Birds at Finn Slough

Swan

It’s been several weeks since I went on my last photo walk with my class, but life has gotten in the way of putting together a post of my favourite photos.

The purpose of the trip was to concentrate on the altered landscape, but instead I was focused on all the birds.  I rarely see swans in the local area, and on the drive in went past a field filled with them.  There was no where to pull over to take a photo, and I was glad when I arrived at Finn Slough and had another opportunity for a photo.

Mallard Ducks

Tucked up against the rain

Great Blue Heron in a tree

The Unexpected Great Blue Heron Photo Shoot

Pitt River Bridge, June 2013 1/30, f22, ISO100, 65mm
Pitt River Bridge, June 2013
1/30, f22, ISO100, 65mm

I headed out at 6am on Saturday, armed with a travel mug of coffee, my camera, tripod and ND filter, in the hopes of practicing some long exposure landscape photos at the Pitt River. My intention was to work on techniques that when converted to monochrome, renders the water looking misty and any clouds in the sky ethereal. But the BC weather foiled me again – it was TOO NICE. I won’t complain about that, ever, I just couldn’t photograph what I had hoped to.

Coquitlam in the distance, June 2013 1/10, f22, ISO100, 55mm
Coquitlam in the distance, June 2013
1/10, f22, ISO100, 55mm

I’ve noted the settings that I have used and some of the combinations may seem a bit odd.  I was playing around in manual mode and while it was bright, I was in the shade.  Since I had my tripod, I went with the one thing my instructor repeated a good half dozen times in class “If you have access to a tripod, you have no reason to use anything other than ISO 100.”

Great Blue Heron, Pitt Meadows, BC, June 2013 1/350, f5.6, ISO 100, 300mm
Great Blue Heron, Pitt Meadows, BC, June 2013
1/350, f5.6, ISO 100, 300mm
Mirror Images, June 2013 1.0sec, f38, ISO100, 48mm
Mirror Images, June 2013
1.0sec, f38, ISO100, 48mm

The river was smooth like glass and a lovely Great Blue Heron sat on a pillar in the water the entire time I was out, giving me the opportunity for some lovely shots of both the hills and the water, and the heron. I’m sure I’ll be back to African animals later in the week, but I was pretty happy with these shots, taken so close to home.

Great Blue Heron, Pitt Meadows, BC, June 2013 1/30, f5.6, ISO 100, 300mm
Great Blue Heron, Pitt Meadows, BC, June 2013
1/30, f5.6, ISO 100, 300mm
Great Blue Heron, June 2013 1/30, f5.6, ISO 100, 300mm
Great Blue Heron, June 2013
1/30, f5.6, ISO 100, 300mm
Mirror image Great Blue Heron, Pitt Meadows BC, June 2013 1/125, f11, ISO 100, 120mm
Mirror image Great Blue Heron, Pitt Meadows BC, June 2013
1/125, f11, ISO 100, 120mm
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