{"id":2939,"date":"2014-06-16T09:29:57","date_gmt":"2014-06-16T14:29:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.larryditto.com\/wordpress\/?p=2939"},"modified":"2014-11-04T18:53:39","modified_gmt":"2014-11-05T00:53:39","slug":"2014-2015-tour-schedule-set","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.larryditto.com\/wordpress\/2014\/06\/16\/2014-2015-tour-schedule-set\/","title":{"rendered":"2014-2015 Tour Schedule Set"},"content":{"rendered":"

I just posted the photo tour and workshop schedule for 2014-2015 on this website.\u00a0 While it will be a few days until the last bit of information is added, the locations and dates are pretty much set, so check it out.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

*** If you are a Nikon shooter or if you know one, check in with Kandace Heimer at kc@kandfoto.com<\/a>\u00a0.\u00a0 She is selling a large inventory of her photo\u00a0gear.\u00a0 I can vouch that she\u00a0took meticulous care of\u00a0those cameras, lenses and accessories.\u00a0 You will find some good buys\u00a0with Kandace.<\/p>\n

In recent days, I’ve been photographing on some of the local photo ranches.\u00a0 Here are a few of the images from late May and early June.<\/p>\n

When you click on an image, it will enlarge and get sharper.\u00a0 “Previous” and “next” arrows are located on the left and right edges that will help you advance through the show.<\/span><\/p>\n

Following images were from Laguna Seca Ranch:<\/p>\n

\"Common<\/a>
Common Ground-Dove pair drinking at ranch pond.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The doves were late afternoon arrivals at a small pond with photo blind.\u00a0\u00a0 I liked the\u00a0positioning of the two birds and the eye contact with the nearer dove.<\/p>\n

I captured the image with\u00a0a Canon 7D camera, Canon 500 mm IS\u00a0lens, Gitzo 1348 Carbon-fiber tripod and Wimberley head.\u00a0 This combination gave me 800 mm of magnification and lots of stability.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A teleconverter wasn’t necessary\u00a0to bring these little guys in close.\u00a0 The image stabilizer was off since the tripod offered the necessary\u00a0support while shooting at ISO 400, 1\/1000 second @ f11.\u00a0\u00a0There\u00a0would have been a moment of vibration as\u00a0the stabilizer\u00a0kicked\u00a0on\u00a0when the shutter button\u00a0was pushed.<\/p>\n

\"Great<\/a>
Great Kiskadee swoops down for an anaqua berry.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The kiskadee was captured with the Canon 1D Mark IV, 300 mm Canon IS lens and Feisol carbon-fiber tripod and ball head at ISO 1000, 1\/2000 second @ f4.<\/p>\n

It was the diagonal position of the bird and the open wings that I liked about the great kiskadee shot.<\/p>\n

\"Northern<\/a>
Northern Mockingbird flapping wings.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mockingbirds like to flap their wings, especially when trying to scare up a bug.\u00a0 Image made with Canon 1D Mark IV, 500 mm Canon IS lens, Gitzo 1348 tripod and Wimberley head at ISO 640, 1\/2000 second @ f4.<\/p>\n

\"Wet<\/a>
Wet scissor-tailed flycatcher landing.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From photo blind with Canon 1D Mark IV, 500 mm lens, ISO 1000, 1\/3200 second @ f8.<\/p>\n

This scissortail was diving into a large pond and flying up to the perch to shake water from its feathers.\u00a0 On this capture, I liked the wings and tail, but the bird was looking directly at me so the bill shape wasn’t distinct.\u00a0 On another landing, his head was turned.\u00a0\u00a0I elected to\u00a0clone the head from the other images and superimposed it here…a perfect fit.\u00a0 The cowbird didn’t seem to mind.<\/p>\n

\"Male<\/a>
Male scarlet tanager drinking at photo blind pond at the sun sets.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Canon 1D Mark IV, 500 mm lens, tripod and Wimberley head at ISO 1000, 1\/1600 second @ f4.5.<\/p>\n

Using “evaluative metering”, I subtracted about 1 1\/3\u00a0f stop of light to keep the eye and bill properly exposed while darkening the shaded area around it.\u00a0 The spotlight effect makes the shot.<\/p>\n

The following images are from the Santa Clara Ranch:<\/p>\n

\"Texas<\/a>
Texas horned lizard at sunrise.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The warm light on this lizard was a combination of sunrise light and\u00a0reflected light\u00a0off the red soil where he was resting.<\/p>\n

Canon 1D Mark IV, 300 mm lens, Gitzo 1348 tripod, Wimberley head at ISO 1000, 1\/250 second @ f9.<\/p>\n

\"Collared<\/a>
Collared peccaries of all ages feeding in a tight group.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Canon 1D Mark IV, 100-400 mm lens @ 285 mm, from blind using Gitzo window mount with Arca Swiss monoball head, ISO 800, 1\/2000 second @ f5.6.<\/p>\n

These collared peccaries (javelina) were traveling with young of varying ages.\u00a0 The babies try to stay behind or under mom for safety from predators.\u00a0 The dense brush in the background is their preferred habitat.<\/p>\n

\"Yellow-billed<\/a>
Yellow-billed Cuckoo drinking at photo blind pond.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Canon 7D, 100-400 mm lens at 275 mm, window mount and ball head, ISO 400, 1\/2000 second @ f5.6.<\/p>\n

When the June temperature hits about 104 degrees as it was here, everything needs water.\u00a0 Under these conditions, the normally reclusive yellow-billed cuckoo ventures cautiously to a photo blind pond for an afternoon drink.\u00a0 The long-billed thrasher (background)was\u00a0less wary.<\/p>\n

\"Roseate<\/a>
Carmine\u00a0Skimmer with legs extended for a landing.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Canon 7D, 500 mm lens, 1.4X teleconverter = 1000 mm of magnification, window mount and ball head, ISO 1000, 1\/4000 second @ f5.6.<\/p>\n

When shooting gets slow at the blind, we find ourselves photographing wasps and dragonflies.\u00a0 By pre-focusing on the perch and swinging slightly right and using a high shutter speed, I was able to capture dragonflies in flight.<\/p>\n

\"Aplomado<\/a>
Aplomado falcon perched in yucca at sunrise.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Canon 1D Mark IV, 500 mm lens, Gitzo tripod, Wimberley head,\u00a0 ISO 1000, 1\/1000 second @ f4<\/p>\n

This image of an endangered aplomado falcon was taken from a blind in Cameron Co., Texas at sunrise.<\/p>\n

\"Aplomado<\/a>
Aplomado Falcon in flight shows long, narrow wings built for speed.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Canon 1D Mark IV, 500 mm lens, Feisol tripod, Wimberley head, ISO 800, 1\/5000 second @ f5.6 to freeze wing motion.<\/p>\n

\"Adult<\/a>
Adult aplomado falcon landing on yucca flower stalk.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Canon 1D Mark IV, 500 mm lens, Feisol tripod, Wimberley head, ISO 640, 1\/2500 second @ f8.<\/p>\n

Realizing this yucca was the falcon’s favorite perch, I set up to catch a landing by pre-focusing on the stalk and then manually rotating the focus ring slightly to add about 4″ of focus distance.\u00a0 That\u00a0let me\u00a0get the bird with its wings\u00a0open while landing.\u00a0 Of course, I had to\u00a0set the shutter speed to stop the action (about 1\/2000 second shutter speed will\u00a0stop most birds in flight).<\/p>\n

Following photo taken at the Ramirez Photo Ranch near Roma, Texas:<\/p>\n

\"Plain<\/a>
Plain Chachalaca spreads tail and wings for balance.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

*** Don’t forget to check out the new photo tour and workshop schedule available on this website by going back to the home page.<\/p>\n

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

I just posted the photo tour and workshop schedule for 2014-2015 on this website.\u00a0 While it will be a few days until the last bit of information is added, the locations and dates are pretty much set, so check it out.   *** If you are a Nikon shooter or if you know one, check … Continue reading 2014-2015 Tour Schedule Set<\/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-2939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newsletter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larryditto.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2939","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=2939"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.larryditto.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2939\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3031,"href":"https:\/\/www.larryditto.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2939\/revisions\/3031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larryditto.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larryditto.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larryditto.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}