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| Shot from inside my vehicle while riding one of the two Jamestown-Scotland Wharf Ferries across the James River near where the original Jamestown settlement (1607) was founded. (click to enlarge) Nikon Z7; 24-70mm f/4 S lens @ 24mm; 1/60th sec. @ f/16; ISO 64 Who says diffraction softens images beyond use at small apertures? |
Locally, it has rained 15 out of 19 days this month. February is bad enough as it is—another month of cold, dreary, gray days with not much daylight—but then add cold, windy rain, sometimes sleet, almost every day and bad becomes miserable.
Occasionally, a bright spot among the seemingly lifeless occurs! The other day, the sun came out, the temperature rose to the mid-sixties F and that surely was a sign for me to get out, enjoy the sunshine, grab a camera bag and go wandering. This time, I drove to the Colonial Williamsburg area, specifically the Colonial Parkway, where I know of six Bald Eagle nests. I wanted to look to see if I could find any Bald Eagles on those nests. It is that time of year.
Also, I would keep my eye out for any early ospreys, but the earliest I've photographed ospreys in the area is March 12th, so I didn't expect to see any—and I didn't.
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| Crow. I spotted this crow on the end of a branch on a distant dead tree. I handheld my Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6 lens and made a few exposures. This is heavily cropped, in fact, only 4.4% of the entire frame. The combination of Nikon Z7, FTZ adapter and this lens works extraordinarily well. Fast and sure focus, sharp and contrasty. (click to enlarge) 1/1250th sec. @ f/8; ISO 400 |
Alas, no luck. I looked over the nests of which could access but all were empty. All I saw in the area were some crows, cormorants and a few buzzards. What to do? Of course! Photograph what you find. Try to make something out of nothing. Make the day an opportunity to practice!
After a few hours of not finding any eagles, instead of driving back by way of the interstate highway and through the city, I decided to take the Jamestown-Scotland Wharf Ferry across the James River near the Historic Jamestowne settlement. Jamestowne is the first permanent English settlement in what is now the U.S., founded in 1607. Today, it is part of the National Park Service, a fantastic archeological site, museum and visitor's center. I think it is well worth visiting if you are in the area after but the pandemic subsides and the visitor's center reopens.
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| Another image while sitting in my car riding the ferry. These cormorants can almost always be found on these structural 'dolphins' at the end of the ferry slip. (click to enlarge) Nikon Z7; 70-200mm f/4 lens @ 200mm; 1/640th @ f/11; ISO 140 Another example of how well Nikon F lenses work so well with the FTZ adapter on the Z cameras. |
After a 15 minute ferry ride across the river, I headed back home somewhat satisfied that I had the opportunity to get out, enjoy the sunshine and fresh air even though I didn't find any eagles.
Lesson Learned: Make hay while the sun shines. Make lemonade out of lemons. Make the best of the situation. You know the drill. Don't squander an opportunity.
Of the three images posted here, the top image is my favorite.
Thanks for looking. Enjoy!
Dennis A. Mook
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Hi Dennis, glad you enjoyed yourself regardless.
ReplyDeleteI have a question about the FTZ adapter. I assume you have an L-plate on your Z7, does the FTZ constrain you in any way, either horizontally and vertically, when locking in your Z7 on tripod? Is there any restriction when attaching or detaching the adapter with L-plate installed?
I've looked at Kirk and Really Right Stuff sites, and the last I looked there wasn't a lot of information if one was planning to use the adapter as well. And one site I saw said users should attach a plate to the adapter itself.
Have a good weekend.
Jim, I have a Kirk L-plate quick release bracket. Kirk engineered it a little taller at its base to avoid any issues with the FTZ adapter. I’ve not had any issues with it. It is very well made. That said, with my Nikon 200-500 lens, I mount the lens directly to the tripod so the adapter doesn’t matter. With heavier, but shorter focal length lenses, I can either attach the camera or adapter to the tripod head. For example, the Nikon 70-300 f/4.5-5.6 E lens has no lens foot so I can either attach the camera to the tripod head or, alternately, I can put an older “universal” L-Plate on the FTZ adapter to take some of the excess weight off the camera’s lens mount, then attach that to the tripod head. I’ve done both and both work. Thanks for the question.
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