Why Canon?

Another of the questions I am often asked is why I chose Canon equipment over that of other brands. I’ve given that question more thought recently and the answer, I’ve concluded, is advertising. When I was much younger, my first experience with an SLR camera was with my dad’s Asahi Pentax Spotmatic. It was pretty much completely manual, but its ability to use interchangeable lenses for specific purposes always fascinated me. Growing up, and getting to see different parts of the world, my interest in animals and nature grew. We had a subscription to National Geographic Magazine and a whole slew of back issues that we kept in our library. I would constantly go through all the issues looking for stories about wildlife, and dream of being able to travel the world to get similar stories and images. Not every issue was about wildlife, but you could always count on an advertisement from Canon to feature a new species. The advertisements were titled “Wildlife as Canon sees it”. Each magazine had a different advertisement that highlighted one Canon’s long white telephoto lenses that was used to capture a spectacular image of a rare species.

When I started working part-time and made enough money to afford an SLR camera of my own, I knew that Canon was the brand that I wanted. A trip down to the local Service Merchandise also revealed that Canon made one of the most affordable SLRs, the EOS Rebel. Like many would be photographers I had delusions of grandeur when I got my first SLR. I quickly found out that it was not easy to get those spectacular shots; at least not with the EF 28-80mm lens that the camera came with. So I invested in a telephoto zoom lens the EF 75-300mm lens and a Speedlite 200E. They made things a little better, but not by much, as my reach was still limited. Despite the limitations, I enjoyed using the EOS Rebel and decided that it would take wonderful pictures during a trip to Costa Rica. I was excited because I was finally on a trip to an exotic locale with a camera in tow. The camera performed well enough, although my shooting skills were less than spectacular at the time. A week or so later, the EOS Rebel started acting funny and the EF 28-80mm lens wouldn’t work at all. This was my first lesson that travel photography requires good equipment. It seems that moisture had made its way into the camera and lens from the high humidity of the Costa Rican rainforest. The camera could be repaired, but the lens could not. A week and a few hundred dollars later I walked out of the camera store with a new EOS 28-80mm lens and a repaired EOS Rebel. I put the camera away and didn’t touch it again for quite some time.

The digital camera revolution took place and once again I was intrigued by the new digital SLR technology. So what brand do I purchase? Well, Canon of course. Justifying that I can still use my almost new 28-80mm lens and 70-300mm zoom, I would once again become a great wildlife photographer.

So, why Canon? For the advertising. In addition to the ads in National Geographic magazine, Canon also sponsored one of my favorite shows on PBS, Nature. So Canon, to me, was synonymous with great wildlife photography. Speaking of which, one of the shows I’ve been enjoying lately on PBS (WLRN) are repeats of Travels to the Edge with Art Wolfe. It’s also sponsored by Canon.

Partly Cloudy...

Partly cloudy, highs near 90° F with scattered thunderstorms. That about sums up the weather in July. When you adjust for humidity it can easily feel like 98° F out there, and that's enough to keep most photographers indoors. It's only in the very early morning or the late evening that the temperatures are bearable for outdoor activities, and that's true for the wild animals as well.



So today, my friend Chuck and I went scouting for some new locations to shoot. One of the places we stopped at was Secret Woods Nature Center, in Broward County. It's a well hidden park that looks promising for macro photography. There are lots of land and fiddler crabs, as well as a variety of insects. I didn't take any pictures as I left my camera in the car, because it was just a scouting trip. I did leave with a rather nasty spider bite that happened when my left arm brushed against the boardwalk railing and I felt this painful burning feeling on my arm. I'm not sure what kind of spider it was as I never saw it, and I'm actually just guessing that it is a spider bite from researching the symptoms on the Internet. I like taking pictures of insects and spiders, but I hate being bitten by them.

The July gallery is now open. Like the June gallery, it's going to be a mixture of the standard birds as well as some insect macro photography.

On our way back home we stopped by the southern entrance to Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. From there you could clearly see the afternoon thunderstorms gathering over the Everglades.

Some of you have been asking about out little girl Arwen. Since I took down the old web site AmyandJay.net, I guess there have been no updates about her to the general public. Well, I didn't know so many readers of Beauty of the Wild were so interested in our little girl's progress. To find out all about Arwen's monthly adventures you'll need to subscribe to Multiply.com. That's where we've moved all of our family related information. There are three main multiply sites where you can find us. They are: Jay Paredes, Amy Paredes, and Jake Paredes.

Canon EOS-1D Mark III Autofocus Issues

Since the release of the new Canon EOS-1D Mark III camera, I've been reading complaints regarding its autofocus system. In particular, its ability to track moving subjects in AI Servo mode. I first saw these complaints on Naturescapes.net, but they have been popping up more and more on different photography web sites. Now, Rob Galbraith has written a comprehensive article on the autofocus issues that many users seem to be having with the 1D Mark III.

I'm not lucky enough to be able to afford a Canon 1D Mark III, but if you are, you should contact Canon if you are experiencing problems with the autofocus system. The more people report the issue, the more attention Canon will give it.

Newsletter Archive

If you're not a subscriber to the Beauty of the Wild newsletter, then now is your chance to catch up on what you've been missing. The entire newsletter archive for the past year has just been posted under the "Articles" section. The archive includes the latest newsletter highlighting more macro photography and some winning images from the 2007 Orange Audubon Society Photography Contest.

Please click on the "subscribe to newsletter" link, to make sure you get future updates sent directly to your inbox.

Lady Beetle Wallpaper

"Lady Beetle" taken at my parents' garden on June 2, 2007. This shot was produced by using a ring flash with manual exposure and a 150mm macro lens.

More macro photography shots can be seen in the June gallery.

This image is available for download as a desktop wallpaper in several resolutions:

Full Screen 1024 x 768   Full Screen 1280 x 1024
Full Screen 1400 x 1050   Widescreen 1280 x 768
Widescreen 1680 x 1050

June is Bustin’ Out All Over

South Florida is in the middle of one of the worst droughts in its history. The water levels of Lake Okeechobee are the lowest since the record was set in 2000. Palm Beach and Broward Counties are under Phase III water restrictions. Earlier in May, before the rainy season started, our skies were blanketed with smoke from the wildfires burning throughout the Everglades. These conditions have not been good for the traditional season of our nesting birds. There were fewer nests this year, and even fewer eggs that actually hatched. It’s even evident in the number of young birds that normally visit our backyard feeders at this time of the year.

The drought seems to have had an opposite effect for the birds in water controlled areas such as Wakodahatchee Wetlands. There the birds have had to contend with higher than normal water levels in these areas, as water managers pump more water into them to force the replenishment of the aquifer. Some Black-necked stilts at Wakodahatchee and Green Cay, have had their nests flooded out by high water several times. The success of nesting birds in South Florida depends on delivering the right amounts of water at the right time, and this just isn’t happening for many species this year.

One species that seems to be having a good year are Crows. At least is seems that way, because I’ve seen many more of them this year. They have been busy raiding the nests of grackles and blackbirds. For the second year in a row, they’ve also managed to tear up the nests of the Purple Martins at Wakodahatchee.

A bad cold and some rainy weather have kept me indoors for a good part of May, so I wasn’t able to catch the tail end of spring migration. Having missed all the Swallow-tailed Kite action this year and having had a rather poor migration season, has me longing for some better photography opportunities. We’re in June now, so there will be fewer different species to photograph. To keep me occupied this summer, I recently purchased a ring flash to use with my macro lens. I’m going to try to get some close-ups of insects. Hopefully I’ll have some successful shots that I can post in the gallery.

In the meantime I’ve been working on improvements to this website. Most of which have been invisible to visitors, like the upgrade to the gallery program. I’ve also been working on launching the Everglades Photographic Society website.

June marks the beginning of the Atlantic hurricane season. An El Niño effect kept South Florida safe last year, but we have no such protection this year. Be prepared, and keep safe.

The Lusty Month of May

It’s not just a Lerner and Loewe song, but May usually marks the end of the migration season and the beginning of the full fledged breeding season. Of course here in Florida, many of our birds, like the Great Blue Herons, have been nesting since December; but still there are birds that produce offspring in May such as the Moorhens, Gallinules, Stilts, and Mottled Duck. Other birds, like the Black-bellied Whistling-Duck are just beginning to nest.

The extreme drought that South Florida is facing this year has placed a damper on our spring migration. I noticed fewer warblers then usual during April. The Swallow-tailed Kite activity in Everglades National Park is also slower than last year. At Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, there doesn’t appear to be any successful Red-shouldered Hawk nests. The drier conditions have forced many animals to move closer and closer to populated areas to seek food and water; like the Bobcats at Green Cay that have made the parking lot a regular place to hang out.

Hopefully these are not signs of a long term trend, and these populations bounce back next year. One of the goals of this website is to be able to keep track of the trends from year to year.

Thank you for the kind e-mails everyone sent me, after my car accident on April 1st. Most everything is back in order again or in the process of getting back in order. After a few doctors’ visits, it looks like my injuries are minor. We now have a new car, the newly redesigned 2007 Honda CR-V LX in Glacier Blue. Actually when I say “we” I mean my wife got the new car, I’m back to driving my old car, which she had taken over after our daughter was born. I’m pretty sure this whole thing relates to the Circle of Life somehow.

If you’ve been looking for something to watch on television, you didn’t have to look far this spring. There was the beautiful documentary on Planet Earth, on the Discovery Channel. Another great documentary on the Galapagos was on the National Geographic Channel. A new show called Spring Watch USA on Animal Planet. Finally there’s always the continuing series Wild Florida on your local PBS station.

The May gallery is now open. Enjoy.