Trogon Photo Tours

May 2017 - This month's newsletter includes some artistic or out of the box images from our Washington Eagle photo workshops with settings and information about how I made the shots. 

Bait Ball with Glaucous-winged and Heermann's Gulls, Cormorants and Rhinoceros Auklets. Photographed June 2016, Strait of Juan de Fuca, WA.   Canon 5D3, Sigma 150-600 Contemporary at 388mm 1/80 F20, iso 100, handheld.  On our boat trips into the Strait of Juan de Fuca we always try to photograph a few bait balls.  In addition to the participants here there are usually Harbor Seals around.  It makes for exciting action but how does one capture it with their camera?  I find photographing with a slow shutter speed and a narrow aperture you can show the motion and activity of the group better.  While the birds are not sharp you can still make out what the different species are and you get a feeling for the energy of the group.

Here is the same  bait ball with more conventinal techs.  Canon 5D3, Sigma 150-600 at 388mm, 1/2500 F11, iso 800.  For me the result just isn't as aesthic as the first image.  

Great Blue Heron photographed May 2014 Hood Canal, WA.  Canon 5D3 500F4 1/13 F32, iso 100, Av mode, evaluative metering  +1.0.  With the very slow shutter speed and high depth of field here I was able to make the water smooth and make an artisic shot of this heron capturing it's prey.  The image in some respects looks more like a painting than a photo.  I realize this type of photography doens't appeal to everyone's taste. 

Marbled Murrelet photographed June 2016, Protection Island, WA.  Canon 5D3, Sigma 150-600 at 562mm, 1/4000 F8, iso 800, handheld from boat.  We photographed this species, which is now endangered due to loss of the old growth forests it breeds in, on our boat trip last year.  It's a small alcid, here I decided to show it small in the frame in the lower left surrounded by the beautiful water which had a pinkish tint to it. 

Bald Eagles photographed at Hood Canal, WA June 2016, Canon 5D3 500F4 1.4x 1/1250 F8, iso 1600, manual exposure metered off of clouds adding 2 stops to meter.  This shot was taken on  an overcast day, I bumped up the contrast in processing a fair bit to make the background whitish.  The shapes of the birds wings make a compelling composition here.  

Great Blue Heron and Bald Eagle photographed June 2011, Hood Canal, WA.  Canon 7D 500F4 1/1250 F8, iso 500 manual exposure.  An example of the heron and eagle interaction at this location.  This is a shot of an eagle exiting the frame with a fish that it has grabbed at the feet of the heron.  Usually you don't want your main subject exiting the frame but I think in this case the heron and the splash balance the composition.  

Bald Eagle with Olympic Mountains in the background photographed June 2012, Hood Canal, WA.  Canon 7D 500F4 1/1600 F9, iso 400, Av mode, evaluative metering at 0, handheld.  I was able to focus on this eagle on the left of the frame with the mountains in the background, I used more depth of field than I normally would for a single bird to try and get a bit more definition in the background.  

Bald Eagles photographed May 2013 Hood Canal, WA.  Canon 5D3 500F4 1.4x 1/1600 F7.1, iso 1000, Av mode, evaluative metering at 0, handheld.  Some photographers really like images with one bird in focus and one out of focus and others don't.  I really like this paticular composition with the eagles flying in different directions and nicely spread in the frame, each in opposite corners, I also like the hint of forest at the bottom right.  

Bald Eagle Diving photographed June 2016 Hood Canal, WA.  Canon 5D3, 500F4 1.4x 1/2000 F8, iso 800, Manual exposure metered off of clouds and adding 1.3 stops.  I thought I would include one shot that was more of a classic eagle shot, I included plenty of space at the bottom to give a feel for the dive.

Many of the images here are best viewed larger so I have included them in my Zenfolio gallery