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EdBannister

Mountain climber

13,000 feet

Dec 27, 2016 - 09:07pm PT

Really beautiful shots you guys...

re monopod question...

I never take a photo without a tripod, and the camera on self timer.

if that does not cover it i will share an experience that humbled me...

I was shooting the Mercedes Benz Classic Center with friends, one of whom was Eric Mooneyham.
Eric might be the top toy photographer on the planet.
He set up a shot looking down into a two story classic car storage room.
I saw a piece of trash, said wait, retrieved it and on my return, he hesitated.
I said "i thought you were ready?
He looked at me incredulously and said "there is someone on the stairs."
That stairway was 60 feet away, in a 50,000 square foot concrete tilt up.

He waited, because he did not want the vibration in the floor generated by a person on the stairway,
to affect his shot. He wanted his camera to be, perfectly, still.
and he was surprised at me, that i did not know, why he was waiting... hardcore.

as for the "our place" i think the birds feel very much at home here. it was a peaceful evening

or if you are an Ansel Adams fan, look at the size of his tripod, 80 pounds, minimum.

Reilly

Mountain climber

The Other Monrovia- CA

Dec 27, 2016 - 09:24pm PT

That's just plain OCD! Did he lock his mirror up, or was he using a Hasselblad?

EdBannister

Mountain climber

13,000 feet

Dec 27, 2016 - 09:33pm PT

Eric is not compulsive,,,

He shoots toys for Hasbro, Mattel, Bandai (Power Rangers), Tonka, and others...
Odds are you have bought stuff with his work on the outside..

hard to argue with results.

but yes he is obsessed. did i leave out that he was using a 200 lb "tripod" at the time?

and his studio was in your town, Monrovia, for many years "Image Domain"
click the "showcase" tab at imagedomain.com

Bob D'A

Trad climber

Taos, NM

Dec 28, 2016 - 03:35pm PT

Along the Rio Grande near Pilar, NM today.

limpingcrab

Trad climber

the middle of CA

Dec 28, 2016 - 03:47pm PT

Man you guys take great pictures!

Anyone else do the Christmas bird count today? It was my first time and I thought it was great, might be a new tradition. Went to lost lake park north of Fresno on the San Joaquin and having an expert with me was priceless, learned so much

Osprey through 10x binoculars with an iPhone, basically National Geographic quality. Eat your hearts out.

Darwin

Trad climber

Seattle, WA

Dec 28, 2016 - 08:51pm PT

Thanks for Bohemian WW photos Cyndie. There seems to be a little irruption in that I'm hearing more reports of them around Western Washington (but not King County) than normal.

Glad Reilly has his bazooka and that Bob, BN(thanks for tips on monopods) and the rest are still posting.

Hey, WRT the perennial Cooper's vs Sharpie dilemma: do any of you use the call? I had one today that I couldn't figure out. I turned my back and heard its call. Just based on the top/first calls in the Anroid Sibley app, I would say it was "obviously" a Cooper's (almost a C. Quail like squawk, but not so many syllables). What was Bob's photo of the accipiter?

in edit: if Bob's flying one is the "sitting" one, it's a Sharpie based on the pencil legs. ?

Oso Flaco

Gym climber

Atascadero, CA

Dec 28, 2016 - 10:16pm PT

Here also, is my National Geographic contribution (the standard iPhone & binoculars professional set-up). We saw it next to my apartment in Atascadero this morning. It's a regular to our county, but not often seen, and is the first I've had the privilege to. Wendy and I were sitting at the table, having breakfast when she said, "Look, there is a woodpecker in the tree out front." It was on a narrow trunk only about 3' above the ground. I assumed it was just one of the Acorn Woodpeckers that frequent our neighborhood trees, but thought it was unusual to see a woodpecker so close to the ground. So, I got up from the table to get a closer look near the window and announced my initial surprise of, "Oh! I think it's actually a...," to Wendy as she was off to get ready for work. It flew off right as I started to get a good look at it. I noted the direction, ran to grab our binoculars, then out the backdoor. I got lucky and it landed in the large tree that overhangs our apartment. It left and re-visited the same spot on the tree a couple times where I'm assuming there are some drilled holes (via pecking) because later, a Nuttall's Woodpecker spent some time picking around the same spot, while an Acorn Woodpecker, a few branches away, was letting him know that seat was taken.

When it revisited the second time, I focused the binoculars, lined up my iPhone with one of the oculars, and snapped two photos in quick succession. I played around with trying to get a video (rather shaky); then, I must have taken over 200 pictures trying to get the best combination of right focus and subject's pose for the shot. But wouldn't you know it, after reviewing...all of them...the second shot was the best (with the wrong tools). Why? After looking at them, I realized the first picture got the bird's attention since that is when it first heard the unfamiliar noise of the camera shutter sound effect of the iPhone. So it looked right at me as I snapped the second photo. I didn't do this on purpose of course, just got lucky with the quick second shot. One thing that surprised me when looking at the photo later was that a Yellow-rumped warbler appears on a lower branch and in the foreground, but wasn't in the preceding (very first) picture taken around 1 second before. Those birds move quick. Again, a lucky shot. While watching, I noticed the Yellow-rumped Warbler kept getting very close to the bird in question; I'm wondering if it was also interested in picking around for sap in the same spot on the tree.

Anyone want to name this one? (Hint: the last sentence above should be a clue)

Reilly

Mountain climber

The Other Monrovia- CA

Dec 29, 2016 - 08:37am PT

Bob's excellent AIF is a Sharpie imho. The first thing I notice is the eyes and the 'face',
it just looks unlike a Coop. But those are some nice gams on her, too! ;-)

Good morning Mr Jay!

And, yes, it was a crappy job of shopping the background. ;-)

little Z

Trad climber

un cafetal en Naranjo

Dec 29, 2016 - 11:35am PT

where are Bob's Accipiter photos? I can't find them. Are they before or after the Northern Harrier photos?

sorry, I've been out of it for awhile. Been having bad alergies and a sinus infection. My birding partner on our recent trip to Australia is also suffering the same. We both got zapped back on Nov. 21 by this weird weather-pollen phenomena when we arrived at the Melbourne airport that evening:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/29/world/australia/melbourne-australia-thunderstorm-asthma-attacks.html?_r=0

we were both a wreck after that. Having to take 4 flights during the following week didn't help. Felt like my head would explode everytime we made a descent. Was getting better but then made the mistake of driving from sea level up over Cerro de La Muerte (!0,000 + ft) a few weeks ago.

Spinefex Pigeon - one of my most wanted birds. Picked it up at Ormiston Gorge near Alice Springs.

Reilly

Mountain climber

The Other Monrovia- CA

Dec 29, 2016 - 11:57am PT

Good to see you back, Z, even in yer condition. ;-(
Hope you improve back in the humidity. :-)

That's a crazy pigeon there! He doesn't know if he's a pigeon or a quail
if you ask me, which yer knott. :-)

This isn't with the new lens but I came across it and thought it decent...

hooblie

climber

from out where the anecdotes roam

Dec 29, 2016 - 12:46pm PT

i'm reluctant to pursue the thing, besides i'm typically unprepared to capture it's image, so just share with me the recurring joy that comes with being startled once or twice a week by a roadrunner making haste around the corner of the house. won't be round forever i suppose, so it's a treat even if this one has been playing it straight, meaning not prone to antics so far. maybe one of these times i'll notice him/her first ... ha!

BrassNuts

Trad climber

Save your a_s, reach for the brass...

Dec 29, 2016 - 02:31pm PT

Hey Reilly, hit the weight pile so you can shoot hand held - you get way more opportunities that way and it's more fun/challenging to boot :-) Personally, I rarely shoot my bazooka stopped down more than f/8 as the increased depth of field (not much from f/8 to f/11 for example) at 800mm+ focal lengths is pretty limited and I would rather save the light for either faster shutter or less noise (I rarely shoot beyond ISO 800). If your body allows custom focus points by orientation I would suggest using those, very useful. Have fun!

Bob D'A

Trad climber

Taos, NM

Dec 29, 2016 - 02:40pm PT

Little Z, I think they mean this one, not sure?

Reilly

Mountain climber

The Other Monrovia- CA

Dec 29, 2016 - 03:19pm PT

Dood was at least 250' above me. Do I look or smell dead?

Darwin

Trad climber

Seattle, WA

Dec 30, 2016 - 09:07pm PT

Bob, you're too kind! Naw, I was just plain wrong wrong wrong. I'll probably make that mistake again, but hopefully never out with real birds.

For the last 3 weeks!!! I've been sicker that I've been in 23+ year, although I think is was just a cold. Even after some recovery, I wasn't even enjoying being on a bike. Now I'm finally on the mend.

They're back (yesterday). Not bad for my evening commute.

The lineup of the regular suspects.

The Redheads aren't that common here. Maybe I'll get a better photo of them, but it's bee a pretty dark and dreary November and December, oh and the light hasn't been that good either.

Then today the light got really good.

Reilly

Mountain climber

The Other Monrovia- CA

Dec 30, 2016 - 09:10pm PT

Redheads? There's a Pochard up by Eureka! OMG!

MH2

Boulder climber

Andy Cairns

Dec 31, 2016 - 01:02pm PT

There are no bad pictures of birds, but the reasons for liking them vary.

I enjoy this one from cyndiebransford for the way the shapes and colors echo each other. A beautiful composition.

Bob D'A

Trad climber

Taos, NM

Dec 31, 2016 - 03:39pm PT

Great photos above, thanks all for a great year of photos and information on this wonderful thread.

Keep flying high, when looking for the river otters today along the Rio Grande, no luck with them but caught this good looking fella, the river always give.