The birds is back!

In case you haven't followed the Weather Channel, Florida has spent the last two weeks or so draped in a damp blanket of unseasonably hot, humid air...making migratory critters and humans alike wonder if they'd misread their calendars.

But no more! We had a strong cold front whip through on schedule last Saturday, and with it came lots of migrating birds from up north. Migrants love nothing better than a tailwind, and each successive cold front will bring more and more feathered friends our way between now and late November.

I took advantage of the opportunity by visiting Bunche Beach this morning, one of my favorite nearby birding spots. I was greeted by a parking lot full of cars--surprising, at 7:30 in the morning this time of year. It turned out to be a group from the Lee County Bird Patrol, doing their monthly bird count, augmented by some folks lured to the beach by the agenda for Ding Darling Days.

Ding Darling Days is an annual week-long program that celebrates the life and legacy of J.N. "Ding" Darling. In the early decades of the 20th century,when newspapers ruled the day, he was the nation's leading political cartoonist. He was also instrumental in the founding of the Duck Stamp program that even today raises funds for wildlife conservation, and served for awhile as head of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Commission under FDR.

Ding Darling National Wildlife Reserve, on nearby Sanibel, is named after him. Its learning center boasts a nice biography, dioramas, and artifacts of his life. It's worth a visit if you are coming by the reserve to observe birds and wildlife.

Bunche Beach, in the days of segregation, was the "colored beach" in Fort Myers. In 1948, Jim Crow laws were struck down and it became open to all. It's a favorite spot for black skimmers, herons, egrets, and a wide variety of plovers and other shorebirds. It boasts terrific tidal flats, easy access, and clean vistas largely devoid of signs of humanity. Only the Sanibel Causeway and the Estero Island skyline break the view.

Lee County is building "improvements" in the form of a snack bar and boat ramp several hundred feet up John Morris Road from the beachhead. I haven't seen the master plan, but I hope and expect that the new facilities won't adversely impact this crown jewel of Lee County birding.

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Photograph: Reddish Egret takeoff from tidal inlet, Bunche Beach, Fort Myers, FL. 1/2000 sec. @ f/8, ISO 800. Canon 50D body and 500mm lens, mounted on a Gitzo tripod with Mongoose M3.5 head. ©2009 Geoff Coe / Wild Images Florida. All rights reserved.

New Products for Fall 2009

"Roseate Spoonbills" Gallery Wrap, 20x30 Limited Print (left); "Egret Landing", 20x24 Standout (right).

I'm really looking forward to the Fall 2009 Show season. Although I've traditionally started in late October, I'm getting an early start this year...Labor Day Weekend.
"But, wait!" alert readers will think. "You're showing in Florida? When it's 90 degrees and humid?"

Yep, and yep. But I've picked up a portable air conditioner, and set up the tent to test it out last week. Much to my relief--and, come Labor Day, my customers', too--it works as well as advertised. It's a good investment for me--I've been able to book about eight shows on either side of the November-March "sweet spot." And the extended season will also mean that I'll be able to continually add new work throughout the year for my customers.

Those aren't the only changes! Many of my visitors have asked for alternatives to framed photographs. So in addition to framed pieces, I'm adding two new ready-to-hang options: Gallery Wraps and "Standouts."

• Gallery Wraps are printed direectly on canvas, then wrapped over a 1.5-inch stretcher frame so that, as the name implies, the image wraps around the edge of the frame. Then, a black backing and hanger are securely mounted to the back of the stretcher frame. They're completely ready to hang. Each Gallery Wrap is available as a Limited Print of 25, and individually signed, numbered, and certified.
  
• "Standouts" are printed on photographic paper, then bonded to rugged, 1.5-inch thick Gatorboard. They're lightweight, ready to hang, and lend a beautiful, contemporary look to your office or home at an affordable price.

Last, but not least: I not only exhibit at art shows--I'm a patron, too. And I know it's tough sometimes to gauge whether art of a particular size is going to be right for your intended display space. So we offer a "right size" guarantee: In short, if your purchased work (16x20 or larger) turns out to be a bit too large or too small for its "home", bring it back to the show (or contact us within 3 days) and we'll exchange it for the size that will. Get the full details at our booth!

Favorite Shots (I): Sunrise Over Lake Otsego

I literally rolled out of bed to make this image. After attending a workshop in the Adirondacks last fall I drove to Cooperstown, NY to make my first visit to the Baseball Hall of Fame. None of the hotels in the area seemed to be online, so I drove toward town and found a gem using my GPS: right on the shoreline of Lake Otsego.

I asked for a room facing east so the sun would wake me up...and did it ever! The first thing I saw that morning was the sun beginning to shine through mist over the lake. I rolled out of bed, grabbed my car keys, and dashed to the trunk to get a camera body and telephoto lens, then ran about 50 yards down a steep hill in shorts and bare feet to make this image from the shoreline.

As a side note: This shot wouldn't have been possible if I had taken my camera bag into the warm hotel room the night before. The cool morning air would have caused condensation to form on the lenses, and I'd have had to wait for it to clear...which would have been too late.

Happy Feet

I was at Ding Darling yesterday with about two dozen Roseate Spoonbills and nearly as many photographers watching them. And that presents a professional challenge: When you're surrounded by other pros, and you're watching the same subject matter, how do you come up with a shot that's unique?

In this particular instance, I watched to see if I could find activity that everyone else was ignoring. And along came several Reddish Egrets (Egretta rufescens), whose dancing antics never fail to entertain. These birds kick the shallows to stir up crustaceans and small fish, pirouetting about with one or both wings outstretched to shield the water from glare, then strike with one of the quickest movements in the animal kingdom.

When there are spoonbills taking off, they're a hard sight for photographers to resist. But when this Reddish Egret wandered over within camera range, I was able to fire off about a half-dozen shots. And as is so often the case, the first one was the best.

Shortly thereafter, the same bird strolled over aggressively to a pesky Snowy Egret who was poaching in his territory. Reddishes are solitary birds and they don't share their fishing grounds without a squabble. So I got ready to expect some fireworks...and was happy to capture the shot below, where the two birds look like they're dancing a ballet. "Egret Lake", perhaps?

Cloudy Days, take 2

For bird photographers, the other convenient aspect to cloudy-day shooting is that it provides some very flattering backgrounds for species perched on bushes. Shadows are minimal.

And with the sun behind the clouds, there are no distracting hotspots (dappled sunlight) behind your subjects.

It's handy to use fill flash if you can do so without startling your subject. Appropriately used, it provides "snap" and fills in shadows--particularly useful if you are shooting in mid-day. It also puts a small "catchlight", or bright reflection, in the subject's eye to give it sparkle and depth.

I use a flash extender called a "Better Beamer" that is specially designed for use with long telephotos and zooms. It's easy to use, weighs only a couple of ounces, and fits easily into your camera bag. You can learn more about it here.

How to use flash effectively in the field is a subject worthy of a post all its own...or several. We'll talk about that soon.

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Image: Great Egret, St. Augustine. 1/1250 @ f/5.6, ISO 640, Canon 70-200mm IS zoom. Better Beamer set at -2 for flash fill.

The case for cloudy days

Last week I went up to St. Augustine (FL) for a two-day visit to the Alligator Farm rookery, one of the best places to observe and photograph nesting birds from close range. The forecast was ominous -- two days of thunderstorms, clouds and rain -- but the hotel room was already booked and prepaid, so rescheduling wasn't an option.

I managed to get to the rookery by 4 PM on Monday, and was greeted by cloudy skies but no rain -- yet. I was surprised that there were so few serious photographers on hand. Overcast and cloudy days provide lots of great avian shooting opportunities.

Photographing birds in flight is actually easier on cloudy days than on sunny ones. When the sun's out, you must plan to shoot only those birds flying more or less into the direction of the light. On cloudy days the light is more omnidirectional, and good exposures can be had regardless of the bird's flight direction.

The lower contrast simplifies exposure, too. Well-exposed shots will render lots of underwing detail. On a sunny day, that detail is difficult to preserve without burning out the parts of the bird that are in direct sunlight.

What's a "well-exposed shot" for birds in flight on a cloudy day?

You always want to set your exposure so that the sky is rendered as white, or nearly white. To do this, set your camera for manual exposure, and set your aperture to f/5.6. Meter on the cloudy sky (no branches or foliage in the frame) so that your needle is at null (or "+0"). Then, adjust your shutter speed so that the meter is displaying 2 stops overexposure ("+2").

For birds in flight in cloudy weather, (or any weather, for that matter), you'll need sufficient shutter speed to stop the action. There are lots of variables to consider (do you want to blur the wings somewhat? Is the bird close to you, or flying 30 feet or more overhead? etc.) but in general a shutter speed of about 1/1250 or faster is desirable. If, having followed the instructions so far, your shutter speed isn't 1/1250 or faster at f/5.6, consider boosting your ISO setting until it is.

With my Canon 40D and 50D bodies, my standard ISO setting is 400. In cloudy weather, I may need to boost that slightly, maybe even at high as ISO 1000, to satisfy my requirements. To summarize, they're:

• Manual exposure mode
• Set f/stop to f/5.6
• Meter off the sky, then adjust shutter speed by 2 stops to render the sky as light gray
  
• To stop action, use a shutter speed of 1/1250 or faster
  
• Adjust the ISO upward (i.e., to 500, 640, or 800) if light is insufficient to meet the above conditions.

Tomorrow, I'll blog about why cloudy weather works for subjects hanging out in mangroves, etc., as well!

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Image: Immature White Ibis in flight; 1/1250 sec. @ f/5.6, ISO 800; Canon 50D and Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 zoom lens.

View all my images at the Wild Images Florida website.