Out Wandering With My Camera

Juvenile Bald Eagle.  I saw this juvenile bald eagle sitting on the very top of a dead
tree next to the James River just a few hundred yards (meters) north of the original
Historic Jamestowne settlement.  I stopped next to the road, pulled out my X-H1
with my 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 lens attached and made several images.  I liked
this one the best as he or she was looking directly at me. (click to enlarge)
X-H1; 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 lens @ 400mm; 1/1000th sec. @ f/5.6; ISO 250; handheld

I try to get out and photograph as often as I can.  One day last week I grabbed my Fujifilm bag and headed out of the door to see what I could find.  The first couple of places I stopped yielded nothing.  I just didn't see anything that inspired me photographically.  I started to wonder if it was me or there really was nothing. 

Then I found this little scene with the old split rail fence in the far reaches of the back road of the Yorktown Revolutionary War Battlefield.  The combination of split rail fence with an abundance of small yellow flowers is what caught my eye.  I thought it looked worthy of stopping to photograph so I grabbed my X-H1 with the 16-55mm f/2.8 lens attached and made several images from different positions and at different focal lengths creating a variety of compositions.  I think I like this composition the best.  Immediately I felt much better!

This little scene is what changed my mood! (click to enlarge)
Fujifilm X-H1; 16-55mm f/2.8 lens @ 51mm; 1/70th sec. @ f/11; ISO 200

I moved on and drove along the Colonial Parkway National Park, which runs between the Yorktown Battlefield and Historic Jamestowne settlement.  Along the way, I spotted that juvenile bald eagle shown at the top of this post.  It looks like as though it is a portrait made in a studio!  The image directly below is another of him or her (I still don't know how to tell juvenile bald eagles apart?), but this time with the raptor looking forward.  I know of at least 5 bald eagle's nests in the area so I check each one for activity whenever I am in the area.

Same gear and exposure as above (click to enlarge)
Bald Eagles don't get their white heads and tails until 3-5 years old.  Even in
this plumage, it is still a majestic bird!

This is what happens when you don't give your full attention to your subject when photographing.
I missed this shot as the eagle flew.  If I had not momentarily diverted my attention,
I would have seen it start to fly and would have been able to properly
frame it. I looked up and there it goes!  I quickly tried to frame it correctly but did not succeed. (click to enlarge)

A decent image has always eluded me at this nesting site.  As many times as I've checked this bald eagle's nest, either
the male nor female were present or only the female was in the nest and could hardly be seen.  Having the male stand guard and you can just see the female's head in the center of the nest was a treat!  This was luck! (click to enlarge)
Fujifilm X-H1; 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 lens @ 400mm + the 1.4X tele-converter attached = 560mm;
1/1000th sec. @ f/11; ISO 1600

This is another little piece of good fortune.  These two ospreys occupy this same
nest year after year but I've only ever seen one present. You can just see the female
osprey's head  in the nest.  She is partially obscured, but there.  Same gear and
settings as the two eagles directly above. (click to enlarge)

 

There is a group of these little barn swallows that fly around the wooden bridges over the wetlands near Historic Jamestowne.  I've been trying for a while to capture an image of one of them but they don't sit still long enough
for me to stop on the bridge, roll down a window, raise the camera, focus and make some images.  This time I found
this one sitting on a reed about 25 yards (meters) away and made a few images.  This is cropped from the original
24mp image to 5mp.  Below is the full image frame.  Also, I found that I had to reduce the X-H1's focusing
square (AF-S) to its smallest size in order for the camera and lens to focus. Otherwise it just wouldn't focus
accurately.  Even though the larger frame was centered on the bird, it just wouldn't lock in.
That is different from my X-T2, which I had to enlarge the focusing frame to get accurate focus on a lone bird
at a distance (click to enlarge)
Fujifilm X-H1, 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 lens @ 400mm + 1.4x tele-converter (560mm); 1/1000th sec. @ f/11; ISO 1600;
Handheld and pointing out of the passenger's window

This is the full image of the above.

The one bird I didn't see was a small owl with a nest in a hole in dead tree.  I've been by to check the nest a number of times, but I have not yet seen the owl.  That's more reason to continue to go back until I do.  Sometimes persistence pays off!

All in all, I had a nice time and felt that my little outing was successful.

Join me over at Instagram @dennisamook or my website, www.dennismook.com. 

Thanks for looking. Enjoy! 

Dennis A. Mook 

All content on this blog is © 2013-2019 Dennis A. Mook. All Rights Reserved. Feel free to point to this blog from your website with full attribution. Permission may be granted for commercial use. Please contact Mr. Mook to discuss permission to reproduce the blog posts and/or images.