Some SW FLA Presidents Week IPT Images

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On a nice afternoon at Little Estero, the fog swooped in like some mythic creature. Rather than quit, I suggested that we begin making intentional blurs explaining that getting one great one was like winning the lottery. The image above was created with 70-200mm f/4L IS lens handheld at 78 mm with the 50D. Evaluative metering + 1 1/3 stops in TV mode: 1/8 second at f/29. Much better would have been to have had the correct 9-stop neutral density filter for the 70-200 f.4; then I could have used a much wider aperture to avoid maximizing the few dust spots. A start in that direction would have been to go from ISO 400 to ISO 2oo.

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When an IPT visits the Venice Rookery in the morning I have a great afternoon spot about an hour away for both Brown and White Pelicans. The green swatch in the water (that I love by the way) is the reflection of a pressure treated piling.. This image was made with the much maligned 100-400 IS L zoom lens handheld at 120mm with the EOS-50D. ISO 400. Evaluative metering -1/3 stop: 1/1600 at f/7.1 in Av Mode.

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Early on still mornings at Estero can be magic but only if you are in the right spot at the eastern end of the lagoon where the sun comes up over the Gulf and a distant spit. This image was created with the Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens with the EOS-1D Mark III. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +2/3 stop: 1/10 sec. at f/5.6. The 800 features a new 4-stop IS system that at times seems close to miraculous. I have made sharp images at shutter speeds as slow as 1/6 sec.

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Being at Little Estero Lagoon on a low tide with little wind and the sun just coming over the condos can be pure magic, especially when there is a natural feeding spree. This Snow Egret was photographed on just such a morning with the tripod-mounted Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens and the EOS-1D Mark III. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +2/3 stop: 1/1250 sec. at f/8.