Clovishound
Senior Member
Thanks. I'm trying hard to improve my photography. I went for many years in the film days without making much progress. The digital age of photography has made quite a difference in my images.
Clovis' Nikon Nuggets
- Thread starter Clovishound
- Start date
Clovishound
Senior Member
Got back out to Magnolia this morning. Posted some others in other forums, this is what's left.
Clovishound
Senior Member
After a weekend of rain, the fledgling wildflower plot in the back yard is starting to attract more insects.
Clovishound
Senior Member
The Pup and I went out to the Beidler Forest this morning. Not a stellar day. Despite full sun, the light levels under the canopy were low, resulting in high ISOs. I shot a number of BIF strings using the pre-release capture. Very few were sharp, and even the static shots that were sharp didn't have much detail in the birds, likely due to the high ISOs.
Here are the best of the batch. A couple of the non BIF shots ended up the best.
This was one of the best of the BIF shots. A little better light here and he was still in the plane of focus when first kicking off. I think these birds are too fast for the AF to track. Maybe a native Z lens and higher light levels would help. I would have preferred a branch vs this boardwalk railing, but it's weathered enough not to jar out as out of place manmade object.
Banded water snake checking me out.
This juvenile white ibis was part of a flock feeding in the shallow swamp. The lighting was nice, but unfortunately, he sort of blended into a rather busy background. Sometimes you learn as much from a "not quite there" shot as you do from one that you nail.
I think this was the best one. This large fungus was quite a long way from the boardwalk, but since I had my 200-500 mounted, I was able to frame up the shot. I had my tripod with me, so I was able to bring down the shutter speed on this static subject and bring down the ISO. I may spend some more time editing this to fine tune some of the light and dark areas.
Here are the best of the batch. A couple of the non BIF shots ended up the best.
This was one of the best of the BIF shots. A little better light here and he was still in the plane of focus when first kicking off. I think these birds are too fast for the AF to track. Maybe a native Z lens and higher light levels would help. I would have preferred a branch vs this boardwalk railing, but it's weathered enough not to jar out as out of place manmade object.
Banded water snake checking me out.
This juvenile white ibis was part of a flock feeding in the shallow swamp. The lighting was nice, but unfortunately, he sort of blended into a rather busy background. Sometimes you learn as much from a "not quite there" shot as you do from one that you nail.
I think this was the best one. This large fungus was quite a long way from the boardwalk, but since I had my 200-500 mounted, I was able to frame up the shot. I had my tripod with me, so I was able to bring down the shutter speed on this static subject and bring down the ISO. I may spend some more time editing this to fine tune some of the light and dark areas.
Clovishound
Senior Member
Went on an outing with the CNPA to Edisto Memorial Gardens in Orangeburg SC this morning. Not a lot of insect activity, but the dragonflies were very active among the water plants, and a few bees were out and about. Had some good barbecue with the group afterwards.
Silversnapper
Senior Member
A lovely set of images with the first two being outstanding
Clovishound
Senior Member
Went out to check on the wildflowers in the backyard tonight and discovered that the sweat bees were apparently using some of the flower buds to bed down on for the night.
Clovishound
Senior Member
Went out tonight and discovered they are using the same spot.
Clovishound
Senior Member
Went over to Magnolia Plantation this morning. Twisted my ankle on the way in. Had to twist on the way down to protect the camera. Seemed to work OK afterwards. Ankle should be OK in a couple days. I twist this one every couple years. The worst thing was I missed out on getting some shots of a large bull gator territorial posturing and bellowing. I heard it, and could see it, but couldn't hobble over there to get some pictures before it was over. All the photographers were excited by this bittern. I would have thought it was a tri-colored heron if I had been there by myself. I did get a few decent BIF images.
Most folks confuse it with a Green Heron.
Nice capture!!
Clovishound
Senior Member
Yeah, it does have that thick neck of a green.
Clovishound
Senior Member
Got this interesting shot today. I like ladybugs.
Apparently, so do dragonflies.
Apparently, so do dragonflies.
Clovishound
Senior Member
Got this damselfly having a little afternoon snack.
And another macro shot of a small butterfly.
And another macro shot of a small butterfly.