Shooting with Andy and Ian

Harryb · February 26, 2006

Hi y'all,

I just spent the last few days with Andy and Ian. We had hoped to complete the 500mm shoot-off but we ran into to some real poor weather with lousy lighting. Despite that it was great to meet Ian (real nice guy) and to reunite with my ole NYC shooting partner Andy. Once we got Andy fed and we made sure he had a fluffy blanket for his nap time things went well.

Despite the lousy weather I had a great time and I managed to sneak in a few pics

I know, a gull picture :puke but I felt it was appropriate as this was the kind of bird Andy was used to shooting.

This was a shot I screwed up nicely. The first snow goose I've seen in these parts. When he took off I didn't open up the aperture so I ended up shooting at 1/750 sec, way too slow for a flight shot. :bash

This was one of the last shots Ian and I got in. It was kind of difficult because Andy didn't have any long glass so he sat in the car. Andy got a tad impatient so he would rev up the engine and shout out the window "don't you have enough shots of that lousy caracara yet". Ian and I persisted however.

This was shot of a bird I haven't seen in these parts before. I'm posting it because Andy threatened to take my Smugmug hat away unless I posted one pic of him.

Osprey Whisperer · February 26, 2006

Nice series of shots, Harry.

That's too bad about the weather. Not any better over here. Guess you got lucky you didn't have to face the pretty "white lens".

Like that osprey shot. I stalked a pair of these for a few days over at my parents lake. I went as far as taking a little row boat out with a camo blind attached to it so I could hide under their "tree". Damn things never came around while I was lurking. I'm going to just use the shot gun and then stuff them to recreate some of the shots.

:uhoh

I was curious about that night heron shot.

How far did you have to walk to find him?

Did you just walk out your back door and look up on the roof...or did you have to walk 15' to the tree out back?

Please tell me you didn't have to get in a car and drive to find him.

:uhoh

I'm going to find some eagles one of these days.....SOON!!! Then you and the other local shooters I met at MI3 can come down for a "raptor fest".

Cheers

ginger_55 · February 26, 2006

Spoonbill, Cormorant, my faves. I often like shots with that "lousy" lighting. The Spoonbill is one..........nice soft colors!

ginger, I think our lighting is lousy this AM, but I just did that one the other day.

Thusie · February 26, 2006

Really nice Harry! The Cormorant is wonderful and I really like the Snow Goose!

Now that odd bird at the bottom

Trish323 · February 26, 2006

Harry,
You just keep getting better and better! The osprey shot is Outstanding

!!! I have yet to get s decent caracara...still trying!

gluwater · February 26, 2006

Great shots Harry! What do you mean you screwed up the Snow Goose? I think it's great. Head and body are in focus and sharp and the wings have some motion blur, looks good to me. Next time bring Andy's blanket with him so he can take a nap in the car while you are shooting

.

Dee · February 26, 2006

I liked the snow goose too

gluwater wrote:

Great shots Harry! What do you mean you screwed up the Snow Goose? I think it's great. Head and body are in focus and sharp and the wings have some motion blur, looks good to me.

I agree with gluwater's comment!

Actually the light agreed with a lot of the images you posted. But that picture of Andy -- not very flattering

:

Rohirrim · February 26, 2006

Sorry about your bad weather Harry, hasn't been very good around here lately either. Nice set of shots though. That Red-shoulder is exceptional!

dallas · February 26, 2006

I love all of your shots Harry, but especially the Cormorant and Caracara. We have many Cormorants here in Los Angeles, but they look like black birds with out personality. I must take a good second look, and the Caracara just looks great with that strange haircut. You are very good at making more than just a photograph, but capturing the real beauty of the birds. Don't give up your Smugmug hat without a fight.

Harryb · February 26, 2006

Bird Man Photographer wrote:

Nice series of shots, Harry. That's too bad about the weather. Not any better over here. Guess you got lucky you didn't have to face the pretty "white lens".

Like that osprey shot. I stalked a pair of these for a few days over at my parents lake. I went as far as taking a little row boat out with a camo blind attached to it so I could hide under their "tree". Damn things never came around while I was lurking. I'm going to just use the shot gun and then stuff them to recreate some of the shots. :uhoh

I was curious about that night heron shot. How far did you have to walk to find him? Did you just walk out your back door and look up on the roof...or did you have to walk 15' to the tree out back? Please tell me you didn't have to get in a car and drive to find him. :uhoh

I'm going to find some eagles one of these days.....SOON!!! Then you and the other local shooters I met at MI3 can come down for a "raptor fest".

Cheers

Hey Mike,

The weather has been real sucky the last 3 days. Its funny that the weather gets ugly whenever I have visitors down. It was cold and breezy during the big shoot and as soon as Andy hit town it clouded up and started to rain.

I've been considering a shotgun myself to use on those damn kingfishers. :rambo

The night heron shot was a toughie. First I had to survive Andy's driving. He drives ok usually but when he's hungry, as it was in this case, he drives like he was at Daytona. We had just finished shooting some spoonbills when a few night herons flew in. I had to walk almost two yards to get the shot. :hurt

snapapple · February 26, 2006

:jawdrop
Wow! Great shots. Harry, have you done a book yet? Birds of Florida?

I can see one on my coffee table. Outstanding work.

Harryb · February 26, 2006

ginger_55 wrote:

Spoonbill, Cormorant, my faves. I often like shots with that "lousy" lighting. The Spoonbill is one..........nice soft colors!

ginger, I think our lighting is lousy this AM, but I just did that one the other day.

Thanks for stopping by Ginger.

livinginoz · February 26, 2006

i keep seeing all these shots of andy, and then wondering who the guy in his avatar is....must be a lot of photoshop work on that one......hee hee

pathfinder · February 26, 2006

Great set of images, Harry. We didn't get to see any snow geese when we were there for MI lll, nor a caracara. The snow goose looks kinda scruffy, like it had travelled a long way. I like that shot a lot.

I went out to look at a new wetland refuge the state of Indiana is building, and found a huge flock of sandhill cranes. So, now I have to go back there and see if I can catch an image or two.

Andy · February 26, 2006

livinginoz wrote:

i keep seeing all these shots of andy, and then wondering who the guy in his avatar is....must be a lot of photoshop work on that one......hee hee

That's just not nice!

Harryb · February 26, 2006

Thusie wrote:

Really nice Harry! The Cormorant is wonderful and I really like the Snow Goose!

Now that odd bird at the bottom

Thanks. That was a hard day for Andy. He's city folk and found himself in a swamp behind a water treatment plant. He was the scanning the horizon for a Starbucks. :lol4

ehughes · February 26, 2006

Awesome Harry..

Harryb · February 26, 2006

Thaks Trish. I've seen the caracara two out of my last 3 visits to the wetlands. They seem to hang around the edges of the wetlands these days.

Harryb · February 27, 2006

gluwater wrote:

Great shots Harry! What do you mean you screwed up the Snow Goose? I think it's great. Head and body are in focus and sharp and the wings have some motion blur, looks good to me. Next time bring Andy's blanket with him so he can take a nap in the car while you are shooting .

Thanks Nick. The snow goose is OK but it could have been so better with a slight adjustment.

What can I tell you about Andy.

A great guy, outstanding photographer, but definitely high maintenance.

Harryb · February 27, 2006

Dee wrote:

I agree with gluwater's comment!

Actually the light agreed with a lot of the images you posted. But that picture of Andy -- not very flattering :

Hey Dee,

The light was a killer after the first day. We lost lots of shots because of it. Andy is so good looking its tough to do justice to the lad.

He was hungry, on top of an observation tower with the wind blowing in his face, and he was looking unsuccessfully for a Starbucks in the swamp.

Dee · February 27, 2006

Laughing...

Harryb wrote:

Hey Dee,

The light was a killer after the first day. We lost lots of shots because of it. Andy is so good looking its tough to do justice to the lad. He was hungry, on top of an observation tower with the wind blowing in his face, and he was looking unsuccessfully for a Starbucks in the swamp.

I don't think anyone can keep up with your wit!

I'm surprised Starbucks didn't hear about Andy's visit and build a special little Starbucks Kiosk in the swamp just for him! From what I've hard you say, the temporary kiosk would have paid for itself with Andy's patronage... And who's to say how many other swamp visitors who stumble on this wildlife park behind a sewage plant wouldn't appreciate a nice frap before their venture. And after dodging the turtles and 'gators, glad that they were still alive, would fall into the starbuck's kiosk, hop online and e-mail all their family and friends the good news of their survival while sippin' a cool one.

OK I'm rambling a bit -- beddie time for me! I just can't be as suscint and quick as the Harry Wit Master! :-(

BigAl · February 27, 2006

Nice series Harry, but that last bird seems a bit strained as his hood seems to have slipped. You didn't have him tethered did you?

Glad to see NH making a better than decent appearance!

DoctorIt · February 27, 2006

Sounds like you guys had a good time!

I like the "rare" bird at the end

My one question: how do I get a red smugmug cap?

Harryb · February 27, 2006

Rohirrim wrote:

Sorry about your bad weather Harry, hasn't been very good around here lately either. Nice set of shots though. That Red-shoulder is exceptional!

Thnaks Steve. That wa sthe most cooperative hawk I've shot. He just sat there and psoed for a good long time.

Harryb · February 27, 2006

Thanks Dallas. I'm really starting to enjoy shooting comorants. They are very expressive.

Not to worry I still have my Smugmug hat. I even wear it to bed now.

Harryb · February 27, 2006

snapapple wrote:

:jawdrop
Wow! Great shots. Harry, have you done a book yet? Birds of Florida?

I can see one on my coffee table. Outstanding work.

Thanks Snappy. One of these days I will have to find something to do with all of these pics.

DanielB · February 27, 2006

i would only buy it if it had your fugly sig/frame thingy at the bottom, Harry!

Harryb · February 28, 2006

pathfinder wrote:

Great set of images, Harry. We didn't get to see any snow geese when we were there for MI lll, nor a caracara. The snow goose looks kinda scruffy, like it had travelled a long way. I like that shot a lot.

I went out to look at a new wetland refuge the state of Indiana is building, and found a huge flock of sandhill cranes. So, now I have to go back there and see if I can catch an image or two.

Thanks PF. That was the first snow goose I have seen down here so far. The caracaras are infrequent visitors to the wetlands since their nest got raided by the racoons. They now roost on the edges of the wetlands.

Good luck with those sandhills.

Harryb · February 28, 2006

ehughes wrote:

Awesome Harry..

Thanks Ed.

Harryb · February 28, 2006

Dee wrote:

I don't think anyone can keep up with your wit!

I'm surprised Starbucks didn't hear about Andy's visit and build a special little Starbucks Kiosk in the swamp just for him! From what I've hard you say, the temporary kiosk would have paid for itself with Andy's patronage... And who's to say how many other swamp visitors who stumble on this wildlife park behind a sewage plant wouldn't appreciate a nice frap before their venture. And after dodging the turtles and 'gators, glad that they were still alive, would fall into the starbuck's kiosk, hop online and e-mail all their family and friends the good news of their survival while sippin' a cool one.

OK I'm rambling a bit -- beddie time for me! I just can't be as suscint and quick as the Harry Wit Master! :-(

Andy was quite put out that the wetlands did not have latte service. As he put it "if you can have alligators here would be so hard to put in a coffee service?"

Harryb · February 28, 2006

BigAl wrote:

Nice series Harry, but that last bird seems a bit strained as his hood seems to have slipped. You didn't have him tethered did you?

Glad to see NH making a better than decent appearance!

Thanks Al. I didn't have Andy tethered but that would had been a great idea.

Shooting with Andy and Ian

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