Poor Fish

matthewo · Jan 12, 2014

A hard rain, and they were letting out a bunch of water at the dam, I tired to put in the kayak, but it was not a good idea, I didn't get any photos, and hardly made it back over to the other side.

these were all shot from the bank.

This is my spot
1)

2)
the wing reflection of the fish

3)
GBH with a fish

4)

5)
gulls are getting in on the action, I liked the pastel/watercolor type look of the background

6)
I really loved this grab, but it was not totally in focus and a heavy crop.

bc_steve · Jan 12, 2014

Those are excellent!!

Robin Usagani · Jan 12, 2014

Very sharp. Nice job. How long is the lens?

EOV · Jan 12, 2014

That shadow in 2 is pretty neat. I would be very happy just to witness those. Birds fishing let alone getting such good pictures of them. Seems like your day turned out pretty good after all.

dxqcanada · Jan 12, 2014

Hmm, OK ... so you were restricted to shooting from the bank ... an this were the only acceptable shots you got ?? Crap !!! Nice shots.
Even with many years trying to shoot wildlife I feel that I am not that good, or experienced enough ... or determined.

matthewo · Jan 12, 2014

2,4,5 were taken with the 500&1.7x for 850mm and the rest were just the 500mm. the d800 was having a little trouble with focusing on the egrets in bright sunshine.

thanks for the comments

matthewo · Jan 12, 2014

dxqcanada said:
Hmm, OK ... so you were restricted to shooting from the bank ... an this were the only acceptable shots you got ?? Crap !!! Nice shots.
Even with many years trying to shoot wildlife I feel that I am not that good, or experienced enough ... or determined.

well I have been to the spot maybe 5-10 times, so I know it pretty well. its more or less just better to sit on a few spots on the bank and wait. I have a pretty long lens as well, that really helps when I can almost fill the frame, but most are still crops.

I hate when people say its the gear, but I will admit its much easier to get photos like this more constantly with a big 500mm F4 prime lens. but i wont say its fun to handhold and transport or find the subject in the viewfinder at 850mm fixed and track it.

that and going to a spot were you know there will be decent activity within range of your lens. Still last year there was more activity, this was a pretty slow day out there, really.

Desi · Jan 12, 2014

Nice! That last one is awesome.

dxqcanada · Jan 12, 2014

Yes, not always about gear ... gear will do you no good if you cannot find your subject ... understanding your subject and their environment, now that's the key to wildlife photography.