Hi again Guy's,
My first outing when I began to rekindle my interest in photography a few months back really was pure deja vu.
My last trip back in the 80s was up to the Murray, I was shooting herons. My first stroll to the lake with the old 450D I got secondhand from my daughter to see if I still had the knack from the old days, I was shooting herons. It was these shots and a few others that convinced me to lash out and upgrade to a 70D.
I've seen White-faces grazing in the grass flats near the lake many times as I drove past. That day, walking to the lake, I saw a White-face feeding in the reed beds on the opposite side of the lake.
I was able to employ those old stalking skills I learnt as a kid in the bush in Darwin and skirted around the lake so I could approach from behind a low bushy gum tree until I was in the cover of the reed bed.
I think it's a young adult with it's first flush of nuptial plumage - visible on the back and upper neck.
Given that it was pretty much my first familiarisation run with a dslr and my less than spectacular Canon 70-300 I'm fairly happy.
Cheers and regards to all,
Denis..
I still find them really hard to approach- They seem to always see you before you see them...
Ryu
Canberra
Aiming for DSLR-quality shots with a bridge camera
Nice work ... you got some good poses there.
I have trouble shooting through those reeds - I often get the intervening reeds in sharp focus and not the bird!
You're right Ryu,
It;s just those old stalking skills, but it took 45mins to work myself that close - 20ms.
Cheers,
Denis
Hi WhistlingDuck,
Thank you again.
I dunno what you're shooting with, but either change your focus mode to 'centre point' not mutli. Or switch to manual focus.
I shot this Liittle Pied Cormorant on the Merri Merri Creek in Melbourne when I was still trying to work out the 450D. I was having the same prob with reeds coming up and hanging foliage from the overhanging pepper trees - you can see in it the shot.
i just switched to manual focus and focussed on the cormorants eye.
This is another of the shots that convinced me to invest in a better camera.
Cheers,
Denis.
Nice shots, looks like you haven't lost your stalking skills at all! Do you have any of your old shots to show?
Sorry Timothy, none survived.
My ex-wife threw out about 10k negs and trannies before I could retrieve them.
All my overseas trips in the Navy, and Xmas Day morning in Darwin '74. I'd joined up six months earlier and was on my first Xmas leave when Cyclone Tracy blitzed us. Ironically I'd been selected for training as a weatheman only a week earlier.
I did have some great ones, dolphins in the bow wave of the USS Enterprise, and wandering albatross at twilight in the Great Australian Bight. And that's just two
I don't like to think about it too much, it upsets me and I'm too busy building a new portfolio.
Cheers,
Denis.
Life's experiences, eh?
Quite so, Woko the Sane.