Walkin the Perc Ponds with Ian408-LARGE pics

[Steve Cavigliano]

Hello All,
I got a chance to shoot with fellow Dgriner Ian408, this morning. He wanted to hand off a book on Yosemite and we figured if we're going to meet, why not do it where we can shoot too :): So we got to gether at 8 this morning at the Los Gatos Creek Perculation Ponds. We had seen some dynamite shots of an Osprey with it's catch and a waxwing, taken there last week. Unfortunately, most of the birds must have taken today off :cry We spent a good 2 1/2 hours walkin, talkin and shootin. I sure enjoyed it, but we didn't come home with a "big one".

But we got some poppies a poppin with dew
http://freezeframephotography.smugmug.com/photos/17010694-L.jpg

and a flycaster a castin in the pool
http://freezeframephotography.smugmug.com/photos/17012413-M.jpg

and a duck, duckin outta the way
http://freezeframephotography.smugmug.com/photos/17010697-L.jpg

and shooters with BIG white lenses, looking for something to shoot :cry
http://freezeframephotography.smugmug.com/photos/17013244-L.jpg

So what did we come home with? I hope Ian did better than me on the flying honkers and the Great Egret (for Fish ....lol) :uhoh I got some flyin Goose butts, he might have gotten a frontal shot. The only decent shot I got was of a sitting duck. OK, so it's a Green Heron, not a duck...lol
http://freezeframephotography.smugmug.com/photos/17010695-L.jpg

I was trying to get Ian to scare him into flying towards me, but he took off in the opposite direction (the Heron, not Ian....lol) :rolleyes Too bad I didn't have the Better Beamer attached :-(

http://freezeframephotography.smugmug.com/photos/17010696-L.jpg

Like fishing, sometimes you beat the fish, sometimes he beats you. No great shots today, but I had a real good time anyway. I look forward to shooting with Ian again :thumb


Thanks for looking and I hope this post doesn't take too long to load :dunno

Steve

FWIW, all pics shot with the Bigma and 20D

[Harryb]

http://freezeframephotography.smugmug.com/photos/17010696-L.jpg

WOW!!!!.

You got a flight shot of a green heron! That is a very difficult shot to get. I've been trying for 6 months wiith no luck. I'm beginning to dislike you Steve. :wink

[Andy]

steve, what you couldn't even have a lousy bagel or a schmear with the guy?

where's the :eat ????

:lol3 see you in 2 weeks

[jwear]

that,s some nice shots very good :clap only #4 :scratch what the heck is that :wxwax the flight shot looks good .graet work Jeff

[Angelo]

Steve I have to agree. That flight shot is really fantastic.

[ian408]

steve, what you couldn't even have a lousy bagel or a schmear with the guy?

where's the :eat ????

:lol3 see you in 2 weeksHi Andy,

Steve was headed off for breaky and I, for a ride. I went to Pacifica for
surfers and got fog :D So I rode 46 miles for a slice of pie at Whale City
Bakery (sorry, little short on short lenses--no pix). More fog.
After all that riding, I was HUNGRY so I stopped at Thai Basil #1 for some
Panang Neua--hot as hades. Again, no food quality lenses. I do recommend
the place.

Steve, it was great to see you again and to shoot at the ponds. My shoes
are still wet :D

All I have to offer is this egret...

http://ian408.smugmug.com/photos/17033176-M.jpg

and a poppy...

http://ian408.smugmug.com/photos/17037743-M.jpg


Ian

[Andy]

Hi Andy,

Steve was headed off for breaky and I, for a ride. I went to Pacifica for
surfers and got fog :D So I rode 46 miles for a slice of pie at Whale City
Bakery (sorry, little short on short lenses--no pix). More fog.
After all that riding, I was HUNGRY so I stopped at Thai Basil #1 for some
Panang Neua--hot as hades. Again, no food quality lenses. I do recommend
the place.

:bow thanks for the food report (and the pics).

[pathfinder]

http://freezeframephotography.smugmug.com/photos/17010696-L.jpg

WOW!!!!.

You got a flight shot of a green heron! That is a very difficult shot to get. I've been trying for 6 months wiith no luck. I'm beginning to dislike you Steve. :wink

Great shot of a Green Heron in flight - I am envious!!

[ginger_55]

I am not even going to talk about it. After all, they said that was ALL they could come up with. Sob, sob.

Well, I got some dirty ibris es and a pretty little blue heron. Someday I will get a flight photo..............well I did. I have crows and seagulls. My lens was having trouble focusing, and I was having trouble finding the bird, if I found it, the lens was 5 mins behind in focusing.

Sorry you two didn't come up with more, but, as you said, you had fun, talked, etc.

ginger

[moti]

http://freezeframephotography.smugmug.com/photos/17010696-L.jpg

That one really deserves a big WOW, in all respects.
Fantastic shot Steve.

Moti

[Steve Cavigliano]

WOW!!!!.

You got a flight shot of a green heron! That is a very difficult shot to get. I've been trying for 6 months wiith no luck. I'm beginning to dislike you Steve. :wink
Awwwwww Harry, I didn't mean too :rofl Yes I did :bad

Hey, all I got was a wing and a head. I knew I should have hooked up the Better Beamer, but I was afraid I'd nuke any small birds I shot :rolleyes I'm sure we both can and will get a better shot of a Greenie flying in the future :thumb

Don't dislike me Harry. We're on the same side. Us mature folks versus those young whippersnappers :lol

Thanks for the comments,
Steve

[Steve Cavigliano]

steve, what you couldn't even have a lousy bagel or a schmear with the guy?

where's the :eat ????

:lol3 see you in 2 weeks
I wish. :uhoh I was so hungry while we were walking and shooting, I was about to grab a Canadian Goose and start chowing down.....lol

Thanks for looking,
Steve

[Steve Cavigliano]

that,s some nice shots very good :clap only #4 :scratch what the heck is that :wxwax the flight shot looks good .graet work Jeff
Thanks Jeff :D

#4 is a candid I took of some Canon shooter :wink , with a 500mm L lens. Nah, actually it's our own Ian408 :clap I was shooting into the Sun, so B&W seemed to be a good choice of treatment.


Thanks for taking the time to comment,
Steve

[Steve Cavigliano]

Steve I have to agree. That flight shot is really fantastic.
Thanks Angelo :D

We had walked around these ponds a couple of times and would have missed this little fella if not for some young lady stopping in front of us to check him out with binoculars :rolleyes I still couldn't see him for a few seconds. Ian went down to take a closer shot (yeah, I know, how close do you need to get with a 500mm lens?...lol) and he took off away from us. Fortunately, this time I got more than a "bird butt" :lol

Thanks for looking,
Steve

[Steve Cavigliano]

Hi Andy,

Steve was headed off for breaky and I, for a ride. I went to Pacifica for
surfers and got fog :D So I rode 46 miles for a slice of pie at Whale City
Bakery (sorry, little short on short lenses--no pix). More fog.
After all that riding, I was HUNGRY so I stopped at Thai Basil #1 for some
Panang Neua--hot as hades. Again, no food quality lenses. I do recommend
the place.

Steve, it was great to see you again and to shoot at the ponds. My shoes
are still wet :D

All I have to offer is this egret...

http://ian408.smugmug.com/photos/17033176-M.jpg

and a poppy...

http://ian408.smugmug.com/photos/17037743-M.jpg


Ian
Ian,

These came out well :thumb :thumb I had exposure and DOF issues with my Egret shots :cry The ones that came out well, were butt shots :bash Sorry you got fog over at the Coast. At least you got some good eats :hotfood

I enjoyed our walk and talk too. We've got to do it again, before Yosemite :thumb :thumb

Steve

[Steve Cavigliano]

Great shot of a Green Heron in flight - I am envious!!
Thanks PF :D

It was one of the last shots we took. So I guess it goes to show that if you haven't gotten a good pic yet, don't give up. That next shot may be a keeper :thumb

Thanks for your comments,
Steve

[Steve Cavigliano]

I am not even going to talk about it. After all, they said that was ALL they could come up with. Sob, sob.

Well, I got some dirty ibris es and a pretty little blue heron. Someday I will get a flight photo..............well I did. I have crows and seagulls. My lens was having trouble focusing, and I was having trouble finding the bird, if I found it, the lens was 5 mins behind in focusing.

Sorry you two didn't come up with more, but, as you said, you had fun, talked, etc.

gingerGinger,
I didn't mean to infer that we were disappointed, just that we had some really high expectations (as I usually do when shooting). We didn't see the waterfowl/raptors we were looking for, so we shot what was there. Not to worry about the troubles you had. I could post quite a few shots I took yesterday that were blown exposures or oof :cry Not to mention bird butt shots.....lol But, we did get some nice ones and as I wrote, the companionship and chat were dynamite :clap

The 2 things I find with flight shots, is 1) you need to be prepared and 2) you need to be lucky. Take this Heron shot. My camera was set up for taking pics of him sitting on the bank (F9 AV mode). That I caught him against the blue water was luck. If he would have taken off higher so that the sky was in the BG, I would have under exposed him badly. For dark birds against a light sky you need to dial in at least +1EV of comp. I wouldn't have had time to do this. The preparation comes in where you are waiting for a bird to take flight. If you think he'll take off against the sky, dial in your EV comp, or manual set your settings. Also, sky flight shots work well with all focus points active.

Because I was using a long focal length I had troubles with AF speed too. If the subject was too close, I'd hunt and maybe lose the shot opportunity. No biggie, stuff happens and you move on to the next oppportunity :):

Anyhow, thanks for taking the time to comment Ginger and as I said the other day, hang in there and try to have fun, it does get better and easier :thumb

Steve

[Andy]

Don't dislike me Harry. We're on the same side. Us old geezers versus those young and sprightly.

Steve

fixed it for ya, steve. http://williams.smugmug.com/photos/17029255-Ti.gif

[ginger_55]

should collaborate on a book specifically for shooting birds. Harry can plagierize all he has learned in workshops and you can....well, write.

I didn't know that about +EC when shooting a dark bird into the sky.

There are so many photo books about photoshop, at all levels, but so few on how to shoot, specifically on specifics. One I wanted my husband said was too fundamental for me. It would have helped I am sure. I would buy a recently published book on digital bird photography, at a discount, in a heartbeat.

I am going to a workshop, a one day one, in April, didn't think at the time I handed over my 150.00, I won't be able to hear much at all. Reading material is valuable for me. And lots of people with money, as seniors, they have trouble hearing, too. As that great group photo of seniors showed. They have lens money, want birds, need I say more.

So that is two books now that I have thought of.

Photography jargon in the new Digital Age............

Photographing birds in the wild in the new Digital Age............

ginger

Or are you going to make me copy all these posts and hope I can file them before I lose them, but not take them with me on a shoot, too unwieldy.

Off to call the library re art books on minimalism. Maybe see something not yet done in photography.:lol4

[ginger_55]

Steve, I was kidding about you being disappointed at not finding the "big" stuff. In my mind you did!:clap

So you were looking for bigger stuff, and you really weren't spoofing us. I was sure you were spoofing us!:dunno

You and Ian got great stuff.:clap :clap

g

[Steve Cavigliano]

That one really deserves a big WOW, in all respects.
Fantastic shot Steve.

Moti
Thanks Moti :D

The best part of the day was having someone to talk to while shooting. I don't mind shooting alone, but it is so much nicer having someone else to bounce ideas off of :): It doesn't hurt if that someone is also an excellent shooter :thumb

Thanks for taking the time to comment,
Steve

[Steve Cavigliano]

fixed it for ya, steve. http://williams.smugmug.com/photos/17029255-Ti.gif:smack
Andy,
People have seen pics of you. You may be able to get by with "young", but do you really think they're gonna buy "sprightly"? :lol3


Steve

:bad

[Steve Cavigliano]

should collaborate on a book specifically for shooting birds. Harry can plagierize all he has learned in workshops and you can....well, write.

I didn't know that about +EC when shooting a dark bird into the sky.

There are so many photo books about photoshop, at all levels, but so few on how to shoot, specifically on specifics. One I wanted my husband said was too fundamental for me. It would have helped I am sure. I would buy a recently published book on digital bird photography, at a discount, in a heartbeat.

I am going to a workshop, a one day one, in April, didn't think at the time I handed over my 150.00, I won't be able to hear much at all. Reading material is valuable for me. And lots of people with money, as seniors, they have trouble hearing, too. As that great group photo of seniors showed. They have lens money, want birds, need I say more.

So that is two books now that I have thought of.

Photography jargon in the new Digital Age............

Photographing birds in the wild in the new Digital Age............

ginger

Or are you going to make me copy all these posts and hope I can file them before I lose them, but not take them with me on a shoot, too unwieldy.

Off to call the library re art books on minimalism. Maybe see something not yet done in photography.:lol4
LOL Ginger,
An old photography guru once told me (actually, he had to tell me many times...lol) "For dark subjects against a light background, dial in +1 EV of compensation and for light subjects against a dark background (like your Egrets), dial in -1 EV of compensation" Then check the histogram and see if you need further adjustments.

The meter is easy to fool. Like taking pics in snow. The meter tricks you into wanting to make the snow gray, which will cause any subject darker than the snow, to be under exposed. This is a case of shooting a dark subj against a light background, so you'd dial in at least +1 EV of compensation :wink

This is some of what I was talking about, in your thread the other day. Once you get a grasp on what settings you need to get a good exposure, then it just becomes focusing and composition :D

OK, end of today's lesson :wink and I hope Shay Stephens doesn't get too upset with me for referring to him as an 'old guru" :lol4


Steve

[Steve Cavigliano]

Steve, I was kidding about you being disappointed at not finding the "big" stuff. In my mind you did!:clap

So you were looking for bigger stuff, and you really weren't spoofing us. I was sure you were spoofing us!:dunno

You and Ian got great stuff.:clap :clap

g
Ginger,
This was the post that got us excited.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1019&message=12434116

We had hoped to get some shots like those :rolleyes OK, maybe not that good, but at least shots of similar subjects.....lol

I am satisfied with what we came home with and we'll just have to go capture those other birds another day :wink

Steve

[Dee]

But we got some poppies a poppin with dew
http://freezeframephotography.smugmug.com/photos/17010694-S.jpg

I was trying to get Ian to scare him into flying towards me, but he took off in the opposite direction (the Heron, not Ian....lol) :rolleyes Too bad I didn't have the Better Beamer attached :-(

http://freezeframephotography.smugmug.com/photos/17010696-S.jpg
[/QUOTE]

Saturday at the coast was beautiful! Only what traffic jams!
Sunday at the coast was iffy, some sun south of Pillar Point Harbor, then the fog rolled in, typical summer pattern. Still lots of traffic jams!

I once got a great photo of a sea gull taking off from the rail of the Pacifica Pier, only his leading wing was cut off.

I went back to the Pier with some assistants and spent about an hour having them scare the gulls, but the all took off down instead of at eye level.

Assistants are very helpful to get birds to take off, aren't they? :rofl

Anyway congrats on the lovely poppy (I was going to shoot some on Sunday, but lost the light due to the fog) and especially the little heron in flight, that back wing is absolutely gorgeous as well as the head of the bird in such sharp detail!

You'll probably never get another chance at a shot like that, so I'd duplicate and back up that file in several places!

I did get a coromont on a rock drying its wings, surrounded by sea gulls at what I think I learned is Fisherman's creek at the harbor, but too much fog, everything was gray. I'm going to post one or two later on. Have a few things to do first.

Congrats again! And a huge thank you to Ian for getting the bird to take off!

[wxwax]

Tell you what, I really like this piccie.

http://freezeframephotography.smugmug.com/photos/17010694-S.jpg

And I think Andy looks good with red nose.

[Steve Cavigliano]

But we got some poppies a poppin with dew
http://freezeframephotography.smugmug.com/photos/17010694-S.jpg

I was trying to get Ian to scare him into flying towards me, but he took off in the opposite direction (the Heron, not Ian....lol) :rolleyes Too bad I didn't have the Better Beamer attached :-(

http://freezeframephotography.smugmug.com/photos/17010696-S.jpg
Saturday at the coast was beautiful! Only what traffic jams!
Sunday at the coast was iffy, some sun south of Pillar Point Harbor, then the fog rolled in, typical summer pattern. Still lots of traffic jams!

I once got a great photo of a sea gull taking off from the rail of the Pacifica Pier, only his leading wing was cut off.

I went back to the Pier with some assistants and spent about an hour having them scare the gulls, but the all took off down instead of at eye level.

Assistants are very helpful to get birds to take off, aren't they? :rofl

Anyway congrats on the lovely poppy (I was going to shoot some on Sunday, but lost the light due to the fog) and especially the little heron in flight, that back wing is absolutely gorgeous as well as the head of the bird in such sharp detail!

You'll probably never get another chance at a shot like that, so I'd duplicate and back up that file in several places!

I did get a coromont on a rock drying its wings, surrounded by sea gulls at what I think I learned is Fisherman's creek at the harbor, but too much fog, everything was gray. I'm going to post one or two later on. Have a few things to do first.

Congrats again! And a huge thank you to Ian for getting the bird to take off![/QUOTE]

Dee, Thanks for the nice comments :D

The weather was so nice Sunday morning, I actually worked up a sweat walking around the ponds :wink I was sorry to read where Ian hit fog on the coast afterwards. I hate that traffic worse than the fog :dunno Especially, down by the beach in Santa Cruz. If you can shoot these locations during the week, it is so much more relaxing.

We lamented that neither of us were able to get over to Mavericks for the Big Wave contest, last week :cry But, Ian said you needed 500mm's + a 2X TC to get decent shots, and since I don't have a 2X TC, I did wind up feeling a bit better. But, IMHO, that definitely would have been worth calling in sick for :lol3

For seagull shots, have your assistants throw some stale bread into the air. You can get some awesome "in flight" shots that way. Or, you can just stalk them like Andy does :lol Here's Andy trying to convince a California gull that he really is a famous photographer from New York :haha OK, say "Ribs"...lol

http://freezeframephotography.smugmug.com/photos/15708637-L.jpg

Yep, I was thankful Ian got the Green Heron to take flight. Plus, you can't even see the rock he tossed within the frame.....LOL :lol4 J/K No birds were injured/scared during this shooting....lol

Those commorants drying their wings are really kewl. Hope you got some keepers of that. Thanks for the kind words on the poppy. Lots of wildflowers starting to bloom. The hills are going to be awesome in another few weeks :clap I was telling Ian about how those hills, on the LA side of the Grapevine, look like someone took a loaded brush and painted them, when those wildflowers are blooming. The only thing I've ever seen that can touch this colorful display is Autumn on the East Coast.

Thanks for the comments about the Heron flight pic. I have the RAW file and the originals which I will be burning to DVD this week :thumb

Again, thanks for the nice comments Dee and for taking the time to respond :-)

Steve

[Steve Cavigliano]

Tell you what, I really like this piccie.

http://freezeframephotography.smugmug.com/photos/17010694-S.jpg

And I think Andy looks good with red nose.
Thanks Sid :D

Ian and I wound up with wet sneakers from this hike through the brush, but it was worth it :clap


I totally agree about the red nose :thumb IMO, it highlights his bushy brows. I can't believe he doesn't like it :lol4 I say this, knowing full well he has the power to make my avatar look even worse that it already does :lol


Thanks for the comments Sid :-)

Steve

[Shakey]

Great Heron shots!
As always I look forward to your next posting.:thumb

Tim

[Steve Cavigliano]

Great Heron shots!
As always I look forward to your next posting.:thumb

Tim
Thanks Tim :D

I appreciate your comments :thumb I just got done looking at your Geese and Chickadee shots. You're not doing bad yourself :thumb :thumb


Thanks for taking the time to respond,
Steve