Before And After.......

Bill Baburchak February 6, 2021

Back at the end of December I posted some images of a bachelor group of Whitetail deer that showed up after the heavy snowstorm. One of the bucks was fairly impressive gentleman as you can see below.

Well, I thought you might like to see what he looks like now after his makeover. Not quite as impressive is he????

I’m guessing that life is probably a bit more comfortable without the antlers. Now he doesn’t have to deal with them catching on everything in the woods. Antlers are interesting subjects in their own right. They grow, fall off, and then re-grow every year. They are stimulated to begin in early April by photoperiodism, which triggers hormonal changes. Until early Fall they are composed of living tissue and are very sensitive to the touch. If the antler is damaged before it hardens in the fall it will grow back that way every year for the rest of the deer’s life. In early September the living tissue is replaced by minerals and the antlers harden into what you normally see in pictures. You can see in the image below the Pedicle where the antler begins growth every year. It’s that round spot right above the eye. During peak growth periods the antlers can grow an inch a day!

And those are today’s fun facts!!! Hope you enjoy them!

Backyard Birds.....

Bill Baburchak February 2, 2021

It’s not always easy at this time of year to get out and shoot. The number of opportunities is much lower, the temp is colder which means cold weather gear is a must, but you still want to get out and hit the shutter button a few times. If you are lucky enough to have a backyard you have the perfect place to work on your craft without spending a bundle to fly to Florida!
I was able to set up a small backyard studio near the bird feeders that I keep up all year round. It’s nothing more than a few different perches for the birds to land on while they are hanging out at the feeders. It’s nothing elaborate and it didn’t cost me a cent . Plus it gives you valuable practice with your camera so that when the million dollar shot comes along you are ready! And if you have a window that looks out to your set up you don’t even have to leave your warm house! All of the images below were taken in my backyard this year. It’s a great way to decompress from the stress of daily life and I always feel better with a camera in my hand! Enjoy the pics and get out there and shoot!!!

And remember, they don’t have to be prize winning pictures. As long as they make you happy…..

Sometimes All You Get Is A Pile Of Crap......

Bill Baburchak January 13, 2021

I was back looking for Otters today, hoping for something a little closer and better quality. It was another grey, gloomy day out but if you wait for the perfect day, you’ll spend a lot of time indoors!!
With the pond pretty much frozen over the only open water is near the Beaver lodge. The Otters are renting space in the lodge from the Beavers this year so I figured they would be around the lodge somewhere. I didn’t have long to wait. About half an hour after I was set up I saw the first Otter. He popped up out the lodge, looked around for a bit, walked over to the Latrine and did his business and promptly went back into the lodge. Not exactly the photo op I was looking for!

About twenty minutes later another Otter popped up out of the lodge and began fishing in the small open water pool. Of course I thought “ah here we go, we’ll get some action now.” And I was right again. The Otter got out of the water, walked up the bank and proceeded to take a poop! Right about then I figured that maybe today wasn’t going to be my day……. I stayed for 2 more hours and never saw another Otter. Plenty of Beavers but that is a story for another time.
Like I said, sometimes all you get is a pile of crap!!!

Mental Health Day.......

Bill Baburchak January 6, 2021

I spent yesterday trying to beat cabin fever. I knew I had to get out somewhere to shoot, because the outdoors is my therapist. But the options are a bit more limited at this time of year, unless you can get to Florida!
I’ve been interested in learning more about calling and photographing Coyotes. We have plenty of them around, I just have to find them. So yesterday found me in the woods, trying to entice a Coyote into shooting range. Which was pretty much a waste of time. There is a lot to learn about coyote calling and I was pitifully unprepared. So after a couple hours I mercifully called it quits and headed back to the car. On the way back I had to pass by a small pond which was frozen over, except for a small patch of open water next to a Beaver lodge. I knew that either Beavers or Otters were using that open patch of water to exit and enter the den. Beavers and Otters co-exist in the lodge during the winter, which was something that surprised me.
So I sat down to see if I could get lucky enough to see something worth photographing. I didn’t have to wait long. I could see the open water rippling so I knew something was coming out of the lodge. Maybe this would be a good day!

These two popped out of the water and immediately began wrestling with each other! Unfortunately they are on the other side of the pond so these are long shots with heavy crops. But you do the best you can with what you’ve got and I was glad just to see them!

The next one is a favorite of mine. It looks like the Otter is praying saying “Dear Lord, thank you for the gift of this fish head which I am about to devour”.
If you have ever watched an Otter eat a fish it isn’t pretty. You can hear the bones crunching as they chew. They have very impressive teeth and powerful jaws and they eat every bit of the fish! It’s not a great image technically but it certainly tells a story!

And what would an Otter story be without a visit to the Latrine?? Otters use a common latrine area which they probably use as a way to keep in touch with each other. (I don’t think they have FB yet!!) But they will return to the same area on a regular basis to keep up with their siblings.

So all in all it was a terrific day!!! I got to watch these beautiful, funny animals live their lives. I got a few pictures, I got to see the Otter Poop Dance, and wouldn’t you know it? My cabin fever disappeared…. :) Enjoy!

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A Different Kind Of Bird......

Bill Baburchak December 30, 2020

Just after the big snowstorm we had a short time ago, we began having dinner guests in our backyard every night. Three handsome whitetail bucks would show up every night looking for a handout and I was happy to oblige. I got a pretty poor image of one of them and had been thinking of a way to get something a little better, even though they never showed up until it was pitch dark outside. I finally put up a temporary floodlight in the backyard, hoping I could get enough light to get a passable image. Well by the time I got to shoot the boys two of the bucks began losing their antlers. One of them had no antlers left, one had an antler on one side only, and the bigger one still had his full rack. I figured if I didn’t get the image soon, there would be no antlers at all!
I got myself all set up for the shoot. I was stationed in my bathroom with the window open and the lights off. It would be hard for them to see me and the windowsill provided a passable rest for the lens I was using.

This first pic above was just after he finished off a pile of whole corn which somehow got out in my backyard…… :) He was still about 40 yards out and kind of still in a dark area.

This next one he is slowly moving his way toward me. When there are multiple bucks like this (called a bachelor group) there is a hierarchy that becomes noticeable if you watch them interact. God help the poor smaller buck that tries to cut in front of the larger buck to get to the food!!! When the big boy is finished the smaller ones are allowed to take what is left. It’s good to be the King!! About this time he begins to hear the sound of the shutter on the camera.

He’s not alarmed by the sound but is actually curious what it is and where it is coming from. He is constantly checking the breeze to see if he can identify the strange sound. And he is coming closer, little by little. He is maybe about 20 yards away now. I think I’m going to wet my pants….. It just doesn’t get any better than this!!!

He is constantly sniffing the air to try and catch any scent that will help him identify the strange sound, but he can’t quite get a lock on the scent. He is less than 20 yards away now and I am afraid to move because at this range he would definitely catch the movement. But right now his need for food and his curiosity are overriding his sense of danger. This is a good pic to examine his rack too. If both sides were symmetrical he would be a 10 point but he is missing a brow tine on the right (the point closest to his forehead) and he is missing the third tine on the right side. But he is still a very impressive animal. I just hope at least one pic will come out halfway decently. I am shooting at 1/50 of a second and 10000 ISO which is a poor recipe for a quality image but it is at night….

Okay, now he is 15 yards away and I cannot believe how lucky I am!!!! He is at the point where I am having trouble getting his whole head in the picture! This is a full size image with no cropping. He hears the shutter very well now and he is torn between food or flight. But so far he has not picked up my scent yet so he still feels fairly secure. You can get away with some movement and some noise but if they get wind of you they are out of there! Many things move in the woods and many things make noise, but only one thing smells like a human!!

Now he is so close I can’t fit him all in the frame. I included this pic because I thought it was humorous. Here he is the big kid on the block, the king of the forest, and he is standing there in all his glory…… with bird seed stuck on his nose!!!
After this I just put my camera down and watched him feed and interact with the other bucks. There are times when the experience is worth more than the picture and I just marveled at this guy. In a week or two his antlers will fall off and he will just be one of the guys. But he definitely earned his supper tonight…… Hope you enjoy!!

Backyard Photography Shines In The Winter Light.....

Bill Baburchak December 29, 2020

I’ve been seeing a big increase from my FB photog friends lately who have been posting backyard bird images. Sarah, Cheryl, Dan and Beth (apologies if I forgot anyone) have been posting some good images lately. The snow is concentrating activity around the bird feeders and the birds have been putting on quite a show!

The good thing is that you really don’t need any special equipment to enjoy this type of shooting. No super long lenses or fancy cameras. Hell, you don’t even have to go outside to take the pics! Many of the photos you see are taken from inside the house through a clean window. And I can’t think of a better way to learn that new camera you got for Christmas. You will also learn how important the right light is to a good image. All you need to do is put out a bird feeder in a location that you can shoot in. Don’t worry, the birds will find the feeder!! And don’t worry about making mistakes, because you will make plenty of them! But that’s just part of the game. You will also get images that you are proud of and it will increase your desire to get out there and shoot more! We always talk about finding beauty in the ordinary. Well, here’s your chance. Go find it!

I have included several images that I have taken since the snowstorm. I hope you like them! And if anyone has questions please shoot me an email and I’ll be glad to help…… Now, get out and shoot!

Are these images anything special? Heck no, but they are good for my soul. They keep the cabin fever away because as long as I have a camera in my hand, I am happy…….. stay safe.

Felt Like A Bag Of Frozen Peas.....

Bill Baburchak December 20, 2020

After shoveling for another two hours yesterday I thought "what the heck, I might as well go freeze my ass off in the blind for a couple hours." I have a small blind set up in my backyard with a nice piece of driftwood for the birds to land on. After I dug my blind out of the snow I got in it, closed the top, and I was in my own frozen little world. I now know what it feels like to be a package of peas in the freezer!! There were plenty of birds coming in but the one I really wanted, the Cardinal, was being stuck-up today. So I had to make do with what came by. Not the best outing but any time spent shooting birds is fun! I was impressed by the colors on the Chipping Sparrow. Much more colorful than I thought they would be at this time of year. The session ended early when the Cooper's Hawk came by. Which was just as well, because I was losing the feeling in my toes! Sooner or later I will get that Cardinal pic in just the pose I want! Click the images to enlarge

So Sad To See You Go....... May The Wind Be At Your Back....

Bill Baburchak November 30, 2020

Time is getting very short for us migratory bird photographers in this area. Another week or so and the ice will form on the smaller ponds and slower moving creeks around here and that puts a damper on things. The birds will move somewhere that has open water. And it gets considerably colder for the photographers too! And when you are of a more senior age (like me), you realize you have many more days behind you than in front of you. So you tend to appreciate your days a bit more.
But I was not ready to give up on this year yet. All of my local spots were not producing very well so I knew I had to travel. The only two spots I was considering were Iroquois and Montezuma NWR. But Iroquois was a 3 hour drive away and staying overnight was not an option this time. Besides, I hadn’t been to Montezuma in several years and my buddy ML had been having good luck there this year. There were a few walking trails that I wanted to check out so I got up there just before dawn. I parked at the trailhead and got my gear ready, but that was when I saw the sign “trails closed for hunting season.” Crap! I came all the way up here to walk the trails and they were closed!!! Now what? By that time Iroquois was no longer an option. So I chalked it up to photographer’s luck and put my gear away intending to go back home. But I figured I would stop at the main pool behind the visitors center just to see what was around, and I’m glad I did!

The bird that is flying has a fractured leg, but he still kept up with the other birds…

There was a flock of around 40-50 Sandhill Cranes right behind the visitor’s center! I had been busting my butt all year trying to get images of these beautiful birds and I find them in the backyard!!! Now don’t get me wrong, these birds were still a long way away and the light was pretty crappy too. But photographers rarely look a gift horse in the mouth so I stared shooting.

About 10 minutes after I began photographing these birds I heard a car pull up so I figured I would soon have company. I had my eye glued to the viewfinder when I heard someone approach and ask “do you mind if I shoot up here with you?” Of course I was more than happy to have some company so I said certainly, help yourself. As I turned to see the photographer, I realized that I had a fellow club member to shoot with! It was Deb Muska from Animal Images. I have known Deb for years and I looked forward to shooting with her. But it got quiet again as we were both concentrating on the birds.

In Sync…. my favorite BIF image…. I will probably try different compositions but I like the portrait …

Because of the fact that these images are heavily cropped and the light was not what I wanted, I doubt any of these will make it to my photo gallery on my website. But they are good enough to show you what beautiful birds they are, and if this is my last shoot of the season then I appreciate that the Cranes stopped by on their way down South!! Enjoy!

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You've Got To Play The Hand You're Dealt.....

Bill Baburchak October 22, 2020

The last two weeks around my area have been really slow for wildlife photography. For some reason the birds aren’t where they would normally be, and I believe it has a lot to do with the lack of rain this year. I can’t find more than 2 wood ducks in any of my normal spots and usually at this time of year they are feasting on acorns. But not this year. The only bird that has been fairly easy to find lately has been the Great Blue Heron. And I already have a zillion pics of these guys. I don’t need more GBH pics. But that is what I was faced with yesterday when I was out shooting. Lindsay Parsons was very slow so I drove up to Ithaca and hit some spots I don’t normally get to but once or twice a year. First stop was Stewart Park right in Ithaca. Right away I ran into a small flock of Common Mergansers feeding in a large pool in the park. I spent a good amount of time watching them, hoping they would get closer so I would have a chance to get a good image. They never made it that close but I was able to get a tolerable image out of it.
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Then they wandered off so I was about to leave myself when a GBH landed on a log out in the same pool where the mergansers were. At first I thought “oh great, another GBH!!!” Just what I needed!
But then I decided that I should just stay and see if I could get something different than the GBH pics I already had. Now the bird sure isn’t going to change, at least at this time of year. But if I could get a little creative with the backgrounds maybe the bird would help me out by doing something different. So I started shooting, hoping for some divine inspiration. But the sun was starting to peek through the foliage and it was getting pretty intense. And that is when I decided to try and use the brighter sun to my advantage. So I started breaking one of those general rules of exposure. You know, the one that says your background shouldn’t be a lot brighter that your subject. And there is a good reason for that rule. Usually if your background is considerably brighter that your subject then your subject will be underexposed. So you have to try and walk a fine line and get the birds bright enough without totally blowing out your background.

So I’m moving around trying to find something different for the background without scaring the bird away. I figure the birds at this park see enough humans so that they may not be so skittish.

I call these last two “variations on a theme”

This bird above is actually a very nicely colored bird. His shoulder epaulets are big and bold and his overall coloring is strong. I’m starting to warm up to this guy. (or girl)

I was hoping for a fish or two but this guy seemed to think his personal hygiene was more important!

I’m sure there are some that will say that this background above is too busy but I kinda like it!

And I seriously considered cropping this one right at the waterline but I left it alone so you could judge for yourself.
So do I think that any of them will end up in Nat Geo? Nope, not a snowball’s chance in Hell! But there’s a couple that might make it into my gallery. And it was a good lesson for me to have to really work to get the shots. I hope you like!!! As always, I am happy to hear what you think about them!!!

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A Trip To Iroquois NWR...... Frustrations and Delights

Bill Baburchak October 13, 2020

I spent a few days last week at Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge, near Batavia. I’ve trying to get back there at least twice a year because it is so peaceful and because it is a bird shooters paradise! But living in the Binghamton area makes it a bit harder. My goal on this trip was to get some images of the Sandhill Cranes. Recent sightings indicated that they were still at the refuge. The problem is that this refuge is 11,000 acres and the birds aren’t very dependable, but I took my chances and went. Click to enlarge images

The GBH’s were still there and they were willing subjects so I spent the morning with them. But the Cranes were still in the back of my mind…

There’s always someone around to keep you company!

By late morning I was ready to go find the Cranes. I probably blew a half tank of gas driving around to all the areas that were recommended by the great people on the Iroquois FB group. But still no luck. But I wasn’t worried, I still had another whole day to find them….

Day two started much like day one. The Herons were there to keep me company and I didn’t mind. It was such a beautiful morning to just be out there and be alive…..

But still no Cranes. I could hear them near the Cayuga pool but was never able to get a look at them. Very frustrating, but the rest of the birds were so much fun it made for another great day!

I’m sure that you can guess by now that I didn’t see one single Crane, which is what I originally came here to photograph. But how can you be upset after spending two days in such a beautiful, quiet spot with great friends to keep you company? You can be sure that I will be back in the Spring!!

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A Day In The Life...... or, When You Least Expect It!

Bill Baburchak October 9, 2020

So I was down at Brick Pond yesterday before dawn. It had been several days since I had been here because I spent a few days shooting at Iroquois NWR, just outside Batavia. (more on that later) Usually before it gets light enough to see you can hear the Wood ducks whistling through and landing in their favorite breakfast spots. All I heard this morning was crickets and the school bus going by the pond. Dawn arrived and I was still the only sign of life in the area. No woodies, GBHs, hawks, mallards…. nothing. I thought to myself “boy, is this going to be a dud of a day”. Oh well, I can leave sooner than I had planned (which was 8am) and go home and get the grass cut one more time and rake some leaves.
One more time I checked my watch and it was ten of eight. Great. Only ten more minutes! At 7:53 (I know that because I purposely looked at my watch) two immature wood ducks came swimming by and decided to stop and take a break on a log not too far from me. Usually when they do this they will preen for a bit and then continue to look for food or they will tuck their head into their wing and take a nap. But these two decided that this would be a good time to get into an argument! Click to enlarge

Unlike humans, duck arguments are usually very short and in no time these two were off looking happy as a clam!

So that only lasted about 15 minutes. I started to pack up and leave when I saw a strange object out in the water. It didn’t look like anything I had seen before so I walked as close to the water as I could to take a closer look. When I did that I looked to my left and about 60 yards away was a great blue heron staring at me! Of course I thought he or she would take off any second since he was staring right at me, but he didn’t move a muscle. That bird did not move the whole time I slowly walked 30 yards up the bank to my camera and then walked back down the bank to set up my gear! At first I thought maybe the bird had died on his feet! Herons never let you get away with movement like that. (unless you’re in Florida)
But he did let me set up my gear, out in the wide open and for the next hour and a half he let me take as many pictures as I wanted! So in that time I took nearly 800 images! When you get a willing subject and the light and background are good you don’t stop shooting until you run out of bullets! Things like this only happen once or twice a year, if you’re lucky!
Needless to say, I still have a backache from yesterday’s shoot. I was in some crazy positions trying to shoot the ducks and the GBH. But it was a very good day and I’ll trade some discomfort for a day like that anytime! That’s what they make Advil for…… I hope you like the pics! I had a blast taking them!

I just like the feel of this image…. nothing special, it just captured the mood at the time….

Angular composition pulls you right down to the frog….

Like the old saying goes…. “I’d rather be lucky than good”. Yeah, me too. And boy did I get lucky!
And by the way, I never did cut the grass!!!!!

The Boys Are Back In Town....

Bill Baburchak September 26, 2020

I spent the morning at Lindsay Parsons in Danby yesterday. It’s nice to see the male Wood Ducks getting their mojo back. They’re starting to look studly again!! During the summer they look pretty bad. They look like they fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down! I was hoping for a bird in flight shot but it just wasn’t to be. A Beaver decided to join the party and the woodies were scared away when he swam right into the group! But I thought I would share what I got….. Click to enlarge….

Kinda looks like a Little Richard haircut on the one male…..

He’s struttin’ his stuff and the female isn’t even paying attention!!!

And this little cutie stopped by to keep me company…. Can I get an ID on what kind of bird? Yellow Rumped Warbler???

Stay tuned!! I WILL get that bird in flight shot of the woodie!!!

They Can't All Be Awesome Days.....

Bill Baburchak September 24, 2020

I was down at Brick Pond this morning, not a lot of activity. I’m still figuring out the 1.4 teleconverter and the best settings for it. It seems that if I stop down just a little bit the image quality goes from “acceptable” to “pretty damn good!” Click the images to enlarge

This is a pretty serious crop….. this is only about a quarter of the original image…

Hey, look what I’ve got! It’s a great big piece of…….. yuck!

Another heavy crop, shooting through the brush. He thinks he’s hiding!

All in all, a fun morning. Temps were perfect, light was good. A great day to be alive! The only thing I’ve got to figure out is how to tell my wife that I bought the teleconverter!!! (this could be my last post!!! :)

Place Your Bets Ladies And Gentlemen..... Hawk Or Squirrel???

Bill Baburchak September 19, 2020

In one corner we have Mr. Rocket J. Squirrel. In the other, a hawk. Mr. Cooper I believe. Round one ladies and gentlemen…. the bell rings. Squirrel and hawk come out, touch gloves and it’s game on!!!

Mr. Cooper makes a quick feint around the tree and tries to come down on Rocky. But with a quick flick of the tail Rocky easily evades this move! Click images to enlarge

Mr. Cooper doesn’t give up on the move though so Rocky had better watch his backside!!!

Rocky spins around the tree faster than Mr. Cooper can make the tight turn and Rocky wins that round. End of the first round!

But Mr. Cooper is very persistent and tries a different tactic. He tries to come in with more speed this time, to increase his maneuverability.

Rocky appears to be tiring and it looks like Mr. Cooper is about to have a good hot breakfast!!!

It appears that Rocky’s corner is about to throw in the towel when………

Rocky pulls his famous Spin-o-Rama move and shoots right by Mr. Cooper!!! Yay! Rocky wins!!!! (Yo Adrian!)

Actually this sequence was over in about 15-20 seconds. I was set up to shoot Wood Ducks on the ground, in the shade. There was a huge difference in the amount of light. This is one time I was really glad I had Auto ISO set on the camera! I would never have been able to manually change the camera settings in time to catch this sequence.
Please don’t judge this sequence on photographic ability because the photos are not that good. Judge it on the Wow! factor because I was blown away when I was chimping after it was all over. I was just happy that I got to see something like that happen right in front of me! I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!!!

Summer Is Almost Gone...... (Nooooooo.....!!!!!)

Bill Baburchak September 16, 2020

I was down at Brick Pond again…… chilly morning, a reminder of what is coming.
Weather is changing and the animals are changing their routines. I’m seeing a lot more deer lately. I haven’t seen a Green Heron in 3 days so I’m afraid they are gone for the year. Which will bum me out because to me the little greenies are the clown prince of the heron world. Their antics would always put a smile on my face! And the wood ducks are eating voraciously, getting ready for the move south.

I call this one ‘spin dry’….. the whole image is blurry but his eye…. click to enlarge — I call this one ‘spin dry’….. the whole image is blurry but his eye…. **click to enlarge**

Two heads are better than one….. click to enlarge — Two heads are better than one….. **click to enlarge**

That hazy yellow summer look is fading fast….. get out and catch it before it’s gone!!!!

Work In Progress.....

Bill Baburchak September 13, 2020

We got back from Cape Cod late Friday…. I’m already missing the fresh seafood!
I didn’t get much of a chance to try the teleconverter while we were up there. The last two days of our trip the fog came in and didn’t leave until after dinner! But a few Margaritas took the edge off my disappointment…
So of course I was back out at Brick Pond Saturday morning to try and fine tune the teleconverter that I had rented. And by fine tuning I don’t just mean the teleconverter. Much of the blame for poor sharpness, especially with the long telephoto lenses, can be laid at the feet of the photographer. Shot discipline is an important part of shooting with a long lens. Making sure you have a good solid tripod setup and a smooth shutter release instead of punching the shutter can go a long ways toward getting sharper images. So I’m still working with the converter and my shooting discipline. I think it’s getting better but I’ll let you be the judge…

Nice of him to turn the fish so I could see it….

And there’s more! I have a short sequence of a GBH who was nice enough to move about 20 yards from my left to right so I could practice my BIF shooting!

A bit of a bumpy landing…. But thanks for flying Blue Air!!!!

I’m sure it will take the rest of this year for me to get comfortable with the teleconverter but Hell, that’s half the fun!!!! Thanks for looking!

Down Time.....

Bill Baburchak September 10, 2020

We went to Cape Cod for a couple days this week for a short vacation. Mel has been working a ton of OT for the last 4 months so it was a good chance to give her some R&R. Haven’t had much of a chance to get out and shoot up here though. The last 2 days the fog has been terrible. It’s been like pea soup until after lunch!
But we stopped by an old grist mill that they turned into a small museum that is right on the main drag in Yarmouth. There’s a small pond that feeds the mill, which is where the Swan pics came from the other day. And behind the mill is a brush lot with typical sandy scrub pines and small oaks. Nothing special but we wanted to stretch our legs so we took off down the trail. About a hundred yards in we saw movement up ahead and eventually this small flock of turkeys came right by us! They didn’t pay much attention to us and continued to feed all around us until another couple came down the path. The birds moved off the path but didn’t go far. It was obvious they were used to human presence. Which makes sense because we were in one of the busiest areas of the Cape! We had seen another flock a few years ago when we were up here with Jack and Mary Lou but this time we were able to get much closer! But for 20 minutes it seemed like we were in the middle of the deep woods! We had a blast! And of course on the way out we saw the Swans so we stopped and got a few more of them too! Enjoy the pics and thanks for looking!! Click images to enlarge

Not what I was expecting out of this trip, but it sure beats the Hell out of working!!!!

Research And Development, Part 2.....

Bill Baburchak September 6, 2020

A few days back I wrote about my first attempts with a 1.4 teleconverter that I rented from LenRentals. I had received the converter late in the previous day and I had not tested it at all before I took it out on a shoot. BIG mistake!!! The pics weren’t terrible but they did not meet my standards or expectations so yesterday I took the time to fine tune the auto focus when using the 400mm and the converter combo. The best way to get this combo to work is to sacrifice a really good case of craft beer to the photo gods! The testing seemed to go well, (from what I remember) but you still don’t know for sure what you have until you get out and start shooting. I was at BP this morning and I ended up taking about 700 images! Different apertures, shutter speeds and lighting conditions so I could be at least fairly confident this week when I go to shoot in Cape Cod. I think I’m pretty close to where I want it sharpness wise and I’m fairly happy it came together quickly. I have attached several images and I want you to be the judge. Constructive criticism is the only way you will improve as a photographer, so don’t be afraid to speak up……

What do you do after shooting a horizontal? Shoot a vertical!!!

We have to give the GBH’s some love too!!

Trying different shutter speed/ aperture combos…..

I have no idea what the Hell this is!!!!

I’m heading for Cape Cod for a few days. I can’t think of a better place to fine tune this lens combo…. Stay safe and take lots of pictures!!!

Not Every Photo Is A Winner, But They All Have A Story To Tell...

Bill Baburchak September 3, 2020

There are some days that you wonder if you should have just stayed in bed, and today sure felt like one. The fog was as bad as I have seen it in a long time. It was hanging very low and thick and when I left at 9am it hadn’t changed much!
It looked like even the birds weren’t big fans of the fog. The Green Herons just sat there looking very uncomfortable and dripping wet. So you know shooting conditions were less than ideal. But you never know with fog, it can lift in a very short time and that’s what I was hoping for.

Just after “sunrise”, if that’s what you could call it…

But what made the day worthwhile was what a Green heron did to a small flock of Wood Ducks. The ducks were all sitting on “the log” preening and relaxing when a Green Heron landed on the other end of the log. I don’t know what got into this heron but he definitely didn’t like the fact that the ducks were on his log! He immediately ran to the other side of the log where the ducks were and began to harass them! He got in their face so bad they all took off! Usually it’s the wood ducks who are the mean kids on the block but this little guy gave the woodies all they could handle!!

I could have post processed these image to look much brighter and more vivid, but that would defeated the purpose of these images. Which is to show you that I should have slept in today!!! (not really, I still had fun!) Maybe the camera will dry out by Sunday and I can get back out….. Thanks for looking!

Research And Development, Part 1.....

Bill Baburchak September 1, 2020

Santa Clause stopped by my house yesterday and delivered a package I had been waiting for: A Nikon 1.4 Teleconverter. I own and use a 1.7 teleconverter but I just don’t have any faith in it. I never know what I’m going to get with it. Sometimes the images are okay (never as good as without a TC) but then other times I am disappointed with the quality of the images. So when this showed up late yesterday I knew where I had to be this morning, doing research at Brick Pond.
Of course the day I wanted bright diffused light to fairly test the converter I ended up with a cloudy morning. Most of these images are shot at 1/500 of a second at f5. I’m using a 400mm f2.8 and with the converter attached the minimum aperture is f4. I tried to hedge my bets a little and stopped down to f5. Normally 1/500 second is plenty for stationary subjects especially with vibration reduction active. But action shots usually require a significantly faster shutter speed. So I really didn’t know what I would end up with quality wise but it seems so far the results are mostly acceptable. And don’t forget, I haven’t fine tuned the converter to the lens yet, so hopefully that will get me where I want to be sharpness wise.
So the following images are the start of a 2 week R&D exercise. Stay tuned……

He actually jumped off the log after a fish…..

I just wish this was sharper…. I love the composition!