Special Shots

A special shot.  I always try to keep the lens eye level with the subject.  Some times that means getting a little wet and getting a lot lucky that the subject happens to come up just where you want it!  The circle around the frog is the water being bent by the surface tension.  This was one of the last shots of the day and I was unsure what if anything I had captured.

Nikon D7100 500mm 1/1000 @ f/6.3 ISO1600

Fast boats and a lot of noise are trademarks of the unlimited series of racing in Madison, IN.  This photo was taken from a little over 1/4 mile on the Kentucky side of the Ohio river putting the sun at my back.  Exposing for the whites was imperative as was a high shutter speed to keep the image from being blurry.  shot with the Nikon D500, 500mm Nikor  f 6.3, 1/5000 ISO of 280.

I suppose bird photography is my favorite and especially BIF's (birds in flight).  I had found a small pound where mallards and Canadians come in at about the same time every day.  It was simple to set up so that by the time they saw me it was really to late for them to avoid me.  There were several great head on shots at this site.

My favorite bird subject, The Osprey or sometimes called the fish hawk.  It seems most all raptors have several favorite spots they prefer to use to wait until their prey shows or comes in range,  This lovely bird is no different.  It also makes them predictable allowing me the opportunity to sit quietly and wait on them.  Shortly after this very nice portrait was taken this bird launched from about 25 feet up in a pine tree and dove feet first into water no more then 3 feet deep, went clear to the bottom,  and then  surfaced with a very nice flounder. 

Nikon D500 500mm 1/2500 @ f/5.6 ISO 1250

The Iris in full bloom and bud in the same shot.  It seems the most beautiful of our flowers have a very short bloom time.  Most of the local botanical gardens allow photographer a bit of slack when it comes to using tripods as long as you are not in the middle of a trail or the flowers.  Just like with people, the go to angle and view is always eye level with the subject.

The beautiful white egret taking off below the damn at Louisville, KY.  Most dams that have open water with plenty of shallow water for wading seem to attract several different wading birds.  I was in place tucked back in some bushes waiting for these birds to arrived.  several photos were taken as this bird approached  wading and searching until eventually I must have twitched and spooked it.  It was facing me when it took off forced the bird to bank hard left to avoid getting any closer giving me a very nice shot.