The Terns

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (April, 2020) - During mating season, the Terns are so active and noisy. However, they are typically on the south end of the wetlands where you can't get close to them. A couple weeks ago, they were in the central area of the wetlands which is not typical. It was a treat to photograph them. When they all took flight, it was even a challenge for the A9 autofocus. Here's a few images.

More from the Voightlander 50mm

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (April, 2020) - After spending more time with the Voightlander 50mm, I've surmised that this is the sharpest and most detailed lens that I own. I was hesitant at first due to the manual focus thing, however, on the Sony bodies using focus peaking dialing in focus is a snap. The color rendition is also fantastic. Here's some images from the month.

 

Overcast and Dreary

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (April, 2020) - Have been working at home for over a month now, so I've been forcing myself to get out early on the weekends for some nature walks. Last week when I looked outside it was overcast and actually foggy. I thought about not going, but decided to take the Ricoh GRIII in my pocket and at worst case would get some exercise. Once I got there, the sun started to break through a little. For about 30 minutes, there was a window of pretty magical light. Once the overcast cleared, the light was nothing special. It's so interesting to me how these little moments in time come and go. Here's some images captured.

 

Who are You?

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (March, 2020) - Located a family of Great Horned Owls nesting in the Bolsa Chica Wetlands. The female has been on the nest for 40+ days, so babies should hopefully hatch soon. I found the male hanging out in a nearby tree and captured a shot. Also included at the bottom are some photos of a juvenile Great Horned Owl from Yorba Regional Park in Anaheim.

More Osprey please

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (March, 2020) - More images from the Sunset Aquatic Marina of the male Osprey feeding. On this day he ate first and then took half the fish up to the nest for the family.

Seahawk Nesting

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (March, 2020) - In the Sunset Aquatic Marina, Edison built a nesting platform on a retired power pole for the local Ospreys. I spent some time this month shooting the family and captured some images. I find it fascinating that the male hunts for fish and then delivers food to the female and babies. Below are some images from the month of March.

High Resolution Panos

March, 2020 - Finally got my pano rig together after a few months of acquiring all the parts. The base components are primarily RRS, however, starting from the bottom is my Gitzo carbon fiber tripod. Above that is an RRS ballhead with a panning base above the ball. The pano rig sits on top the panning base (see image below).

The other item I picked up is a Voightlander 50mm f/2 APO-LANTHAR lens. This is a very high resolution lens that is capable of rendering imaging over 100+mp. Below are some sample images showing the sharpness to the edges (note that these were all handheld as the sun was setting).

So on to my pano test. The images were individually captured at 1/250, f/8 at ISO 100 on a Sony A7RIII. The image below was stitched from 10 individual jpg images and the resulting size is 170mp! If I used the RAW images, this would have been 400+mp. Just to note, the Voightlander performed amazingly and at 50mm there is virtually no distortion. The detail that is rendered is pretty unbelievable. You can see blades of grass in the foreground and can read the letters on the tires. At the same time, you can read license plates in the driveways across the street as well as see detail in the leaves and bark on the trees. The one anomaly is the couple who walked their dogs through the scene. You'll see that the women disappeared from the stitch overlay but her dog is still in the frame.

Here is a link to the 170mp DNG file if you are interested in pixel peeping.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/kauntvo9c8hmc11/FOO06451-Pano.dng?dl=0

Locals Only

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (February, 2020) - With the high pressure situation in SoCal, we have had beautiful weather in the 70's and 80's for the month of February. Because of this I have been taking a lot of walks in the wetlands and surrounding areas with a camera. Here's some local wildlife and scenery.