eleanor_kee_wellman

I photographed bald eagles last January in Nova Scotia. In some cases you might be able to get away with a 400mm lens but it is more likely that you will need at least a 500mm. Consider that the weather is not great most of the time and the chicken farmers put out the dead around 8 am.

 

One of the best things you could do would be to contact Susan Porscamp of Sheffield for her $25 tour of the area. She will show you the best viewing spots. I think her husban's name is Martin and they own one of the chicken farms that put out dead chickens right in Sheffield Mills.

 

If you would like more information it would take me a little time to get it together for you. Last year there weren't any places that had blinds but that would be the best way to get close. The eagles won't come in if you just park near the feeding areas.

 

Eleanor Kee Wellman

Hello,

 

I will be interested in the answers to this as I had the same problem with Cone profiles. My solution was to uninstall the Conetech profiles. This was after 6 months of communication with Conetech.

 

I am using PS 7, Epson 2000P, used Prove It to calibrate my monitor and Epson Archival or Enhanced Archival paper.

 

I now add a colour curve of +10 red and play with the contrast then use unsharp of 150 juct before printing. I do not save this with the file but add each time of printing.

Hi Chris, I have been with Joe and Mary Ann McDonald twice and I too would go back in a minute. It was fabulous both times. Lots of room for everyone to have his own space in the vehicles and the quides from East Africa Ornithological Safaris are excellant. No sleeping in and having a late breakfast with their groups. You are out in the field for the best light.

 

Their safaris are best for people who really want to spend the time for the best shots.

 

No particular problems after 9/11 and no particular health problems. Take your malaria medication, drink bottled water and watch what you eat. I had no problems healthwise. Do watch your wallet, money, passport and airline ticket though. I had all of those stolen and being in police headquarters to get the required report done to replace everything was just as bad as you might think it would be.

 

It wouldn't stop me for a second from going again though!

Hello Howard,

 

In South Central Ontario Eastern Chipmunks are very easy to photograph. Shelled or unshelled peanuts or sunflower seeds are a great draw. Just place a few in a trail leading to where you want them to be and it won't take long! All you have to do is sit there.

 

I agree that it is often unnecessary to use a long lense. I found out the hard way that they do have eye-shine when using flash if it is used too close to the camera.

Thanks for your responses. They have been very helpful!

Hello Thomas,

 

You can get a lot of information by visiting the website of Stuart Healey who is a professional quide in Arizona. www.aztrogon.com

He has all kinds of information about locations, bar graphs, daily journal, books, weather and just about anything else you can thing of about birding in Arizona. Also, the SABO - South East Arizona Bird Observatory website is good too.

 

South East Arizona is wonderful and do visit the Sonora Desert Museum near Tuscon. I heard that their aviaries were closed at some point but they may be open again.

 

It will be hot around Pheonix and Tuscon but it will be cooler in the mountains. Lots of bird, mammal and scenic photo opps.

Has anyone been to Cap Tourmente to photogaph greater snow geese in

spring? What are the opportunities for flight shots and mass groups.

What lenses are necessary? The CWS website mentions blinds. Has

anyone used one?

I live in a resort area of South Central Ontario where I see bears a few times a year. In December when one would expect that all bears would be hibernating I had a yearling visit several times. I have attached a shot taken fifteen feet from my sliding glass doors with a 540EZ flash and my 100-400 IS lense at about 200mm. The flash did not bother this young bear at all and I got about 3 rolls of film.

 

I don't think I would do it without the protection of my doors though.

As I too use my vehicle for a blind this information might be of interest to others. I use the old Canon 500mm 4.5 lense and have a GM Safari van. The window is so low that it is impossible to shoot from that position. I use a Groofwin pod and have put my Arca ball head on it and bought a Wimberly for my tripod. I tried a bean bag on the pod but the ball head gave me much more flexibility. When there is no sun likely to reflect on the lense I remove the lense hood if there is any wind. This worked very well on my recent trip to Nova Scotia to photograph bald eagles.

As I have never been to Lake San Antonio I am unable to answer for that location.

 

I did post a question a few months ago about Brackendale, BC and got an answer that it is good for distance shots but not for full frame eagles.

 

That lead me to take a trip to Kent County, Nova Scotia, from which I just returned. The photo opportunites there are wonderful. There are, however, some limitations. The eagles are there because they are fed dead chickens from the local chicken farms. Most of the farmers put the chickens out by 8 am and there isn't much light at that timeat this time of the year. They begin to go to there breeding territories by the end of February. There are a couple of locations where a few eagles roost during the day that offer close up shots. Others may be found by driving the area.

 

There is one place where a 500mm+ lens and the luck of a sunny day could get you some great action and flight shots.

 

If anyone is interested in more information I would be pleased to post.

My answer is anything but technical but I have a friend who has the Nikon scanner that scans at 4000dpi and he found that he was getting actual film grain in his scans of large color blocks such as blue sky. He has worked out something that has reduced the film grain before printing on his Epson 2200P. Maybe someone else can help you with that possiblity. See I told you it wouldn't be technical.

 

I have a Nikon LS2000 scanner (2800dpi) and an Epson 2000P and do not have that problem nor do my friends that use 1280s.

 

The higher scan could be the problem.

Although I have not been to Botswana I have been to Kenya with the McDonalds twice. I took my tripod the first time but not the second. We used at least 2 bean bags on top of the land rovers. Joe and Mary Ann use their tripods around the camps and for sunrise shoots when away from animals and they use carbon fibre gitzo. I did use a monopod around camps for small birds.

 

There is a plate available that is good for flight-shot panning. Don't remember the name. It sits on top of the bean bag.

 

Eleanor kee Wellman

Hi,

 

I purchased the Conetech profiles for my Epson PhotoStylus 2000P and

have not yet been able to get it to work for me. It supposed to be

for use with Photoshop 6.0 but I have 7.0. The previews and prints

all come out mostly magenta. Nothing I have thought of doing over

the past month and a half has helped. I have e-mailed and had return

e-mails from Dana but nothing has helped. I have installed and

uninstalled everything possible at least 6 times.

 

As with a number of companies, they do not actually answer the phone

but you have to leave a message and most of the time no-one gets back

to me.

 

When I bought the software from inkjet mall I already had Photshop

5.5 and could not get 6.0 so had to buy the upgrade to 7.0.

 

That is the only thing I can come up with that might be causing the

problem.

 

Anyone have any other ideas? Eleanor Kee Wellman

I am interested in photographing bald eagles in B.C. this winter and

would like to know just how close I could get and would I be able to

get frame filling shots with a 500mm lense? I know that there is an

eagle fesitival at Squamish but would rather miss the crowds.