Three From a Really Bad (???) Morning at Gatorland … « Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

Three From a Really Bad (???) Morning at Gatorland ...

Which One Do You Like Best?

Why?

What’s Up?

I got tons of work done in my Jacksonville AirBnb on Sunday morning and then headed to Jekyll Island. I arrived at Villas by the Sea at about 2:00pm. Check-in is at four, but they mercifully got me into my unit at 3:05. I unpacked the car for my ten-night stay and rested a bit. I headed out to check out the fishing pier at the north end of the island but wound up at the south end instead. Oops. I met Eric Bowles of GNPA at the St. Andrews Picnic Area at 5:45pm and we headed to Jekyll Point, 1.3 miles there and 1.3 mile back. We had lots of gorgeous Laughing Gulls, some Royal Terns, a few assorted gulls, more than 500 Black Skimmers, several dozen Sanderling and a dozen Dunlin, several fly-by flocks of Double-crested Cormorants and a single fly-by flock of about 20 Blue-winged Teal. The beach itself is beautiful. I worked exclusively with the 200-600 shooting at close to ground level.

The strange thing about today’s post is that I still have many more good images from what I originally thought was a poor morning.

Today is Monday 4 April 2022. The forecast for the morning is for partly cloudy skies with a southeast wind with thunderstorms developing at about 10:00am. Eric and I are headed back to Jekyll Point for sunrise. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day. This blog post took about 90 minutes to prepare and makes twenty-five days in a row with a new one.

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Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of photographers whom I see in the field and on BPN, are–out of ignorance–using the wrong gear, especially when it comes to tripods and more especially, tripod heads… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail. If you are desperate, you can try me on my cell at 863-221-2372. Please leave a message and shoot me a text if I do not pick up.

This image was created on 2 April 2022 at Gatorland, Kissimmee, FL. I used the hand held Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lens with the Sony FE 2x Teleconverter (at 400mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.. The exposure was determined via Zebras with Exposure Compensation on the thumb dial. ISO 1250: 1/500 sec. at f/5.6 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the raw file brightness was perfect. AWB at 9:12:22am on a very overcast morning.

Tracking: Spot S AF/C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection enabled performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.

Image #1: Two tiny Great Egret chicks in the nest

The Situation

Most of the photographers at Gatorland were dismayed that Saturday past dawned very foggy and that the sun never appeared. I was thrilled. Rookeries are difficult enough to photograph on cloudy days and when the sun is out and up, things can be borderline impossible. With no harsh shadows to deal with, at least you have a chance.

Looking at today’s three featured images, you will quickly realize that I had to choose my perspectives very carefully to find a slot through the twigs and branches, all the while using out-of-focus leaves in the foreground to pleasingly frame the images. As there are several nests very close to the boardwalk, the 600mm f/4 was completely worthless. I loaned it to BPN/UK friend Mike Poole. When I ran IPTs to Bempton Cliffs, Mike was always a huge help. Anyhoo, the new Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lens with the FE 2x Teleconverter and a1, proved to be deadly once again. AF is super-fast and accurate, the zoom is fast and smooth, and at 400mm, the lens focuses inside of four feet! When working in tight quarters, this combo is remarkable. As I have said here before and often, the new 70-200 II obsoletes the Sony FE 100-400 GM lens.

You can learn more this great lens in several blog posts including the New Kid on the Block: Versatile, & Deadlier Than Ever post here and the In Memoriam: Not! More on the Sony 70-200 f/2.8 II GM post here.

This image was also created on 2 April 2022 at Gatorland, Kissimmee, FL. Again, I used the hand held Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lens with the Sony FE 2x Teleconverter (at 400mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.. The exposure was determined via Zebras with Exposure Compensation on the thumb dial. ISO 800: 1/400 sec. at f/5.6 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the raw file brightness was perfect. AWB at 8:40:47am on a very overcast morning.

Tracking: Spot S AF/C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection enabled performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.

Image #2: Great Egret chick looking like a cobra

A Single Tip that is Worth the Price of Admission …

There is a single tip in the Gatorland section of The BAA Middle of Florida Photographic Site Guide that is immensely helpful for photographing the point-blank Great Egret nests. You can find it in the section on photographing the nests near the small shelter and in the Gatorland 3 April 2022 Short Update. If you own the guide, please shoot me an e-mail that includes proof of purchase with the words Gatorland 3 April 2022 Short Update Please in the Subject line.

This image was also created on 2 April 2022 at Gatorland, Kissimmee, FL. Again, I used the hand held Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lens with the Sony FE 2x Teleconverter (at 400mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.. The exposure was determined via Zebras with Exposure Compensation on the thumb dial. ISO 1000: 1/500 sec. at f/6.3 (stopped down 1/3-stop) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the raw file brightness to be dead-solid perfect. AWB at 9:34:24am on a very overcast morning.

Tracking: Spot S AF/C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection enabled performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.

Image #3: Great Egret chick thinking about begging

No Idea How I Made This One

I am not sure how I made such a clean image here. It’s as if the bird were floating in some sort of nest heaven. I did execute a small crop from our right and below. Images #2 and #3 show a different large chick from the same nest. I guess that perspective is everything.

The BAA Middle of Florida Photographic Site Guide

You can purchase your copy here in the BAA Online Store.

The BAA Middle of Florida Photographic Site Guide

126 pages, 87 photographs by Joe Przybyla and Arthur Morris.
The PDF for this e-Guide is an electronic download sent via e-mail.

Purchase your copy here in the BAA Online Store.

I had thought about doing a guide to some of the great but little-known photo hotspots around central Florida for about a decade, but those plans never came to fruition. I met Joe online in the Avian Forum at BirdPhotographer’s.Net about two years ago. Joe’s photography has improved tremendously over the past few years; he credits the BAA blog, my books and PDFs, and his participation on BPN. The one thing that I learned right from the get-go about Joe is that he is a hard and tenacious worker, always striving to improve his skills and to grow his knowledge base. As he knew of more than a few good spots in central Florida, I broached the idea of us doing a photographic site guide that covered many of the little-known photographic hotspots from Brandon to Lakeland to Joe Overstreet Road to Indian Lake Estates (my Florida home for the past 20 years or so). After more than many, many dozens of hours of effort, The BIRDS AS ART Middle of Florida Photographic Site Guide is now a reality. Thanks to Joe’s wife Dottie for her review of our writing. We all learned once again that writing is a process, a back-and-forth process. All thanks to the white pelicans of Lakeland. Here are the locations that are detailed in this e-Guide:

  • Indian Lake Estates: Sandhills Cranes with chicks and colts, lots of vultures, and Ospreys up the kazoo!
  • Gatorland, Kissimmee: Learn to make great images of wading birds in a cluttered rookery.
  • The Brandon Rookery: Great for nesting Wood Storks, Great Egrets, and more.
  • Circle Bar B Reserve, Lakeland: Here you will find a great variety of avian subjects in a great variety of habitats.
  • Lake Morton, Lakeland: There are lots of silly tame birds here including and especially American White Pelican during the colder months.
  • Lake Mirror, Lakeland: Tame Anhingas, Limpkins, and a zillion White Ibises at times.
  • West Lake Parker, Lakeland: Here you will have a chance for two difficult birds, Snail Kite, and Purple Gallinule.
  • Joe Overstreet Road, Kenansville: Crested Caracara, meadowlarks, Loggerhead Shrike, and much more on the fenceposts and barbed wire.

Each location includes a map, a detailed description of the best spots, best season, light and time of day instructions, the expected species, and an educational and inspirational gallery that is designed to open your eyes as to the possibilities.

You can purchase a copy here in the BAA Online Store.

Typos

With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.

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