Fun at home!
I am as guilty as the next photographer; I too like to travel to various locations to take images, whether they are landscapes or wildlife. But sometimes you don’t have to stray very far.
The day after I received my Canon 5DM3 camera a once a year ritual took place in my backyard. I have a very large pyracantha bush just outside my office door and every year a flock of Cedar Waxwings comes and strips the bush of all its berries. Unfortunately they never announce when they are coming so it is hit or miss whether I get to witness the feeding frenzy! But fortunately I was here and more than willing to test out the new camera. I needed to shoot a fast shutter speed (1/640 sec) and I wanted to maintain some depth of field (f/11) so I needed to shoot at ISO 4000. It was a great test for the new camera! As you can see the camera preformed quite well!
Canon 5DM3, Canon 500mm f/4 L lens, Feisol CT-3372 tripod, Really Right Stuff BH-55 Ball Head, Wimberley Sidekick, Lexar CF cards
Sunday I awoke at 3 AM to drive with some friends to photograph the “super moon”. We picked an area near Birds Landing, CA to get the wind turbines in the background.
Well that wasn’t the most successful photo shoot I ever went on, but when I stumbled home at 9 AM I pulled in my driveway to see one of the newborn bluebirds poking it’s head out of my bluebird box and the parents were busy feeding. I parked at the end of the driveway and lined up my angle. I quickly ran in the house to get my Vacu-pod (www.Vacu-pod.com) and mounted the Canon 500mm f/4 L lens on my Canon 1DM4, on the Vacu-pod stuck to the driver’s side window, with the Really Right Stuff BH-55 Ball Head. I needed even faster shutter speeds (1/1000 – 1/2000) so I was shooting at ISO 400 (it was very sunny) at f/8- f/11. I took the best pictures of the day 30 feet from my front door. I could have slept in! And I even got to listen to the radio as I photographed!
To see more of both bird shoots click here to view my bird images on my website - the Cedar Waxwings are on the first page and the Western Bluebirds the second page
It just goes to show you, you don’t always have to travel far to make great pictures!
Have a great day,
