Pic of the Day

    White Ibis – Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge; Sanibel Island, Florida:  After leaving Fort De Soto State Park we headed for Fort Myers and Sanibel Island.  On January 2^nd we were up early and on the wildlife drive.  There were few birds on the auto trail but when we arrived at the water impoundment at observation deck 3, there were two lone White Ibis feeding in the shallows.  The early morning light provided a nice reflection of the birds and a great photo opportunity as they moved along the shoreline probing the muddy bottom for crabs.  This ibis was photographed with its prey suspended in mid air just before gulping the crab down its gullet.

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 500mm f4, Digital Capture ISO 200, 1/1600 sec. @ f8

Pic of the Day

   Willet – Captiva Island, Florida:  January 2^nd was another beautiful day in Southern Florida, but the birds in Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge were few and far between.  After a drive through the refuge we headed to Tween-waters, the slough that separates Sanibel Island from Captiva.  The beach on the Captiva side of the slough always has some kind of shorebirds to photograph, and this day there were terns, turnstones, sanderlings and willets. 

This Willet was one of more than a dozen in a small flock that raced up and down the beach as tourist walked along the shore line.  I took the photo as the bird paused for a moment between its movement up and down the beach.   My low level Frisbee mounted camera worked great and so did the angle of view.  The Frisbee allow me to keep the camera about 7 inches off the ground, and gives me the ability to slide the camera forward or backward across the ground as I crawl forward and backward.

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 500mm f4, Digital Capture ISO 200, 1/1000 sec. @ f9

Pic of the Day

   First let me wish each of you a “Happy New Year”!  On December 30^th, I decided to drive south where the temperature is warmer.  So, on Friday, New Years Eve, at 2:00 PM, my wife and I headed south for Fort De Soto State Park in Saint Petersburg, Florida. 

     I took a few photos (which I will post) and then headed to Sanibel Island to visit the Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge.   While the first couple of weeks of January are not the best time to visit Florida for bird photography I had a great time.  Once I get the images squared away I will try to post one every day or two for a while.  The first image comes from the causeway to Sanibel Island.  The causeway is one of my favorite places to shoot shorebirds, but the first image I will show is a Snowy Egret.

   Snowy Egret – Sanibel Island Causeway, Florida:  This image was shot just minutes before the sun dipped below the horizon.  The light conditions were low and of the dozen shots I took only about half were sharp.  For this image I used two new pieces of equipment.  I really wanted to go to Florida to try out the new Nikon D7000.  I really like the camera, especially the video feature.  I also wanted to try out my ground level camera mount.  To take images from ground level I attached a ball head to a Frisbee.  I got the idea from a recent book I read.  I will have to give the name in a later post as I do not remember the book or author.  This photo was taken using the Frisbee mount.  After some experimentation I think a pie pan might work better.  The Frisbee is a bit flexible.  I will try the pie pan to see which works best.  However, even with the Frisbee/ball head mount I was able to get a sharp image.  I have numerous images shot with this setup and I will post over the next week or so.

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 500mm, f4, Digital Capture ISO 200, Frisbee/ballhead mount

Pic of the Day

     American Egret – Fort Myers Beach, Florida:  It was a rainy March morning in southern Florida as the alarm blared its clanging wakeup call.  Four o’clock A. M., shown in bright red number and it seemed as if I had just gone to sleep.  It was raining outside and I did not want to get out of bed; just a few more winks I told myself.  But I was in Florida to shoot, rain or shine I should be in the field.

I dragged myself out of bed and was soon on the road to Fort Myers Beach.  A beautiful stretch of sand on the mainland that looked west toward Sanibel Island.  By the time I arrived the rain had stopped, but a dense impenetrable fog thickened the landscape.  Why did I get up, I kept asking myself, knowing full well that there were no images to be taken this morning.

     Still, I got my gear together and headed toward the beach.  I could barley tell which direction to walk as the fog obstructed all landmarks.   As I listened in the quietness of the early morning I could hear the waves lapping against the shoreline giving me directions to follow.  After a short walk I was standing at the waters edge.  

     The sun had not broken the horizon nor had the beachcomber yet raised to scourer the beach for shells; for now it was just me and the birds. As I stood on the beach the only sounds audible were the lapping waves ,  and peeps of sanderlings and Ruddy Turnstones as they scurried to and fro along the edge of the incoming tide.  As the eastern sky began to glow I could tell that the clouds that had brought the nights rain were breaking, and perhaps my earlier haste to remain in bed was truly unfounded.

     As the day grew brighter and the fog began to thin a group of American Egrets foraging in the shallows began to materialize out of the vapors.  Occasionally one of the birds would stretch out its huge wings and with a few effortless flaps leap ten or twenty feet to a new fishing spot. The white birds set within the foggy veil were faint ghost, barely visible to the eye. The scene became a perfect blend of pastel blue and white plums; an ethereal quality that only nature can produce.
     I was drawn to the simplicity of the scene; its forms, pastels and motion.  The view before my eyes made me very happy that I had not lingered in my earlier slumber.  For what I thought was to be a dull ordinary morning was quite different than what I had expected.  In fact, as nature often provides, the ordinary had become the extraordinary. 

Nikon F4, Nikkor 500mm f4, Kodachorme 64