Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Flying Fish

 
Aaron and I found a spot on a lake just outside the refuge where 10-12 ospreys were diving into the lake for fish. We spent about two hours there taking a ton of photos. It's very difficult to hand hold the camera with a big lens and try to track the birds as they are soaring and diving. A lot of the photos weren't in focus or the lighting was off, including a couple of these that I have posted. It's time to buy that gimbal head I guess.
 
I had to switch to the Nikon D700 just to up the frame rate so I had a chance at catching some of the flying. This first shot was taken with the D700 and the Sigma 150-500mm lens at 500mm and cropped about 30%.

 
Diving into the water was something I have never seen a bird do before but these ospreys were going completely under water to get the fish. This one was on his way down.


Splash down!


Coming back up.


The water take off.
 

 
What are you lookin' at??

9 comments:

  1. Wow! Talk about being at the right place at the right time. Fast moving action shots. Must have been a fun shoot!

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    1. It was fun! We burned up a couple of memory cards trying to get "that" shot. We quickly figured out why Q likes shooting birds. There is a lot of skill (and a little luck) involved but I think it's something we're both going to try to get better at.

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  2. That first picture is really something! I had no idea Ospreys were able to dive into the water like that. Nice find and nice group of photos.

    Yes birds in flight pictures is definitely a skill I'd like to get better at too. Q makes it look so easy. Ha ha!

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  3. It was a lot of fun. I think I shot 300-400 pictures of these guys. I just need more ZOOM!!! All of these turned out great. The detail in the bottom photo is amazing. I think I have a copy of all these shots except for the diving shots.

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  4. I'm glad that both of you experienced the wild side of the photography like I did. Great shot, and good find. Could you provide the detail of this location. I might have to make a trip to this place soon. Thanks

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  5. Q, these were taken on the east side of Lake Ellsworth which in just outside the east edge of the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. We were in the camping area next to the sailing club. A lot of the camping spots are right on the water. We didn't camp out, we just drove into the camping area and took photos for about two hours.

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