I'm Coming In !!!!

[Harryb]

Hi you all,

Here's a series of shots I caught with my D2H and 80-400VR lens while at the St. Augustine Rookery with Trish. Its the ability to capture series like this that led me to getting the D2H.
http://behret.smugmug.com/photos/20479682-L.jpg

http://behret.smugmug.com/photos/20479684-L.jpg

http://behret.smugmug.com/photos/20479686-L.jpg

http://behret.smugmug.com/photos/20479687-L.jpg

http://behret.smugmug.com/photos/20479680-L.jpg

[MuskyDude]

Facinating:thumb AND expertly done Harry. :super It must be something else to just witness, nevermind capture nature like this.

Thanks for sharing. :):

AJ

[Ann McRae]

Harry
:jawdrop
I am just awe struck by the great shots you are posting these days. What wonderful work!!!
Keep it up
ann

[Nir]

Fantastic Harry!

[Andy]

harry, these are just great man..

[Lucky Hack]

All right that's it, I give up, I'm selling my gear, and I'm gonna make a hobby out of building national monuments with toothpicks and chewing gum! Ok, not really, I'm just envious. :rofl

B-e-a-u-tiful series Harry, I'm gonna have to convince my wife to vacation in Florida just so I can tag along on a shoot and see how you do it. Great series and each individual shot is great as well. Really illustrative, I get a real sense of exactly how the go about landing. Thanks and keep 'em comin' I won't start building national monuments out of toothpicks, I promise.

hoping this message finds you well -Ian

[Angelo]

I won't start building national monuments out of toothpicks, I promise.
but if you do who will photograph them? if you do toothpick placemats at a rib joint then Andy's your man!

Harry... you're fabulous, we love you, you're a great photographer... blah blah blah... yada yada yada... :rofl

keep 'em comin' dooooooood!

[wxwax]

Damn, I was in St Augustine on Saturday. I didn't know there was a bird sanctuary there. I really like the first shot, Harry, terrific stuff.

http://behret.smugmug.com/photos/20479682-S.jpg

[Harryb]

Facinating:thumb AND expertly done Harry. :super It must be something else to just witness, nevermind capture nature like this.

Thanks for sharing. :):

AJ
Hey AJ,

Thanks. It is a thrill for a city boy like myself to see all this wildlife. I'm more thrilled than the locals who have been seeing this all their lives.

[Trish323]

Harry,

Excellent!!!:thumb Evedn if I had the D2H...I wouldn't have been able to capture as you do! Great series!!!

I have gone through all of my shots. Finally. I am very pleased, but when are we going back??????

[pathfinder]

Harry - Great sequence of shots.

I can really appreciate the quality of your 80-400 VR lens. I assume that f5.6 is its maximum aperature?

I am also getting an education in the use of in camera metering with your posting your exsposure and EC data along with your images. Very helpful. -2/3 and Center Weighted Average? I have taken to dialing in about 1 1/2 stops of + exposure compensation when shooting birds in the air above the tree line here in Indiana, but the birds in flight around here are not brilliant white like yours.

[ginger_55]

Wonderful as usual, Harry.

When you came here, you were just learning this bird thing, weren't you?

Now you could have seminars. All the dgrin folks would come.

g wonderful photos! BIFs

[ehughes]

Harry, Those are just too cool :thumb :thumb

Ed

[Harryb]

Harry
:jawdrop
I am just awe struck by the great shots you are posting these days. What wonderful work!!!
Keep it up
ann
Hey Ann,

Thank you very much. That rookery was a phenomenal place to shoot. It would have been darn near impossible not to get some good shots there.

[Harryb]

Fantastic Harry!
Thank you Nir.

[Harryb]

harry, these are just great man..
Thanks Andy. I'm still kicking myself for cutting off its feet in the shots though.

[ginger_55]

Thanks Andy. I'm still kicking myself for cutting off its feet in the shots though.
Now, I didn't mention that............and I don't think Andy did either.

Did they have feet at some point?:dunno
Birds come in all kinds.

I took some transparent ones the other day.

ginger

Still great shots. :clap :clap A rare Florida bird, kind of like those Northern whatchamacallits, the ones pretending to be herons.:thumb That was good, I am not making fun.:rolleyes

[Harryb]

All right that's it, I give up, I'm selling my gear, and I'm gonna make a hobby out of building national monuments with toothpicks and chewing gum! Ok, not really, I'm just envious. :rofl

B-e-a-u-tiful series Harry, I'm gonna have to convince my wife to vacation in Florida just so I can tag along on a shoot and see how you do it. Great series and each individual shot is great as well. Really illustrative, I get a real sense of exactly how the go about landing. Thanks and keep 'em comin' I won't start building national monuments out of toothpicks, I promise.

hoping this message finds you well -Ian
Hey Ian,

We have too many toothpick representations of our national monuments already. :D Thanks for the kind comments. Anytime you're in my neck of the swamp give me a buzz and I'll show you around the local bird hot spots.

[Harryb]

but if you do who will photograph them? if you do toothpick placemats at a rib joint then Andy's your man!

Harry... you're fabulous, we love you, you're a great photographer... blah blah blah... yada yada yada... :rofl

keep 'em comin' dooooooood!
Hey Angelo,

Thanks for stopping by and taking the time ot comment. I do appreciate it.

[Harryb]

Damn, I was in St Augustine on Saturday. I didn't know there was a bird sanctuary there. I really like the first shot, Harry, terrific stuff.


Hey Sid,

The official title of he place is St. Augustine Alligator Farm. The rookery is inside the gator farm. Trish and I got annual photographers' passes so we can get in an hour before the regular opening and we can stay 2 hours after the regular closing time. Next time you are going to be in Florida let me know and I'll clue you in to any local attractions I know. If I don't know any I'll ask Trish. :D

[bfjr]

:bow

Harry I was so close to just keeping what I got, and then this :wow
I thank you for the D2Hs + lenses :D
Lauras not talkin to ya :lol

Oh Harry you cut off his feet :lol4 :lol4 , can you please pay more attention next time :lol4 :lol4.

[Ric Grupe]

...if you haven't already done it. It IS time to start makin' some $$$'s off of your work. (If you don't need or want it...you may send it to me!) These are just super...:thumb :thumb :thumb

[Stan]

Hi you all,

Here's a seris of shots I caught with my D2H and 80-400VR lens while at the St. Augustine Rookery with Trish. Its the ability to capture series like this that led me to getting the D2H.
http://behret.smugmug.com/photos/20479682-L.jpg







WOW:jawdrop :jawdrop :jawdrop Not much else to say :thumb

[Harryb]

Harry,

Excellent!!!:thumb Evedn if I had the D2H...I wouldn't have been able to capture as you do! Great series!!!

I have gone through all of my shots. Finally. I am very pleased, but when are we going back??????
Hey Trish,

Thanks and your pics from the Rookery have been outstanding. I still have another 170 or so pics to process :uhoh

I want to get back there real soon. I'm off to Georgia on Sunday to spend some of my son's last pre-Iraq leave with him but I should be back by the end of next week. Maybe we could head on up there that following week.

[Khaos]

You never cease to impress.:thumb :thumb Awesome series.

[Harryb]

Harry - Great sequence of shots.

I can really appreciate the quality of your 80-400 VR lens. I assume that f5.6 is its maximum aperature?

I am also getting an education in the use of in camera metering with your posting your exsposure and EC data along with your images. Very helpful. -2/3 and Center Weighted Average? I have taken to dialing in about 1 1/2 stops of + exposure compensation when shooting birds in the air above the tree line here in Indiana, but the birds in flight around here are not brilliant white like yours.Thanks PF 5.6 is the 80-400 widest aperture once you start using the zoom. Under 200mm you can go 4.5 with it. I did most of my shots at f8 taht day but I opene dthe aperture up for the flight shots because I wanted to minimize the background a much as possible and I also wanted to keep my shutter speeds very high.

Exposure was a problem the whole day on this shoot. We were shooting white birds that were under strong light and against dark shady backgrounds. I had to expose for the bird and redeem the background in my post work.

I switched to center weighted exposure because of the emphasis on the bird. Matrix mode would have leaned towards over exposing the subject more than center weighted in these conditions. Of course I had to center on the subject and do a lot more composing through cropping than I normally prefer in my post work.

MY WB was also off for a lot of the pics. The shady setting was too warm for the conditions. Fortunately I shot in RAW and was able to undo my mistakes in the post processing.

[Harryb]

Wonderful as usual, Harry.

When you came here, you were just learning this bird thing, weren't you?

Now you could have seminars. All the dgrin folks would come.

g wonderful photos! BIFs
Hey Ginger,

Thanks for the kind words. I'm still learning this bird thing. I'm still very much a newbie when it comes to wildlife photography. I have a lot to learn.

As for giving a seminar, theres too mnyn folks who know more than me to handle that. I'm always glad to show folks the local hotspots and shot with them though. :D

[ian408]

Splendid series!

I love the exposure and composition on each of them.

Ian

[Harryb]

Harry, Those are just too cool :thumb :thumb

Ed
Thanks Ed

[Harryb]

:bow

Harry I was so close to just keeping what I got, and then this :wow
I thank you for the D2Hs + lenses :D
Lauras not talkin to ya :lol

Oh Harry you cut off his feet :lol4 :lol4 , can you please pay more attention next time :lol4 :lol4.
Hey Ben,

Thanks. Are you seriously going for the D2Hs? If you are you will love it. Apologize to Laura for me and tell her that food isn't all that important. This 3 meals a day thing is just propaganda from the food industry. :rofl

[SusanB]

Wow Harry, you've captured so much of the bird's personality and action in these shots! Great WB, and all too. I bet that a nature magazine would like these. :clap :clap :clap


Susan

[Harryb]

...if you haven't already done it. It IS time to start makin' some $$$'s off of your work. (If you don't need or want it...you may send it to me!) These are just super...http://dgrin.com/images/smilies/thumb.gif http://dgrin.com/images/smilies/thumb.gif http://dgrin.com/images/smilies/thumb.gifHey Ric,

Thanks for the kind words. I've been playing around with exhibiting some of my shots at the local art fairs. I went to one this weekend and my pics could stand up to the stuff I saw being sold. Its just so much work though. http://dgrin.com/images/smilies/uhoh2.gif I enjoy taking the shots so much I hate to see it becoming ..... work http://dgrin.com/images/smilies/15524733-Ti.gif

[Harryb]

WOW:jawdrop :jawdrop :jawdrop Not much else to say :thumb

Thank you Stan for stopping by and taking the time to comment.

[Ric Grupe]

Hey Ric,

Thanks for the kind words. I've been playing around with exhibiting some of my shots at the local art fairs. I went to one this weekend and my pics could stand up to the stuff I saw being sold. Its just so much work though. http://dgrin.com/images/smilies/uhoh2.gif I enjoy taking the shots so much I hate to see it becoming ..... work http://dgrin.com/images/smilies/15524733-Ti.gif
I forgot about that WORK part. Accept my praise and forget my advice!!!:crazy

[Harryb]

You never cease to impress.:thumb :thumb Awesome series.
Thanks you very much. The Rookery was a fantastic place to shoot. I would have been hard pressed not to come away with some good pics.

[Harryb]

Splendid series!

I love the exposure and composition on each of them.

Ian
Thank you Ian. Exposure was really a bear that day.

[ginger_55]

Gosh, I have thought all along about selling my photos, no one told me it was work, Cripes. That is definitely something I don't do.

Harry, I knew a guy who loved to fly planes, and incidentally was having financial difficulties because he had "retired" very young. But no way would he fly airplanes for a living. Then it would be work. I hear alot of comments like that now.

I had thought about just putting my photos on smugmug and letting them sell................ no work, :lol4 Someday I will get my front page straightened up, and if anyone thinks that is bad..........I can't even find the categories on the back page.

Your photos are soooo good, though, Harry. Maybe you could get someone else to do the work for you, give away half the profits, or something.

ginger (a high school kid? they can be very smart these days)

[Harryb]

Wow Harry, you've captured so much of the bird's personality and action in these shots! Great WB, and all too. I bet that a nature magazine would like these. :clap :clap :clap


Susan
Thank you very much Susan. Snowy Egrets are my favorites to shoot because they have so much "personality".

[Steve Cavigliano]

Very good stuff Harry :thumb :thumb


Between you and Gene (Hawkman), you are raising the bar ever higher :huh I hope I can keep up :rolleyes If not, I'll be shooting squirrels....lol


Beautiful series and thanks for sharing,
Steve

[Harryb]

I forgot about that WORK part. Accept my praise and forget my advice!!!:crazy
You're forgiven Ric but please try not to mention you know what again. I'm very sensitive about some stuff. :uhoh

[Harryb]

Gosh, I have thought all along about selling my photos, no one told me it was work, Cripes. That is definitely something I don't do.

Harry, I knew a guy who loved to fly planes, and incidentally was having financial difficulties because he had "retired" very young. But no way would he fly airplanes for a living. Then it would be work. I hear alot of comments like that now.

I had thought about just putting my photos on smugmug and letting them sell................ no work, :lol4 Someday I will get my front page straightened up, and if anyone thinks that is bad..........I can't even find the categories on the back page.

Your photos are soooo good, though, Harry. Maybe you could get someone else to do the work for you, give away half the profits, or something.

ginger (a high school kid? they can be very smart these days)
Hey Ginger,

You have to understand that I started working when I was 14 and didn't stop for 43 years. Now that I'm no longer a wage slave I want to have some fun. Taking pics is fun selling them ain't. I'm considering it but the initial start-up costs, etc don't appeal to me. I'm playing around with a few ideas. We will see what happens.

[Harryb]

Very good stuff Harry :thumb :thumb


Between you and Gene (Hawkman), you are raising the bar ever higher :huh I hope I can keep up :rolleyes If not, I'll be shooting squirrels....lol


Beautiful series and thanks for sharing,
Steve
Hey Steve,

Thanks for the comments and I don't seee you shooting squirrels in the near future. :D