A Tree swallow coming in for a landing!

Maria and I ventured over to Toronto today to spend the morning in a waterfront park. Lots of trees swallows at this location, so we decided to try to catch some flight shots.

Coming in for a landing to its nest box this bird was about 7 inches away from the touchdown point. The landing gear is up and ready with the air brakes fully operational.

I hope to give this shoot another try soon, and switch over to the Sony A9 camera.

Thanks for looking!

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Sweet Daisy in a pose!

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Common Loon

Wonderful shoot yesterday with Maria up north, with a bunch of loons!

Unfortunately we didn't see really flat water, but bot too bad. Nice light
and distant birds. The teleconverter helped, and a lower iso made a difference. (320 ISO)

I did catch a not bad video, but I will try again, possibly this weekend and see if I can do better.

One of Canada's most beautiful birds!

Thanks so much for looking.

Respect Nature please.

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We were out for a Belted Kingfisher, and came home with a merganser.

Regardless, some great fun, and exercise! We found the kingfishers but as usual, they were difficult, so I keep my eyes wide open, and look for other opportunities.

So, along came this pretty female Hoodie. With the lens at 600 mm, and a 1.4 teleconvertor mounted, I would switch back and forth to the asp-c sensor, to achieve a good variety of images and quality.

Even with the 1260 mm reach, I was still looking at heavy crop. It was more than 60%. All for a decent shot of this sweet looking bird!

Hopefully, I will have another crack at the kingfishers soon.

Thanks for looking.

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My sweet Daisy Barlow.

Enjoying a photo shoot with my wife, during a short nature walk. This is her sassy look!

Thanks for posing for the camera honey.

And thanks for looking!

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A second jump shot, with an Eastern meadowlark.

Slightly faster shutter speed this time, hence the sharper wings. I set a wide crop on most of my images, as I love habitat shots of real and natural environment.

This concept tells more of a story compared to the close up tight box around a bird. And is much more pleasing to the eye, in my opinion.

When we do not have a nice environment, we go in a little closer. The tall thistles in the background tell the story of the field, and the broken off branch creates a different sort of interest, leaving people wondering "what exactly was the bird sitting on at the lift off?"

All fun and creativity.

Taken without the teleconverter, so 600 mm x 1.5 crop factor, as I had the asp-c sensor on. And still a very heavy crop. This image would represent 40% of the frame.

Thanks for looking!

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Our second try with the meadowlarks tonight, April 2nd, 2021. Way too many images! Between myself and Maria, well over 1000 shot of these species in less than 2.5 hours!

Eastern meadowlark lift off.

Special thanks to Daisy and Maria for all the help tonight!

It is very difficult with 1260 mm eq. to hold the camera steady, with a bird 32 meters off in a field, with the wind gusting on a very cool afternoon! +4C. Then at least a 50% crop to add to the processing fun!

So considering this was shot in asp-c or "crop" mode, and cropped even more in post-processing, I would say the Sony gear did a decent job. 200 ISO sure helps, with the bright sun at our backs!.

Next Challenge - After spending a few hours with these birds and a lot of study, I think I am ready to try video.

I need all the conditions to be just right for at least an hour this week, so we have a decent chance. And most of all, a horseshoe in my back pocket for luck! It is not impossible, so why not try! I think we have enough still shots! I have a blind ready, and all the gear except for the 'Dead-cat" I ordered yesterday, that should be here tomorrow pm. (wind noise defector that will slip over my microphone).

So, we will see if everything works out.

Thanks for looking!

After a few weeks break recovering from some injuries, we decided to take a trek out into the country to my favourite meadowlark location.

Tonight we had some luck, with Maria's help, we were able to catch a few shots of this superb Eastern meadowlark. The golden beauty!

Singing his heart out, he waits for his mate to show up and start a new family during nesting season.

Great fun, shooting from my Toyota Venza hide, lens resting on the window! The teleconverter on, and crop factor at 1.5 x factor, so 1260 mm.

I hope to try this in a hide soon, for better, closer results and maybe some decent video!

This is such a beautiful bird!

A quick run north to catch some star image. A bad choice, as the moon was much brighter than I anticipated. Great trip with my family regardless, always a blast.

Another try soon!

Milky Way

Image taken almost 4 years ago, with my old Nikon gear, and a borrowed lens. We were so lucky the clouds keep the ambient light down for this image!

We are looking forward to more star photography again this year.

This image was taken during a workshop in Eastern Ontario, last summer - 2020. Thanks to all of my guests!

An adult osprey returning to the nest to check up on the young, We are standing on a nearby ridge which is at eye level with the nest. Such a superb opportunity!

The adults bring in fish about once every 1.5 hours, so we have some good opportunities to capture natural behavior photography.

This image represents about 20% of the full frame, taken at ISO 1600 - so not bad for such a huge crop. More workshops out here this coming summer, real nature, and wild raptors!

Love Nature!

Common Merganser just landed!

This is my first decent sighing of a Common merganser! A difficult location with fencing blocking most of the views, we found a small window to shoot through.

Such a superb looking male, in prime colours, the female is also brilliant. Hoping to try again soon.

Taken with the crop mode on the camera, and the 1.4 Teleconverter, so lots of reach, and also a 50% + crop in post-processing! 1260 mm of reach. Gitzo tripod and Gitzo head.

Thanks so much for looking!!

January 2, 2006

Snowy owl

Nikon d70 + 80-400 Gear drive.

With buddy Eric Dumigan!

Thanks for looking!

Incoming Mallard.

Maria and I were out shooting these ducks, along with some trumpeter swan last week, we picked a nice sunny day so with could have the best possible shooting conditions.

With the birds flying across the ice, so they had natural light from above and below as there is good reflection of light from the white ice.

With f8, we have great depth of field, at 1/4000 of a second shutter speed freezing the motion nicely. ISO 640 so minimal noise, and it was easily cleaned up.

The cool thing about this shoot? I took 327 images of birds in flight at this location, with an amazing 99% of tack sharp images. My Sony A7r4 + the 200-600OSS lens is a superb pairing of photo gear, and I am thrilled with the Gitzo Fluid gimbal head, and the Systematic tripod are brilliant assets to my photography kit.

Thanks for looking!

Something different?

Mallard pair in Flight.

These 2 flew right across the line of a nice house, so I thought it would make for an interesting scene. Beautiful estate properties along the north shoreline of Burlington Bay.

Just sharp enough on the birds, and just blurry enough on the background I think. Normally I try as much as possible to avoid the hand of man in my nature images, so this is a rare sort of scene for me to share.

Thanks for looking!

My feet are getting cold!

Northern Pintail on ice!

I have heard it before, cold feet and the need for new winter boots!

This beauty does not have the luxury we have, so they warm one foot at a time. I still find it amazing that so many ducks and water fowl survive our icy cold weeks here in Canada. There cannot be too much food around, but yet there are thousands waiting for the ice to thaw.

The geese and the swans also make a meager living, so thankfully some kind-hearted people at the waterfront in Burlington feed them with kennel corn designed for birds. Most people do not know that feeding these birds with bread is a poor choice. The theory is that once the bread is digested, the excretions become toxic. Also, leftover bread going to decay in the water is very bad for the ecosystem.

So with this shot, the bird was quite far out on the ice. I decided to use the tele-converter, and the crop factor asp-c sensor setting on the A7r4. This leaves me with a 1260 mm equivalent mm, and still from there at least a 50% crop in Photoshop. It is nice to use this set up for distant still subjects, but I do recommend using the timer, for at least 5 seconds.

The blue cast comes with low late afternoon light, so the whites slowly become "less white!"

Thanks for looking!

Since I was a young lad I have been fascinated with these awesome raptors.

Red-tailed hawk

My dad would take me for a drive out to a farm south of Cayuga Ontario, to pick up an order of beef. During the drive, we would pass by several of these beauties, and from there, I told my dad that one day I would be photographing these birds.

So, over the years, I have worked on a technique to have such opportunities. These birds are super skittish, so once we make eye contact, the show is almost over!

This bird gave me a fair chance, I had about 10 seconds with it, and from there, I had to get off the middle of the road! Car was coming!

55 shots later, I decided to edit this one, and delete 52 of them.

This is a gorgeous adult in prime plumage, fairly confident, and the background made this shot a must catch, so I was ready with all my settings as best they could be.

The sun was long gone, so darkness was near, so any hope for a flight shot was slim to none. Eventually it took off to a high tree location well off the road for even more opportunities.

Niagara, Ontario. Thanks for looking, and feel free to share!

A7r4 and the 200-600 OSS.

To say the least, I am thrilled with this kit's ability to focus! Awesome.

3 Mallards incoming.

Against a dark background the sensors picked up and tracked the flights 100%. Also, just enough depth of field to cover the focus range needed. Just enough ISO, and shutter speed to keep it fairly sharp, with only a little noise.

All good fun, and practice to the next time!

Thanks for looking.

3 is a special number to me.


Personal meaning, but I always smile when I have a cool reference to the number three.


Canada Geese in Ice!


My daughter and I were testing out some new gear purchased last week, mage by Gitzo, manufactured in Italy. A great company, superb top of the line products. (picture in the first comment below.)


Without getting into great detail, This new gear will really make a big difference in my keeper rate with flight shooting, and with videos.


These 3 geese were in a big hurry, on their way to greener pastures I hope, as there is so little food on the frozen bay here in Southern Ontario.


Can you see where each goose has its eyes focused?

Thanks for looking,

The latest addition to the collection.

Gitzo GHFG1 Gimbal Fluid Head
Gitzo G1348 Tripod.

Much heavier than Jobu gear, but a great panning set up for Video. So I still highly recommend Jobu tripods, and heads for still image shooting, and since video is usually done with cell phones for most people, this kit is not for most!

For all Jobu Gear, please visit your local dealer, mine is Downtown Camera. Please contact my friend Patrick Ng for great and fast service!

https://downtowncamera.com/

patrickn@downtowncamera.com

For extensive details on Jobu products, and to order plates, heads, tripods, please visit:

https://www.jobu-design.com/

Thanks for looking!

Canvasback

Another image of this male Canvasback duck.

I enjoyed photographing them against the icy backdrop with the soft light. Such a great looking bird!

Image taken at 600 mm, just a bit of crop. I am a big fan of environmental shots that help tell the story of nature.

Thanks for looking!

Such difficult conditions!

Canvasback on Ice.

Well the sun was long gone tonight, and Maria and I were hanging out with some ducks. This beauty, the Canvasback was relaxing on the ice.

Easily my favourite duck, such cool colours, and a very cool disposition. These birds actually remind me of tigers, as they wade around the water totally indifferent to the nearby action.

It was almost dark, and we had just enough light to manage a few shots. With the 1.4 teleconvertor connected to the 200-600 G lens from Sony, I was limited to a f9 aperture. Even darker!

2000 ISO gave me just enough shutter speed 1/160 of a second even with the crop factor turn on in the camera. ASP-C Sensor multiplies the focal length by a 1.5 factor. So here, I ended up with 1234 mm, @ f9 and a 1/160 shutter speed. (At about 35 yards!)

In the end, thanks to Jobu Gimbal heads, and the Jobu Algonquin for the steady support for so many years. Email me if you are interested in a good deal!

Eventually, the duck took a dive into the icy water, and paraded around like he owned the place.

Thanks for looking!

Dancing on a Sumac

What a place to perform! It is amazing, in -7C temperatures these robins can survive. 40-50 years ago you would never see a robin in Southern Ontario, and here we are, taking pictures of our most common songbird in the chill of winter.

I remember 20 years ago we started seeing Robins around the house in Grimsby. Now, they are all over Niagara, and we can shoot them with a snow filled background! The sumac berries will make a nice dinner for this beauty, and things will warm up here next week as we move into spring.

A dull overcast day today, here in St. Catherines Ontario. Light snow falling, and so it was getting dark quickly as we struggled for a lower ISO Setting. 2500 ISO was going to have to do, giving me 1/1250 sec shutter speed.

We could have used a faster shutter, so I ended up with a bit of wing blur while trying to avoid noise.

Looking forward to our next outing. Maria has her own gallery on this site, as she captured a beautiful image of this bird around the same time.

Thanks for looking!

Another fun day out with the ladies, and a good meet up with a few Red-tailed hawks.

About 30 shots of this one in flight, but unfortunately a poor background.

Another try later this week!

Thanks for looking!

About 700 images of this beauty today, this is my favourite.

Red-tailed hawk

These birds are so skittish, under normal circumstances, we do not get such a chance! I am guessing this is a she, very large bird.

She sat there on this old fence post for about 35 minutes for me, hunting, and very indifferent. Cars, trucks, event transport rigs were driving by her within 15 feet, and she didn't flinch!

Invincible! It took me ten minutes to roll my 6 cylinder hide up to her, while setting up with a nice background. So mostly all posing shots with different settings on the camera. Here, when she lifted, I have a good ISO and shutter speed. Freezing the action of a lift off is not easy, so the 1/4000 sec. helped.

She left on her own, no baiting, no outside influences, she had enough of that hunting spot, so it was time to move one.

A great location, as she was one of 5 hawks and 2 falcons in the area. Maybe another try soon!

Thanks for looking, be careful out there.

Great grey

Hunting for some late pm snacks.
Southern Ontario.

My video set up (for now!)

This is my typical set up for shooting video. It seems to work very well.

The Sony cameras record 4k resolution very nicely, and the Sony mic picks up the sound not too bad. Now to learn how to use it!

I hope to have a gallery in here on my site for videos at some point.

Thanks for looking!

Grumpy tonight?

O well, I am happy to see you!

Eastern screech owl, posing for a portrait at its front door.

Sony A9 + 200-600 OSS.
Jobu Gimbal, and Jobu Algonquin Tripod.

Thanks for looking.

A nice looking Eastern screech owl, taken today in Niagara. The wind was calm in the woods, so I could turn down the ISO, A low ISO setting will give me a slow shutter speed, but on a stable tripod and gimbal head, with no wind, everything works fine. (so long as the owl stays still!)

Fresh country air, and true nature. It doesn't get better!

Jobu Algonquin Tripod and Jr. Deluxe gimbal.

Thanks for looking!

Eastern screech owl

Another visit to see this beauty last week, And a long exposure in a breeze made things difficult! Always worth a try regardless.

Thanks for looking!

Sometimes all we can do is our best.

With only a one shot and done program, and a bit of wind, I was limited to a "soso" shot of this scene. The moon is too bright, and the skyline was dark, the wind was moving my camera, so here we are!

O well, as they say, it was fun trying, darn cold but interesting.

This image was taken off the dock at the LaSalle Marina in Burlington. You can see the breakwater with the lights on, about 200 yards offshore.

On my side of this structure the water is frozen, and on the far side, you will see the refection on the water, rather than the ice.

The lines across the ice are just cracks, as the water pressure changes under the ice, with the wind it will lift the ice and cause such openings. Standing out there in the weather was amazing as I could hear the ice shifting with these changes below.

Earlier, I spent an hour or 2 photographing mallards flying across the ice, so I will post one of them soon.

Thanks for looking!

Northern Cardinal

A wonderful day trip to a local park and some feeders for Maria and myself. Plenty of birds, and opportunities.

I was thrilled with the colour resolution on the Sony A9, very nice.

We will give it another try tomorrow and try something new. This sort of day brings me back to when I first started with bird photography. So much fun to teach the techniques to Maria.

Thanks for looking.

My shooting buddy Maria and I were at it again today, working hard to learn this beautiful birds habits.

Belted kingfisher.

This shot was taken after about 1.5 hours of learning!

I did see her last summer, and it does look like she will be spending the winter here in Southern Ontario. Quite amazing.

For workshop info, please email me - raymondjbarlow@yahoo.ca or ray@raymondbarlow.com

Best wishes!

Female Kestrel Hunting!

Maria and I spent the afternoon out for a hike, and a safari for raptors today.

Luck came our way with this pretty female Kestrel in Niagara. She was patient with us, and allowed us to get in pretty close. When other cars were driving by 90 kph, they would flush our bird to a new perch.

So we would watch, and let her get settled, and try again. She would always give us a few shots, and we kept our distance, and moved in very slowly for a long shot chance.

With the tele-converter connected to the A9 and the 200-600 OSS, giving us some extra optical reach - 840 mm and the aperture at f9 and the keen resolution of the A9 sensor, a few decent shots were brought home.

Well, at least 1, as I deleted the other 396 images 20 minutes ago!

Hoping for another try tomorrow.

Thanks for looking!

Taken a long time ago, this tiny beauty was so sweet, and posed for us with no issues at all! Maria was only 4, and she found two other owls nearby!

Another lucky day in the woods.

Trumpeter Swan incoming

Some sweet light and a not bad angle on this swan coming in for a landing after its afternoon exercise.

I might have enjoyed a lower angle, but with that, I would lose some reflection.

I was happy to not see the yellow tags on the wings, so no cloning was needed. With the manual exposure and the Sony electronic viewfinder, exposure is easy, and usually very close. Especially if you know how to read a histogram.

With the A9 viewfinder controls, we can tell the camera to show the live histogram, and monitor it while we shoot. A very huge advantage!

Thanks for looking!

3 in a row!

Long-tailed ducks Incoming!

A wonderful chance to catch these 3 beauties coming into look for a change of scenery. Also, it was nice to have such sweet light behind me.

Birds in Flight will always be my favourite type of shooting, but I do miss the dragonflies from last summer!

Thanks for looking!

Long-tailed Ducks

A fun day with some sweet sunlight at our backs. Maria and I had such a good time with these beauties. Hoping for another chance soon!

At about 45 mph, the challenge was AF speed, and the ability to keep these birds in the frame. I will say the A9 was brilliant.

Thanks for looking

Purple Gallinule in Florida

Such awesome colours on this beautiful marsh bird.

Thanks for looking!

Great grey owl hunting for a natural Dinner.

It was nice to catch this flight shot as this amazing owl was moving to a new hunting position. Panning the speed of the owl was easy as I was using a Jobu Gimbal head, on an Algonquin tripod, also made by Jobu.

Let's hop for another try with these wonderful owls through the winter of 2021.

Thanks for looking!

"Circle of Life" in the natural world.

A male Kestrel flew right to the passenger door of my pickup truck, and scooped this mouse out of the grass, and ventured off to the nearest tree.

On foot, my guest and I were able to move in close and capture a few images of the feeding. Often, while out photographing wild raptors, we will see a feeding. Here we can witness the falcon eating the brains of the mouse first., as opposed to an owl which will swallow the mouse whole.

Enjoy and respect Nature!

Red-necked spurfowl
2020 Tanzania Tour.

We had a great visit with this beauty, as we were able to create several backgrounds and angles as it posed for about 10 minutes!

Thanks to our awesome driver for providing such an awesome opportunity.

Thanks for looking!

February 2002 tour to Tanzania!

Special thanks to my guests, this was another excellent tour almost 9 years ago.

These to majestic beauties posed for me by a dried up lake, near our lunch area. So a sandwich on one hand, and the shutter button in the other.

Lets hope for another tour in 2021!

Thanks for looking.

Puffin in flight
2016 Photo Tour.

So much fun catching flight shots of these beauty's! i am still hoping for a tour to happen in 2021 summer!

Newfoundland 2010
I still enjoy going through the old images from 10 years ago!
Thanks to Chris, Glenn, and David for a fun trip. ( my first tour )

Here we had a pod of Orca dining on a Minke whale right in front of us!

Spectacular Nature!

Tall and Hungry!

Looks like a great salad!

East African Giraffe, munching down on an Acacia tree.
February 2020 tour.

Thanks for looking!