Yeah! got a new lens

gluwater

Well I got a raise at work today and went straight to the camera shop after work and got a good deal on a 70-200 f/2.8L IS USM. Then I stopped at home, picked up my camera and new Karachi Outpost, and headed to a local forest preserve. Here are a couple shots.

Some little duckies swimming up the river.


Black Crested Night Heron


Little spider just hangin out.


My first BIF Great Blue Heron (I know it's not very good but it's my first)


Another Great Blue Heron trying to catch some dinner.


These are all hand held in low light at ISO100 with IS on except the last one, that was with a tripod also at ISO100. All but the Night Heron are uncropped, I cropped off about 25% percent of that one for composition.

Let me know what you think. I know they aren't the greatest but I'm still proud of myself. Walking around with a big white lens really gets some attention, I had at least 4 people come up and talk to me because I was shooting.

Thanks for looking
Nick

David_S85

You must not have gone to my local shop, as they don't stock that lens. Nice glass, and congrats on that raise.

We have Night Herons 'round here? So, that's something I didn't know. Harry :harry will be quite pleased that these birds are so ubiquitous.

gluwater

David_S85 wrote:

You must not have gone to my local shop, as they don't stock that lens. Nice glass, and congrats on that raise.

We have Night Herons 'round here? So, that's something I didn't know. Harry :harry will be quite pleased that these birds are so ubiquitous.

I go to
La Grange Camera and Video because they have quite a few popular lenses in stock for being such a small store. Although for the most part they are overpriced.

I was suprised myself by the Night Heron. I had no idea what it was the first time I saw it (prior to joining SM and dgrin and seeing Harrys shots of course). Hopefully I can get some better shots of it in the future. I only know of one place that has them and i have only seen one there. It is at Graue Mill, also known as Fullersburg Woods. It's in Hinsdale on York Rd Just North of Ogden The Night Heron can be found right around the dam by York Rd.

Nick

bfjr

WTG !!
new lens, raise
birds you never knew where there
and it looks like a great place to shot as well
Congrats all around

gluwater

Thanks Ben. It's hard to find good places to shoot here. I only know of a couple that are within a reasonable distance. Most are only a few acres in forest preserves. I have to start making a conscious effort to find new places to go. I would really like to live somewhere away from civilization for a while. Maybe Alaska of Australia, or anywhere else starting with an A apparently. I am soo looking forward to the DGrin shootout.

Nick

David_S85

Yup. I know Fullersburg. Haven't been there in years. Does the Mill still have good views of it from the surrounding area? We're getting towards corn bread season, so if they still sell their ground corn meal, I will need to stop by sometime in the next couple months.

Closest spots near me are Willowbrook Wildlife Haven, Churchill Forest Preserve, Lincoln Marsh or Blackwell F.P; none of them are large or people-free. I gotta get out more often. Perhaps after the property taxes get paid :cry I'll sneak in a 400 5.6 and start shooting the animals. So much stuff on the to-get-list!

gluwater

David_S85 wrote:

Yup. I know Fullersburg. Haven't been there in years. Does the Mill still have good views of it from the surrounding area? We're getting towards corn bread season, so if they still sell their ground corn meal, I will need to stop by sometime in the next couple months.

Closest spots near me are Willowbrook Wildlife Haven, Churchill Forest Preserve, Lincoln Marsh or Blackwell F.P; none of them are large or people-free. I gotta get out more often. Perhaps after the property taxes get paid :cry I'll sneak in a 400 5.6 and start shooting the animals. So much stuff on the to-get-list!

Photography and food, what else do we really need. I'm still waiting for the dGrin cook book to come out .

You are only about 30 minutes away from me fromthe sounds of it. I used to go to Blackwell all the time fishing, but I have only been there once this year. I've seen hawks there, what looked like maybe a kingfisher, and some kind of small falcon(just guessing on the last one, I really need to learn this stuff). I just ordered a 2x extender so I'll take some shots of the NH and post them so you can see what your 400 will do, although yours will be sharper of course. I haven't been to the other places yet, I keep meaning to head up to Willowbrook wildlife haven though, is it worth it?

Nick

David_S85

I'm in the center of DuPage, BTW.

gluwater wrote:

I haven't been to the other places yet, I keep meaning to head up to Willowbrook wildlife haven though, is it worth it?
Nick

Not as much as the other places. It's small. More of a recovery place for injured racoons, birds and such (just like Thatcher to the east in Cook Co.). They will probably be overhauling the place in a couple years. They do have a new butterfly garden, but I bet it doesn't hold a candle to Pathfinder's backyard, looking at his pics. If you want to see some cute rescued baby squirrels, possums or racoons behind glass (indoors), then it's OK, but the wooded path behind the place is only 1/3 to 1/2 mile. Every now and then there's a fox or deer running around on the grounds, but there are houses surrounding the grounds on three sides, so they're kinda rare. There are large outdoor cages with recovering fox, red tailed hawks, turkey vultures, eagles, and other critters, but it looks more like an old fashioned zoo. But yet, if you happen to be at College of DuPage for some reason during the day, it's right across the street, and is an interesting operation. It's quite popular with the school children.

Blackwell or Herrick are much more the better nature spots, as they have lakes, marshland, prairie recreations, open space and small woodland.