Blog » Jim Child Photography

I saw it.

Oct 042011

I picture it before I take it.

When shooting the Terns I had a specific shot in mind. The Terns circle above the water about 25′ in the air. When they see their catch they turn and dive straight down. Almost 100% of the time they completely submerge. I envisioned the Tern coming up out the water with wings stretched to the sky. And water thrown upward from the wings and the ability of this bird to quickly get airborne again. Fish (dinner) in mouth! About 5400 shots later……

Yes he is dead center. And the background is quit busy. But it is exactly what i was trying to get!

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Tern focus

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Oct 032011

These crazy Terns.

Man they are so difficult to trap in the point of focus. Most of the time I have spent with the Terns has been looking through 600mm glass. A very narrow field of view. And I have had a 1.7 teleconverter. Following them in focus is borderline impossible. They are swift flyers and turn 90 degrees instantaneously. The best method I found was to flow the Terns watching just over the top of the lens. When the made the inevitable pause to dive I dropped my eye dropped with them to the water. The exposure is critical here. The Terns are white with small patches of black. Yet the background is mostly darker shades. To not over expose the Tern I dropped the exposure compensation by -.7. Most all shot had no highlight “blinkies”. I shoot wide open. Adds to the difficulty of getting a sharp/in focus Tern. The 600mm lens and teleconverter makes the minimum aperture f/6.7. The time of day I am shooting the light is dropping quickly. I start at an ISO of 800 and usually end up at ISO 3200. I always try and keep the shutter speed above 1/2500 in aperture priority. Each night I shoot between 600 and a thousand frames. Of those 60% were out of focus. The rest ….boring!

Once in a while you get ……..

Or this shot from a slightly different angle…..

Odds

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Oct 022011

I often embarrass myself. I am fortunate to receive compliments on my photography. A gentleman would respond Thank You when receiving compliments like this. In my case, I explain that photography is nothing more than an odds game. To a great extent this is true. If you shoot enough pictures of a subject eventually you will get an acceptable photograph. Here is an example. I have been going after work for the last week or so to get pic’s of Terns fishing. Terns are incredibly fast flyers than can turn on a dime. Very difficult to shoot. Thousands of shots gave me a few keepers like…..

Mush easier to shoot is the slower flying seagull family of birds.

This guy was leery about landing right on the fish and then taking off. So he did a fly-by-catch. Almost a silhouette.

The shot of the tern was taken from across the water with my 600mm lens. The seagull shot was with my 70-200. Why the different lenses and nearly same results. More to come……

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Sep 302011

I can’t access my fonts for my Blog!

I just realized that when writing on this blog I am talking to a 30″ Apple monitor. Not sure if anyone will see it. Sure OF sees it he is my pal. And he looks fairly regularly. And D.P. sees it often. So for the most part I am doing this for myself. Oh sure I have occasional comments from friends and such. But in reality this pushes me to look beyond my current skill level.

Lately I have been dragging Butt. Have several reasons why. One that is just eating at me. Losing a lot of sleep over it. Wanda before you call me and ask about my health know it is not that. Oh ….Wanda reads once and a while. I have as of late been spending a lot of time meditating. Not cross legged humming. Just enjoying nature and my surroundings……….

Tonight I watched this cloud grow and get very large. It was beautiful. I can say that I have never seen a cloud like this before. Especially the vertical thin clouds within the big cloud. Amazing. This week I have spent time with Terns. And seagulls. Practicing photo-panning. The terns performed well. I was real lucky to get some fun shots. Post those later.

Last shot of the night was this seagull as he flew by and s

Elijah more…

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Sep 112011

He is a little different than the other two. Like his mother was. Born with a scowl on his face. Probably wished he was still in the womb. Warm and comfy in there. I am blessed that he is here. And what a great mother. A natural if you will. She is incredible. Always has a smile. Positive. Loves her kids. Elijah is another lucky one to have picked this family…..

Imperial Styling – Cheney

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Sep 012011

Got a haircut yesterday. Went back to the Barber today to show my friends the “place”. I have never seen a barber shop like this before. Walk in and see a couch, chair and a large big screen. Sports paraphernalia everywhere. Most of which revolve around University of Eastern Washington. Division I champions last year in football. Cheney is a fun community and Imperial Styling is a great place to get a cut!

Cheney Hills

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Sep 012011

After dinner and before sunset. Still in Cheney. The drives out around here are incredible. The fields are being cut. Harvesting everywhere. Incredibly quiet 30 miles out. Only one other car on the road. It sure feels good to get out.

Cheney Black and White

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Aug 312011

I am back in Washington. Cheney to be exact. Don’t want to get into details but the last month has been CRAZY!!!!!! It’s good tonight to get a break. Went out before dinner and found a couple of fun shots that screamed Black and White. It is beautiful here.

1/1000 sec @ f/5.0, 70mm, ISO 200, 47 Deg-24′-59″ North, 117 Deg-16′-39″ West

Nikon D3s, 24-70mm f/2.8

9 frame HDR – range = 1/250 sec to 1/40 sec @ f/13, 32mm, ISO 200, 47 Deg-26′-34″ North, 117 Deg-22′-47″ West

Nikon D3s, Nikon 24-70mm f2.8

Elijah

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Aug 242011

Every new grandson reminds me that there is a God in Heaven.

Lizard on rock

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Aug 182011

I really like small animals and insects. Like I have mentioned in previous posts I am always looking. It is not too hard to find lizards in the warmer climates. Just go to some rocks and look around. The trick is getting them to hold still. I have found there is a line in the sand you cannot cross. If you cross that line they will move away. Every time you move they will move. Find that spot. The I won’t move if you don’t move spot………