Late afternoon magic

I received a call from my friend Steve Davey about 15:00 yesterday, just as I got home from doing the grocery shopping. He was calling me from Bushells Lagoon, a place I recently sent him and lady partner Shirley Clarke to as it is a rocking waterhole indeed. He exclaimed that there were five White-bellied Sea Eagles and about five or so Whistling Kites about and the light/wind combination was perfect. It is always best to capture flying birds with the light and wind coming from behind you. My beautiful and generous wife said: "Just go." like that. Needless to say she didn't have to say it twice.

ALL IMAGE DETAILS: Canon EOS 30D, 300mm f/4L IS USM lens with 1.4x converter, Av mode, ISO400, handheld, f/8, 1/2000th

I arrived about 40 minutes later and was greeted by perfect, late warm sun and a howling NW wind of about 30 knots. The birds were flying indeed. Sadly, not much happened with Whistling Kites, but I have a ripper shot from about two weeks before. So I was there to catch as much as possible before the light was ready to drop behind the mountains in about one hour's time.

Within minutes I noted the Black-shouldered Kite (Elanus axilaris) hovering up near Ernie's turf farm on the north side. It was about 30m away from the fence and we were able to run up the slope, using the trees as cover to capture it hovering almost at eye level. See the images below. I wish I had a super telephoto to get it much tighter as I was forced to crop these images by about 40%.

See ya in the wild!

Characters in my frontyard

We are so lucky in Australia to have so many wonderful bird species. One of the most common and colorful have to be the Rainbow Lorikeets (Trichoglossus haematodus) and their screeches, squawks and chatter wake many people in the mornings when the ironbark eucalypts or bottlebrushes are blooming. Noisy as they are, their colors are more than spectacular thus I forgive them for many early morning wake up calls at dawn. Heck, I rise before the sun does everyday anyway.

Enjoy these gorgeous Aussies.

Apostlebirds in Sydney?

Yes, while not found on the east side of the Blue Mountains, these endearing characters somehow made their home in the heart of Pine Grove Cemetery at Eastern Creek. There must be several dozen if not more of these loony characters out there with their comical antics. Photographing them is not all that hard and at times a 70-200mm lens would be far better than the longer telephotos so much more often needed for bird photography.

On my way to work one morning in 2008, when spring had truly sprung, I stopped by to say hi. Eerie as it felt walking among the dead, the warm rays of the sun alleviated that spooky feeling especially once I began to concentrate on seeing what the birds were up to.









I did find one young fledgling, eagerly following mom and dad around begging for food. At one point it stopped and looked around rather intently. There was a mosquito buzzing near its head. It was still not smart enough to eat it. But soon. Hope you enjoy this blog entry.

IMAGE DETAILS: All captured with a Canon EOS 30D and 300mm f/4L IS USM lens, handheld, ISO400 at f/5.6, 1/1000th

A couple of favorite images

I thought I'd post a couple of my most loved images to date. The Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus) juvenile was photographed at Pitt Town Lagoon at the end of 2007 with a Canon 30D, 300mm f/4L IS USM lens and 1.4x converter handheld. It is about 80% of the original image, with just a little green added on top to cover a sandy bank.

The Golden-headed Cisticola (Cisticola exilis) was from near the Sewage Treatment Facilities at North Penrith in a swamp. The little bird was happily preening for me, though the image is a large crop, it still holds up well for my liking.

Post Processing in Photoshop CS3

I created this image in December 2007 at Long Reef Aquatic Reserve, NSW. The subject, a Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) was coming into land in a small colony congregating on the rock platform. With the light behind me (even though a bit strong for my liking) I captured the landing. Looking at the RAW image, flaws are immediately evident and it took close to 18 months and a new set of Photoshop skills learned for me to take another look at the RAW image again.

IMAGE DETAILS: Canon 30D, 300mm f/4L IS USM + 1.4x, ISO400, f/8, 1/1000th, zero exp. comp., evaluative metering, Av mode


With a series of Quick Masks, some cloning and healing and a crop for taste I created the final image that you see at the bottom. In the process I took out three other members of the cormorant clan already resting on the rocks, drying their wings. I find the final image much more satisfactory, though in the first instance I would always prefer to do as LITTLE as possible with a RAW image. Thus my aim (and yours too) really, should be to capture the ideal image in the camera so no time-consuming retouching work and tweaking become the necessary enhancements in the post process.



Hope you like my image(s).

Bushells Lagoon rocks

This place would have to be the best lagoon in the Hawkesbury region for the photography of birds of prey. Naturally, not all encounters are necessarily within reach of your lens(es), but the experience of witnessing the resident White-bellied Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster) fishing the vast expanses of water are truly humbling. On Saturday, I had about 10 Whistling Kites (Haliastur sphenurus) all circling about the lagoon, at times mock charging each other. Their high-pitched whistle-like calls are much loved by my ever alert ears. There was also the wet-flatulence sounding call of a Restless Flycatcher nearby and it allowed my close approach to photograph it hovering above the grasses seeking its prey. Late in the session, a quick uprising and alarm calls of the waterbirds in front of me brought me to encounter a Brown Goshawk (Accipiter fasciatus) circling low over the flocking, feeding waterbirds. A good lesson for any photographers is to be ready at any time. My one, and only regretted mistake was that I had my manually focusing 2x converter on my 300mm telephoto lens mounted on my tripod as I was relieving myself in the bushes, and while the camera was close, I managed to totally screw up four images of a small flock (about 8-10) Royal Spoonbills (Platalea regia) flying above me at a low height. I wish for a super telephoto lens sometime in the future that autofocuses at 600mm or more.



Little Black Cormorants (Phalacrororax sulcirostris) were the most prolific birds in flight that I was attempting to capture and succeeded about once or twice out of 200-plus attempts at shooting these birds in flight.

IMAGE DETAILS:
30D, 300mm f/4L IS USM + 1.4x, HH, manual mode, evaluative metering, ISO400, f/6.3, 1/1000th,

I now use manual mode for birds in flight as long as the light remains from the same direction. I take a test image of a mid-tone subject, set the meter accordingly (remember to push the histogram as far right as possible without flashing highlights) and shoot away. I may open up a little for a large dark subject, or close down a little for a large white subject. It's easy and reliable.

Bushells Lagoon

Visited this favorite spot yet again. Whistling Kites were so thick I had to practically push them out of the way. The resident Sea Eagles were on their roost tree and I even witnessed them catch some carp from the lagoon. A Black-shouldered Kite took a break from hunting across the channel from me and the Little Black Cormorants were frantically swirling around the air. A nice place.