I recently received my new Canon 7D camera from Adoramapix.com as grand prize for being chosen winner in their, “Your Best Shot of 2011 Photo Contest.” I haven’t met a photographer yet who doesn’t like getting new equipment and this was no exception for me! It’s always fun to open the box and experience the moment!
After setting up the camera, I took it out to Ridgefield NWR (my “home base”) on May 25 and attached my Canon 400mm f5.6L lens. I also snapped a few shots with the Canon 1.4x extender mounted, giving me 560mm. All in all, I was quite pleased with the camera’s performance and thought I’d share a few of the shots.
[Be sure to click on these thumbnails to view a larger, more detailed version of the shot!]
This first shot is of a Yellow-headed Blackbird, which was quite willing to pose on a cattail. Here I caught him vocalizing with his unmistakable nasally, wailing trill.
Next, I approach a Cinnamon Teal, which appears here to be half asleep as I snap a burst of shots. The green grasses on the far side of the canal create a nice colorful reflection in the water. A relaxing moment for the duck!
I then move on to a marshy area where a Great Blue Heron is hunting in shallow water. The light was a little tricky here but he stopped and decided to itch his head with his right foot. I caught his foot raised up by his head. I named the shot, “Waving Goodbye.” An alternative name could be, “Give me a high four!” 🙂
The refuge has a good-sized Ash tree forest which is home to a nesting pair of Great Horned Owls. Two owlets fledged in early May…I captured one of them taking a snooze, momentarily opening its eyes.
My last shot was taken with the 560mm set up (400mm lens plus 1.4x extender). When this combination is used with Canon’s 1.6x crop factor bodies, autofocus is disabled. So I focused this next shot manually using live view on teh LCD screen and using the zoom thumb button on the back to zoom in to 10x magnification on the eye of the bird. The photo is of a Ring-necked Duck which was just slightly moving in the water. The extender makes my f5.6 lens an f8 lens.
Thanks goes to Adoramapix.com for sponsoring the photo contest and providing this awesome camera as grand prize. Adorama posted a little bio of me and the winning shot here if you are interested and haven’t yet seen the image. I am working on a blog post for my April 23 photo shoot and hope to post it soon. Thanks for visiting!