Newport Birds
July 2003

In July 2003 my wife and I attended a meeting in Newport Beach, Calif.  One morning I walked out to a wildlife sanctuary nearby and tried taking some bird photos.  This was really my first attempt.  I'm by no means an expert, and don't know what these birds are for sure, but I enjoyed it and came away with several good shots.  Flight shots seem especially difficult.  I probably shot nearly 100 frames and ended up with two flight shots that were focused well.

Canon 10D, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS @400mm (effective 640mm), ISO 400

I don't know what this bird is, but I liked his extra long bill.  Who knows how far under the water it goes?  One plus for shooting with a less than full frame sensor on  a digital SLR is the crop factor.  You are basically taking a crop of the central part of the full frame the lens sees.  This effectively multiplies the focal length of the lens by 1.6 without reducing the f stop.  Great for telephoto use, but not so good for wide angles.

 

Canon 10D, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS @400mm (effective 640mm), ISO 400

I'm not sure what this bird is, but it was in focus.

Canon 10D, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS @400mm (effective 640mm), ISO 400

I think this is a snowy egret.  I like the reflection of the bird as well as the water dripping from his foot.

Canon 10D, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS @400mm (effective 640mm), ISO 400

I think this is another snowy egret.  I can see how people who do this a lot really could covet the big glass.  Let's see 500mm with a 2x converter and the 1.6 focal length crop gives 1600mm.