Galapagos Day 11/July 16, Afternoon, San Cristobal Island

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This image of Kicker Rock was created with the hand held Canon 15mm fish eye and the EOS-1D Mark IV. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +2/3 stop: 1/2500 sec. at f/5.6. I try to remember to place a Kaiser Bubble Level in the hot shoe whenever I use the fish eye lens and to peek at it before making an image. If you are only a degree or two off with the fish eye you will lose a good portion of the image when you rotate it to level. I remembered my bubble level for this image.

Galapagos Day 11/July 16, Afternoon, San Cristobal Island

After our morning on Punta Pitt we had a short navigation and a great lunch (the latter as always; the food on the Beagle was superb). En route we stopped at Kicker Rock for some photography and snorkeling. We lucked out with the former when it got mostly cloudy and the latter was spectacular. We swam around the entire rock formation and even through the gap. Then we continued sailing towards the site of our afternoon landing.

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This image of a large Great Frigatebird chick was created with the hand held (at 400mm) Canon 100-400mm IS L lens (that I borrowed from Denise while she and others were using my 800) and the EOS-1D Mark IV. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1 2/3 stops: 1/500 sec. at f/8.

We made a dry landing on the rocky neck at Isla Lobos on San Cristobal Island at about 4pm; the light got sweet soon. In some years there are good numbers of nesting frigatebirds but this year there was only three nests with young. Two of the nests were totally blocked and one, the one in the image above, was difficult to photograph because of the surrounding vegetatin. By moving around the nest we were able to find two clear slots to the chick with reasonable sun angles.

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This photograph of an adult Striated Heron was created with the hand held 70-200mm f/4 L IS lens (at 202mm), the 1.4X II TC, and the EOS-1D Mark IV as I was lying flat on my belly. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +2/3 stops: 1/500 sec. at f/5.6. Getting right on the ground quickly was the key to the success of this image as it provided an intimate look. The bird took flight moments after I made this frame.

Sometimes in nature photography you need to make almost instantaneous decisions. We were scouting for a good spot from which to photograph the frigatebird nest above. As we walked around a bush the Striated Heron was at point blank range looking a bit nervous. Without thinking I got down on the ground, set the desired exposure compensation, and created two frames; one was sharp, one was not. As the sun got close to the ocean we photographed the sea lions and enjoyed the beautiful weather. Soon were were back on the Beagle sailing off towards our next destination. Most folks were relaxing on deck as a beautiful sunset was developing. Ever the glutton, I grabbed the fish eye lens and created a series of images; my favorite is below.

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This image of a large tour boat at sunset was created with the hand held Canon 15mm fisheye lens and the EOS-1D Mark IV. ISO 800. Evaluative metering at zero: 1/250 sec. at f/5.6. When working with rich colors at sunrise and sunset it is best to check the RGB histogram as I did here to avoid clipping the RED channel.

Shopper’s Guide

Here is the gear that I used at Isla Lobos that afternoon:

Canon 70-200mm f/4 l IS lens
Canon 800mm f/5.L IS lens
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV professional digital camera body
Canon EF Teleconverter 1.4X II

And from the BAA On-line Store:

Gitzo 3530 LS Tripod
Mongoose M3.6 Tripod Head

If you are considering the purchase of a major piece of photographic gear be it a new camera, a long lens, a tripod or a head, or some accessories be sure to check out our complete Shopper’s Guide.