Went for Feathers, Saw Metal

My last couple of trips to OBNWR have been pretty disappointing; few birds to be seen. The weather was gorgeous this morning, so I went, hoping for better luck with birds. While my luck with birds didn't change, I did catch this C-17 flying low over the Occoquan, then making the turn toward Quantico. Shortly after rolling wings level, it extended the landing gear, presumably to land at the Marine Corps base. I've seen these aircraft on the ground a few times. I've seen them in the air at a distance. This was by far the best opportunity I've had for a flight shot.

C-17 Globemaster

Conowingo Dam

Today I made my first trip of the Fall to Conowingo Dam. I've seen recent trip reports on Facebook and it seemed that there was reason to hope for some action on this beautiful, cool, clear day. No such luck.

It was bad from the beginning. I drove through two traffic jams before even leaving Virginia. Then it was slow going all the way to Baltimore. I arrived around 7:30, chose a spot right down on the water among the rocks, set the tripod up, and waited for some action.

I got a heron at the beginning.

Great Blue Heron

Then there was a series of cormorant swim-bys and fights. A few eagles were perched on the electrical towers and rocks on the far shore. And there was a grand total of one eagle fishing event, well away from me. Previous visits had few cormorants, so I was at least able to shoot some of them. But overall, it was a disappointing visit.

Cormorant with an Eel

Close Pass

With a Fish

Cormorant with an Enormous Fish

So, quite a disappointing day... But at least I was able to watch several cormorant fights. I've seen plenty of cormorants over the years, they're usually alone, and usually I ignore them because I find them uninteresting. With nothing else to see this time, I watched several events where a cormorant came to the surface with a fish, only to have several other cormorants converge and try to steal the fish. The bird with the fish would dive underwater to get away, then resurface, only for the fight to resume. I've seen this kind of fish stealing behavior in eagles quite often, but this was a first with cormorants.

Eventually I gave up and headed home. To make matters even more annoying, traffic was heavy all the way home.

This was my first outing with my new tripod. I got a Gitzo 3 series. I selected one that extends to a ridiculously high height, above my head actually. I wanted one that could put the camera well above my head so I could shoot high objects while I stand upright. My experience with the eclipse and an old Manfrotto tripod was aggravating because I couldn't get the camera up to a comfortable height. My choice was to crouch or kneel. And because the sun was so high in the sky as to seem nearly vertical, I couldn't tilt the camera enough, so I wound up extending one leg more than the others. This changed the center of gravity and made it uncomfortably unbalanced, so I set it up low to minimize the distance my camera would fall in the event it tipped over. Fortunately it never fell over, but that taught me that I needed a versatile, sturdy tripod that could extend to at least my height. The Gitzo tripod that I selected was on sale when I bought it for even less than a more standard height model. I also got it without a center column because I think center columns are useless.

To the tripod, I added a Wimberley gimbal head. I researched several other heads, and kept returning to Wimberley as the safe choice.

So anyway, about using the tripod. I set up on the shore right next to the water because I like the lower angle that it gives. Conowingo Dam's shore is a steep, rocky incline except for the concrete terrace. The water was very low; setting up on the terrace would place me much higher than I like. So I fooled with the tripod height for a while until settling on a comfortable height. Bottom line: it's sweet. I couldn't be happier with the tripod and head. Following action was effortless.

Carrying the Monster

This past Summer, I bought a new lens for wildlife photography. I immediately faced the problem of how to carry it around. I'm used to walking around with my 300mm lens, which is much smaller and lighter. I use a BlackRapid strap for that lens, and I've been pleased with that arrangement.

So after I got the new bulky, heavy lens, I started by holding the tripod foot as I walked around. That quickly gets old because of the weight; I had to frequently switch it from one hand to the other. And the stock foot that came with the lens is a bit short so there is less metal to grip than I would like. Then I tried using my BlackRapid strap, attached to the lens foot. That works OK, but I worry that the attachment point will break while supporting the weight. So I went back to just carrying the lens and attached camera by the foot.

I got a new tripod and gimbal head, so that created a need for an Arca-Swiss mounting bracket. The bracket screws into the foot, and it's not a quick job to install/remove the bracket. And it's not comfortable to carry the lens around with the bracket installed. So that led to the hunt for a replacement foot. I settled on a Jobu foot, which has the advantage of being longer (more to grip while walking), but the disadvantage of being a bit more square (less comfortable in my hand). OK, I can't win. But the new foot works great on the tripod head, so I'm sticking with it.

But what to do for a really long walk? And what if the terrain is uneven? I don't look forward to scrambling over rocks with my camera in my hands. I really don't look forward to scrambling with the camera and a tripod.

I think I have the answer. My son rows, and his team had a race this past weekend. I looked at the course map and decided that the best place to photograph the action was on the shore of a park along the river, and this park is a forest with unimproved paths. The nearest parking lot is 2 miles away from the spot I selected. Let me introduce my newest camera accessory.

Osprey Stratos 26

I got this backpack for hiking. My son and I hiked through the Haleakala caldera earlier this year and we each needed to pack our own water and snacks. I didn't want to make him use an old school book knapsack and sour him on hiking, so I spent the money on a good pack, complete with a rigid frame and a mesh screen that keeps the pack from resting against the wearer's back. This means the sweat can evaporate instead of being trapped in the shirt between the body and the pack. It separates the main compartment from the body, leaving an air gap.

My camera and lens fit perfectly in this backpack. The frame and screen keep the bulky uncomfortable edges from digging in to my back. And there are loops made for attaching hiking poles, which worked beautifully for my monopod. I hiked 2 miles in, photographed my son, and hiked 2 miles out, up and down steep hills.

Bottom line: this worked great, although I still need to figure out how to lug my tripod. I'll probably just carry that in my hands or over my shoulder, which is still not ideal, but at least the expensive camera and lens are well-protected and secure in the pack. I don't think I can attach the tripod to the pack; it's too big and heavy.