Glenn's Nature Photography Blog

Hi everyone,

Since getting back from Trinidad I’ve had quite a few days out in the field here on Vancouver Island.  Mostly I’ve been trying to go after species that I didn’t have great images of from past years.  A few of my top targets have been the Green-winged Teal, Anna’s Hummingbird, Northern Pintail in flight and who can resist Buffleheads?

Hopefully you enjoy these few images

Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) flying in Victoria, BC, Canada.

Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna) perched on a branch in Victoria, BC, Canada.

Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca) swimming on a pond near Victoria, BC, Canada.

Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) swimming on a pond near Victoria, BC, Canada.

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I shot down to trinidad for an 8 day scouting trip.  My top targets were the amazing Ruby Topaz and Tufted Coquette Hummingbirds.  I was also really keen to photograph Red-billed Tropicbirds.

Trinidad and Tobago is a really great place for bird photogrpahy and I was not to be denied my top three targets.

It was fun doing some multi-flash photography again as it had been a while.

Here are a few of my favourites from the trip.

All the best!

Glenn

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OK, OK….Despite my earlier post about the 7D I decided to buy one.  I still say this camera should have been kept to 15MP max!!  But the improved autofocus and ability to shoot HD video lured me in…

I received my new 7D on Wednesday and decided to go and test out the video feature. I have sooooooo much to learn about what is possible with video, how to process the clips and what techniques to use.  But shooting video is fun!

Here is my first short test video.  Note that this was not uploaded in HD.  I’ll try to re-upload in HD soon or shoot something better.

Cheers!

American Dipper

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As the year nears an end, and as I reflect back on 2009, I wanted to post a link to some of my favourite images of 2009.  It has been a great year!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!

G

http://www.glennbartley.com/naturephotography/articles/the%20best%20of%202009.html

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Black-chinned Mountain-Tanager (Anisognathus notabilis) perched on a branch at the Mindo Loma reserve in northwest Ecuador.Merlin (Falco columbarius) perched on the beach feeding on a shorebird in Washington, USA.

Seal perched on a rock in Victoria, BC, Canada.

Merlin (Falco columbarius) perched on the beach feeding on a shorebird in Washington, USA.

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The years end always makes me think of what my favourite things were.  Here’s a list of my top 5 albums from 2009.

1. An Horse – Rearange Beds

2. Isbelles – Isbelles

3. Bowerbirds – Upper Air

4. Iron and Wine – Norfolk

5.  Peter Broderick – Home

Token bird photo...this is a nature photography blog after all...

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After my run on Sunday I went for a hike in one of my favourite parks near Victoria.  I run through here all the time and I absolutely LOVE this place!

Here’s a few I snapped off…

A scenic photo of a temperate rainforest landscape on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada.

A scenic photo of a temperate rainforest landscape on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada.

A scenic photo of a temperate rainforest landscape on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada.

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I was pretty stoked yesterday to get the latest issue of Birding Magazine and find one of my shots on the cover.  Sweet!

Birding Magazine COver - Nov 2009

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This is a bit of a rant…

When I bought my first SLR camera back in the days of film I had to make the difficult choice between buying Canon and Nikon.  I remember the choice was between the Canon Elan 7 or the Nikon F80.  Both cameras had virtually identical features and price tags.  In the end – I went for the Canon because the body felt better in my hands.

Jump ahead 3 years and I had entered into the world of digital with the Canon 10D.  This was a great camera.  It was affordable, sturdy and stood up to a 7 month trip in Costa Rica.  I was impressed and at this point quite pleased with the XXD Canon line.  As new models came out I went on to own the 30D, 40D and the 50D.

During this same timeframe Canon’s top of the line cameras were leading the pack in terms of image quality and auto focus capabilities.  I remember thinking quite often that ” I am really glad I went with Canon all those years back”.

Now we jump ahead a few more years.  Nikon absolutely demolished Canon in 2008/2009 with the D3 and D300.  They have better autofocus, a way more sophisticated flash system and image quality is better too.  At this same time Canon cranked out the camera with “the worlds fastest autofocus sysyem” – the 1D mk III.  Well maybe they should have said “worlds faultiest autofocus system”.  The camera itself has fantastic image quality…but the way in which Canon handled their own blunders was laughable at best.  And to this day, even after several firmware updates and sub-mirror fixes, noone seems confident in the autofocus of this camera.

Now we jump ahead to today.  Canon has the new 7D out which has been getting stellar reviews from a handling perspective.  It seems to autofocus reasonably well and is a very fast feeling camera.  But once again Canon dropped the ball here.  They foolishly tried to cram 18 Megapixels onto that same 1.6x crop factor sensor.  The result is sub-par image quality.  My suspicion (although I have to admit I have not tried this camera) is that in order to control the noise resulting from all those miniscule pixels they had to put an extremely strong anti-aliasing filter on this camera.  I think this is what happened to a lesser extent with the 50D as well.  I remember when I first got mine I really had to change the way I processed images and had to add a lot more “capture sharpening”.  But adding 3 million more pixels to that same sensor has just gone too far!

If only Canon would have put out this camera with 12 Megapixels….or even stuck to 15 Megapixels like the 50D they would have had a winner.  But once again…I am guessing this one is  a dud

So what is the answer for us Canon shooters looking for a new camera?

Wait for the un-tested 1D mk IV which costs more than my car and may or may not function properly?

Buy a used 1D mk III purely because that camera has exceptional IQ?

All I have to say is….COME ON CANON!!!!  Make a camera that I actually want to buy!

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It is cold and rainy right now where I am…  I thought I would post something from the tropics.

Here is a video of some Ecuadorian Hummingbirds:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXmI5kWJJvw&feature=player_embedded

Booted Racket-tail hummingbird (Ocreatus underwoodii) feeding at a flower while flying at the Wildsumaco reserve in eastern Ecuador.

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Hey All,

My article “Tips for Nature Photography in the Tropics” is featured on Naturescapes this month.

Check it out – http://www.naturescapes.net/docs/index.php/home

Green-crowned Brilliant (Heliodoxa jacula) feeding at a flower while flying at Bueneventura Lodge in southwest Ecuador.

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