outdoorswithcamera

“Puddingstone” is the common name referring to the artificial lake at Frank G. Bonelli Regional Park in San Dimas, southern California. It is an excellent site for birding. I was there, outdoorswithcamera, on February 8 and 9. This post focuses on waterfowl photos, all available as digital downloads. I am still saving up for a new and longer lens, and thus I’m hoping you purchase downloads during your visit to this page and similar posts I have created recently. What you see below are thumbnail images, but the digital images available for download are larger.

Spotted Sandpiper Flies With Own Reflection (Photo #P2094865)

Shot from the shore of Puddingstone Reservoir with my Olympus E-M1 MarkII body, 40-150mm lens, in soft early morning light, ISO 500, f/2.8, shutter speed 1/4000s to freeze the motion of the bird. The reflection of the bird in flight is a remarkable phenomenon. My camera and I were only witnesses to it.

$1.00

The photo below was taken using a lens from Lensrentals (special thanks to Lizzie Lovett)— a LEICA DG 100-400mm— a great zoom lens that I had cranked all the way out to 400mm to bring this rather distant grebe in “close.” I cleaned up noise in the photo using DxO PureRAW software and brought the bird in even closer with Photoshop’s “Enhance” tool in the CameraRaw plug-in.

Western Grebe (Photo #P2083549)

I see Western Grebes from time to time at Old Walnut Canyon Road ponds in Flagstaff, Arizona, but without a long lens, there isn’t much point in trying to photograph them. Such handsome birds! Shot at ISO500, f/6.3, shutter speed 1/1250s.

$1.00

The elegant Great Egret you see below, looking like a bride (or so my wife and I think), was shot with the same lens, using the same editing techniques, used for the photo above, but the egret was closer and larger than the grebe, so the zoom lens was set at 200mm rather than 400mm.

Great Egret Wading At Dawn (Photo #P2083361)

A friend with great knowledge of Puddingstone was with me on February 8, pointing out many of the birds I photographed, including this Great Egret. Camera settings— ISO800, f/5.1, shutter speed 1/200s.

$1.00