I took a little break from nature photography in October to pursue portrait photography with some success. It’s probably something I’ll do from time to time, while I continue to build a portfolio. However the real news is it is November, which is usually the time when bird photography starts to get exciting again. Right now, the happening spot continues to be Green Cay, as Purple Gallinules, still in their juvenile plumage, climb the stalks of the Fire Flag to reach the remaining flower stalks. You’d better hurry however; as the cooler weather will soon wither away the Fire Flag and the gallinules will become less accessible until the spring.I also had a chance to check out the Loxahatchee Marsh Trail this past weekend, and I saw a couple of Northern Harriers working the area. Also present were two Red-shouldered Hawks and a Snail Kite. There were just a trickle of Blue-winged Teals and a few very shy Wood Ducks. Photo opportunities were low as many of these new arrivals were still very shy.
With the holidays approaching, I plan to be out in the field a lot more and hopefully get some great shots this winter. My new Canon 40D has become my primary workhorse and I really like its faster autofocus speed, faster frames rate, and deeper buffer. What I’m not so crazy about is that the larger LCD does not seem to make it any easier to determine if the shot is in focus, motion blurred, or not. I guess Canon would need to increase the actual pixel resolution for that to happen. Overall it’s a great camera and I’ve taken some excellent shots of birds in flight, macro, and portraits with it.
What I’ve learned when doing portraits is how to use flash more effectively. In particular how to use flash off camera. I have yet to try my newfound fondness for flash photography for nature photography; but I hope to find some sort of application for off camera flash in nature photography soon. One such application that I’ve seen used is to freeze the motion of hummingbirds, but that would be difficult here in South Florida, where we don’t get many hummingbirds. If I do find an application, I’ll be sure to write about it here.Finally, I’ll put in a plug for the STA-1E birding tours being conducted by South Florida Water Management and Pine Jog Environmental Education Center. Remaining dates for the 2007/2008 season are:
November 10 and 24, 2007
December 8 and 22, 2007
January 5 and 19, 2008
February 2 and 16, 2008
March 1 and 15, 2008
April 12 and 26, 2008
Times for the tours are 8:00 AM to 12:00 Noon. To attend and for more information, please contact Helen Beers at (561) 686-6600.
