Neat Image V7 2 Crack Heads
Chrystal Dueno
I have never seen a pelican with plumage quite like this. In life, the bird was very dark brown, even close to black in spots. I made this image on the day that I created the featured image in the blog post here. Though that photo was one of the very first images that I made on what turned out to be 3 1/2+ week trip, it was my favorite San Diego photo by far. This bird is neat because of its strange plumage. The brown and black plumage does not usually go with the red bill pouch. I am sure that it is a sub-adult bird that is simply outside the lines of what is typically normal.
From upper left clockwise to center: Black Skimmer head portrait, American Oystercatcher dining on surf clam flesh, Common Tern at sunset, Common Tern adult swallowing flatfish, Black Skimmer in flight, newborn Common Tern chick, American Oystercatcher with chick, fresh juvenile Common Tern (with fill flash), and Common Terns copulating.
The primary subject species of this IPT will be the nesting Common Terns. The trip is timed so that we will get to photograph tiny chicks as well as fledglings. There will be lots of flight photography including adults flying with baitfish. Creating great images of the chicks being fed is a huge challenge. In addition to the terns we will get to photograph lots of Black Skimmers courting, setting up their nesting territories, and in flight (both singles and large pre-dawn flocks blasting off). Midair battles are guaranteed on sunny afternoons. And with luck, we might even see a few tiny chicks toward the end of the trip. We will also get to photograph the life cycle of American Oystercatcher. This will likely include nests with eggs and tiny chicks, young being fed, and possibly a few fledglings.
Nesting Piping Plover is also possibly. There will be lots of gulls to photograph; most years I am able to find a few Lesser Black-backed Gulls of varying ages in addition to the Herring, Ring-billed, and Great Black-backed Gulls. You will learn to identify and age the various gull species. There will likely be some Willets feeding along the surf and with luck we might get to photograph a handsome juvenile or two. In addition to the locally breeding shorebirds, we will likely get to see some southbound migrant arctic-and sub-arctic breeding shorebird species such as Sanderling, Semipalmated Plover, and maybe even Red Knot.
From upper left clockwise to center: Black Skimmers with tiny chick, Common Tern landing with baitfish for young, fledged Common Tern chick in dunes, American Oystercatchers/display flight, adult Common Tern with pipefish for chick, Common Tern fledgling in soft light, American Oystercatcher on nest with eggs, American Oystercatcher 3-egg clutch, battling Black Skimmers.
The tour will begin with a meet and greet on the afternoon of Monday, July 18, 2016. That will be followed by our first shooting session at the beach. From Tuesday through and including all of Friday we will have two photography sessions daily. Our morning sessions will start very early so that we are on the beach well before sunrise. We usually photograph for about four hours. Then we will enjoy a group brunch. We will always have a midday break that will include a nap for me. That followed by our daily afternoon classroom sessions that will include image review, workflow and Photoshop, and a review/critique of five of your trip images. Folks are always invited to bring their laptops to brunch for image sharing. I always have mine with me but heck, I am a big show-off. Afternoon in-the-field sessions generally run from 5pm through sunset.
Breakfasts are grab what you can. Four brunches are included. Dinners (if at all) will be on your own as we will often get back to the hotel at about 9pm. There is a fridge in every room and a supermarket within walking distance of the hotel so nobody should starve. You will learn a ton during the nine shooting sessions, the four in-classroom sessions, and even at lunch. Early morning and late afternoon parking is free. If we want to head back to the beach early we will need to arrange tight carpools and share the $30/vehicle parking fee. Non-photographer spouses, friends, or companions are welcome for $100/day, $450 for the whole IPT.
To show your appreciation for my continuing efforts here, we ask, as always, that you get in the habit of using my B&H affiliate links on the right side of the blog for all of your photo and electronics purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod heads, Gitzo tripods, Wimberley heads and plates, LensCoats and accessories, and the like. We sell only what I have used, have tested, and can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And we are always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail. I just learned that my account was suspended during my absence; it should be up and running by Monday at the latest.
I would of course appreciate your using our B&H affiliate links for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and visiting the BAA Online store as well.
We are seeing an occasional red-pouched brown pelican showing up on the Texas Gulf Coast. They are eye-catching! I guess there are some migrants that ended up here by mistake. Most of our ordinary brown pelicans have pretty dark plumage. Not sure if that trait is directly related to non red pouch or not. Love your pelicans!
I woke early on Thursday and headed up to Gatorland for a short shooting session. I started and finished this blog post that same evening. Jim is driving me to the airport at 7:15am on Friday and then heading directly home. As Jen is also taking the day off, please note that there will be nobody in the office until this coming Monday.
This morning I had a similar situation but I never saw the guy coming until it was too late. I had been the first one into the joint and was enjoying the solitude. Another Great Egret on another railing. At the last second I saw that a photographer was going to walk between me and the bird while my lens was pointed at the bird. It was a pretty nice bird too. As the boardwalk is only about five feet wide at most, the bird of course left the scene.
While Arash is a brilliant scientist and a brilliant photographer, writing clear and easy to understand how-to is not his forte; that is why we team up on these e-books. I will be working hard at re-crafting his section on noise reduction on my long flight tomorrow. We are hoping to be finished with the guide within about two weeks.
I have found your encounter at Gatorland is fairly common. I try to get there once a week when the birds are nest building, mating and raising their young. Nearly every time there is someone who seems to be in a hurry to get to the other end of the boardwalk. They usually pass up a few good situations just before the tower. Many times it appears that the person is not serious about the quality of the images they are trying to create; they just want to get a picture. The regulars are all considerate of each other. I have run into the same problem at Merritt Island. There the problem is people who park in the middle of the road to look at birds that are very far off in the distance. Viera Wetlands is good except during the birding festival. Then you have to contend with the bus loads of people. In any case I think you handled it very well.
One of the reasons I love my 600. More distance from the subject and pleasing background blur. I think you probably did the right thing and there is probably no way to say it in a pleasing way. She should have hung around a little bit and learned something from you, but people have fragile egos.
Hi Henry, No clue on the Luminance slider in LR as I have never used it but I am doubtful as I have used the Luminance slider in both ACR and DPP 4 and those do nothing with noise that I have ever noticed.
Greetings. Thank you that is a great point you have mentioned about proper etiquette. There is a lot of time and carful effort spent in approaching a bird and following the proper etiquette is very important.
I want to buy a Bogen manfrotto 3021 BRO with a 488 RC2 ball head.As an amatuer I am overwhelmed with the terminology and huge array of tripods to select from. I am 5ft 10in & own a D200 and 17-55.Hope to get a 80-200.2.8 soon.I do not intend to travel far from home with the tripod nor go back packing into the woods.I have read good things about the Feisol tripods, grip action ball heads and the huge selection of other heads available. I want to keep the price under $300 if possible.Any advice, words of wisdom would make this confused and puzzeled amatuer very happy.Thanks
7fc3f7cf58