As some of you know I am originally from Puerto Rico, and my family is all still there. This holiday season, like many others I spent time down there visiting, and as I always try to do, I went out many mornings to make some images at one of my favorite location for shorebirds. In this video I share with you a few tips on bird photography as well as show you some of the images I made.
I hope you enjoy it.
P.S. Apologies for the sound quality, surf was super loud, so the sound is not as great as I hope the tips are!
Snowy Egret, Isabela, PR © Juan A. Pons
Snowy Egret, Isabela, PR © Juan A. Pons
January 7th, 2010 at 5:00 pm
Juan,
Tal vez el proximo año puedo ir contigo y aprender de tus habilidades desde uno de los pueblos que mas me agradan, Isabela. Mi familia es de Coamo y San Sebastian. Me encuentro viviendo en Orlando, FL, y aunque este año no pude irme para las navidades, no hay mejor sitio para pasarlas que en nuestra isla.
Saludos y sigan con su buen trabajo!
January 7th, 2010 at 5:36 pm
Leoraul,
Bueno de oir de un compatriota Boricua! My familia son de San Juan y Cayey, pero estos ultimos años hemos pasado las navidades en las preciosas playas de Isabela. Para mi, es uno de los mejores lugares en la isla para fotografiar las aves playeras. Desafortunadamente el desarroyo esta arruinando las playas poco a poco.
Espero conocerte en persona en un futuro proximo.
-J
January 7th, 2010 at 8:06 pm
Hi Juan
I love your photos of birds, i am trying to be an amazing bird photographer down here in Western Australia.
I would just like to know, of these 2 Egret shots you showed us, how many shots did you actually take?
I am really looking forward to seeing the rest of the images and videos in this series, thanks from Oz
Fred
January 7th, 2010 at 8:15 pm
Hi Fred,
I probably took about 75 images of the egret, with about 4 keepers. That ration was better than average for sure, but this is why I go to this location. The backgrounds are spectacular, and subjects cooperative.
Best of luck!
-J
January 10th, 2010 at 8:24 pm
Hi Juan
Thanks for replying to my post, i ask this question of a lot of wildlife photographers and they always ignore me.
This helps me understand that im on the right track, I think im doing around the same ratio so I feel better about my outcomes now, thanks
If your interested in seeing any of my work im at flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/psykepinky/
thanks again and I look forward to seeing more of your work.
Fred
January 10th, 2010 at 8:29 pm
Fred,
Glad to answer the question. As a general rule I am happy if I get ONE keeper every day I go out to shoot, if I get more I feel great! Now I am pretty hard on myself, and for me a keeper may be a bit more “perfect” than for others.
All the best.
-J
January 17th, 2010 at 9:15 pm
Juan,
Hola, cuando estas en un lugar como la playa donde el salitre esta llegando al equipo. Que mantenimiento y proteccion le das a la camara y al lente para que ese salitre no afecte el equipo?
Saludos,
Jose
Guavate, PR
January 17th, 2010 at 9:43 pm
Our Friend Jose here is asking about protecting equipment when shooting near salt water.
My answer is to be very careful with your equipment. A lot of folks would recommend using a weather shield like those made by aquatech, and while those are effective, they can be expensive and not everyone has them. What I do is protect my camera as much as I can from salt water spray, and when I am done shooting, I very thoroughly wipe down all of my equipment with a damp cloth, using freshwater of course.
-J
January 19th, 2010 at 10:03 pm
Juan,
You mention that you use your flash about 90% of the time. I see you are using like a 500mm lens in this video. Is the flash still effective at this focal lenght?
January 20th, 2010 at 6:01 am
When using a flash with anything longer than a 300mm you really need to use a Better Beamer. The BB narrows the light beam and projects it out much further. Also I am using the flash at fill light to define my subjects better not as my main light as I mentioned on the video.
Take care,
-J
March 25th, 2010 at 8:00 pm
How very cool that you actuallly take the time to answer questions like this. Love your egret images. Cool tips too.