Apr 30, 2013 | AF-S 70-300mm f4.5-5.6G IF-ED VR, Birds, Daily Image 2013, Great Horned Owl, Nikon 1 V1, Walkabout, Wildlife
Juvenile Great Horned Owl Today was the first day this year above 80 degrees in the Fox River Valley. So, a walkabout by the Fox River seemed like a good idea. The Villa preserve lies between Geneva and Batavia along the river. Along with a Japanese garden and a walkway to a river island, at the moment, it features Great Horned Owls; mom, dad, and baby. Well, the baby is growing quickly so now it’s a juvenile. Even on a weekday, it attracts attention so it’s perched high in the trees with mom nearby and a 30mph wind to manage.
This image was captured handheld. With a 810mm effective focal length, it held its own shooting along side heavy duty 400mm and 600mm f2.8 lenses on tripods used by other photogs. Was this image better than theirs? No, of course not; their images are probably technically better. Still, it’s not a bad image.
Apr 29, 2013 | AF-S 70-300mm f4.5-5.6G IF-ED VR, Daily Image 2013, Gray Squirrel, Nikon 1 V1, Wildlife
Grey Squirrel Today was the warmest day of the year thus far; about 70. This squirrel seemed to be smelling the wild flowers near the Fox River. One issue when using the Nikon 1 V1 is that the electronic viewfinder is sometimes a bit small and dark. But, most of the time, it does not matter because the auto-focus is so good. For a good example, look at this shot. I was on my stomach where it was difficult to see through the viewfinder and remain stable for the 810mm telephoto handheld. The auto-focus certainly did its job.
Apr 28, 2013 | AF-S 70-300mm f4.5-5.6G IF-ED VR, Animals, Daily Image 2013, Nikon 1 V1, Pugs
Being a Pug! Oh, to be a pug on a beautiful spring day.
Apr 27, 2013 | AF-S 70-300mm f4.5-5.6G IF-ED VR, Birds, Blue Jay, Daily Image 2013, Nikon 1 V1, Wildlife
Blue Jay Colors This Blue Jay seemed to be looking for trouble. A birder once told me he thought they were arrogant and self-centered although beautiful. This image focuses at their tail feathers.
Apr 26, 2013 | AF-S 70-300mm f4.5-5.6G IF-ED VR, Birds, Canada Geese, Daily Image 2013, Nikon 1 V1, Walkabout, Wildlife
Canada Goose Tonight’s walkabout was a bit later than most. This goose seemed to be overlooking his kingdom, the pond. The sun, sometimes behind a few clouds, was just about to set in back of the goose; so this image looks toward the setting sun.
Apr 25, 2013 | AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8 ED VR II, AF-S TC 2.0 E III Tele-converter, Daily Image 2013, Nikon D3x
Close Sometimes, it’s a tough photo day. Sometimes, even I feel a little artistic. Sometimes it’s just an experiment. Anyway, today was one of those somedays. So, I took the heavy iron out tonight.
Apr 24, 2013 | AF-S 70-300mm f4.5-5.6G IF-ED VR, Birds, Daily Image 2013, Nikon 1 V1, Walkabout, Wildlife
Looks Like a Duck! It was getting late after I got to my walkabout tonight. This guy was just having a ball swimming around the pond. I have no idea what he is. If anyone does, please let me know. Sure was nice to see him out swimming. It’s still cold here, but he knows Spring will get here for real, someday soon.
Apr 23, 2013 | AF 80-400mm f4.5-5.6D ED VR, Birds, Daily Image 2013, Nikon 1 V1, Red-tailed Hawk, Walkabout, Wildlife
This Red-tailed Hawk Pair can be seen several times a week looking over their domain high in the trees overlooking a large meadow and lake. Today, I tried to mate the 80-400mm and the Nikon V1. The V1 will not auto-focus the 80-400mm since it is not AFS. The new 80-400mm is AFS, but I do not have one. Anyway, handheld manual focus with the V1 turned out to be difficult with such a large lens. It took many shots to get one with reasonable focus.