{"id":2705,"date":"2014-01-25T11:44:47","date_gmt":"2014-01-25T17:44:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.larryditto.com\/wordpress\/?p=2705"},"modified":"2014-01-28T16:15:17","modified_gmt":"2014-01-28T22:15:17","slug":"aransas-refuge-before-the-winter-storm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.larryditto.com\/wordpress\/2014\/01\/25\/aransas-refuge-before-the-winter-storm\/","title":{"rendered":"Aransas Refuge Before the Winter Storm"},"content":{"rendered":"

I just finished three days with a group of 5 photographers at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge.\u00a0 Of course, we wanted to capture\u00a0endangered Whooping Cranes (in the camera), but the trip\u00a0was much more productive than we anticipated as you will see from the photos below.<\/p>\n

We only had one good weather day, but we captured many, many images during the photo tour.\u00a0 On the other hand, that’s why we always do at least three days…to\u00a0improve our chances of getting at least one day with the right light and wind.\u00a0 A monster winter storm blew in just as we concluded our third day of shooting.<\/p>\n

Three weeks from now, I will be leading\u00a0photography tours and workshops in Port Aransas for the Whooping Crane Festival.\u00a0 If you haven’t signed up, do it now before\u00a0they fill.\u00a0 I look forward to seeing some of you there.\u00a0 If not, maybe at Galveston’s\u00a0NatureFest in April.<\/p>\n

“Thank you” Paul Denman for\u00a0repairing my WordPress template for the newsletters.\u00a0 All of you Mac and PC users\u00a0can now open the images by clicking in the upper right corner.\u00a0 That will enlarge and\u00a0brighten them.\u00a0 Advance through the photos by clicking\u00a0on\u00a0the arrow at the right edge of each photo.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Whooping<\/a>
Whooping crane flashing his red crown at another crane.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

My Canon Mark IV is on its way to Canon for a second attempt at fixing something in the mirror assembly.\u00a0 So, most of these images were done with the trusty 7D and Canon\u00a0500 mm IS lens.<\/p>\n

\"Whooping<\/a>
Whooping cranes watching photographer while flying over marsh.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Check out those eyes on the lead bird.\u00a0 It watched us while flying across the marsh to challenge a group of juvenile birds\u00a0feeding in his territory.<\/p>\n

\"Whooper<\/a>
Whooper prepping a blue crab for breakfast.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"White<\/a>
White Pelican yawning in mid-flight.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Colorful<\/a>
Colorful head of an American Oystercatcher from one of the oyster reefs in Aransas Bay.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Brown<\/a>
Brown Pelican resting on submerged piling in Aransas Bay.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Sunset<\/a>
Sunset from Goose Island State Park.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

The shot above was done with a Canon 5D Mark II camera, Canon 24-105 mm lens, Gitzo Carbon Fiber tripod, Feisol ball head,\u00a0electronic shutter release and mirror lockup.<\/p>\n

I like to set the shutter speed to at least 1\/2,000th second to\u00a0freeze birds in flight.<\/p>\n

\"Northern<\/a>
Northern Pintail drake with strong tailwind is in high gear.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Willet<\/a>
Willet with a blue crab feast.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"American<\/a>
American Bittern in mid-stride at Port Aransas Birding Park.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Sora<\/a>
Sora using those long toes to walk on floating cattail stems.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Yellow-rumped<\/a>
Yellow-rumped Warblers are common winter visitors to the Texas gulf coast.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Light<\/a>
Light on the water after sunset at a northern shoveler swims into the photograph.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So, that’s the end of another great photography trip to the Texas coast.\u00a0 Many thanks to\u00a0Fulton’s “Hampton Inn” for wonderful accommodations and\u00a0friendly service.<\/p>\n

Special Note: <\/span>For those of you who really want a change of scene and if you are looking for some new and elegant birds, try Kathy Clark’s\u00a0photo\u00a0tour to Costa Rica.\u00a0 It’s coming up soon;\u00a0get the details\u00a0at her site ( www.KACProductions.com ).<\/p>\n

Larry<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I just finished three days with a group of 5 photographers at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge.\u00a0 Of course, we wanted to capture\u00a0endangered Whooping Cranes (in the camera), but the trip\u00a0was much more productive than we anticipated as you will see from the photos below. We only had one good weather day, but we captured many, … Continue reading Aransas Refuge Before the Winter Storm<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newsletter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larryditto.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2705","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larryditto.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larryditto.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larryditto.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larryditto.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2705"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.larryditto.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2705\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2746,"href":"https:\/\/www.larryditto.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2705\/revisions\/2746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larryditto.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larryditto.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larryditto.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}