wndrlst

I was trying to decide where to post my whale watching pics from Mexico, and realized we don't have a wildlife photography thread. Wildlife and birds are some of my favorite things to look at, so post 'em if you got 'em!


I just returned from Los Cabos, Mexico, where I was fortunate to get a great show from a pod of 3 whales where the Pacific Ocean meets the Sea of Cortes. They migrate to mate and calve there in the winter, then return north in March/April after hanging around a while to teach their new calves the ropes.

No sense in not starting off with my favorite. All three breached at nearly the same time, offering up this photo of 3 phases of the breach all at once. Score!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/moxiephotos/8539991331/http://www.flickr.com/photos/moxiephotos/8539991331/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/moxiephotos/, on Flickr


Incidentally 1/3200 wasn't quite fast enough to freeze the motion in all the shots. I forgot to take into account that our boat was (of course) moving, too. Even when we weren't motoring, the swells were pretty big and tossing us around quite a lot. I don't know if it would have been fast enough without that additional movement on the camera side. Just an fyi if you ever go. Bump up the ISO to get your shutter speed way up there. Thankfully, that one is tack sharp.

Another with two of them breaching together. They were being very playful!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/moxiephotos/8550905415/http://www.flickr.com/photos/moxiephotos/8550905415/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/moxiephotos/, on Flickr

wndrlst

A fluke..

http://www.flickr.com/photos/moxiephotos/8552007538/http://www.flickr.com/photos/moxiephotos/8552007538/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/moxiephotos/, on Flickr


There are a few more on my flickr if you're interested in seeing individuals breach.

wndrlst

Pelican

http://www.flickr.com/photos/moxiephotos/8552005974/http://www.flickr.com/photos/moxiephotos/8552005974/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/moxiephotos/, on Flickr

Sea Lion
http://www.flickr.com/photos/moxiephotos/8541093816/http://www.flickr.com/photos/moxiephotos/8541093816/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/moxiephotos/, on Flickr

wndrlst

A different direction...

Bison in Yellowstone
http://www.flickr.com/photos/moxiephotos/2263462097/http://www.flickr.com/photos/moxiephotos/2263462097/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/moxiephotos/, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/moxiephotos/2256471603/http://www.flickr.com/photos/moxiephotos/2256471603/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/moxiephotos/, on Flickr


http://www.flickr.com/photos/moxiephotos/2260746250/http://www.flickr.com/photos/moxiephotos/2260746250/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/moxiephotos/, on Flickr

wndrlst

Great Blue Heron in Florida

http://www.flickr.com/photos/moxiephotos/2549009986/http://www.flickr.com/photos/moxiephotos/2549009986/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/moxiephotos/, on Flickr

MattB07TL

Beautiful shots man, love your avatar pic that's awesome. What kind of camera setup do you have?

wndrlst

Thanks!

The shots in the first 3 posts from Mexico were all taken with a 5DIII and 70-200 f/2.8 (non-IS).

The heron was taken with the same lens, but mounted on a 40D body.

The bison were also shot with the 40D body, but surprisingly (to me, anyway) the 17-85mm lens that I don't have any longer.

MattB07TL

5D3

wndrlst

I heart it a lot.

wndrlst

Good god, can someone please fix my thread title? Jet lag ftl.

pttl

Great Thread D.

Beautiful shots!

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

Glad I clicked this thread!
awesome shots!

terdonal

Great shots, nice variety.

wndrlst

Gracias, amigos!

Beelzebub

pttl

http://www.flickr.com/photos/petshots/8546130959/http://www.flickr.com/photos/petshots/8546130959/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/petshots/, on Flickr

leftride

iTrader: (1)

great thread idea wndrlst, those whale shots are wonderful!

I wanted to post about 50, but here are a few I narrowed down.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/leftride/5539743787/http://www.flickr.com/photos/leftride/5539743787/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/leftride/, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/leftride/5032109928/http://www.flickr.com/photos/leftride/5032109928/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/leftride/, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/leftride/5540942333/http://www.flickr.com/photos/leftride/5540942333/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/leftride/, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/leftride/5561096844/http://www.flickr.com/photos/leftride/5561096844/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/leftride/, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/leftride/5540861024/http://www.flickr.com/photos/leftride/5540861024/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/leftride/, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/leftride/5540301231/http://www.flickr.com/photos/leftride/5540301231/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/leftride/, on Flickr

wndrlst

Awesome!! And please..post more! I sincerely love looking at these. The yawning hippo is a particularly great catch.


And thank you - I was really stoked about the whales. They are 2 of my favorite shots I've ever taken.

leftride

iTrader: (1)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/leftride/5540987456/http://www.flickr.com/photos/leftride/5540987456/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/leftride/, on Flickr

wndrlst

Beautiful. I'm so jealous of anyone who's been on an African safari. It's very high on my list of things to do and see.

cmschmie

So apparently there is a Northern Harrier either living or at least making a stop over during migration on my in-laws land. Noticed it a couple weeks ago and again this last weekend.
I so wish I had more than a Rebel XT and an EF 70-300 to try to get a pic. May try to get a shot of it this weekend if he is still around.

pttl

Peanut time!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/petshots/8582631833/http://www.flickr.com/photos/petshots/8582631833/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/petshots/, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/petshots/8582632033/http://www.flickr.com/photos/petshots/8582632033/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/petshots/, on Flickr

wndrlst

Nice! Those bluejays are speedy little suckers..not the easiest to photograph well.

pttl

Thanks! I love watching them line up and come in for some nuts and go!

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

Outstanding....

dom

Great thread.

wndrlst

A few birds in my back yard:

It's a bit noisy, but I like it..

http://www.flickr.com/photos/moxiephotos/8589850224/http://www.flickr.com/photos/moxiephotos/8589850224/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/moxiephotos/, on Flickr

Male and female sapsuckers
http://www.flickr.com/photos/moxiephotos/8589850376/http://www.flickr.com/photos/moxiephotos/8589850376/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/moxiephotos/, on Flickr

Nuthatch
http://www.flickr.com/photos/moxiephotos/8589850582/http://www.flickr.com/photos/moxiephotos/8589850582/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/moxiephotos/, on Flickr

pttl

Great captures!

wndrlst

Thanks. I need a longer lens! I have a tele-extender but haven't ever used it. Looking forward to spring to actually act like spring so I can play with the birds a bit more.

pttl

Yah...spring would be nice. Snow covered today.

wndrlst

Same here. We got about 4 inches but the mixed stuff if creeping in and starting to compress it. I like snow, but I like it in winter. I'm picky, I know..

pttl

Spring is coming!

With the 70-300L Pretty strongly back lit.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/petshots/8598345564/http://www.flickr.com/photos/petshots/8598345564/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/petshots/, on Flickr

badboy

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/badboyhp/8598929456/" title="sharkPacific by badboyhp, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8382/8598929456_90b1c171bd_c.jpg" width="800" height="377" alt="sharkPacific"></a>

wndrlst

^Awesome. I swam over a shark in the Caribbean once. Even though it was just a nurse shark, I swam a little faster than usual.

What's the story behind this shot?

pttl

http://www.flickr.com/photos/petshots/8601874026/http://www.flickr.com/photos/petshots/8601874026/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/petshots/, on Flickr


Flat white/gray sky today.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/petshots/8601871624/http://www.flickr.com/photos/petshots/8601871624/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/petshots/, on Flickr

badboy

The pic was taken a couple of weeks ago while on The Shark Adventure tour in Oahu, HI. It's actually a frame capture from a video from a GP Hero 3 Bl.

Unlike the picture suggests, we were in a cage and away from any danger.

However, in our trip to the Big Island last October, we were on a snorkeling tour and came across a reef shark about 7 feet. My wife spotted it first and semi freaked out. She put the jets on swimming back to the boat.

p.s I'm super impressed with the video quality, especially underwater, offered by the GP.

is300eater

this crane or whatever was just sitting along side of the bike trail in Stanley Park today. The thing was huge
http://www.flickr.com/photos/63271580@N00/8618902042/http://www.flickr.com/photos/63271580@N00/8618902042/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/63271580@N00/, on Flickr


just a duck (and Miz might notice the reflection of a girl in the water )
http://www.flickr.com/photos/63271580@N00/8618905738/http://www.flickr.com/photos/63271580@N00/8618905738/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/63271580@N00/, on Flickr

pttl

Top pic = Blue Heron.

wndrlst

^

Beautiful birds.

badboy

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/badboyhp/8065363981/" title="Hike August 2012 by badboyhp, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8315/8065363981_d8fd524d18_o.jpg" width="800" height="541" alt="Hike August 2012"></a>