Post Your Best Nature Shots!

[Dave Johnston]

Bill, the hummingbird is fantastic. I've always wanted to get some shots of them.





p.s. Thanks for your comments and critiqueall.

[jusap]

Wow! Cool shot of the hummingbird.

[Bill W]

Thanks for the kind words Dave and jusap.....so here's 2 more Ruby throated HBs captured on the same shoot.


<span style="visibility: visible;" id="main"]<span style="visibility: visible;" id="search"]Archilochus colubris male








<span style="visibility: visible;" id="main"]<span style="visibility: visible;" id="search"]Archilochus colubris female








Regards


Bill

[EdN]

Here's a nearby family of eagles feeding and training the new one.[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.22.66/IMG_5F00_9751cr.jpg[/img]


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[Garrett-Grimsley]

Caught this bugger in a tree in my backyard this afternoon.








Canon Rebel XT 350D, 1/800 second, F/8, 300mm, ISO400








Canon Rebel XT 350D, 1/400 second, F/8, 300mm, ISO400

[Chuck Lee]

OK...It's my turn. I've been really lame getting my stuff posted.


Every photo seems to havea story oris a part of one. The three photos I'm posting happened within 1/2 hour of one another and are a result of me braking one of my cardinal rules of photography. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Anyway, to make my very lenghthy story a lettle less so, It all began when I was three. No, sorry, the night before I took these shots. We'd just come back from a beautiful afternoon/evening at Harbor Towne on Hilton Head Island.As usual, when things got settled,I downloadedthe latest images from my CF card onto mylaptop. My hard and fast rule "always" isto immediately put the CF card back into the camera after downloading the files.I'm anal about doing this. Something happened and I put the card on top of my camera inside the top flap of my SlingShot bag instead of back into the camera.


The next morning, I hit the beach before sunrise to attempt another series of ocean sunrise photos. It was absolutely perfect!! Just a few wispy clouds to give the sky a little character. I had not seen a sunrise like this since we had arrived. I had remembered to bring my remote release for the first time and I was so together that I had walked down to the beach with the camera and tripod already together so there was no reason to bring my camera bag. So, there I am shooting away for about 15 minutes when I look down at the back of my camera and see the little words in white: NO CF CARD


Well. What do you do? There is no undelete or do-over. I was pretty bumbed.


Ashamed and feeling like a smuck, I walked off the beach and up to the trunk of my car, opened my camera bag and there was my CF card, lying in the bottomof my bagwhere my camera normally resides.


I start driving through ShipYard back to our condo when I realize that I hadn't tried taking photos of egrets around the clubhouse ponds. What the heck, the light is perfect, the fam's still sleeping and I've got time to kill.


#1 White Egret Canon 5D, EF 70-200 f2.8 nonIS on tripod @200mm, ISO 100, f2.8, 1/60





While I'm photographing this lovely bird a big blue egret flies right by and lands about 150 ft behind me on the edge of a pond on the other side of the road. As I'm turning around I catch a glimpse of something in the water about 8' from my position on the edge of the bank. It did not move.....thank goodness! I'm glad it wasn't a crock! The eyes to the nose were about the length of my foot. (11") It wasone large gator!


#2 Alligator Canon 5D, EF 70-200 f2.8 nonIS on tripod @200mm, ISO 100, f2.8, 1/60





After that shot I made for the big blue. He/She was a joy to shoot. It walked right up and posed!


#3 Blue Egret Canon 5D, EF 70-200 f2.8 nonIS handheld @180mm, ISO 400, f2.8, 1/640





Sometimes, things happen for a reason.


Chuck

[HiFiGuy1]

Chuck,


Serendipity is a wonderful thing, n'est ce pas?

[Sinh Nhut Nguyen]

Bill, the 1st hummer shot is definitely a keeper, good composition the tounge sticking out really enhances the image. I'd clone out theO.O.F leaf in the U.R.C. The 2nd shot can be sharper and the O.O.Fbrach/leaf is bothering me. Good luck next time.


EdN, I think it's always a thrill to see a bald eagle. Great opportunity you have there, it's absolutely cool to have nesting bald eagle. Looks like the images were shot in harsh lighting andheavily cropped, shooting in better lighting allows you to crop a bit more without losing details. Good luck next time. I like the last image, mommy and daddy are together.


Garrett, if I have a backyard with a lot of birds, I'd set up perches to photograph them. The branches in both theB.G andF.G are very cluttered, it takes a way the attention to the bird.


Chuck, nice poses on the egret and heron. I like the tight crop for the GBH, I'd crop out the O-O-F tree trunk in the B.G of the GWE


Please let me know if my any of my commentis wrong, thanks[]


Here's mine this time...





I was toolate to capture this skimmer banking with both wings spreaded out. Taken at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in late afternoon.


40D &amp; 400 f/5.6L, f/6.3, 1/3200, ISO 320. Please excuse the washed out fish []


Larger version http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=9467971&amp;size=lg


Thanks for viewing everyone.


Nate,

[Dann Thombs]

Wow, quite a beak on that one. Great action shot.

[Chuck Lee]

Thanks Nate,


I would of just posted the GBH (best nature shots) but the other two told a nice story. The original on the GWE was 2:3 portrait and you can see the golf course in the back ground. The tree was better reflected in the water and was left. I guess it would still be possible to crop lanscape at 2912 wide at a 4:5 aspect.


Here's the original as shot. That's as close as I could get @ 200mm on FF 5D.





Please show me what you mean. I'm curious to see how you would handle this. I respect your opinion. Your welcome to screeen capture, alter and repost this photo. Don't worry about the copyright.


Chuck