A bear, a heron, and an eagle

coscorrosa

These are all from the last weekend.

Black bear on the way to Mt. Baker in north Washington State. I went to shoot photos of the mountains at sunset, but this guy popped up on the road as I was driving by. After a mad 3 minute (which seemed like an eternity) scramble, I finally had my camera out of the bag with the telephoto lens, the window rolled down, and the car angled so that I blocked all traffic and could get some straight on shots before it scrambled away through the forest.



I may or may not have taken this photo while out of my car...



Great Blue Heron at Nisqually NWR (a lot of contrast in these photos, so I metered for the heron which made the water all white, but I kind of like the resulting effect and the reflection):



Take off:



As I was walking through the refuge, I saw this eagle in a tree. Very shortly after, it took off, dove down, and got the fish in this photo (this is the only shot that was reasonably in focus, I was caught off-guard!). It's amazing how far away the eagle was from the fish when it spotted it and took off. Unfortunately, the eagle flew away before I could get any more photos.

NorthernFocus

The heron photo really works, Ron. The isolation of the bird and its reflection is pretty cool. Besides, you can't have those beautiful sunsets in EVERY image that you capture

Giphsub

Cool set but I really like the heron in flight shot

coscorrosa

articblooms wrote:

The heron photo really works, Ron. The isolation of the bird and its reflection is pretty cool. Besides, you can't have those beautiful sunsets in EVERY image that you capture

I usually try to do wildlife just after sunrise and just before sunset, and landscapes just before sunrise, and just after sunset, so they don't overlap too much, on the rare occassions I do both on the same day. Also, it seems like a lot of the wildlife refuges don't open until after sunrise and close right at sunset (which is too bad, as many of them have interesting landscapes as well).

Ric Grupe

I like the gbh in the water.

Maybe if you made the ripples more distinct it might add to the shot.

JavaLover

I love the heron taking flight! Awesome!

kwork

I really like the first heron shot.
Less ripples may be better, but it's great as it is.

Rhinotherunt

Kool shots! What was the lens in the 1st? The bokeh is kind rough...

coscorrosa

Rhinotherunt wrote:

Kool shots! What was the lens in the 1st? The bokeh is kind rough...

Ack, you're right, that is rough, I didn't notice. I think it's a combo of the lens and the fact the background was more or less dreadful (a bunch of different color rocks), and possibly because the background plane isn't perpendicular to the lens (it's down a hill).

At least the eyes were in focus. Next time I'll tell the bear to move so I can get a better background, or move closer so I can get a higher quality lens

Then lens was a Canon 100-400 in all shots. I've noticed varying qualities of the background blur on this lens too, sometimes it's great, here's an example from earlier this month at the zoo:

Rhinotherunt

coscorrosa wrote:

Ack, you're right, that is rough, I didn't notice. I think it's a combo of the lens and the fact the background was more or less dreadful (a bunch of different color rocks), and possibly because the background plane isn't perpendicular to the lens (it's down a hill).

At least the eyes were in focus. Next time I'll tell the bear to move so I can get a better background, or move closer so I can get a higher quality lens

Then lens was a Canon 100-400 in all shots. I've noticed varying qualities of the background blur on this lens too, sometimes it's great, here's an example from earlier this month at the zoo:

That is something... my Canon 24-105 L has the same issue.

dlplumer

Love the Heron shots!

dbaker1221

great series. love the 1st bear shot & the GBH

Maestro

The high key background works well with the gbh and in the first bear image I like the angle that the bear is at. What's not to like about an eagle pic?

bfjr

coscorrosa wrote:

Ack, you're right, that is rough, I didn't notice. I think it's a combo of the lens and the fact the background was more or less dreadful (a bunch of different color rocks), and possibly because the background plane isn't perpendicular to the lens (it's down a hill).

At least the eyes were in focus. Next time I'll tell the bear to move so I can get a better background, or move closer so I can get a higher quality lens

Then lens was a Canon 100-400 in all shots. I've noticed varying qualities of the background blur on this lens too, sometimes it's great, here's an example from earlier this month at the zoo:

Dig them Hyacniths

Nice Eagle too