Lots of Fishing But Not Much Catching

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It was cloudy-dark when I got to Sebastian Inlet at about 7:00am. Several dozen Osprey were in the air north of the bridge fishing. Because of the low light, I went with the 400mm f/2.8 GM lens with the 1.4X TC and an a1. None dove. I moved out on the jetty. The sun came out and there were several dozen Osprey and dozens of Royal Terns fishing. None dove. After2 1/2 hours of handholding the 400 f/2.8, I decided to take a short break for brunch. When I returned with the lighter, more versatile 200-600, several photographers told me that I had missed many diving Osprey and that more than a few of them had come up with a fish. Bummer. The hungry birds continued to patrol the inlet. None dove. It was that kind of day.

I got some more work done on the Homer/Bald Eagle Event Space program in the afternoon while catching up on NFL games on Tivo.

Today is Monday 7 November 2022. 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 two hundred 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. And the same is true in spades when ordering new camera bodies or lenses. My advice will often save you some serious money and may help you avoid making a seriously bad choice. 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 6 November 2022 at Sebastian Inlet, FL. I used the handheld Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 GM OSS lens, the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter, and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera. The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 800. 1/4000 sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Manual mode. When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file exposure was determined to be dead-solid perfect (plus a bit more). AWB at 8:21:22am on a then-sunny morning. Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #1: Osprey fishing

Not in the Zone

I did not have my A-game on Sunday. With the changing light and the light meter in my brain just a bit off, I wound up over-exposing many otherwise good images. This one was right on the borderline. The big lesson overall for me was that the top of an Osprey’s head is a very bright white. To think that it only took me 39 years to realize that.

This image was also created on 6 November 2022 at Sebastian Inlet, FL. For this one, I used the handheld Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 220mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ) The exposure was determined using Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 800. 1/6400 second at f/6.3 (wide-open) in Manual Mode. AWB at 10:27:57am on a mostly sunny afternoon. RawDigger showed the exposure to be perfect. Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird Face/Eye Detection performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #2: Royal Tern fishing

f/6.3 on Sunny Days

On sunny flight photography days, f/6.3 is not at all a handicap. For Ospreys on sun angle, ISO 800, 1/3200 sec. at f/6.3 will generally be right on. For the brighter whiter terns, I’ll go two or three clicks faster on the shutter speed to 1/5000 for the young birds or 1/6400 sec. for the adults. As the young Laughing Gulls are darker overall than the Ospreys, I’ll open up 1/3 stop to 1/2500 sec. When a cloud covers the sun, I’ll go four clicks higher on the ISO all around.

The Lesson

When doing flight photography, get the right exposure for the most common subject and then learn to adjust your exposures depending on the differences in tonality with lighter or darker subjects.

This image was also created on 6 November 2022 at Sebastian Inlet, FL. Again, I used the handheld Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 275mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ) The exposure was determined using Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 800. 1/3200 second at f/6.3 (wide-open) in Manual Mode. AWB at 10:37:52am on a then-sunny morning. RawDigger showed the exposure to be perfect. Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird Face/Eye Detection performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #3: Osprey fishing

The T-Shot

When photographing birds that are directly or almost directly overhead on sunny days, pressing the shutter button when their wings are completely flat, as they are when the birds are gliding, is the only way to go. Why? You want the underwings to be lit evenly. When birds are flapping the wings are always curved to some degree and there will be ugly shadows on the underwings. Trust me on this one.

Sony 200-600 Versatility!

Note the focal lengths used for Images #2 and #3: 220mm and 275mm respectively. Folks with fixed focal length lens like the 600 f/4s and the 400 2.8s would have been dead in the water. My mind is exploring the possibility of using the Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 GM II lens with either TC at Sebastian. You might be short on reach at times but would surely enjoy using the much lighter rig for long shooting sessions.

Your Call?

After clicking on each image, please leave a comment letting us know which of the three featured images you like best and why you made your choice.

Typos

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