Black Skimmer with prey - Ritch Grissom Memorial Wetlands, Melbourne, Florida

I'm not a big fan of high ISO pics, but it's the only way to catch fast action on a misty morning, and solve the mystery of how exactly skimmers catch, and hold onto fish at flight speed.

If you look closely, you can see bubbles in the water, and the eye of another fish surfacing just in front of the skimmer's head. These guys sure do seem to know where the fish are!

Tags:   KH0831 Florida xplr 070 ThousandPlus Bird Smithsonian2018 1000+ Top 1000 Nature

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Black Skimmer - Gator Creek Road, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, Florida

Considering that these guys sit in the Titusville Causeway parking lot all morning with people and cars passing close by, they're pretty spooky when they're skimming. So to make this capture I parked my car next to the edge of the water, opened both side doors draped camo blankets over the doors, and sat on a lawn chair between the doors with my tripod set up at the edge of the front door. Then when the skimmers passed by I slowly got behind the lens and waited for them to do a 180 and make the return run. Passers-by likely thought I was crazy, but hopefully they'd think otherwise if they could see the pics.

Tags:   KH0831 Florida Bird ThousandPlus 1000+ Top 1000 Nature

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Black Skimmer - Gator Creek Road, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, Florida

A Black Skimmer doing a fly-by before it's skimming run.
And not only to have a look at the paparazzi,
but to make sure there are no gators laying in wait
along the shoreline.

Tags:   KH0831 Florida ThousandPlus xplr 154 Bird 1000+ Top 1000 Nature

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Black Skimmer with marshy BG - Peacock's Pocket Loop, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, Florida

I made my way onto the loop from the Gator Creek side,
drove a quarter mile in, and then parked with the sun behind me looking over the marsh.
I set up the 6 on a Gimbal head, and then sat and waited.
And waited,
but sure enough, if you're in the right spot, and you wait long enough, nature will come to you!

For this capture I spotted the skimmer in the distance, and then ticked off captures as I tracked it in.
Not always do they do a close fly-by, but if you wait until you're sure, it's often too late. :{(

Note: For this capture I set the ISO to 400, opened up the aperture until I had a shutter speed more than 1000,
and then stopped at that F-stop to give me the most DOF I could get at a speed better than 1000.

Tags:   KH0831 Florida Bird ThousandPlus 1000+ Top 1000 Nature

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Black Skimmer with minnow - Gator Creek Road, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, Florida

When I made this capture back in early February I posted it with a number of different crops in the comment section. After reading the comments, those who offered opinions seemed to like this crop best, so I've reposted it here where they will be able to view it on black and in the larger sizes.

As a photographer, I feel that cropping is a critical aspect of nature photography where captures of distant subjects often result in images that are not optimally sized or formatted for the standard camera format.
It should also be noted that the 4x6 format (though it has its uses) is not the best format for every image.
I therefore often crop my images in multiple sizes and formats to study which formats work best for a particular purpose.

In the course of performing my crop studies I've also noticed that different crops of the same image often create a different feel for the image by focusing attention on different aspects of it. I also found that some crops require processing changes to balance the dynamic range, accentuate critical aspects of the image, or remove distracting or partially off frame elements of the cropped image.

It's also important to note that what works best on Flicker, and what works in a print of a particular size are two different matters all together. So when I make large prints I always go back to the raw file and reprocess for paper. For prints I also subscribe to the life size rule (especially where a close approach is possible) where I will include large amounts of background and allow the viewer to "find" the subject and not be unduly distracted by its inordinate size. Though larger than life images do have their place in photography which is evidenced by good quality macro photography.

So much to think about, and so little time.
Which may explain why I'm not known as a big commenter on Flickr,
but on the other hand when I do comment (like it or not) I usually have something to say.
 
 
 

* "Compromise" - when the sacrifice is small (realative to gain), it can sometimes be a good thing.

Tags:   KH0831 Florida bird predator prey predatory behavior aquatic bird ThousandPlus 1000+ Top 1000 Nature

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