Long-tailed Duck

Sitting on shore photographing the ducks and gulls at the end of the spit in Homer has always been a favorite pastime during any available downtime during my workshops. There is a pipe that expels effluent from the fish processing plant into the bay that all of the birds come to every 20 minutes or so. Sadly, the plant wasn’t in operation when the light was nice or the water flat this year. Luckily, this Long-tailed Duck flew right into the mass of Eagles during our shoot for 10 seconds one morning; it fluffed-up, spread it’s wings and took off when it realized it’s mistake :)

Getting off the boat and working with super telephoto lenses (Sony 600mm f/4 GM OSS Lens, Sony FE 2X Teleconverter @ 1,200mm) for the fishing images really isolates the Eagles from the water surface background. The Sony Alpha a9 II Mirrorless camera handles high ISO so well that noise is never a concern IF you expose the image correctly and try not to crop much. This image was shot vertical and is full frame on the width; I cropped off a little top & bottom to make a stronger composition with more visual impact.

Bald Eagle on the run

I’m on the run to my Ultimate Bald Eagles Galore workshop in Homer Alaska, and wanted to leave you with a fun image that shows just how close we get to these majestic beauties! 80% of my participants are repeat clients this year and I am looking forward to seeing them all again. Join me for this trip of a lifetime next March and I promise you will bring home a portfolio full of images that I would be proud to call my own; that’s what keeps me going back! Get as much (or as little) help as you like while taking full advantage of my site and subject knowledge and the logistics are all taken care of.

Osprey with nesting material

An Osprey brings nesting material to it’s nest on Lake Blue Cypress during my Ospreys Galore and so much more workshop. If you are looking for a fun adventure and complete portfolio of Osprey images while learning everything there is to know about bird photography, then join me in Florida this April for my two daily cruises on Lake Blue Cypress aboard a pontoon boat. We will be a small crew with ample room and hundreds of Ospreys to choose from; many with fish, nesting material and babies in their nests at eye level.

Osprey with American Shad in Golden Light

If you want to make images like this while learning all of the intricacies of birds in flight photography (and birds on perches), then join the fun on Lake Blue Cypress in Florida this April. We cruise the sunrise and sunset hours away on a pontoon boat with hundreds of pairs of Ospreys bringing fish back to their babies in Florida’s golden light. Ospreys Galore and so much more promises to fill your Osprey portfolio with amazing action packed images. Read more about Ospreys Galore and so much more HERE.

Bald Eagle Keep Calm and Fish On

One of the advantages of having so many years experience in Kachemak Bay in Alaska is knowing where to be when. When there is howling winds making the water rough, it’s hard to make pleasing images; for this image, my trusted Captain maneuvered us into a hidden protected cove where the water was flat. What started out to be a rather gloomy and wet day turned into a smashing success for everyone in my group. Learn more about my Eagles Galore (and so much more) Workshop CLICK HERE.

Bald Eagle with Fish in Golden Light

This 3.5 year old Bald Eagle (Basic III Plumage) put on quite a show for my group during my Bald Eagle Workshop. This image was made a split second before that out of focus wave washed into the front of my Sony 400mm f/2.8 lens; thankfully the lens survived without any damage.

I already have a few folks signed-up for next year’s Bald Eagles Galore and so much more Workshop, so don’t delay your booking for next March.

Bald Eagle portrait in the rain

I was recently asked what the minimum shutter speed I feel comfortable shooting long lenses hand-held. I had to hesitate to answer, as it’s nothing I think about with the high ISO performance of my Sony cameras; It's not like the old film (slide) days when there were severe limits to image quality at higher ISO. I simply use whatever ISO I need to reach the desired shutter speed. So I decided to see if I could still hand-hold a 600mm lens with a 2X extender on it, and just how steady I might still be. Can I still hand-hold at 1/40s and still produce sharp results? Well, as this image demonstrates, yes, but I don’t need to, so I will continue to use my Wimberley head II on my tripod or crank-up the ISO to accommodate higher shutter speeds. There are two risks when trying to use as low an ISO as possible:

1. Don't get a critically sharp image before the subject moves away.

2. Miss unexpected action with inadequate shutter speed.

Pro tips for hand-holding long lenses:

1. Turn on the image stabilizer (camera and lens).

2. Control breathing to minimize movement.

3. Press your supporting arm into your body to form a triangle brace between your hand under the lens, your shoulder, and your torso.

4. Position your legs so they are a little wider than your shoulders.

5. Align your body so it is perpendicular to your subject.

6. Control shutter finger movement; press slowly.
   

Bald Eagles Tandem Flight

Seeing Bald Eagles maneuver during their frequent pursuits is incredible; the speed and agility is simply mind blowing! I absolutely love the distraction of photographing them, particularly in bad weather :) This adult (5+ years with white head and tail) is trying to outmaneuver a juvenile (dark bill and eyes) that is likely it’s offspring.

Bald Eagle in snow

It simply amazes me how well modern cameras handle high ISO. I have been working through old slides and seeing how much grain there was not so long ago. I just threw away thousands of Kodachrome frames because as good as they were then, they don’t stand up to the competition from today’s digital images.

So then, why am I photographing this static Bald Eagle at 1/4,000 of a second? Because I am waiting for it to blast-off, and want to freeze the action when it does. There is no noise in the image at ISO 2,500, so why not?

Atlantic Puffin Portrait on blue

I love spending time in front of seabirds behind my super-telephoto lenses. Waiting for that perfect pose do require patience and remaining still, but in the right light, with the right background… the results can be rewarding. I carefully watched the sun angle until the water in the background fell into the shade of the island and I just love the resulting midnight blue background.

Bank Swallow

During my annual Deluxe Atlantic Puffins and so much more workshops, we are often visited by flocks of up to four species of swallows. We stay in a newly renovated lighthouse on a small island in the Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve where there are no trees, so I found a piece of driftwood and wedged it between some rocks on the beach to make a perch. It didn’t take long for this Bank Swallow to make an appearance - smile.

Black Guillemot with Arctic Shanny

Here’s another Black Guillemot showing-off it’s prize catch. Aside form it being the best place on earth to photography Atlantic Puffins and Razorbills, my Deluxe Atlantic Puffin (and so much more) workshop is the best place I know of to photograph the Black Guillemot. Timed perfectly to get all three species (Puffin, Razorbill and Guillemot) dringing fish back to their babies. Learn more about my Deluxe Atlantic Puffin (and so much more) workshop HERE.

Black Guillemot displaying with Arctic Shanny

The Black Guillemots are a nice distraction during my Deluxe Puffins Galore (and so much more) workshop. The timing is exactly right to get all of the different species with food in their bills. The Guillemots usually hang onto their fish for quits some time, and often provide amazing photographic opportunities!

Black Guillemot landing with fish

If you thought it took skill to photograph the fast and erratic Atlantic Puffins in flight, then you have never tried to get a Black Guillemot in flight. We had a lot of fun with them bringing fish home to their babies during my Deluxe Atlantic Puffins and so much more workshop.

Razorbill and Atlantic Puffin Tandem Flight

Windy days at seabird colonies are the most fun; it's effortless for them to take-off, so they do. The biggest challenge is to avoid having out of focus birds in your backgrounds. I was tracking this Razorbill with the hope that it would fly low enough that I would get a uniform green background....I wasn't expecting it to fly into the Puffin - smile.

Great Black-backed Gull with baby Common Eider

Apex predators and opportunistic hunters, the Great Black-backed Gull is the largest member of the gull family. We regularly see them scooping-up the baby Common Eiders that visit us for overnight safety on L'ile aux Perroquettes during my Deluxe Puffins Galore (and so much more) workshop. This beast scooped-up four baby Eiders at quite a distance in a short amount of time, then it suddenly veered around and started to fly toward us with a helpless baby in its deadly grasp. I usually shoot full-frame as a personal challenge to make better quality images but cropped away about 50% of this one to get a closer view. I am impressed at the image quality after the crop at 20,000 ISO.
Though it was once a cute little baby Common Eider, nature is not always cute and cuddly :(

Atlantic Puffin Wide Wings

There is nothing quite like sitting on a rock behind your camera and having hundreds of Puffins swirling around directly in front of you; it's hard to explain how much fun it is to photograph them coming directly towards you. This happens a couple of times each day during my Deluxe Atlantic Puffins Galore (and so much more) workshop.
This is the first image I made with the (then) brand new Sony 600mm f/4 GM OSS Lens and I threw the Sony FE 2X on to test the combo for fast-moving flight photography. I think it passed the test with flying colors - smile.

Laughing Herring Gull Portrait

Another image from my Deluxe Puffins Galore (and so much more) Photo Tour. Again from an overcast and wet day in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. Cameras record light as we see it; we see light, not darkness, and that is what your camera records. As such, it is critically important to get the very best exposure to maximize details and minimize noise - you need to do this in the camera to achieve the very best results; particularly with a white subject!

We carefully set-up our long lenses on the beach and remained as motionless as a group can. We were rewarded with many great opportunities in a short period.

This is a calling Herring Gull; this species is very noisy and well known for its loud laughing call. Gulls fascinate me, mostly because there are only 36 species in North and South America, but they can be so challenging to identify with their many varied plumages (none of them are called a "Seagull"). One of the most interesting facts about the Herring Gull is their tendency to nest on the same site for more than 20 years. On average, they live for about 30 years in the wild, but some have been known to survive to be 49 years old!

Savannah Sparrow with Lunch

Cold, wet and rainy days make for color saturation and naturally diffused light that I just love for this kind of intimate portrait of the Savannah Sparrow with a mouth full of food as it pauses before delivering take-out to it's demanding babies.

I was on a small island in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence during my Deluxe Puffins Galore (and so much more) Workshop trying to convince my group to skip the Puffins and Razorbill for just long enough to grab a portrait - I think everyone was pleased with their results!