Fish fray at Bolsa Chica (documentary)

JohnDC

These are both elegant terns, and according to the EXIF info, this all happened within 2 seconds.

1. As the bottom tern tries to rise out of the water with his catch, a robber tern stands on his shoulders and tries to pry away the fish. If you look closely through the water splash, the bill of the bottom tern is locked onto the fish right behind the gills.


2. As the bottom tern rises, he keeps his bill clamped on his catch.


3. Victory. The robber tern gives up, and the bottom tern has the fish he caught and fought for.

Maestro

Unbelievable action shots! Awesome!

raptorcaptor

Good series John! I just ordered a bushhawk setup. How do you like yours?

Dick on Aruba

Great action series John, well done!

Thanks for sharing,

Dick.

kdog

Great captures!

-joel

JohnDC

raptorcaptor wrote:

Good series John! I just ordered a bushhawk setup. How do you like yours?

Thanks, Glenn. Usually I would privately reply to the Bushhawk question, but so many people ask the same at photo places, I think there is a wider interest.

I bought the Bushhawk for these reasons: after analyzing my own pictures, I could see too much unwanted motion blur, even at higher shutter speeds. And I could see the wobble of the telephoto lens as I held the camera in position, which was probably contributing to the blur. I tried stabilizing with a tripod or monopod, but these didn’t give me the mobility that I needed, especially when tilting the lens upwards. The clincher was a set of recommendations on another website by photographers whose flying bird pics I admire as being the technical best. Then the proof was in the use: since using the Bushhawk, the motion blur component in my flying bird pics has gone way down, especially for shots with the tele-extender (= ~600 mm equivalent).

I didn’t like the standard Bushhawk set up and recommend you experiment with other configurations. I modified mine so that the "shoulder rest" is now angled down to my chest. This more comfortable for me, and the greater angle on the diagonal provides more stable support. Since there’s no recoil, there’s not much need for the linear arrangement like a shotgun. I mounted the camera (the tele lens mount) on a raised extension bracket to elevate it and move it back closer to my face. This way I don’t have to crane my neck forward to see through the viewfinder. I also did not like the extra forward handle of the 320D model, so I removed it and used the bracket for the raised camera mount (re-drilling the smaller screw hole to ¼”). Bushhawk sells a similar bracket separately:
http://bushhawk.shopol.com/Item/QR-50.htm
To reduce torque movement on the lens, I also use a forward lens support—so the telephoto is supported in two locations. I made my own before seeing there are a number of these commercially available (e.g., Canon and Manfrotto http://www.adorama.com/BG3420.html). When taking photos, I pull the Bushhawk firmly against my chest and hold my breath. Be sure to get the cable that allows you to use the forward 2-step trigger button, which is one of the most useful features for me. All this allows me to respond quickly to bird movements—panning fast with less wobble.

JohnDC

kdog wrote:

Great captures!

-joel

Thanks, Joel!

JohnDC

Dick on Aruba wrote:

Great action series John, well done!

Thanks for sharing,

Dick.

Thank you, Dick.

JohnDC

Maestro wrote:

Unbelievable action shots! Awesome!

Thanks, Maestro, but it's the terns who put on the show....

riddim_maker

Wow! great action series, John
This is very unique for me, I've witnessed them chasing each other but nothing like this.

raptorcaptor

JohnDC wrote:

Thanks, Glenn. Usually I would privately reply to the Bushhawk question, but so many people ask the same at photo places, I think there is a wider interest.

I bought the Bushhawk for these reasons: after analyzing my own pictures, I could see too much unwanted motion blur, even at higher shutter speeds. And I could see the wobble of the telephoto lens as I held the camera in position, which was probably contributing to the blur. I tried stabilizing with a tripod or monopod, but these didn’t give me the mobility that I needed, especially when tilting the lens upwards. The clincher was a set of recommendations on another website by photographers whose flying bird pics I admire as being the technical best. Then the proof was in the use: since using the Bushhawk, the motion blur component in my flying bird pics has gone way down, especially for shots with the tele-extender (= ~600 mm equivalent).

I didn’t like the standard Bushhawk set up and recommend you experiment with other configurations. I modified mine so that the "shoulder rest" is now angled down to my chest. This more comfortable for me, and the greater angle on the diagonal provides more stable support. Since there’s no recoil, there’s not much need for the linear arrangement like a shotgun. I mounted the camera (the tele lens mount) on a raised extension bracket to elevate it and move it back closer to my face. This way I don’t have to crane my neck forward to see through the viewfinder. I also did not like the extra forward handle of the 320D model, so I removed it and used the bracket for the raised camera mount (re-drilling the smaller screw hole to ¼”). Bushhawk sells a similar bracket separately:
http://bushhawk.shopol.com/Item/QR-50.htm
To reduce torque movement on the lens, I also use a forward lens support—so the telephoto is supported in two locations. I made my own before seeing there are a number of these commercially available (e.g., Canon and Manfrotto http://www.adorama.com/BG3420.html). When taking photos, I pull the Bushhawk firmly against my chest and hold my breath. Be sure to get the cable that allows you to use the forward 2-step trigger button, which is one of the most useful features for me. All this allows me to respond quickly to bird movements—panning fast with less wobble.

Thanks for all the info John!

JohnDC

riddim_maker wrote:

Wow! great action series, John
This is very unique for me, I've witnessed them chasing each other but nothing like this.

Thanks, Russ!

Awais Yaqub

Fantastic series !

JohnDC

Awais Yaqub wrote:

Fantastic series !

Thanks very much, Awais. Hoping to see more of yours, too.