Project 365 - Day 158 - Rockin Robin

I was trying to figure out what to shoot today.  I opened the back door for inspiration and I saw a very cool looking robin bouncing around.  He was a big bird, not your typical robin.  He has a lot of grey on his breast and his feathers are very detailed in their colour scheme.  I have seen a lot of robins in my life, but this guy was by far the coolest.

I asked him to pose for me, he took this position in front of our lilies.  He would not look directly at the camera, nor would he face me.  I tried to get closer, but he ended up flying off.  Strange, robins aren't usually that shy of humans - and this guy seems to have been on the planet for a couple of years so he should be more used to us.  But then again, he might have been talking to that stinking cardinal ... :-)

 

Shot with my Sigma 70-200mm at 200mm.  f/4.5 and 1/40 of a sec.  OS is on, and I was hand holding this.  I only got off two shots before he flew away.

Project 365 - Day 157 - Japanese Maple

Also known as a bloodgood, this is one of my favourite trees.  It is slow growing, so you can plant it and leave it be for a long time without having to prune or cut it back.  We have two of these, and one is the centrepiece of our back garden.  He's the subject today.

As I was letting Brodie outside today, I was thinking about what to shoot.  I noticed the way that the seeds are hanging off the branches of this tree, and with the grey sky and light rain it looked really cool.  So I grabbed my camera and took some shots.

I used my 70-200mm lens as it has Image Stabilization and I can get a pretty big aperture on this guy to blur out the other goings-on in the backyard.

Here's the shot:

Sigma 70-200mm lens zoomed in to 200mm .  Aperture at f/4.5  ISO 1250 and the shutter is at 1/40s

Project 365 - Day 156 - Toadstools

Mushrooms, toadstools, fungi.  All names to describe the spore bearing body of a fungus.  Although these guys are not what you typically want growing in your garden or your lawn, sometimes they make really good photographic subjects.

A few years ago, I went on a school trip to Algonquin Park as part of my Certificate in Commercial Photography.  We saw a lot of mushrooms on this trip, helping the fallen logs break down and providing nutrients to the local animals.

Yesterday, when I was out cutting the grass, I ran into these guys.  So,of course, I decided to shoot them.

I will say though that when you are lying on your stomach in your own backyard, you don't get nearly as many quizical stares - unless of course you count the dog...


Shot at ISO1250 with my 60mm lens.  1/6 sec and f/13.  Handheld, but braced on the ground.  Deep breath then hold, then release shutter - repeat.

Project 365 - Day 155 - Red Necked Grebes

So the birds that I was referring to yesterday are Red Necked Grebes.  They are duck-like birds.  I have never seen these guys before, and again this is another benefit of this project I have undertaken.  Click here to learn more about them.

When I got there today, I had company.  Along with the five other photographers, there were at least fourty Canadian Geese there as well, walking around the grass like they owned the place.  They are not afraid of humans, but I assume they would get cross if you approached.  I think they were jealous of the attention the grebes were getting - like my starling yesterday.

The birds I saw today are a nesting pair.  What I assume is the female is on the nest while the male is gathering parts for the nest.  But as in humans, the male kept getting distracted by shiny things in the water and swam off a couple of times while his mate tended the nest.

This shot was taken just as he was hightailing it back to the nest, but he had been swimming under the water just prior to this shot.

Shot with my 70-200 Sigma at 200mm and f/5.6  1/1000 shutter speed.  Hand held, with Optical Stabilization on.

Project 365 - Day 154 - Birdbath

Today, while trying to get some shots of another kind of bird, this little starling flew right in front of me and started taking a bath.  I was able to get a bunch of shots of him as he splashed around in the water among the rocks.  When he figured I had enough shots, he flew off.

Thank you Mr Starling.

Oh, and the other bird?  It's a type of duck that I have to look up.  I have to shoot it again as the light was not very nice.  It should be the subject of tomorrow's post - as long as I get a good shot of them.

ISO400, 70-200mm lens at 200mm.  Shutter was 1/125s and the aperture is f/5.6.

Project 365 - Day 153 - Bronte Harbour at night

I have been to Bronte Harbour a number of times, and I keep looking for something different to shoot.  Yes, there are a bunch of boats down there that can be shot in the water with reflections, and I could probably fill up a whole project 365 of just those, but I wanted something different.  When  I was down there earlier this winter, I saw the curvature of the inner harbour and how the lights ran along that curve up to the lighthouse.  So tonight I decided to shoot that.

I was late for the sunset tonight, but it didn't really matter as I was shooting the lake which is in the other direction.  So I set up my shot and took 3 test shots to choose the best exposure.  At that point, a couple approached me and advised that they were "about to block my view" and then continued down the walkway.  They are now part of post 153.

Shot with my 24-70mm lens (yes Omar, I know) at f/7.1 and .5s shutter.  Lens was at 56mm.  I used my tripod for this shot.

Project 365 - Day 152 - My new toy

At the Henry's Exposure show yesterday, I picked up a new toy.  It's a 70-200mm lens, a good long one.  It has a fixed max aperture of f/2.8, which means it's nice and fast.  It's the older cousin to my 24-70mm Nikon lens.

I went with the Sigma mainly because I liked the look and feel of the lens.  Also, it was lighter than the Nikon - but it's still very heavy.  Today when I went out I got to Oakville Harbour, there was a tonne of fog and no lgiht was making it's way through.  It was quite dark.  This lens had no problem focusing in on the birds as I was panning across.

I got this tern (common tern) this morning.  I have been to this spot twice now and watched these guys fish.  It's quite entertaining seeing how they fly around looking down at the water, then with a flick of the wing they are diving headlong into the water.  More often than not they come up empty, but every once in a while they come up with a little fish.

When I saw that I got the shot, I was giddy.  Then I zoomed in on the shot and noticed he had a fish.  Score!  :-)

70-200mm Sigma Lens zoomed right out to 200mm, no stabilization and handheld.  1/320 shutter at f/2.8  ISO was 800