Thought I'd share some of my wetlands excursions lately, since I haven't in a while. ; All shots taken with my DSLR-A550 and Minolta 300mm F4 APO G lens, which has been my fun new wildlife toy, due to the gorgeous 9-blade-aperture bokeh and amazing detail sharpness. ; As usual, I'm posting links to the larger 1024x pixel versions below as they will better show the sharpness without the resizing artifacts. Tricolor heron, up really close: http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg/image/126269492/original Baby alligator, at water eye level: http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg/image/126623281/original Anhinga drying off: http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg/image/126623272/original Red-winged blackbird: http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg/image/126623265/original Great egret in flight: http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg/image/126623241/original Green heron, really really close: http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg/image/126623234/original Male grackle: http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg/image/127288933/original Momma heron and her three screaming kids: http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg/image/127288945/original Young purple gallinule: http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg/image/127631833/original Ruddy daggerwing butterfly: http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg/image/127631826/original Black-bellied whistling duck in flight: http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg/image/127717430/original Cardinal: http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg/image/127717450/original Well, I did include 'hate' above - some may not be too fond of birds, maybe scared of alligators - but generally those aren't hated. ; This guy though...he's always universally despised. ; That's right - the norway rat, aka brown rat aka sewer rat aka common rat. ; Poor Remy...has to resort to eating birdseed: http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg/image/127717451/original Hope you enjoyed...even the hated one! ;
great shots Justin. I was looking at that lens for nikon but just not enough reach for me. You have so many birds there that we don't. I have never seen heron chicks. only immature night crown
Thanks all. ; HW - we definitely have diversity on our side down here. ; And we pretty much see young versions of everything, because they all come down here for the winter for a little zug-zug! ; I usually stick with the 200-500 for birding and wildlife - but at my two favorite locations, you could get some excellent wildlife shots with a 100mm lens...you can get THAT close!
That's how it started for me...most places I shoot, it's the reason I got the 500. ; But this place is nuts...these two wetlands reserves - I'm serious, if any of you are birders and are ever visiting down here, give me a ring and I'm taking you to these spots. ; It's birder nirvana.
I keep looking at bigger lens as I need more reach as I have to crop but I know that will never happen unless I hit the lottery. When I go to the refuge Justin alot of people have big lens like nikons 600mm f4 and even then they have tele converters on them. I see alot of canon 500 f4 too
I must admit, I still find myself always thinking about a nice 600mm F4...I don't know that I could resist one if it appeared at a fantastic price - though it'd cost as much as some cars and be about as convenient to carry! ; I've considered buying a teleconverter for the 300 F4 too - it can handle a 1/4x with no problem. ; The Tamron remains my go-to when I really need the range, at least for now.
I thought of that also. the 300 f4 with a 1.4 but then my reach is only 630mm which is shorter then the tamron as you know. So to get more reach I gotta spend a small fortune and even used a 600mm is gonna be 6k or more. Now if I could only go without food for a year
Yep...I the guy I bought my 300mm from also had the 400, 500, and 600mm...He bought the 600 used but in 'like new' condition with the full case, caps, manuals, filters, etc. for $7,000. ; Wasn't ready to get rid of it yet...but I told him to let me know on any of his big primes before selling or trading them...he lives just a few miles from me, which gives me a good first chance! Thanks Chris for the compliments, BTW!
