, the geese have finally arrived there in great numbers - a true shoot-fest for Snow Geese photographers.
The geese will stay till mid to late November before continuing their migration.
Canon 7D with 500mm f4 lens with 1.4 II Extender on a tripod @ 1/1250, F18, ISO 400, - 2/3 exposure compensation to prevent blowing out the whites.
Uncropped.
Cheers,
Mike
Hawk On The Move
Migrating raptors is my latest challange, and a few good opportunities presented themselves for me to practice on. Boy, what a spot - you only have a second or two to react when the unseen birds clear the trees above you. Once they see you, your opportunity is lost as they take evasive action to avoid you.
Canon 7D with 500mm IS f4 lens @ 1/1250 handheld, f4, ISO 400, +1 2/3 exposure compensation. Cropped vertically. A bit of blue lost during post-processing replaced.
I realize that nornally I'd probably have more in-focus keepers if I used a tripod with a 500, but in the physical setting where I see my birds, reaction time handheld is much quicker for me. To facilitate carrying the lens and camera, I now use a military one-point tactical rifle sling, which keeps my gear snug across my chest, ready for quick use. It is composed of a bungee cord and quick release snaps and is worn across a shoulder and your back.
Cheers,
Mike
Early Breakfast On The Fly
This Green Heron makes off with a very early morning breakfast.
Canon 50D with 500 f4 IS lens and 1.4 II Extender @1/640, f 5.6, ISO 400 and a slight crop for composition purposes.
Cheers,
Mike
Greater Snow Geese Have Returned To Cap Tourmente!
The fall migration of the Greater Snow Geese has begun at Cap Tourmente.
For now, there are no goslings with the flock - only adult geese. These are normally geese which have no parental responsabilities. The families with the goslings take a little longer to make the trip.
Canon 50D with 500IS f4 lens with 1.4 II extender mounted on a tripod. Uncropped @ 1/400, f7.1, ISO 400, + 1/3 exposure compensation.
There was cloud cover, which explains the slow shutter speed and + 1/3 exposure compensation and soft look. I would usually use a negative exposure compensation due to the risk of blowing out the whites of the birds.
Cheers,
Mike
How Much Wood Can A Woodchuck Chuck . . .
. . . if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
Well, not exactly a woodchuck, but a Pileated Woodpecker drilling away to find his next snack.
Canon 50D with the 500L f4 lens and 1.4 II extender @1/640 at f5.6, + 1/3 exposure compensation.
As usual, cropped for composition. As usual, no flash but I did use a tripod.
Cheers,
Mike
Can Anyone Hear Me? Great Egret
Canon 50D with 500L IS f4 lens and 1.4 II Extender @ 1/800, f11, ISO 400, and -1/3 exposure compensation.
Slight crop for composition purposes. One annoying branch clonned away.
Cheers
Mike
My Gift To You - Wood Duck
This Wood Duck seems to present a feathered gift to me. Actually, he was in the process of a very long preening session.
I took this shot last week in the company of Daniel Houx. I see that another good friend Dom Cantin, beat me to it to put this bird on his site yesterday. :-)
Canon 50D with 500IS L f4 lens @ 1/800, f7.1, ISO 400 with a monopod and the Jobu Jr 2 gimbal.
Slight crop for composition purposes.
Cheers,
Mike
Bear With Me For A Moment
It just takes your breath away being so close to such an admirable animal. This bear was foraging for branches laden with berries.
Canon 50D with 500L f4 IS lens @ 1/320,f4, ISO 800, +2 exposure compensation.
Slight crop to avoid unwanted branch. This was an evening shot in the shade with the sun already on the horizon. This explains the high ISO, low shutter speed, +2 exposure compensation, the use of IS and magenta tint.
Cheers,
Mike
Reach Out And Touch Someone - Snowy Owl
Quebec City is in the middle of a heat wave. Although many people welcome it after a cold rainy summer, I'm not made for hot and humid weather.
Therefore, I check back to past Snowy Owl images to cool off.
Canon 40D with 100-400L IS lens @ 1/1600, f10, ISO 200, + 1/3 exposure compensation.
Cropped for composition purposes to offset the owl from the center.
Cheers,
Mike
Grin And Bear It - Cap Tourmente Black Bear
Black bears are a common sight at Cap Tourmente nature reserve and make for an interesting change from the usual bird photos.
Canon 50D with the 500L f4 IS lens @ 1/250, f4, ISO 640 on a tripod (I do hand-hold this lens occasionally).
This early evening mosquito-filled image is full-frame without crop, and yes the bear was close. The sky was clear, except for a huge cloud covering the setting sun. Just as well, because the sun was behind the bear and the cloud acted as a veil to soften the light.
Cheers.
Mike
Feeding Time At Dusk At The Cooper's
No light, no flash, but lots of action.
Here, a young Coopers hawk enjoys his evening meal before bedtime.
Canon 50D with 500L f4 lens @ 1/500, f4, ISO 800, +2/3 exposure compensation.
Slight crop to remove excess upper and lower background. Because of the evening scene with its low dusk light and overcast sky, I kept sharpening, contrast and noise reduction to a minimum to convey the feeling of the moment. To have used flash, even fill-flash, well . . . I would have an obvious flash image.
Cheers,
Mike
Tippy Toe Tension For Great Heron
With the recent terrible weather, shooting opportunities have been rare in the Quebec City region. I don't have my early morning or late afternoon light as often as I would like.
Therefore, I make due with what I have - in this case, a bit of early afternoon sunshine.
Canon 50D with 500L f4 lens with 1.4II extender @ 1/800, f8, ISO 400. I had to rotate the image slightly to correct the horizon, otherwise the image would have been full-framed. I tried not to be too aggressive with sharpening.
Cheers,
Mike
Dawn Patrol - Greater Snow Geese
It's the early bird that gets the worm . . . err, I mean, gets the picture!
Extreme morning light made for a great image with these Greater Snow Geese coming in for a water-landing at Cap Tourmente this spring.
Canon 40D with 400L f5.6 lens @ 1/1000, f5.6, ISO 400. Cropped for composition purposes. A light passage of the blur tool to reduce background noise.
Cheers,
Mike
Getta Grip On Life - Snowy Owl
With the lousy cold summer we've been having, I might as well post a picture that almost fits the weather!
Canon 40D with 100-400L lens @ 1/1250, f10, ISO 400 with + 1/3 exposure compensation.
Cropped horizontally because I print at times in a 8 x 16 format. Despeckled after sharpening to reduce noise in the image, except for the owl. Smaller amount of sharpening to give a softer overall look.
Cheers,
Mike
Bath Time For Cooper's Hawk
This young bather is one of five young yearlings residing at Montreal's Botanical Garden. The shot was taken early in the morning at ground level, with a beam of light directly on the bird. A memorable experience indeed.
Canon 50D with 500 f4 lens @ 1/800, f9, ISO 400.
Slight crop for composition purposes.
Cheers,
Mike
Sneaky Snow Goose On The Loose
Taken during the spring migration of Greater Snow Geese at Cap Tourmente. I found this shot a bit amusing, mostly because the geese are usually see in the open.
Although the lighting is not dramatic, I was interested in the rich green of flora, because the geese at Cap Tourmente in the spring are usually surrounded by the colours of early spring - browns, ocre, etc.
Canon 40D with 400L f5.6 lens @ 1/1250, f5.6, ISO 200, -1/3 exposure compensation (to avoid blowing out the whites).
Cropped for composition purposes, because as usual, I center moving birds in my view finder. I did blur a bit more the background to isolate the goose.
Cheers,
Mike
Eastern Kingbird Zipping Through
Small birds on the fly are always a challenge - they are so rapid.
Sometimes you do manage to get a good shot, but unfortunately either the framing is poor or the background ruins the image. So hey, see if you can salvage it! Why waste an otherwise good image?
Here, the bird is in the clear, but I had to crop the image lengthwise to work around distracting branches. Believe me, there is no law that says an image has to be in a standard format size, for example 8 x 10.
Framing vertically or horizontally is often quite pleasing. Also, people often have off-standard spaces on their walls which are suited to this type of framing/formatting.
Canon 40D with 400 5.6L lens @ 1/800, f5.6, ISO 400, + 1/3 exposure compensation.
Cheers,
Mike
Fantasia Blue Jay
Having a bit of fun here with some extreme light, my new 500 f4 lens and an old friend at the Marais du Nord nature trail north of Quebec City. The bird seems to be floating on the wooden hand rail.
Taken at almost last light with Canon 50D, 500 f4 lens @ 1/800, f8, ISO 200 with -2/3 exposure compensation. As per usual, no flash here, I'm not a big flash user although I do use it occasionally - I just love this lens.
This shot was taken horizontally - I just cropped it at full height vertically.
Cheers,
Mike
When Will I Be Able To Fly With These?
Here is a first effort with my new 500 f4 lens.
It was a good test because of the poor lighting presented before me at the end of the day and with light blocked by high trees. I would not have achieved this result with my beloved 400 5.6. The stabilized f4 made the difference.
I like the result, the image evokes a greater feeling for me than if it was taken in full direct sun light.
With ducklings and other water fowl, the trick is to get as low as you can so that you are at their level. Here, I was flat on my belly at the edge of the water, with the lens and camera hand-held and lens plate practically on the ground.
Canon 50D with 500 f4 lens @ 1/400, f4, ISO 400 cropped for composition.
Cheers,
Mike
Time To Face A New Dawn - Greater Snow Geese
I've fallen so far behind with the upkeep of my site that friends are beginning to ask me whether I have stopped taking photos of birds.
Quite the contrary, I'm still at it - and with the purchase of a new 500 f4 lens this week, there will be more to come.
However, time is short and I do find it difficult now to upkeep the site. By the time I get home filter my images and back them up, it's time for beddy-bye.
Anyway, here's one that I like, taken this spring at Cap Tourmente wildlife reserve during the annual migration. It was taken at the crack of dawn at a specific spot and time that I visit.
Here, I know that the light will give me this effect - especially when there is no wind to disturb the reflections in the water.
Canon 40D with 400L 5.6 lens @ 1/1000, f5.6, 400 ISO, cropped for composition. I didn't balance for whites because I wanted to preserve the warmer light on the goose on the right.
Cheers,
Mike
Eastern Kingbird On The Wing
This shot was taken at Les Marais du Nord, north of Quebec City.
The treatment of the photo is different from my others in that I heavily modified the background.
The shot is almost full-frame, but originally contained a variety of nagging branches in two uncomplementary layers in the foreground.
The upper half of the background remained as is, but I used it to clone the lower half.
I could have been a bit more agressive with my sharpening of the bird.
I'm not sure I like the image as is - the bird seems lost within the background. Perhaps I should have left in a bit of the branches to give the bird more depth.
Decisions, decisions.
Canon 40D with 400L 5.6 lens @ 1/1000, f 5.6, ISO 400, + 1/3 exposure compensation.
Cheers,
Mike
Call Of The Wild - Greater Snow Goose
The Greater Snow Geese of Cap Tourmente in the spring appear a little different than geese at other locations.
Because they delight in eating the roots of an aquatic plant, the Three-square Bulrush or Common Three-square, at low tide, their appearance is less than clean and white as they should be. Iron minerals tint their head feathers as the geese stick their heads deep into the mud to gain access to the roots. The plant is called Scirpe d'Amérique in French.
Canon 40D with 400L lens @ 1/1250, f11, ISO 400, - 1/3 exposure compensation so as not to blow out the whites. Slightly cropped for composition purposes.
Cheers,
Mike
Snow Goose On The Loose At Cap Tourmente
Canon 40D with 400L lens @ 1/1000, f10, ISO 400, -1/3 exposure compensation. Cropped for composition.
Thousands of Greater Snow Geese have arrived for their annual spring migration halt at the Cap Tourment national wildlife area - a sure sign of spring.
Cap Tourmente opens its 2009 season to the public as of tomorrow, April 25.
Cheers,
Mike
I Spy With My Little Eye . . . Curious Snowy Owl
Canon 40D with 100-400L lens @1/1250, f9, ISO 400. Cropped for compsition purposes.
Cheers,
Mike
Dynamic Backlit Snowy Owl
Backlit Snowy Owls can present a powerful visual experience to the observer and photographer. The effect of dynamic movement of the bird is accentuated in this example. Remember, Snowy Owls don't always have to be white.
Canon 40 D with 100-400L lens @ 1/1250, f11, + 1/3 exposure compensation.
Cropped for composition purposes.
Cheers,
Mike
This Is My Best Side - Snowy Owl
Canon 40D with 100-400L lens @ 1/1600, f14, ISO 400, slight crop for composition purposes.
Cheers,
MIke
Serious Skimming Snowy Owl
Canon 40D with 100-400L lens @ 1/1600, f14, ISO 400, - 1/3 exposure compensation, and yes, at 170mm lens focal length.
Cropped to a 1:2 frame format.
Cheers,
Mike
Get Off My Tail! Hawk Owl
Canon 40D with 100-400L lens @ 1/1250, f10, ISO 400, + 2/3 exposure compensation, 370 lens focal length.
Cropped for composition purposes.
I think every bird photographer in the Quebec City region has a pic of this bird.
Cheers,
Mike
Spring-Loaded Snowy Owl
Canon 40D with 100-400L lens @ 1/1600, f16, ISO 400, - 1/3 exposure compensation, 340mm lens focal length.
This horizontal pic was cropped vertically.
EXPOSITION: Exposium des arts - La Ruée vers l'art au carrefour, du 2 au 5 avril, 2009, au Carrefour Charlesbourg, 8500 Henri-Bourassa, Québec.
Cheers,
Mike
All-Embracing Snowy Owl
Canon 40D with 100-400L lens @ 1/1600, f16, ISO 400 at 210mm lens focal length.
Venez me voir:
EXPOSITION: Exposium des arts - La Ruée vers l'art au carrefour, du 2 au 5 avril, 2009, au Carrefour Charlesbourg, 8500 Henri-Bourassa, Québec.
Mike
Out Of The Blue - Snowy Owl
Canon 40D with 100-400L lens @ 1/1600, f16.0, ISO 400 at 105mm lens focal length.
Slightly cropped for composition purposes, reflective snow specks cloned away.
Cheers,
Mike
My Eyes Adore You - Snowy Owl
You've just got to melt at the sight of those eyes.
Canon 40D with 100-400L lens @ 1/1600, f5.6, 200 ISO, -1/3 exposure compensation, 400mm lens focal distance.
Cropped for composition purposes, and a ton of reflective white specks clonned out.
Cheers,
Mike
I'm The King Here - Male Snowy Owl
While the female Snowy Owls are white with dark markings, the males lose these darker markings with each moult and replace these feathers with whiter ones.
In other words, the older the male, the whiter they generally are.
Cheers,
Mike
Against The Elements - Snowy Owl
For the bird photographer purists and those who sell images commercially, this shot breaks a few rules, especially the sight of those corn stalks in the right lower foreground.
But with that blowing snow in the background, it’s all worth it.
For artists, there are no rules – as I’ve said before, there is the emotion that an image evokes for the photographer, which of course may not be shared by all. In a quest to sanitize an image, some people may forget that in nature there are actually trees, horizons, fence posts and vegetation – yes, really! :-)
Canon 40D with 400 f5.6L lens, @ 1/1250, f8, ISO 200, -1/3 exposure compensation, cropped slightly for composition purposes, post behind the owl slightly blurred to break the lines.
Cheers,
Mike
Bitter Cold Morning Glory - Snowy Owl
Canon 40D @ 400 f5.6L lens @ 1/1250, f5.6, ISO 400, +2/3 exposure compensation, horizon straightened and slightly cropped for composition.
Further proof that a Snowy Owl doesn't always have to be colour-balanced to pure white.
Cheers,
Mike
I'm All Fired Up - Snowy Owl
Everyone who has shot Snowys has the shot of the owl in broad daylight; many shoot with hard noon light and maybe even using full flash and formatted with the whites balanced to pure white.
But it’s nice to get off the beaten track and try some extreme stuff, like this Snowy Owl shot..
By the way, the –2/3 compensation may look like a little unusual for a shot in extreme low light, but remember that there is a huge setting sun to the left and my goal here was not to blow out the image as the owl flew in front of the setting sun.
Canon 40D with 400 f5.6L lens, @ 1/640, f9, ISO 400, - 2/3 exposure compensation, cropped for composition purposes.
And yes, despite being all fired-up, it was still cold as hell!
Cheers,
Mike
Don't Move That Post!
Action and that decisive moment are important elements for the keeper shot.
Canon 40D with 100-400L lens @ 1/1250, f11, ISO 400, + 1/3 exposure compensation.
Slight crop for composition purposes. A telephone pole in the left background cloned out as well as a couple of corn twigs in the foreground. Otherwise, the usual digital image processing.
If I was to reformet the image, I would probably tilt it to level the horizon.
Cheers,
Mike
Fast As A Hawk - Northern Hawk Owl
Canon 40D with 100-400L lens @ 1/1250, f13, ISO 400, +1 exposure compensation.
Cropped for composition purposes – white balance corrected.
The light conditions were not that great, with a very cloudy sky – the shot almost gives you the feeling of a black and white image.
Cheers,
Mike
Northern Hawk Owl On The Move
Canon 40D with 400 f5.6 lens @1/1250, f7.1, ISO 200.
Slightly cropped for composition purposes.
Cheers,
Mike
Young Snowy Owl Amusing Himself In Blowing Snow
Canon 40D with 400mm f5.6 USM lens @ 1/1250, f13, ISO 400
Snowy Owl Dusk Patrol
As they say, it's all in the light!
Canon 40 D with 400L 5.6 lens @ 1/1250 f5.6, 400 ISO
Cheers,
Mike
Friendly Dispute - Snow Buntings
Two joys of winter for me are the arrival of Snowy Owls and the amusing animations of Snow Buntings.
Canon 40D with 400mm f5.6L lens, @ 1/1250, f11, ISO 400, + 1/3 exposure compensation
Cheers,
Mike
Joyeux Noël - Merry Christmas - Xrystos Narodyvsija
Wannabe Snowy Owl Opera Singer
Snow Duck
A heavy snow fall is no excuse for bird photographers to hibernate at home.
There are lots of opportunities out there, and today’s modern digital cameras can handle the most difficult of light conditions. Get out there and enjoy!
Canon 40D with 70-200 f2.8L lens, @ 1/800, f4, ISO 640, +2/3 exposure compensation at 185mm lens focal distance. Cropped vertically.
Cheers,
Mike
Free As A Bird - Snowy Owl
The beauty and variety of flight shots of Snowy Owls never cease to amaze and captivate me.
Canon 40D with 100-400L lens @ 1/1600, f10, ISO 200, + 1/3 exposure compensation, AI Servo AF, and 105mm lens focal distance.
Here I had to rotate the image because the horizon was at a very bad tilt - yes, we do get a little too excited when in the presence of the Prince of Snow!
Cheers,
Mike
First Snowy Owl Of The Season. Where Is The Snow?
Snowy Owls have begun to arrive in southern Quebec in great numbers and very, very early this season.
These, of a young Snowy, are my first of this season taken yesterday.
This is the second of three pics that I'm posting of yesterday's encounter.
Canon 40D with 100-400L lens @1/1000 @ f5.6, ISO 640, +1 exposure compensation at 400mm lens focal distance.
Cropped for composition.
The light was terrible, with a late afternoon grey skies, and it was a challenge trying to photograph with a camera and a camcorder/monopod. The camera took priority with the owl in fligt, with the camcorder and monopod hanging from my wrist.
Regradless, there is a beautful aspect of having the Snowy photographed without the usual snow.
Cheers,
Mike
Where Is The Snow? First Snowy Owl Of The Season
Snowy Owls have begun to arrive in southern Quebec in great numbers and very, very early this season.
These, of a young Snowy, are my first of this season taken yesterday.
This is the first of three pics that I'm posting of yesterday's encounter.
Canon 40D with 100-400L lens @1/1000 @ f5.6, ISO 640, +1 exposure compensation at 400mm lens focal distance.
Cropped for compostion.
The light was terrible, with a late afternoon grey skies, and it was a challenge trying to photograph with a camera and a camcorder/monopod. The camera took priority with the owl in fligt, with the camcorder and monopod hanging from my wrist.
Regradless, there is a beautful aspect of having the Snowy photographed without the usual snow.
Cheers,
Mike
First Snowy Owl Of The Season. Where Is The Snow?
Snowy Owls have begun to arrive in southern Quebec in great numbers and very, very early this season.
These, of a young Snowy, are my first of this season taken yesterday.
This is the third of three pics that I'm posting of yesterday's encounter.
Canon 40D with 100-400L lens @1/1000 @ f5.6, ISO 640, +1 exposure compensation at 400mm lens focal distance.
Cropped for compostion.
The light was terrible, with a late afternoon grey skies, and it was a challenge trying to photograph with a camera and a camcorder/monopod. The camera took priority with the owl in fligt, with the camcorder and monopod hanging from my wrist.
Regradless, there is a beautful aspect of having the Snowy photographed without the usual snow.
Cheers,
Mike
Friends Of Autumn
The Greater Snow Geese have arrived in force at the reservoir at Victoriaville.
Canon 40D with the 400 f5.6L lens @ 1/1250 sec., f16, -1/2 exposure compensation, ISO400.
Cheers,
Mike
Cleared For Takeoff - Greater Snow Geese
Life is unfolding as it should with the autumn return of migrating Greater Snow Geese.
Here, they were disturbed by a passer-by and are preparing to takeoff.
Canon 40D with the 100-400 f4.5-5.6 lens @ 1/1000, f14, ISO 200, @ 400mm lens focal distance.
I threw in a –2 exposure compensation so as not to blow out the white of the geese in the low contrasting light.
Some photogs would probably blur the background leaves a bit, which is fine, but today I left them as they were.
Cheers,
Mike
Red-Tailed Hawk
There is nothing better than being with good friends when photographing birds, especially when trying out something new.
Thanks to Robert Houde and his wife France for sharing his secrets and knowledge on where and how to photograph these beautiful birds.
It was great having another good birding photographer, Dom Cantin, who was also initiated, with us too.
Canon 40D with the 400 5.6L lens @ 1/800, f6.3, ISO 500, + 1 1/3 exposure compensation, fill-flash, at 400mm lens focal distance.
The usual image processing/treatment. Cropped for composition vertically. I decided to leave the cloud in the lower left corner.
I forget to mention - a good book to help observers and photographers identify birds of prey in flight is: Hawks - From Every Angle -
How to identify raptors in flight
By Jerry Ligouori
With forward by David A. Sibly
Mike
Snowy Owl's Morning Sprint
As I’ve mentioned before, Snowy Owls do not have to be all white when photographing them.
Here, in the early morning winter’s light, we see that pure white is not on the artist’s palate.
Canon 40D with 100-400L lens @ 1/1250, f5.6, ISO 400, +1/3 exposure compensation, cropped for composition because I always use centre metering in AI mode for flying birds.
I don’t recall the temperature, but trust me, I wasn’t wearing shorts!
“Remember you are creating art and for this the rules are totally different . . . in fact there aren’t any.” Andy Rouse – Wildlife Photographer
Affronting Winter's First Light - Snowy Owl
Well, what can I say?! You just had to be there at 06:13 on a bitter cold winter's morning to catch something like this. No halancing for whites here, which in some bird photography circles would be anathema :-)
Canon 40D with 100-400L lens @ 1/1250, f5.6, ISO 400, + 1/3, at 400mm lens focal length.
Cropped for composition and horizon straightened.
Cheers,
Mike
I Don't Need Your Snowshoes, I've Got My Own - Snowy Owl
Canon 40D with 100-400L lens @ 1/1600, f10, ISO 200, * 1/3 exposure compensation, 300mm lens focal distance
Cheers,
Mike
I'm Off To See The Wizard
As we gain more and more experience, bird photographers become more critical of the pics that they take. With this shot, when the original size is viewed close up on my monitor, I'm not 100% satsfied with the focus - especially of the eyes. Most people probably wouldn't see the difference when framed at various smaller sizes, though.
A few years ago, I wouldn't have given it a thought, but today I have to look twice and be more critical of whether to accept or reject a photo. There are older photos on my site that I would not post today.
But, ego being what it is, it was the light that played in the balance for me in keeping this shot.
Then, there is also the point that there are many people out there less critical than fellow bird photographers. They prefer looking at the whole of the image to appreciate the feelings that it evokes, such as artists, rather than concentrate on some technical detail. Decisions, decision,.
Canon 40D with 100-400 lens @ 1/1600, f6.3, with +2/3 compensation, ISO 200 at 400mm lens focal distance.
Cheers,
Mike
Yum, Yum, This Is Tasty - Great Blue Heron
This young Great Blue Heron has just caught an afternoon snack at the Leon Provencher marsh near Quebec City.
For a change, I decided to try out a technique called digiscopy, photography using a spotting scope as the primary lens.
For this shot, I used a Kowa TSN 884 Prominar ED spotting scope with a TSN PZ 680-1000mm f7.7-11.4 lens adapter married to my Canon 40D camera mounted on a tripod.
The shot was taken at 680mm (not including the 40D’s camera crop factor) at about f7.7 @ ISO 400. It was slightly cropped because I required to format it for an 8.5 x 11 presentation.
Thanks to my employer at Quebec City’s boutique, Le Naturaliste, who let me take the equipment out for a test drive.
Cheers,
Mike
This Is My Post And I'm Not Letting You Have It - Snowy Owl
Hi Everyone:
It’s me again, Snowy. Mike has decided to give his flight shots a rest and post a portrait of me instead.
Modesty isn’t my strong point. As you can see, whether I’m flying or sitting on my post, I’m a thing of beauty to look at!
For this shot, Mike used his older 30D with 400 f5.6 lens, @ 1/4000, f5.6, 200 ISO.
Well, enough of that, I want to rest a while and bask in the warm light Catch you soon!
Cheers,
Snowy
Full-Spread Departure - Snowy Owl
Here is another one that Mike took of me just as I was taking off.
He cropped this image of me this way because he at times likes to frame at 8 X 16 inches.
Canon 40D with 100-400L lens @ 1/1600, f9.0, 200 ISO @ 260mm lens focal distance.
Cheers,
Snowy
I've Lost My Water Droplet - Duckling
There are no two ways about it - people just love ducklings, espeecially when presented with cute poses.
Here, our friend is caught with a water droplet falling from its beak and its reflection in the water.
Canon 40D with 100-400L lens @ 1/1000, f5.6, 400 ISO at 400mm lens focal length.
Slightly cropped and rotated for composition.
Cheers,
Mike
Snowy Owl's Dawn Patrol
As promised, here is another picture of me taken by Mike last winter. With the first morning’s light, my feathers are not white – not even the snow. And I’ve got to tell you, with the wind chill factor, it was cruelly frigid at this time of day. At least I’m protected by my feathers and down, but I must admit I don’t know how Mike and his friends manage to tough it out – it must be hard on the camera equipment and the fingers!
Canon 40D, with 100-400 lens @ 170mm lens focal distance, 1/1250, f6.3, 400ISO, = 1/3 exposure compensation.
Slightly cropped for composition purposes.
Cheers, Snowy
Olympic Games Workout
This Mallard duck is working out to get in shape for the Beijing Olympic Games - and hopefully will not become a Beijing Duck :-)
Has Anyone Seen Some Juicy Bugs? Eastern Kingbird
Canon 40D with 100-400 lens @ 1/800, f7.1, ISO 400 @ 365mm lens focal distance.
Cropped vertically.
Cheers,
Mike
Just Me And My Shadow - Snowy Owl
I told you I’d be back!
Mike caught me here skimming the ground with some shadow from my wings with his Canon 40D with 100-400 lens @ 1/1250, f10, ISO 200, with +1/3 compensation @ 400mm lens focal distance.
It appears that Mike didn’t like the uneven texture of the snow behind me, so he blurred it a bit – the sneaky devil.
Cheers,
Snowy
Happy Days Are Here Again!
This Common Yellowthroat Warbler sings his heart out near Cap Tourmente National Wildlife Reserve.
Canon 40D with 400mm f5.6L USM lens @ 1/800, f8, ISO 400.
Slight crop for composition purposes.
Cheers,
Mike
Attack Of The Killer Snow Geese
These Greater Snow Geese seem to be coming out from some dark abyss.
Tired of the standard photo with all those rules that are imposed on you?
Why not try something different. There is no law that says that you can’t choose a different format than the standard 2/3 or 3/4 proportion format. And who says that Snow Geese have to be shot against a standard blue sky with standard lighting?
Flying flock shots are harder than you think. You have to fight the tendency of zooming in too close, because depth of field is lost in doing so. Try to focus on one bird, one that is closer to your lens and not lost within the flock.
Canon 40D with 400 f5.6L lens @ 1/1000, f10, ISO 200, at – 2/3 compensation to prevent blowing out of whites.
Cheers,
Mike
The Water Is A Little Cool Today
This Blue Jay is making sure the feathers don't get wet.
Canon 40D with 400 f5.6L lens @ 1/1000, f6.3, ISO 320, with - 1/3 compensation @ 400mm focal distance (not including digital sensor crop factor).
I often give a small negative compensation with birds that have a bit of white feathers on a basically darker image to prevent blowing out details in the white.
Cheers,
Mike
It's Great To Be Alive!
Ducklings are always a hit with people - it's hard not to like them and their cute and amusing behaviours.
Canon 40D with 100-400L lens @ 1/800, f5.6, ISO 400, -1/3 compensation @ 260mm focal distance.
Cropped for composition purposes. I often dodge the eyes to remove shadows so that we can properly see them.
Cheers,
Mike
I Will Be Heard!
Every now and then, lady luck gives me the funny duck.
With this humorous shot, I had to decide whether to crop for composition horizontally or vertically – with moving or flying birds I often use the centre AF metering point which results in all shots being too centred.
By cropping vertically, I had to bring in the head and beak closer for that added punch. Cropping horizontally would have given more of the duck’s body – it’s great to have choices in life!
Canon 40D with 100-400L lens @ 1/1000, f5.6, ISO 400 @ 220mm focal distance.
Can't A Snowy Owl Have A Bit Of Privacy, Please?
We all know that Snowy Owls are basically white, right?
Well, when photographing outdoors, what our brain interprets as white is often not so.
For example, when looking at snow in the shade, early morning, or late afternoon we rarely see pure white, but our brain and our expectations interprets what we see as white.
Here, with a low February winter setting sun at about 17:00h, our white Snowy Owl takes on the wonderful colours of reflected light.
Although this humorous behavioural image is amusing to observe, it is an important observation for bird photographers who specialize in flight shots. Birds often defecate prior to taking off in flight. It is a warning for us to get ready for that much-anticipated takeoff.
Canon 40D with 100-400L lens @ 1/1000, f6.3, ISO 400 at 360mm focal distance. Slight crop for composition purposes.
Cheers,
Mike
Have My Wings Fully Grown Yet?
The ducklings at out local swamp are rapidly loosing their cute baby look. With feathers replacing down and their beaks taking more and more the form of adult Mallard ducks, the ducklings nonetheless haven't fully grown their flight feathers.
This little bundle shakes off excess water after following mom's lead in a session of dabbling.
Canon 40D with 100-400L lens, @ 1/800, f5.6, ISO 400, - 1/3 compensation at 400mm focal distance.
I often underexpose a bit to prevent burnout of white under-feathers in a relatively dark image when ducks or ducklings spread their wings.
Cheers,
Mike
I Told You Mike Had More Shots Of Me And My Friends . . . Snowy Owl
Well, I (this is Mike) learn something new every day. Finding this blog option of Pbase will permit me to add additional information with my images from time to time, for example, shot details.
Here, I used my "older" Canon 30D with my 100-400L lens at f.6.3, 1/3200, ISO 200, +2/3 compensation at 180mm focal distance. I at times carry two cameras while photographing Snows, the other a Canon 40D with the 400L fixed lens.
Both lenses have their advantages and disadvantages - in this case, at only 180mm, the 100-400 came in handy.
This winter was a little more difficult, I had to leave one camera behind, trading it for a cane because of knee problems.
Cheers,
Mike
Here Is A New Feather For My Collection
Reflective Screamer Thundering In
Full Of Colour And All In A Flutter
Recalling A Winter Friend - Snowy Owl
Hey, This Is The Only Thing In My Neighbourhood That Is Almost As Blue As Me!
Any Day Now I'll Take-Off
Joyeux Noël - Merry Christmas - Xrystos Narodyvsija
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
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 image's low optimised resolution - the original is okay.
Cheers,
Mike