{"id":853,"date":"2009-12-22T21:34:18","date_gmt":"2009-12-23T01:34:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/?p=853"},"modified":"2011-02-24T14:25:56","modified_gmt":"2011-02-24T18:25:56","slug":"fun-in-the-cold-and-snow-at-morton-nwr-noyac-ny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/2009\/12\/22\/fun-in-the-cold-and-snow-at-morton-nwr-noyac-ny\/","title":{"rendered":"Fun in the Cold and Snow at Morton NWR, Noyac, NY"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
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This image of a Northern Cardinal was created with the Canon 800mm f\/5.6L IS lens with a 25mm Extension tube and the EOS-1D Mark III. ISO 320. Evaluative metering +1 stop: 1\/320 sec. at f\/11 set manually. (Should have been +1 2\/3 stops….) Fill flash at -1 stop.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

Morton NWR is located in Noyac, Long Island.\u00a0\u00a0 I was amazed to learn last year that bird feeding there is not only permitted but encouraged.\u00a0\u00a0 After Saturday’s blizzard I was anxious to get out in the snow and put some of what I had learned from Alan Murphy’s “Guide to Songbird Set-Up Photography” to good use.\u00a0\u00a0Heading out to eastern Long Island on Sunday would have been borderline suicidal so I passed on that.\u00a0 I woke early on Monday, packed my gear and warm clothing, and headed to the refuge.\u00a0\u00a0 Thinking that I might need to dig my way out at some point, I threw my Mom’s long-handled spade into the back seat of the car.\u00a0\u00a0 It took me a shade more than an hour to make the trip but when I arrived, I noted that the road into the parking lot had not been plowed.\u00a0\u00a0 I got my warm coat on, took the long-handled spade out of the back seat, and started digging my own parking space.\u00a0\u00a0After about 30 minutes\u00a0(when I was about half finished with my one car parking lot) I was wishing that I had brought my Mom’s real snow shovel.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

I stopped one guy with a plow on the front of an SUV; he stopped and was very nice but explained that it was his bosses truck and that he was forbidden to plow anything.\u00a0\u00a0 So back to work I went.\u00a0 After another 15 minutes I was about 3\/4 done when I spotted a bobcat with a snow plow on the front.\u00a0 I waved the guy down and he stopped.\u00a0 I asked him if I could pay him to finish plowing my spot.\u00a0 He said, “No.\u00a0 I will do it for free.”\u00a0 One, two three and there was a beautiful practically effortless parking spot big enough for two cars.\u00a0 I tried to give the guy a ten-spot for breakfast but he refused and drove off.<\/p>\n

I wound up photographing for more than 7 hours.\u00a0 I created the cardinal image above just before I left at 4pm.\u00a0 By that time, my feet were frozen blocks of ice.\u00a0 I was able to utilize many of the tips in Alan Murphy’s Guide to Songbird Set-up Photography to help me create better images.\u00a0\u00a0 The woodpecker image that follows was just one of many of those.\u00a0\u00a0 Be sure to click on each image to see a larger sharper version.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Canon 800mm f\/5.6L IS lens with a 25mm Extension tube and the EOS-1D Mark III. ISO 100. Evaluative metering +1 1\/3 stops: 1\/320 sec. at f\/8 set manually. Fill flash at -1 stop.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

Tips:\u00a0 When I am working with songbirds at close range I remove my Better Beamer to avoid over-flashing the birds.\u00a0\u00a0 When working in bright sun I use more fill flash than I usually do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Canon 800mm f\/5.6L IS lens with a 25mm Extension tube and the EOS-1D Mark III. ISO 250. Evaluative metering +1 stop: 1\/200 sec. at f\/11. Fill flash at -1 stop.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

This is another one that was created by following\u00a0 Alan’s directions explicitly.\u00a0\u00a0 His tip on the exact piece of equipment\u00a0used for placing and adjusting the position of your selected perches is priceless.\u00a0 You can learn more about Alan’s book or order a copy here:\u00a0 https:\/\/store.birdsasart.com\/shop\/category.aspx?catid=33<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Canon 800mm f\/5.6L IS lens with a 25mm Extension tube and the EOS-1D Mark III. ISO 250. Evaluative metering +1 1\/3 stops: 1\/250 sec. at f\/13 set manually. Fill flash at -1 stop.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

OK, you\u00a0have read this far; now we will share some tips for photographing in the snow.\u00a0\u00a0 If\u00a0you are photographing during the height of the\u00a0storm, always use flash as light levels will be very low.\u00a0\u00a0 Once\u00a0the\u00a0weather clears, you will often have bright blue skies and northwest winds.\u00a0 Be sure to select\u00a0a location that is sheltered from the wind, especially in the mornings when a wind from the north or west can kill you.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 During the short days of winter the sun is so low in the sky in the northeast that you can photograph in nice light all day long.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In places like Morton where the birds are accustomed to being fed, it is fun to create some images of them on the fresh snow.\u00a0\u00a0 Do not scatter the seed about as the individual kernels will be distracting.\u00a0\u00a0 Instead, poke a small hole in the snow and fill it with seed.\u00a0 Attempt to photograph the birds as they come to the seed hole or wait their turn.<\/p>\n

Wear your warmest boots and clothing.\u00a0\u00a0 Hand-warmers can save the day if it is in the low 20s or the teens.\u00a0 Work right down sun angle.\u00a0 In addition to Alan’s techniques, I used many of my own from the Practicalities chapter of “The Art of Bird Photography II (916 pages on CD only):\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 https:\/\/store.birdsasart.com\/shop\/category.aspx?catid=32<\/a><\/p>\n

Important BAA Note:\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

HOLIDAY BEST WISHES\/BAA CLOSED TILL 2010!<\/h2>\n

First off, Jim Litzenberg, older-daughter Jennifer Morris, and I would like to wish each of you a safe and enjoyable holiday season.\u00a0\u00a0With luck it will be filled with friends, family, good food, and at least a bit of photography.<\/p>\n

Jennifer is flying to Islip on X-mas Eve day with husband Erik and children Sam and Maya\u00a0to join the rest of the family that includes my Mom, my two sisters, her Mom, and her younger sister Alissa and her family (husband Ajiniaz and two sons, Ilyas and Idris).\u00a0 And me <smile><\/p>\n

Jim will be in the office until noon on Thursday, DEC 24th and is then\u00a0taking a rare and much needed vacation.\u00a0\u00a0He will<\/em><\/strong> be able to ship or mail any order received before the close of business on Wednesday, DEC 23.\u00a0\u00a0 Both Jennifer and Jim will be back in the office on Monday, January 4, 2010.\u00a0 PayPals and BAA On-Line Mail Order store orders will be processed and shipped on either January 4th or 5th.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I will be back soon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ngg_shortcode_4_placeholder This image of a Northern Cardinal was created with the Canon 800mm f\/5.6L IS lens with a 25mm Extension tube and the EOS-1D Mark III. ISO 320. Evaluative metering +1 stop: 1\/320 sec. at f\/11 set manually. (Should have been +1 2\/3 stops….) Fill flash at -1 stop. <\/p>\n

Morton NWR is located in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[88,28,40,39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-88","category-800mm-f5-6","category-long-island","category-mkiii","odd"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=853"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/853\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}