ajkessler wrote:
This one is absolutely wonderful Steve. Well done.
AJ
I agree with AJ. Knowing this wasn't taken from a tundra buggy makes it more special. Apparantly Steve wasn't wearing a seal coat or we might not be seeing this great shot!
Here is my favorite shot of the year. I am fairly new to "serious" wildlife photography; this is my first FM image post:
http://andrewkelley.net/photos/IMG_3726.jpg
I captured this image during a family trip to Sanibel Island. I got some great images at the Ding Darling refuge on Sanibel, but, as luck would have it, my best image came from a pond 10 yards behind my hotel.
This is one of my best shots of the year. it was a bit hard to get. Had to bend down and try to go thrue a cylone fence at the Melbourne Zoo, so the sun would not hit the fence.
Brazos Bend, Texas
Green Heron helping a frog across an alligator infested pond.
I was amazed that I got any useable image.
At the time I had a 500mm + 2xTC mounted on a tripod which was totally collapsed. I saw this action near me through the limbs of a fallen tree. There was no time to remove the TC or even extend the tripod legs to be able to shoot over the tree. All I could do was boost the shutter speed, handhold and focus on the eyes. The frog's expression, as he's "hanging out" with his new buddy, always brings a smile to my face.
This has been a down year for me in terms of photography - at least the wildlife photography that I enjoy the most. I did not have many opportunities for a number of reasons, but I'm stoked about 2007. I expect 2006 to end up better than it has been so far as well - I'm expecting! A brand new 500mm f/4L IS should be here before the end of the month!
Anyhow, this is one of my favorites from this year. This was taken on a trip to visit my son down in Tucson. Gambel's, like most quail, are very skittish birds. I was fortunate to have one "pose" for me for about 2 minutes in the early morning Golden Hour light. http://www.edrotberg.org/images/Gambel's%20Quail%203.jpg
