Doin' the Baylands with Daniella

Steve Cavigliano

Hello All,
Well after viewing all these great bird/animal shots, I had to get out and shoot some before I went crazy (not a long trip at all ;-)

So I left work early (about 3pm) and headed off to one of the best places to shoot waterfowl in the state. The Palo Alto Baylands Wildlife Preserve. I pulled into the small parking lot, by the duck pond, and figured I'd go check out the rookery first. Before I could even get my camera out of the trunk, I see this pair walk past me. One guy had a D70 with a long black lens (80-400VR??) and the other one was carrying a tripod with a DReb mounted and a 600mm F4.0L attached Geeze, even though I had my Bigma attached to my 20D, I felt so inadequate As many of you know, besides being a consumate wise ass, I am very outgoing and I talk to anyone and everyone with a camera....lol So, I asked them if they had been shooting the Egrets and Herons and they said, "yeah the light is really good". After last week's "mixed lighting" shoot, I was stoked But, I figured I'd attach the 580EX for some fill anyway.

Let me digress for a minute. Sunday before last, Ian408 and I got together to shoot at another good waterfowl site. Based mainly on some pics we saw that were posted on the DPR Canon Forum. Excellent Osprey shots and some Waxwing shots to boot. These shots were taken by someone I had admired (especially for her IR work) for a long time.

Anyhow, as I'm walking towards the rookery, I see this slight young woman carrying a DReb, on a monopod, with a 400mm F5.6L attached. Again, being the shy guy I am, I say hello and she says "ullo". I think to myself, wow, this might be that same young woman who is mentioned above. So I asked her if her name was Daniella? She said yes OH BOY!! Now I'm really getting excited. Not only had I wanted to talk to this woman and trade tips with her, for years, now I actually might get to shoot a few frames with her


Sure enough, after introducing myself and telling her how impressed I've been with her work, we wandered over towards the rookery. I had the 580EX attached and she asked me if I had ever used the Better Beamer. I said yeah, I have one and it's in the car. So I attached it and she gave me some instruction on how to properly use it. We walked back to the rookery and started shooting. Not great results, but the fill helped reduce the contrast from the mixed lighting.

Pick up sticks, or Nest Buliding 101

While some of the Egrets were building nests, others were still looking for mates and so they were "Stuttin their Stuff"


After firing off maybe 50 shots each at the rookery, we wandered down towards the marshes to see if we could get a few shots of the Northern Harriers we had seen circling. Well, we didn't get any raptor shots, but we did get some shorebirds.

American Avocets


Clapper Rail


The lighting was getting tough, as evidenced by the pic above, and the wind was kicking up, so we headed back towards the parking lot. We saw quite a few Night Herons roosting in the trees so we shot a few of those ruby eyed beauties.

Punk look Black Crowned Night Heron


Well, despite it not being a banner day (like not getting the shots we wanted of a mated/mating pair of Harriers :-( I had a blast talking and shooting with Daniella.

I guess the moral of my story isn't about the pics. It's about opening up to other photographers, you see when out shooting, and adding to your enjoyment by having someone to talk and shoot with.

Have a great day and thanks for looking,
Steve

Shakey

:jawdrop




Tim

I am at a loss for words.

Andy

nice work, steve.

daniella's work is top shelf.

where's the obligatory daniella pic

Harryb

Hey Steve,

Outstanding pics and , be still my foolish heart, a couple of egret shots too. And they are just in time for Egret Fest.

I've been enjoying Daniella's work for a while now, it must have been great to shoot with her. I'm glad she gave you some tips on the better beamer because I expect I'll be picking your brains on that one very soon.

ginger_55

Steve. I just wrote a long descriptive post of how great your shots are. My brower redirected me to ...........AOL's google thing. Saying no dgrin. that is the third or fourth time this week, so this is short here.

Great shots, I would be proud of them.

I would love to see a photo of Daniella.

No, I don't have spyware.


ginger

ehughes

Great stuff Steve , I'd love to hear the tips on the better beamer.

Ed

DoctorIt

Those avocets are soo cool! I've never seen a bird like that!

Great set of shots. Someday soon we'll have birds other than robins around here. Till then, I'm glad I have yours to look at!

Steve Cavigliano

Shakey wrote:

:jawdrop




Tim

I am at a loss for words.

Thanks Tim

Well I did mention that this is a target rich enviornment. So rich, the hard part isn't getting a decent shot, it's deciding which of the many nice subjects to shoot : I'll post another thread later that better illustrates what I'm talking about (there are like 4-8 Egrets/Herons in each tree :oogle )

I just love Spring

Thanks again for looking,
Steve

Steve Cavigliano

andy wrote:

nice work, steve.

daniella's work is top shelf.

where's the obligatory daniella pic

Thanks Andy

And thanks for posting the link to her Pbase galleries. I posted this from work and I only had her gallery bookmarked on my home PC. So I wasn't able to include it in this post

I'll be posting another thread later, and unless I hear from her to the contrary, I'll post a pic of her in it

Thanks again for the comments and I'll see ya next week,
Steve

TristanP

daniella's work is top shelf

Holy mess, you're not kidding. Oh, yeah, nice pics, Steve!

Steve Cavigliano

Harryb wrote:

Hey Steve,

Outstanding pics and , be still my foolish heart, a couple of egret shots too. And they are just in time for Egret Fest.

I've been enjoying Daniella's work for a while now, it must have been great to shoot with her. I'm glad she gave you some tips on the better beamer because I expect I'll be picking your brains on that one very soon.

Thanks Harry

Hey, are your Egrets getting ready for nesting too? I am seeing so much nesting/mating activity going on, it's making me want to duck out early every day.....lol I am also seeing redtails flying over the highways, in pairs and dancing (or whatever it is they are doing) in mid air with legs and talons extended. Rolling upside down and everything (maybe it's like their version of the Mile High Club :lol ) I am going to get into an accident soon, I'm sure....lol Out here, driving while looking up in the air, is akin to a deathwish Anyhow, the Egrets and Herons are all staking out territory, gathering sticks for nests and fighting off unwanted suitors/nesters. I would think you're seeing the same sort of activity there. Although I'm wondering if Florida even has Spring? ....lol

Yep, I really enjoyed shooting with Daniella. She can come off a bit strong in some of her posts, but I think it's due more to her limited grasp of the nuances of the English language than it is her personality. She was extremely nice and we shared lots of laughs.

Well, if you're gonna pick my brain, you better hurry. Not only are the pickins slim, but I have a really bad short term memory. What'd you say your name was again? :lol4 Just kiddin, when you're ready, ask away.


Thanks again for the comments and I'm glad I could contribute to the Egret Orgy......er......Fest,

Steve

Steve Cavigliano

ginger_55 wrote:

Steve. I just wrote a long descriptive post of how great your shots are. My brower redirected me to ...........AOL's google thing. Saying no dgrin. that is the third or fourth time this week, so this is short here.

Great shots, I would be proud of them.

I would love to see a photo of Daniella.

No, I don't have spyware.


ginger

Awwwww Ginger,
I have the same problem sometimes. It only happens with my keyboard at home too I'll type a wordy reply and one of my fat fingers will hit a wrong key and BANG I'm out of the reply window and back to the Forums. My post lost forever into the blackhole of the internet :cry It's happened to me numerous times I just wanted to let you know that, for whatever reason, it happens to others too

Thanks for your kind words

Yes, I am happy with my results and with where I am photographically. I take lots of nice pics, but I'll probably never take any great ones, and I'm pretty much OK with that Not that I won't keep trying to get at least one "great" pic, before I leave this life......

As I mentioned in my reply to Andy, I'll be posting another thread later and I will include a pic of Daniella :

Thanks for taking the time to type that long response, even though we didn't get to see it. I do appreciate it :-)


Steve

ian408

What time did you call?

Ian

P.S. Nice Pictures!!

thollawa

Great pictures Steve...I wish we had great birds like that running around Dallas...I hope my pictures turn out 1/2 as great as yours....

-Todd

John Mueller

Excellent Steve and Daniells work aint so bad either:D

I been following her work for sometime now.

Ann McRae

Wow, Steve, these are great! I love the feather detail! Super - de - duper!


I am also an admirer of Daniella's work! How very cool!

This past weekend at soccer provincials, I saw a fellow with a Canon digital (not sure if it was the 10d or 20d, or maybe the 300) and a long looking lens. I went to chat with him, pointing to my camera...well, he really wasn't interested! We spoke a bit about his lens choice - the 70 - 300, which he was finding too long and too slow. But that was it! I will remember your luck next time, and not mine, and strike up another conversation when I next come across another photog.

And before you share the better beamer tips, could you tell me what it is, please?

Ann

ian408

Ann McRae wrote:

Wow, Steve, these are great! I love the feather detail! Super - de - duper!


I am also an admirer of Daniella's work! How very cool!

This past weekend at soccer provincials, I saw a fellow with a Canon digital (not sure if it was the 10d or 20d, or maybe the 300) and a long looking lens. I went to chat with him, pointing to my camera...well, he really wasn't interested! We spoke a bit about his lens choice - the 70 - 300, which he was finding too long and too slow. But that was it! I will remember your luck next time, and not mine, and strike up another conversation when I next come across another photog.

And before you share the better beamer tips, could you tell me what it is, please?

Ann

Luminous landscape has a review on the better beamer.

The short version is an attachment for a flash that extends the reach
of a flash unit to about 100 feet. Allowing the use of fill flash to nicely
light your birdies.

Ian

fish

Steve Cavigliano wrote:

Hello All,
Well after viewing all these great bird/animal shots, I had to get out and shoot some before I went crazy (not a long trip at all ;-)


asked her if her name was Daniella? She said yes OH BOY!! Now I'm really getting excited. Not only had I wanted to talk to this woman and trade tips with her, for years, now I actually might get to shoot a few frames with her

Steve, your shots just keep getting better and better. Who's Daniella? Is she a dgrinner?

System

steve, these are awesome shots :wow and all with the bigma eh?
great work, looking forward to another thread! been admiring daniella's work too, truly amazing... must have been a fun shoot!

cheers,
sash

4labs

You are spoiling us Steve! Thnxs for sharing. You always tell a great story to go along with your pictures..

Andy

fish wrote:

Who's Daniella? Is she a dgrinner?

www.pbase.com/zylen

no, she hangs on the canon fora on dpr.

Steve Cavigliano

ehughes wrote:

Great stuff Steve , I'd love to hear the tips on the better beamer.

Ed

Thanks Ed

I'm going to practice with it a bit more then I'll post what I've come up with. FWIW, yesterday I was shooting in Av @ F8-F10, ISO800 with -2/3 EV comp. I had the 580EX set to ETTL, 50mm zoom, disable 1/250 sync and -2/3 FEC. When I switched over to flying birds against the sky, I changed the EV comp to +2/3 (still wasn't enough) and left the flash as is.

Thanks for looking,
Steve

Dixie

Great pics, Steve.

Steve Cavigliano

DoctorIt wrote:

Those avocets are soo cool! I've never seen a bird like that!

Great set of shots. Someday soon we'll have birds other than robins around here. Till then, I'm glad I have yours to look at!

Thanks Doc

There are so many different kinds of shorebirds there it's really hard to remember all their names. Daniella was saying "oh man I got a Sora earlier and then a Golden Eye". I said "Wow, good work", to cover my ignorance of not knowing what she was talking about :lol

Hey, you might not have the exotic birds, but you have Fall color I love to do landscapes almost as much as birds and you live in a landscape shooters paradise

Thanks for taking the time to comment,
Steve

Steve Cavigliano

TristanP wrote:

Holy mess, you're not kidding. Oh, yeah, nice pics, Steve!

Thanks Tristan

Yeah, now you see why I wanted to shoot with her.......lol


Steve

Steve Cavigliano

ian408 wrote:

What time did you call?

Ian

P.S. Nice Pictures!!

Thanks Ian

You know I was thinking of calling you and I remembered that you said you didn't like to ditch work to shoot. I can dig that. If you'd rather work than shoot, I understand. Wait a minute! No I don't understand at all...... If you're serious, I'll call you next time

Thanks for looking,
Steve

Steve Cavigliano

thollawa wrote:

Great pictures Steve...I wish we had great birds like that running around Dallas...I hope my pictures turn out 1/2 as great as yours....

-Todd

Thank you Todd for that very nice compliment

I'm not too familiar with Dallas, but I'm sure there are lots of nice subjects to shoot. Just off the top of my head, the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders come to mind :lol4

Thanks again and welcome to Dgrin

Steve

Sam

Not great results
Steve wrote "Not great results".

Steve.....when you get great results....tell me. I can then not open the post and view photos that make me feel even more clutsy.

Sam

Andy

Sam wrote:

Steve wrote "Not great results".

Steve.....when you get great results....tell me. I can then not open the post and view photos that make me feel even more clutsy.

Sam

he is a bit self-effacing, eh? get *over* it steve, your stuff is definitely da bomb

Steve Cavigliano

MHJS wrote:

Excellent Steve and Daniells work aint so bad either:D

I been following her work for sometime now.

Thanks John

I'm going to post a couple later that reminded me of the one you posted earlier. Yes I really enjoy looking at Daniella's work too. Over the years I've been conversing with her over at the DPR Forums. I was interested in how she colored her IR's and have followed her work since. She gets some awesome results from the 400mm F5.6 and the Canon 1.4X TC with taped pins Plus, she's working with the handicap of the Drebs relatively slow AF. I don't know which I like more now days, her IR's or her birds....lol

Anyhow, thanks for taking the time to comment,
Steve

Steve Cavigliano

Ann McRae wrote:

Wow, Steve, these are great! I love the feather detail! Super - de - duper!


I am also an admirer of Daniella's work! How very cool!

This past weekend at soccer provincials, I saw a fellow with a Canon digital (not sure if it was the 10d or 20d, or maybe the 300) and a long looking lens. I went to chat with him, pointing to my camera...well, he really wasn't interested! We spoke a bit about his lens choice - the 70 - 300, which he was finding too long and too slow. But that was it! I will remember your luck next time, and not mine, and strike up another conversation when I next come across another photog.

And before you share the better beamer tips, could you tell me what it is, please?

Ann

Hiya Ann

Sorry your last encounter didn't go well. I usually find other photographers to be extremely talkative. Especially about their gear and takin' pitchas. On the off chance that they won't talk, I follow them around until they do I agree with giving it at least one more try. You've got nothing to be shy about, especially in a sports shooting venue. You are a Pro

Looks like Ian has pointed you in the right direction regarding the Better Beamer.

Thanks for taking the time to comment,

Steve