House Finch

These house finches were in the grass picking the sunflower seed spill-over from above. Just caught this little guy just in the right light. The image is a tad soft too. I'm still trying to find the "sweet spot" in my technique for this lens.

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Got Brows?

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Osprey Takes Flight

This big boy taking off from his perch recently. They seem to have taken their time returning to nest this year, later than normal, I was getting worried. Looks like everything is fine though. First image is the male, second is the female Osprey. 

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2 for the Birds

A couple from the yard while out playing practicing with the 150-500 a couple days ago. Not too bad but I have determined that I need a new tripod. Camera shake is horrible! The slightest touch sends the whole set up bouncing.

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All American

Boy did this guy pose today! I feel fortunate to get these images of this young adult Bale Eagle. Just sitting atop a power pole, letting me grab quite a few shots. I was in the car, didn't get out as I didn't want to startle him into flight, braced on the window frame. No, not the highest of image quality, but I am still amazed at how well the Sigma 150-500 does do. The real cool part for me is how rarely I usually get this close to an adult. Today I actually saw 3 eagles in this area, this adult and 2 yearlings. There must be a good nesting area close by. I was actually on the way to see if the Egret was still at the lake and it seems not. I like both croppings, but I don't care for the power pole in the second image. Is that ok? What do you think? What I love about the second image is how he appears to be looking right through the lens at me.

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Painted Geese

No, not a painting, but an image of geese over an outcropping of trees. It took a lot of patience to get this shot with the geese as the sky was mostly clear of birds though we could hear them in the distance. Fortunately for me (unfortunate for the geese) hunters scared them up from a few miles away and they flew over the wildlife refuge I was at.

The image has been heavily processed in Topaz Adjust and Photoshop. I had no idea of how I would process this image but thought it would be good to play with Topaz with. I'm still experimenting with that software and I really like what it can do.

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Young Bald Eagle

So, this young Bald Eagle was taking a break from hunting. I must admit, without this lens, the new 150-500, I would not have been able to get this image. The eagle was a good 150 yards away and the image is heavily cropped, but it works.

Funny, my brother and I were out taking photos and at this area we were alone for quite a while. Coincidentally, just before the eagle shows up so did about 6 other cars, cameras ready. Someone calls out "It's an eagle" and we all turn and do our best to capture him. Soon after all others were gone and we were left shooing scenic shots of the lake. (I'll post one soon of the lake.)

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Egret #1

Here is the first of a few I captured with my *new* 150-500 "bird" lens, hand held. It is an egret on the bank of the lake that I frequent (see previous post). The bird was there on the way in to school and I tried to capture him but no luck. Still here on the way home and I like this better. Just wish I could get closer for more detail. These guys don't take kindly to strangers however. Pretty amazing morning though. There was a bald eagle just sitting on a power pole and geese flying into the sunrise.

I did a bit of Photoshop and Topaz Adjust on this just to give it a little depth, color and pop. May be too much, maybe not. Let me know! Mouse over the egret to see a pretty much untouched (sharpened & cropped) version. Tutorial at right.



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Newport Bay Bridge

Taken from a new vantage point for me, on the fishing pier near the center of the channel just to the east of the bridge. A whole bunch of people out here fishing and crabbing, then there is me with my tripod and camera. :-) I saw earlier in the week the moon following the sun down and estimated that I could get this shot the next day. Didn't see the sun for the next 3 days, but the fog gave way for this photo. The moon is not following as closely now though, so no sun & moon in the same shot. A moon shot will follow soon however. We froze for a half hour waiting for the moon..... :-)

This is an HDR image with a good amount of saturation and vibrancy. The seagull, however, is natural. :-)

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