Join Me at DeSoto to Learn and Photograph Shorebirds

DeSoto #3

I will be heading back to DeSoto next Monday afternoon and returning after my Friday morning photo session. Nobody has signed up for the IPT. If you would like to join me for all or for some of it, or receive discount info, please get in touch e-mail or try me on my cell at 863-221-2372. Please leave a message and shoot me a text if I do not pick up.

Your Call?

Which is the weakest of today’s four featured images? Why? I have a clear choice.

Which is the strongest image? Why?

What’s Up?

Sebastian Inlet has been beautiful, different, and amazing every morning. On Wednesday, the cove was packed with huge schools of mullet being pursued from below by predatory fish that surely included jacks and Snook. On Thursday, there were 40 Ospreys fishing the inlet at 8am. That said, I did not come up with a single family jewels-type Osprey action image. In part because there was lots of fishing but not much catching.

Today is Friday 27 October 2023. I will have another shot at the Ospreys this morning and then drive back to ILE around midday. Wherever you are an whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day.

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This image was created on 18 October 2023 at Fort DeSoto. Seated on damp sand and working off the tilted rear monitor behind a flattened Robus RC-5558 Vantage Series 3 Carbon Fiber Tripod topped by a Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro, I used the Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens, the Sony FE 2.0x Teleconverter, and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). ISO 1000. The exposure was determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear wheel: 1/1250 second at f/8 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was perfect. AWB at 6:24:58pm late on sunny afternoon. Tracking: Zone AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed perfectly even at 1200mm. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #1: Marbled Godwit with invertebrate tidbit in bill

Sexing Godwits

In general, the bills of adult male godwits are shorter than the bills of adult female godwits. While the bill lengths of some adult godwits overlap, birds with unusually short or unusually long bills can be accurately sexed. The bird in Image #1 is clearly a female.

Note — the bills of juvenile godwits may not be fully grown on their first southbound migration.

This image was also created on 18 October 2023 at Fort DeSoto. Seated on damp sand and working off the tilted rear monitor, behind a flattened Robus RC-5558 Vantage Series 3 Carbon Fiber Tripod topped by a Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro, I used the Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter, and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.. ISO 1000. The exposure was determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear wheel: 1/1600 second at f/5.6 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was perfect. AWB at 6:24:58pm late on sunny afternoon. Tracking: Upper Center Zone/AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy a larger, sharper high-res version. Image #2: Willet — non-breeding adult

Yellow Light — Yellow/Green Water

Images 2, 3, and 4 were among the strangest I have ever optimized. When I brought the Willet image into Adobe Camera Raw, it was obvious that the bird had a strong yellow cast. I removed that easily in Color Mixer. But when I tried to make the water bluer, I was in for a surprise — the color of the water was actually somewhere between yellow and green.

I used a 40% layer of Image > Auto Tone to blue it up a bit.

This image was also created on 18 October 2023 at Fort DeSoto. Again, seated on damp sand and working off the tilted rear monitor, behind a flattened Robus RC-5558 Vantage Series 3 Carbon Fiber Tripod topped by a Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro, I used the Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter, and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.. ISO 1000. The exposure was determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear wheel: 1/1250 second at f/6.3 (stopped down 1/3-stop) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was perfect. AWB at 6:30:58pm late on sunny afternoon. Tracking: Upper Center Zone/AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy a larger, sharper high-res version. Image #3: Shorebirds — group of three

What Are They?

Can you identify the three shorebirds in this image? Give it a try and leave a comment. One should be easy.

If not, get yourself a copy of my Shorebirds; Beautiful Beachcombers.

This image was also created on 18 October 2023 at Fort DeSoto. Again, seated on damp sand and working off the tilted rear monitor, behind a flattened Robus RC-5558 Vantage Series 3 Carbon Fiber Tripod topped by a Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro, I used the Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter, and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.. ISO 1000. The exposure was determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear wheel: 1/1250 second at f/6.3 (stopped down 1/3-stop) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was perfect. AWB at 6:32:13pm late on sunny afternoon. Tracking: Center Zone/AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy a larger, sharper high-res version. Image #4: Wilson’s Plovers inbound flight

100% Flight Miracle

You cannot win the lottery unless you buy a ticket. And you cannot create an image unless you press the shutter button, no matter how impossible the situation.

I had a nice flock of shorebirds in front of me when the all took flight suddenly and flew out over the bay. Doing flight photography while working off the rear screen is beyond difficult because you cannot get your eye to the viewfinder to acquire focus and frame the shot.

I tried but failed to get focus on a large group that was flying low. As a last ditch effort, I pointed the lens at a small group of plovers flying right at me. I fired off three frames. Amazingly, Tracking Zone acquired focus on the bird on our left and tracked it accurately. The image design was perfect but only one had the subject sharp. Bingo!

Typos

With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.