I just lead a very successful Spoonbill photography workshop at Alafia Banks, Florida! With three boat rides over the weekend, including one to Dit Dot Dash rookery, everybody went back home with amazing Spoonbill with breeding colors photographs. Alafia Banks is currently hosting a very sizeable colony of Roseate Spoonbills nesting in the mangrove trees. One of the biggest gathering of this kind makes the place a heaven for Spoonbill photography! You are welcome to contact me for a private tour on site 😉
Roseate Spoonbill flapping its wings – Alafia Banks, Florida
ISO 640 | f/5.6 | 1/5000 sec. | Manual mode | AI servo rear focusing
This photograph was created with the Canon 600mm f/4 L IS II USM lens (Canon 600mm f/4 L IS II USM review) with the 1.4x extender, the Canon EOS 5D mark III handheld while seated on the sand.
Now this Spoonbill photograph is something special! Mark my word. It was created during the 2014 Spoonbill photography workshop at Alafia Banks during breeding season. The only way to create this stance is to wait for the bird to flap its wings after bathing. While it is common to see shorebirds bathing in the shallow water, bathing Spoonbills are not as common. Recognizing the potential for greatness, I quickly moved the group from a corner that was more suitable for banks in flight, to this little cove full of algea. The green background came as an added bonus. We did not make it on time for the bathing itself, but I made sure my students did not miss the spectacular flap that followed. Recognizing behaviors in the field goes a long way towards award-winning picture creation. 🙂
Spoonbill banking in flight – Alafia Banks, Florida
ISO 400 | f/7.1 | 1/3200 sec. | Manual mode | AI servo rear focusing
This photograph was created with the Canon 600mm f/4 L IS II USM lens (Canon 600mm f/4 L IS II USM review) with the 1.4x extender, the Canon EOS 5D mark III handheld while seated on the sand.
Banking shots are amongst the hardest flight photographs to create. The recipe is to understand flight trajectories, some patience and voila! I wished this Spoonbill was banking a bit more though. Something to go after for the next tour I guess…
Spoonbill calling with wings up – Alafia Banks, Florida
ISO 500 | f/5.6 | 1/5000 sec. | Manual mode | AI servo rear focusing
This photograph was created with the Canon 600mm f/4 L IS II USM lens (Canon 600mm f/4 L IS II USM review) with the 1.4x extender, the Canon EOS 5D mark III handheld while seated on the sand.
During breeding season, besides the beautiful feathers, Spoonbills display some very interesting behaviors. They will often lift their head to call to others for instance. This Spoonbill was calling while running and having its wings up, nice combination!
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Steven
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