Mallards from Yesterday and a GBH from before the Thaw

There was over a dozen mallards in a break in the ice yesterday at Heinz NWR in Tinicum.  They didn't immediately fly away at the sight of me and my 400 5.6L, which is the usual response by the  waterfowl at the refuge.  With the exception of one, all of these photos are uncropped or 75% on the original image.  Here's some of my favorites:

I like how the sun illuminated the head of the duck at the center of the frame perfectly, while leaving the one directly in front of it in the dark. 

I really like the feather detail in this one.

Peek-a-boo

All but the last touch of sunlight, seen near the bird's beak, had been obscured behind the trees at this time.

I also saw several Downy Woodpeckers (Picoides pubescens):

I caught-up with a Great Blue Heron at the behest of a client and a Northern Harrier in the magic hour a few weeks ago but never posted the images:

Great Blue Heron Portrait (Uncropped), January 24, 2001, Canon 50D, 400mm 5.6L, f/8.0, ISO 250, EV -4/3.

Great Blue Heron on Ice (Uncropped), January 24, 2011, Canon 50D, 400mm 5.6L, f/8.0, ISO 320, EV -4/3.

Female Northern Harrier, January 24, 2011, Canon 50D, 400mm 5.6L, f/7.1 @ 1/800, ISO 400, 50% Crop.


Other species seen yesterday:


Canada Goose (abundant)
Downy Woodpecker (3)
Common Merganser (approx. 12)
Northern Harrier
Belted Kingfisher (also seen on 1/24/11)
Female Bald Eagle in Nest

A Day at Foysythe NWR

There were plenty of waterfowl at the refuge today, but 400mm proved to be too short to get excellent captures for most of them.  I saw two Short-Eared Owls chasing each other around just after the sun set, making it impossible to get a photo.  They flew right over my car.

Hooded Merganser (Lyphodytes cucullatus)

The sun was just over the horizon, providing perfect light.  There were a number of Hoodies hanging out at the drainage pipe at the first turn.  I captured this drake as he was swimming away from the pipe in order to get away from my car.  These ducks are very skittish.  Most waterfowl at the Refuge do not fear people in cars.  Canon 50D, 400mm 5.6L,  f/7.1 @ 1/250, ISO 400, -2/3 EV.

Northern Pintail (Anas acuta)

In contrast to the Hoodies, Northern Pintail will hang out very close to the road.  I don't consider a photo of this duck to be a keeper unless the lighting has revealed the iridescent purple streak behind the bird's eye.  Canon 50D, 400mm 5.6L, f/9 @ 1/1250, ISO 400, -2/3 EV.

Snow Geese (Chen caerulescens)

This photo required a lot of cloning as the closed aperture revealed the numerous dust spots on a sensor in need of a serious cleaning.  Note the Northern Harrier flying in the background, which may be the reason why the flock took flight.  Canon 50D, 400mm 5.6L, f/11 @ 1/1600, ISO 400, -2/3 EV.

Habitat Shot of Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus)

This raptor took a short break while on the hunt.   Canon 50D, 400mm 5.6L, f/9 @ 1/1600, ISO 400, -2/3 EV. 

The sunset was rather bland, so I did some experimenting with my 5D Mark II and 70-200mm 2.8L:

Sunset @ f/22 with Diffraction Halo

Sunset @ f/32

  

Species observed:

Northern Shoveler (numerous)

Northern Pintail (numerous)

Mallard (numerous)

Hooded Merganser (numerous)

Common Merganser (1 drake, 1 hen)

Canada Goose (abundant)

Snow Goose (abundant)

Northern Harrier (1 male, 1 female)

Red-Tailed Hawk (1)

Short-Eared Owl (2)

Sunrises & Sunsets

Everyone loves a good sunrise or sunset shot.  The beauty of the sky and the soft light combine to offer anyone with a soul a very introspective, sublime feeling when viewed live.  Evoking this feeling in a photograph is the difference between a successful shot and one that is merely pedestrian.

I learned quickly that spectacular sunsets are not a given.  Even while living on the water at a resort town in Southern New Jersey for two-and-a-half summers, it would sometimes be weeks between serious photographic opportunities.  Haze was sometimes a problem.  During June 2009, there were about a dozen days in which it did not rain.  Overcast conditions predominated almost the entire month, completely obscuring the sun during its rise or descent toward the horizon.  It was doubly frustrating because it also hampered my ability to get good light for birding shots during daily runs on a kayak.  (It doesn't matter as much for birds with white plumage, but there were plenty of Great Blue Herons, Osprey, Oystercatchers and Black Skimmers to shoot, along with the occasional Green Heron or Tricolored Heron.) 

Ironically, my best sunrise and sunset shots were captured during Summer 2008.  I had only been shooting since January and had upgraded from a Canon PowerShot S5 IS to a Digital Rebel XTi in March.  I was only one step above 'clueless' at the time.  (Now, I'm two steps above.)  I quickly developed an eye for reading the sky, though, and identified the most important element to a compelling sunrise or sunset photo: clouds.  Clouds are what makes for a dramatic photos.  The key is having just enough present, but not so much that the sunset is obscured at the horizon and the brilliant colors fail to reflect back upon them.  If you're extremely lucky- and this does tend to happen near bodies of water- a storm will roll through and begin to break-up just around sunset.  Here's some of my favorite examples, the original files of which have largely been lost:

Sunset, May 24, 2008, Princeton Harbor, 23rd Street, Avalon, NJ 

Sunset, July 9, 2008, Princeton Harbor, Avalon, NJ  

Sunrise, August 29, 2008, 8th Street Jetty, Avalon, NJ 

Sunset, June 22, 2009, 33rd Street, Avalon, NJ

Flooded Pier at Sunset, June 22, 2009, 53rd Street Marina, Avalon, NJ

Sunrise, September 2, 2009, 8th Street Jetty, Avalon, NJ

Even without the benefit of a storm, clouds can still provide the elements necessary for a good photo:

Sunset, August 13, 2008, 53rd Street Marina, Avalon, NJ

Sunset, July 14, 2008, 28th Street, Avalon, NJ

Sunset, July 25, 2010, Princeton Harbor, 23rd Street, Avalon, NJ

Sunset, August 31, 2009, 53rd Street Marina, Avalon, NJ

Composition is just as important with sunrises and sunsets as in any other photograph.  A general rule is to never place the horizon in the middle of the photograph, but I'm not very concerned with this.  More importantly, your photograph should give the viewer a sense of place.  That's why I always include a man-made or other natural elements in the photograph with the sun and sky.  In the above examples, I've used a jetty, houses lining a harbor, bulkhead pilings, and a marina as compositional devices. It makes a photo much more interesting to the viewer.  That's why in the first example in the section above that I chose to include part of the dock and the hose in the photo.  It gives the viewer the impression that they are standing at the marina looking out into the skyscape and provides a good contrast to the beauty of the sky.  Here's another example of including man-made elements in a shot:

    

Sunrise, August 22, 2008, 8th Street Jetty, Avalon, NJ

Filters are very important in capturing a sunset scene.  A graduated density filter, which is shaded on the top and clear on the bottom, will allow for a proper exposure by bringing down the brightness of the sky compared with the often shadowed foreground.  I currently use inexpensive Tiffen filters and will until my photography budget gets a much-needed boost.  I'll likely go with Singh-Ray for my first 'professional' filters.  In addition to a host of graduated filters, they also manufacture reverse graduated filters that have a increasingly darkened strip at the horizon and lighter shading for the sky so that the last light of the sun is not washed-out in the middle of the frame.  They can be purchased here:

http://www.singh-ray.com/reversegrads.html

My final word on sunrise and sunset photos concerns aperture.  When the sun is at or near the horizon, it can be photographed without washing out the entire frame if shot at f/18 or f/22.  This will often give a pleasing 'starburst' effect to the light instead of the sun blowing-out the photo. (You can see this effect in the last jetty photo in the first section of photographs.)  If the sun is higher in the sky, even a shot at f/32 won't achieve this effect; the sun's rays are still far too powerful.  NOTE: Never look directly into the sun with a lens, especially a telephoto lens, unless it is on the horizon.  Serious injury to your eye could result, even at closed apertures.  I took this photo at f/32 and used some processing to keep the color in the sky:

Sunset with Geese and Northern Harrier, Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, Oceanville, NJ

My goal was to get a flock of ducks or snow geese crossing in front of the sun.  The glare was so strong in my viewfinder- even at f/32- that I didn't even see the Northern Harrier in the frame until I downloaded the photos at home.  Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.