This time around I tried going out and taking more landscape and nature type pictures in order to practice my long exposure using an ND filter as well just experimenting with post editing. First off is Eagle Island State Park. It’s exciting to go to new places but then you realize that you have a lot of exploring to do before you take your first picture. 80% of time you spend is just merely looking around. Which is fine if you have all the time in the world. I didn’t.
28mm 1/500 sec. f/8.0
28mm 15sec. f/11 100 ISO
I didn’t realize that most of the area was actually a disc golf course. Not my cup of tea when it comes to exploring a natural area (I always feel like I’m gonna get hit in the head when I’m trying to figure out my settings). But it was a lot quieter than I expected. A lot of my time was spent during the later part of the afternoon. I would love to come back and do more bird shots some time.
210mm 1/2000 sec. f/5.6 800 ISO
This Hairy Woodpecker got so close I wasn’t sure I had enough time to capture it with my hulking 200-500mm. I also had to manually focus on it which made me extra hot and fogged up my glasses while looking through the viewfinder. I think I did okay. I’m definitely learning to be patient while I am in a spot, waiting for birds and wildlife to feel comfortable enough to get close.
Always a sucker for downed trees and their curved tangles. 50mm f2.5 1/2500 sec. 800 ISO
To be honest I am not sure what this is except maybe some sort of dam
50mm 1/4000 sec. f/1.4 800 ISO
Panorama stitch of the view of the foothills. Best viewed if you right click on the image to view in new tab.
210mm 1/100 sec. f/16 1600 ISO
My next stop was at Hyatt Hidden Lakes Reserve. But by that time it was getting really dark so I didn’t anticipate getting any more wildlife shots. I ended up trying out some more long exposure shots. The one below turned out to be the best of the bunch in my opinion.
28mm 30 sec. f/8 200 ISO
Finally, I was able to head to a creek near where we were staying at my parent’s in law the next day. A lot of ducks for sure. I tried my best at getting one or two in flight but I’m still no pro at capturing birds in flight with my 200-500mm. So I practiced more long exposure and some duck posing
250mm 5 sec. f/16 50 ISO
240mm 1/125 sec. f/5.6 1600 ISO
480mm 1/200 sec f/5/6 1600 ISO
BONUS SQUIRREL BELOW
500mm 1/1000 sec. f/5.6 1250 ISO