After I left Panama I flew to Orlando and continued that same day to NYC where I met three nice ladies, all repeat customers, for the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge IPT. (All three were IPT veterans and one was BPN's very own Nicki Gywnn-Jones.) JBWR was pretty poor so we spent a lot of time at Nickerson before the tidal flooding. This image was made on the first Monday morning after the flooding. It was fun. I had to wade through about 300 yards of water that came just to the bottom of my pants pockets.
This image was created with the handheld Canon 400mm f/4L DO lens and the EOS-1D MIII. ISO 500. Evaluative metering +1 2/3 stops off the low blue sky: 1/800 sec. at f/6.3 in Manual mode. 45-point AF.
I sat on the wet sand to eliminate potential merges between the landing birds and the line of the beach.
This one needed big time rotation and the removal of a post from the frame.
BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.
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Thanks Aidan. Nickerson Beach is a killer-good spot but I am worried about the colonies there for next year as half of the colony was covered with more than 2 feet of new sand in the storm and lots of vegetated areas were destroyed. I hope that most of that stuff grows back next spring.... The birds need the vegeatation for places to hide and for shade.
BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.
BIRDS AS ART Online Store: we will not sell you junk. 35 years of long lens experience. Please e-mail with gear questions.
Check out the new SONY e-Guide and videos that I did with Patrick Sparkman here. Ten percent discount for BPN members,
Very nice. I don't think I have seen many images of skimmers in fight with a fish. Nice pose, like the BG mixed with the sand and sky and the beautiful light. Eye is very nicely visible and the detail is good all over. Congratulations.
Excellent exposure Artie, and I like the flying posture. Good idea to get down so as not to merge any birds with the beach. Did I say this was sharp, and the fish a bonus. Well captured.
Here is the original capture. I remember pressing the shutter button immediately after the bird cleared the signpost knowing that a Quick Mask or two (and some big time image rotation!) would save the day. With film I would never have pressed the shutter button.
BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.
BIRDS AS ART Online Store: we will not sell you junk. 35 years of long lens experience. Please e-mail with gear questions.
Check out the new SONY e-Guide and videos that I did with Patrick Sparkman here. Ten percent discount for BPN members,