Test of Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II

 I have been a faithful Nikon user for many years now and still love my trusty Nikon D850, but it is heavy and I am getting older, aren't we all. And to be honest, carrying extra weight is not my idea of fun. I will admit too that last year I traded my trusted 500mm f/4 lens for a much lighter 500mm f/5.6 pf lens and this has enabled me to get images I never could have gotten because the other lens was too heavy to carry far afield. Furthermore, like all camera manufacturers, Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) cameras are no longer being upgraded. Newer mirrorless cameras are getting all the new bells and whistles.and to begin with they are lighter and have faster capture rates. 

 

So, after a recent conversation with the owner of the Traverse City Camera Shop I decided to try the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II and most specifically I wanted to try the Procapture feature. This allows capture up to 60 frames per second with the UHS ii SD Card. These cards actually have two copper strips as connectors as opposed to only one in the UHS SD cards. This means thay care write data much faster. I have heard and seen examples of the Procapture feature, but wanted to try for myself. 

Now having been a Nikon user all these years, navigating the controls and menu screens is much different and would take some practice to reach the same ease I feel with the Nikon system. I did have some experience with the Olympus menus as I have an Olympus TG camera which I have used underwater. Eventually, I did get the camera set up as I wanted. I might add too that I do not own a UHS ii SD card so I was not able to achieve the top frame rate. But even without a UHS ii Sd card my first trial of Procapture was impressive. Keeping the shutter button depressed while photographing fast-moving chickadees meant that I got ALL of the action. Even the quick motions of the chickadees as they took the sunflower seed. 

 

While static poses of wildlife can be very beautiful, I could just imagine being able to capture action shots that truly shows the majestic flight of a bird or butterfly. 

I will say that I did not do a complete evaluation of the camera, that has already been done and I am sure there is a YouTube video out that speaks to the overall performance.

This camera has been on the market for several years now, and newer versions I am sure have lots of improved features. I am seriously considering going to a lighter and newer mirrorless system. I would however like to try the Nikon mirrorless cameras as learning the new menu would take some serious time. However, I really do like the Olympus Procapture feature for wildlife work and this is enough to give serious consideration to an Olympus system.

 

Photography from a kayak

 The Experience

Some people may be intimidated by taking expensive electronic gear in a kayak on a lake or river. However, with the right gear and practice it is a great way to get photographs of wildlife. Here is how I have become comfortable and proficient in taking wildlife photos from a kayak. 

Early River Trips

    It all started more than 15 years ago on the Waccissa River in northern Florida. I started taking my camera gear with me in the kayak, because the Waccissa River is a hot spot for birds and wildlife. While the first trip with expensive gear was not imbedded in my memory, I still remember honing my techniques over many trips there. In fact, I do remember my first photo sale was of an alligator sunning on a log on the river. It was primitive compared to the work I can do with the years of practice and improved gear. Early on I decided that photographing from a kayak had distinct advantages. Wildlife is less wary and more approachable and you are at eye-level which yields a more engaging photo.  Plus,  you don't have to carry heavy gear overland.  I remember too discovering the need to anchor on the river and parking in floating weed mats to keep from floating downstream as I was composing a photo. This did lead to a few unexpected close-up encounters with alligators.  

Lake Photography

    More recently I have been photographing loons, swans and other waterfowl on a lake near my home in Michigan. Of course the big advantage on a lake is the lack of a current. It is even better when you get out in the morning while the wind is still. The reflections are better and the kayak is steady. I almost always photograph early for the good light and calm conditions. One caveat, on cool mornings there is often a lot of fog on the lake. Finding loons or any wildlife in the fog can be a challenge and photographing in the fog is even more difficult. So I have an excuse to sleep in a little later on chilly mornings.

Loon taking off

 

 

    

What kayak?

     Some have asked recently what type of kayak do I use and is it stable? I have been using a Perception Sundance 12 foot kayak, and yes, it is very stable.  I also have insurance on my gear, but I am sure that I would have to recover any dunked gear in order to submit a claim. Experience has allowed me to feel very comfortable in a boat with my gear. I do usually have dry bag on the floor of the kayak in front of me because that way I don't have to set the camera down in pools of water in the bottom of the kayak. 

 

Camera Gear

    Until this past year I was using a 500 mm f/4 lens which is a heavy and awkward beast of a lens. Last year, I traded the 500 mm f/4 for Nikon's new 500 mm f/5.6 pf lens which is super light and makes a huge difference in the kayak.  I still like the autofocus and bokeh on the f/4 lens better, but I can get shots now I never would have gotten with the beast lens. Quite often I use a teleconverter, either a 1.4 x or 1.7 x to give better reach.  I always have a life jacket with me, but personally I think the kayak would be my life raft. One thing I have not done is to fashion any type of tripod or camera support for the kayak.  Believe me, I have tried, but have not found a system that I feel comfortable with.

A bigger challenge has been photographing wildlife on the Silver River in Florida. The current is much faster that the Waccissa and there are fewer weed mats to anchor on. There is also a lot of boat traffic. But I have still found opportunities to capture wildlife on the river.

Rhesus monkeys, Silver River

 

This female monkey and baby were photographed on the edge of the Silver River, just before a group of kayakers arrived to scare them off. Along with alligators, the monkeys on the Silver River can be the most dangerous. But common sense and giving the animals space is the best way to avoid unwanted conflicts. The hardest part of photographing the monkeys is the vegetation which often obscures part of the subject or creates odd shadows. Unlike being on land you cannot step to the side to get a better angle, you have to set the camera down paddle a little and hope you have a good spot and that the current doesn't move you away too quickly.  The green heron was on the edge of the river where there was little current and thankfully it was an overcast sky, otherwise I would have had difficult lighting conditions under the shore vegetation.  

 

Ethics 

Although wildlife may be less wary of a person in a kayak, basic ethics should be applied when photographing wildlife. While I do not wear camo, I also do not wear brightly colored clothing. The wildlife can see you in a kayak, but no need to send a warning that brightly colored clothing will give.  I have learned to approach loons in way that will not bother them. After they do not see you as a threat, they are much more calm and almost seem to ignore you as they go about their daily lives. Plus repeated trips allows you to become more familiar to the loons. If I know the location of a nest, I stay well away.  I would not have it any other way. I almost always use 500 mm or more lens. This allows me to keep my distance and I am as quiet as possible, even when paddling. I often avoid eye contact which seems to soothe wildlife. And, although I often get questions about where I found xx animal, I do not reveal locations on social media. There are too many other photographers who would stampede a location. It is for the protection of the animal.

Green Heron, Silver River

     

 In Conclusion 

So, it is quite possible to get some really astonishing photos from a kayak and it is easier than you might think. Know your limits and skills and proceed at a pace that is comfortable to you. You may get some really amazing wildlife photos from your kayak.

 

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.

 

 

You Can Take Better Wildlife Photos

 Here is a link to a powerpoint from a presentation I gave on capturing better wildlife photos.  Enjoy.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/s5dqd7ykbx7w4nv/You%20Can%20Take%20Better%20Wildlife%20Photos.pptx?dl=0&fbclid=IwAR2jodeHZ21vkddpRh0dw2eReXo0uQ1G3GSDGCi6tqyXvTZ3l5Pm1DYkTmk

 

 

How to Create a Wildlife Habitat for Photography

This blog on How to Create a Wildlife Photo Habitat was published earlier by NANPA.

Update: The second monarch of the summer finally visited my yard this week and the first of the coreopsis are just starting to bloom.

Creating Your Own Wildlife Photo Habitat

By Tom Haxby

We are all staying much closer to home these days, yet the need to connect with nature through our photography is needed now more than ever. One way to do so is to create a wildlife photo habitat in your yard. This is how I came to create a habitat for monarch butterflies in my northern Michigan yard.

In the Beginning

Award Winner

Two years ago I was fortunate to have one of my photos place in the top 250 in the NANPA Showcase competition, as well as being a winner in the Nature's Best Backyard photo competition. It was also included in one of my magazine articles. This award winning image of a trio of monarchs posing on a northern blazing star was taken at a nearby botanic garden, which is a certified Monarch Waystation. This is about 20 minutes from my house and gets a lot visitors who would sometimes inquisitively approach me as I was quietly and patiently trying to photograph the monarchs. This of course caused the monarchs to flee.

Two Years Later

Fast forward to today. My own yard is now a certified Monarch Waystation and during the summer I spend a lot of time 30 feet from my front door photographing the monarchs and other pollinators in my yard. I watch out of the windows for the monarchs to appear, usually after 10 a.m., and carefully consider the lighting of the moment. I have had painted lady and viceroy butterflies, a few hummingbirds, assorted bees, other pollinators, rabbits, and even one unidentified snake consider my yard to be a nice place to visit.

Creating the Habitat

The question you may ask is how did I go about converting my yard to a Monarch Waystation? Grass on my sandy soils has never done particularly well since I tend to neglect it, so competition for flowers was not an issue. There have always been a few common milkweed plants around and an area of planted tickseed coreopsis spread to other areas of the yard. There have been a few purple coneflowers that seemed to reproduce each year too. I started to notice the monarchs taking a liking to the yard and thought that perhaps if I could add more butterfly friendly plants it would draw in even more butterflies. After first doing research on suitable native plants, I made a visit to a local native plant nursery and came home with prairie blazing star, northern blazing star, joe pye weed, whorled milkweed, butterfly weed (not really a weed) more corepsis and more coneflower. These plants inter-planted among the existing flowers added even more incentives for monarchs to visit my yard.

Photographing Monarchs in the Yard

Monarch on Rough Blazing Star

Monarch on Prairie Blazing Star

And visit they did. All through the summer the monarchs laid eggs on the milkweed or sipped nectar from the native flowers in the yard. As September rolled around, it seemed as if the two varieties of blazing star would never bloom in time for the fall migration, but magically they did. The yard full of native wildflowers looked like a tall-grass prairie and the tall-purple spikes of the blazing star were a magnet to the southward-migrating monarchs. It was so much fun photographing the monarchs and I got quite a few good photos as the combination of the bright purple of the blazing star and the orange monarchs is striking in photographs. I also found that the out-of-focus yellow of the coreopsis made for a good background. Another background was an area of shade behind the sunny flower areas which added a dark background and the weathered street showed as white in the background of another photo. Funny how you notice those things when you visit an area often.

Becoming a Certified Monarch Waystation

What does it take to have an area certified as a Monarch Waystation? Through a program sponsored by Monarch Watch, monarch enthusiasts are encouraged to create, conserve, and protect monarch butterfly habitats. To learn more go to https://www.monarchwatch.org/

Maintaining the Habitat

Fall finally arrived and the last of the monarchs visited on a cold and blustery day. The first frost and an early snow ended the growing season for the wildflowers. I managed to harvest a few milkweed and blazing star seeds and those were shipped to an uncle in Pennsylvania who has started his own monarch garden. Finally, spring is just around the corner and another batch of native plants in a mix called a waystation flat has just been ordered. This time I will be adding Butterfly weed, Swamp milkweed, Whorled milkweed, Cylindrical blazing star, Bee balm, Showy goldenrod, New England aster, New Jersey tea and Big bluestem grass. I think I need a bigger yard.

You Can Do It Too

Your own wildlife photo habitat can be for birds, frogs, bats, or any number of species. It is fun, a good thing to do for our wildlife and the benefits of having nature close to home can yield endless opportunities for photography.

Male Monarch

Biographical Information:

Current President of NANPA

Website: https://tomhaxbyphotos.smugmug.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tomhaxbyphotography/

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E-mail: thaxby02@yahoo.com

Photographing Florida's Birds

This past winter I did what many birds do by migrating to Florida for sunny skies and the warm climate. While there I had many opportunities to see and photograph many varieties of birds. There were ducks, herons, egrets, osprey, ibis, warblers, roseate spoonbills, terns, white pelicans, sandhill cranes and more. My top areas for birds near my base were the Silver Springs State Park, Orlando Wetlands Park and Black Swamp Wildlife Drive at the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge. Due to the pandemic, I did not get the opportunity to visit the Viera Wetlands which is reputed to be a great bird destination. There are many other great places to photograph birds in Florida and the Great Florida Birding Trail is a great resource. 

Silver Springs State Park

Wood Duck, Silver Springs State Park

Located just east of Ocala, natural springs feed the Silver River which is teaming with wildlife. Along with the manatees, alligators and even exotic monkeys, the bird life on this river is exceptional. All of my photos there were taken from a kayak and were photographed handheld. Some of my favorite bird images from there included a wood duck headed right towards me. Being in a kayak meant that I was near eye level with the birds and it showed with this photo.  On the same day I had a long session with a green heron as it went about fishing on the edge of the river.  I always look for a good background in my images. Something that will allow the subject to stand out. Finding a spot to anchor my kayak and a great background behind the heron was a little tricky, but eventually I found a satisfactory spot.

Green Heron, Silver Springs State Park

There were numerous Little Blue Herons and some even struck a nice pose such as this cooperative bird.                                                                                                                     

Little Blue Heron, Silver Springs State Park

While anhingas may lack the colorful feathers of the other birds, their black and white plumage is still quite striking, especially as they stretch to dry their wings . 

Anhinga, Silver Springs State Park

Orlando Wetlands Park

Great Blue Heron, Orlando Wetlands Park

This park which is well east of Orlando has large lagoon areas separated by dykes which surround the pools of water. This park is a magnet for all types of birds and the dykes make for easy access and use of a tripod. My favorite photo from there was of a Great Blue Heron gracefully gliding across the wetlands. This was photographed by panning along with the bird. I had also engaged the focus tracking on my camera to maintain focus.

Watching the habits of the birds helped to find photos that I would not have otherwise been able to capture. Action shots are always preferred and this glossy ibis which would hover above the water as it was fishing was one that caught my eye.

Glossy Ibis, Orlando Wetlands Park

Snowy Egret, Orlando Wetlands Park

It was the same with this snowy egret as it danced about while fishing or catching action when a heron captured a large frog.  

Heron and Frog, Orlando Wetlands Park

Black Point Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge

One more great spot for photographing Florida's birds is the Black Point Wildlife Drive at the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge. Here there are many chances to photograph while using your vehicle as a photo blind. I used this to my advantage when photographing this Tricolored heron.

Tricolored Heron, Merritt Island NWR

 

One of the most colorful and sought after birds is the Roseate spoonbill. Their colors against a blue sky are striking. Especially at first light, if you can be at the right place at the right time. 

Roseate Spoonbills, Merritt Island NWR

To say that I enjoyed my time in Florida spending time with the birds would be an understatement. It was a great winter and the photos I captured will always bring back those memories.