Gear Chat

      Recently the auto focus on my camera lenses seemed to stop working. Well, it had been an intermittent problem until it seemed that it had stopped working at all. And, it was on more than one lens which should have been a clue that it was the camera and not the lens.  Fortunately, in my area there is the Camera Shop which is a great little full-service camera store. Yes, bricks, mortar and people who you can put your camera into their hands and have them take a look at it. I was envisioning sending another camera back to Nikon for repairs and waiting for the return. Wondering too whether I was going to need to get a loaner. As a Nikon professional services member I can get loaner equipment and my repairs are done faster. Luckily the manager, Jason, noticed that the silver ring on the camera that fits up against the lens was loose. A couple of screws,were tightened,  I always find loose screws, and just like that, the auto focus started working again. I mention this issue as a heads up for you Nikon users. I am not sure if this same thing could happen with other brands. But this is an easy fix on Nikon cameras if you know to look for it. 

My next gear topic is a new little lens that never ceases to amaze me. This is my 25mm Laowa Ultra Macro lens.

With this lens, I can capture many new macro subjects. The lens has a bit of a learning curve. It does not have auto focus and you have to view and frame the image on the view screen. Hint: I use the focus peaking feature on the Nikon D850 to help with focus and realize that the focus plane is very small. And you need a lot of light to be able to see the subject. Hint: I use a litra mini-light which is very bright. Mostly I have been using it for jumping spiders. This lens reveals a fascinating world of these tiny spiders. And really I have only just begun to experiment with this new "toy". But experimenting is one of the exciting things about the world of digital photography.

 

Florida is For the BIrds

It has occurred to me that birds are not so bird-brained after all. Instead of enduring months of endless snowstorms and a lack of food in the north, they fly south for the winter. So, I decided to copy their behavior and headed south to Florida for the winter. My experience is that Florida birds are much tamer than birds further north. That is great because over 500 species of native birds have been identified in Florida. This past winter I visited several birding hot spots. Orlando Wetlands Park, with numerous pools favored by wading birds, can be covered on foot and often I find my favorite birds there. By far my favorite is the roseate spoonbill. I have been fortunate to find this large pink bird with the funny looking bill many times. Sometimes I get lucky with the spoonbills in flight against a blue sky.

Another great spot for birds is the Silver River. The Silver River is located in the center of the state and has an incredible variety of birds that can be photographed from a kayak. My favorite may be the green heron. It spends most of the time along edges of the river stalking prey. Well, now that I say the green heron is my favorite, the incomparable wood duck, especially the colorful male, is a desirable photo subject too.

You may ask what does it take to get photos of birds? First, a great deal of patience. Some of the birds may be wary and my approach by kayak is slow and quiet. In the winter of 2019 I used a Nikon 500 mm f/4 lens. This is a great wildlife lens, but it is heavy and cumbersome to use in a kayak. I frequently paired the lens with a 1.4 teleconverter to get more reach.  In 2021, I switched to a 500 mm f/5.6 pf lens which is much, much lighter. My only regret is that this lens does not auto-focus as quickly and use of a teleconverter slows the auto-focus even more. But I have still managed to get some great photos with that lens, such as this little blue heron on the Silver River in 2021. 

 

Another discovered birding spot is the area around Cedar Key.  The quaint town of Cedar Key is located on the west coast of Florida in the heart of what is known as the Nature Coast. The possibilities for pelican photos from the pier there are nearly endless.  This was a feeding frenzy of pelicans seeking fish portions from a fisherman cleaning fish.The pier at Cedar Key is elevated above the water and this lends itself to pelicans in flight (below). Many parks and wildlife refuges near Cedar Key provide opportunities for even more birds. My favorite is Cemetery Point Park which has a long boardwalk through mangroves along a bay. Lots of osprey frequent the area and spend their time diving for fish. 

Back on the east coast, the Black Point Wildlife Drive, near Cape Canaveral,  is another Florida birding hotspot. There, access to wetland pools is by a one-way auto drive. Often the best way to photograph birds is to use your vehicle as a blind. This tri-colored heron was at eye-level from my vehicle/blind - always preferred.

An eagle makes a landing with nesting materials at the Orlando Wetlands Park. These are just a hand-full of the many bird photos I have gotten in Florida. Hopefully you can see that Florida is really for the birds and to be honest, it is  nice to have sunshine and nice weather for photographing birds too.