First BIF Shots

Phyxius

Well, SECOND technically since I TRIED to take some of the stupid hawk, of course since this was all I got then I don't think it really counts.
and :huh

So, I decided Wednesday to go down to Benedict (about 10 minutes from my house to see if any critters were hanging out, especially since I saw a GBH AND big white bird that may have been an egret there about a week and a half ago.

Directly after parking I see how lovely the sun looks through the marshy plants along the bank of the Patuxent River...

or maybe this one with the white balance changed?

However, the beach:
and sky

were void of birds. :cry So, I gave up and went home.
Yesterday though I was driving home from work and I see these seagulls! Now the weather was pretty crappy, the sky overcast, and the air cool and damp, but I thought what they hey! good practice!

Hello Birdie!



Are you guys ever scared that they may uh.."go" on you?




So...I have to admit to you guys though...I cheated. These guys aren't "out in the wild"....they're at a grocery store parking lot...:dunno


Now, a plus side to all the clouds and yucky over cast skies? The sunset off my deck was quite nice



More boring grey seagulls and grey skies can be seen here - http://phyxius.smugmug.com/gallery/2287644/1


My respect for all of you who "shoot" birds has gone up 10 fold. It's not easy!! I can't wait until a nice sunny, blue sky day to give it another go!

Thanks for looking!

jwear

very nice and it does get easier I think happy new year

Osprey Whisperer

Nice series of shots. The landscapes have a wonderful feel to them. I've heard shooting birds in flight is so easy...even a blind guy can shoot them with one eye closed. Well done.

kdog

Nice pictures and story, Christina. Shooting seagulls is good practice, and you got some good shots there.

Regards,
-joel

dbaker1221

fantastic series!

Maestro

Nice landscapes and the gull is very sharp!

Skippy

Phyxius wrote:

Well, SECOND technically since I TRIED to take some of the stupid hawk, of course since this was all I got then I don't think it really counts.
More boring grey seagulls and grey skies can be seen here - http://phyxius.smugmug.com/gallery/2287644/1
My respect for all of you who "shoot" birds has gone up 10 fold. It's not easy!! I can't wait until a nice sunny, blue sky day to give it another go!
Thanks for looking!

You did really well, the gulls you photographed have nice markings on them too, at least they will hover around a bit and if there is food around you have even a better chance of shooting them.

I've had a couple of goes and as you said it's not easy to do, and my respect for those who can do bifs is way up there with yours

Great series ..... Skippy

Phyxius

Jwear and Bird Man,
Thanks guys! And, guess what? If the weather behaves tomorrow I'm going to venture down to a local nature park...see if I can't find some birds other than gulls.

Kdog,
Thanks! As I just mentioned to Jwear and Bird Man I hope to get in some more practice tomorrow, I'll be sure to post the pictures if any fine feathered friends decide to show up. Thanks again!

dbaker and Maestro,
Yay! Thank you for the compliments and nice words. They're very much appreciated!

Skippy,
Yeah, I think the seagulls were just being nice to me, hoping for food. I'm quite happy with the picture, though I wish there had been more/better light. When they're flying they're just so fast, I'm spinning around and around ('cause they were circling me most of them time).

Thank you everyone for all of the encouraging words, this for sure, is going to be something I try more of in the future!

Harryb

My first BIFs were seagulls and pigeons. They are excellent subjects to practice on and get your technique refined.

Phyxius

Pfft....
You know what I get for complaining about light/weather/and seagulls???

Well, I got up yesterday morning to go to work and on my drive in I was treated to this:


So of course I was worried about the weather clearing and the fog burning off so I could get down to Flag Ponds to take some birdy pictures.


Well, the weather did improve and I got down to the Flag Ponds by 1:30.
However, on the way down there I saw this guy hanging out in a tree. He was way too far away from me, but he was located in Patuxent Wetlands Park and I'm going to have to make reservations to get out and shoot down there one day.

So, when I got to the Flag Ponds I walked to mile and a half down to the Duncan's Pond and got only a few picture of a swan and some ducks hiding quite out of range of the 200mm lens.

And, what ever this thing is...

Um...these are 100% crops by the way...animals didn't like me yesterday.
Some ducks decided to fly away...

And then I noticed something...way up high....

What are those??!?! Yup...Bald Eagles. But, why are they so far away? Evil Eagles.
So, I hike another .5 mile down to the beach (the Chesapeake Bay), hoping to get a better view of the Eagles.

The view was quite nice but the sand is not onthe same level as the water or the Eastern Shore, however leveling to the water made the lighter sand look VERY, Very crooked. So, I went with what I hope is the lesser of two evils and rotated until the sand was level.

So, where's the Eagle you say?
Way the HECK up there, but the moon.


So...again I remind you these pictures are horrible, 100% crops and I'm posting them because A) I'm hoping Skippy will be happy to see some more Eagles, to show I tried, and C) to one day be able to compare one of my GOOD pictures to these crappy ones.

Somebody's has a fishie!


The seagulls weren't really any better behaved....
This one said "eek, human"

and decided to fly away...


However, the DRIFTWOOD, was well behaved...


Oh, and the empty horseshoe crab shell...


And, I also got a fossil coral and a shark's tooth. These as you can see on this sign many of the objects you can find on the beach are MILLIONS of years old, most range from 8-12million years old.

Phyxius

Harryb wrote:

My first BIFs were seagulls and pigeons. They are excellent subjects to practice on and get your technique refined.

Apparently "wild" seagulls aren't as friendly as parking lot seagulls.

Ugh, practice and a longer lens are needed.