Maggie

I believe this is Maggie at Morpheus Island.
The tide was running strong today and as a result hard to keep my position.
I came up with an Acronym today to describe being at the right place,with the right equipment and at the right time. P.E.T. Place,Equipment,Time
I love it because of the simplicity.
I’m always trying to name or describe things!

Delilah

She was very active today. This is a nice sequence of her coming in for a hit!
I started the days shoot with a frustrating moment .
The Daredevil came down and got a fish,but my lens was “Hunting”. Thats when the auto focus is searching. I couldn’t lock onto her! It only takes a few seconds but that was long enough for me to miss the opportunity! I always hate when I do something stupid like this.This happens from time to time and is just part of the whole.

Monas Island Gang

I think I’m going to boost my shutter speed next time. This will make the water look more crisp!
This shutter speed was set at 1/800 th of a second.

River Otters Mating

I came across these River Otters at Deadman Island when I was visiting Romeo and Juliette.
It became obvious after a moment that they were mating. Although ,it looked pretty rough for her. The male seemed to wear her down by putting all his weight onto her and by biting her neck.
Kind of looked like “Bull Riding” but Otter style!
They are a very playful species and very social,except I guess when mating season is in full swing.
Romeo and Juliette were watching from above.( with amusement I’m sure)
Eagles are always watching everything and everybody. It’s very hard to sneak up on a Eagle.

Romeo perching

These guys do not mind me getting close to them, that’s why they are my favorites. They are also the favorites for all the Whale Watching Companies in Town as well.
These two are the “Bell of the Ball” in the harbour!

Landing

They often like to perch from the tops of trees so that they can have an unobstructed view all around.
Eagles always have the best Real Estate!
Because of the angle the sun was hitting him,I think the light in this shot was great. Shows texture!

Romeo Coming In

Romeo doing his thing!
The light was just right,but they both were content just to perch today.

Romeo

I like to get a head on shot from time to time. It’s almost always a profile shot!

The “Daredevil”

He’s raising his Talons for a hit!

The Daredevil Grabs A Fish

I like the fully outstretched wings on this guy. I don’t know why they do this,but after they grab a fish the Head seems to become extended and is slightly lowered! Maybe aerodynamics??
The light was very good but the tide was ripping!

Eagle grabbing a fish

I always get a kick out out of how serious Eagles look!
This guy has a very serious look upon his face.
Eagles always come into their prey from down wind. This way they can control their flight.

Double-Crested Cormorant

I had to ask a friend about this bird because I am not as up on my birds as he is.
Adrian Dorst is recognized as a leading authority on birds and is a remarkable photographer as well. I had thought it might be a Brandt’s,but he told me it was an immature Double-Crested Cormorant.
Still beautiful no matter what you call them!
I always think of Cormorants as being the F-18’s of birds. They like to fly fast and low. However,Adrian told me that these guys fly higher than their cousins.

Lennard Island Lighthouse Sunset

I got only one today. The clouds just wouldn’t part. However,I did get alittle.
Even when I have a poor day shooting ,it’s still better than most people’s day!

Lennard Island Lighthouse

I moved further to the south of my usual spot to put these rocks in the foreground. I always try to have a foreground to my subject.
In this shot the rocks are the foreground,with the Lighthouse being the main subject in the mid-ground and the light being the background. A good mix.

Lennard Island Lighthouse

The light has been very poor in the last week,so this is my vain attempt at trying to take a picture in poor light!
A storm was passing and the cloud structure was such that there were random holes for the sun to shine through. Not much to write home about really.

Lennard Island Lighthouse

With regards to the actual light in the tower,I always count to myself to get a better idea when the light will shine. That way I know when it’s about to flash. You have to shoot a lighthouse ONLY when the light is shining at you ! Trying to get a wave to crash at the same time the light flashes,is a difficult matter and deals more with shear luck than anything else!
A clearing in the cloud structure behind the Lighthouse gave enough light to back light it nicely.
Cloud structure is critical to photography ! I’ve been reading up about clouds and they are a fascinating subject unto themselves !
He who knows clouds ,will be able to get better pictures !
I also use Satellite/Radar on my computer to show me whats going to be happening !
It’s a great aid.

Lennard Island Lighthouse

Another attempt at trying to get something out of nothing.The cloud structure was moving from left to right. South to North. I waited for this hole in the clouds behind the Lighthouse to drift to the north to highlight the structure.
It was tricky because I was down wind of the waves crashing and all the spray was trying to coat my lens. I always carry a clean cloth for this exact reason.

Lennard Island Lighthouse

For a few minutes the sun shone right through the wave explosions.
The light could of been better.More thin cloud to diffuse the light better. I would of avoided the blow out on my whites.
Your dealt the hand and how you play it,will determine the size of the reward!

Lennard Island Lighthouse

I love this location and am always shooting it at different times of the year.

Blue Heron

I’ve always found Heron’s & Trumpeter Swans to be really hard to get good pictures of !
What I do now when I see one is go up tide & shut the boat motor off & drift silently right into him. It works really well if a small island can cover you until the last moment.
I always love the golden light of the longer wavelengths when the sun’s rays become filtered of the shorter wavelengths near sunset. The earths atmosphere refracts the light and basically stops the weaker/shorter wavelengths dead in their tracks!
Leaving only the big powerful wavelengths able to get through. The Red’s,Oranges and Yellow’s.(ROY)

Dropping The Gear

This is Classic eagle behavior. When they come in on a run for a fish ,they “Drop the Landing gear”.
When they are really close,they will raise their Talons to pounce!

Mature and Juvenile Tofino Eagles

This shot definitely needs an explanation.
The eagle on the left is the parent of the one on the right. The young eagle is from last years nesting. They actually had two eaglets.
During the year the young will hang around and be tolerated by Mom and Dad. If Mom or Dad get a salmon,their young will hang around until Mom and Dad have had their fill and than grab the rest for themselves.
However……. when next years nesting season comes around,Mom and Dad will put the boots(talons) to last years offspring !
Thats what is going on here.
These guys are part of the Monas Island gang, as I call them. They are prolific and tolerate alot from their young. Several years of young at that too !

OOPS!

You would be amazed at how many times they have “Butter” Talons.
Sometimes the fish gets away!

Inverted Dive!

This is a rare shot.
Eagles sometimes display this behavior. Where they invert very quickly & dive at their prey !
I’m guessing on this one,but if the shape of the wing normally gives lift,it’ll when inverted do the same. In other words,they can descend REALLY quickly if they think the prey is perfect at that moment.
They seem to be able to rotate their head almost as much as Owl,if not more!!
This is one of the Monas Island gang.

Blue Heron

This was tricky to steer the boat in a strong current near rocks and line up the Mountains in the background and the Heron in the foreground.
I shot this close to sunset. Pretty birds,but they sure make a noise.

Rare Head On Shot!

Eagles almost always fly beside a person and never at them.
The only reason he did this (the Daredevil at Tsapee Narrows)is because he knows that I am not a threat.
Plus……… he’s a cheeky eagle!
I have been photographing them for years as well,so I am just another animal to them that has never harmed or attempted to harm them.
I’m also using a big lens to get close. He probably was 30 meters away or so

Snagging!

The sound coming off of their wings when they come in on one of their runs is hair raising !! I can’t record that with a picture,but trust me it’s icing to the cake when you see one of these beautiful creatures take a fish !
I use a fast shutter speed when I’m around these guys. I always want to be ready for them. They are so FASTTTTTTTTTTTTTT.

Moe,About To Jump

When they want to fly away,they crouch down, jump forward and out into the air.
Thats what Moe is doing here. I got him on Morpheous Island. They all have their favorite perch tree’s and I know every single one of them.

Perching

I love the texture of her wing feathers and the lighting is just RIGHT !
This is Juliette from the Deadman couple. She and Romeo rule Tofino’s Harbour and are a force to be dealt with if your another eagle trying to pass through their territory!

Turning

You can see by the direction of the water off of it’s Talons,that it has rotated around when it got to the top of it’s arc. Basically he’s going backwards for a second!
Oh,and he was keeping an eye on me as well.
I use a 100-300mm lens and am almost always maxed out on the focal length to 300mm with these guys. They just don’t like to be close to humans.(they must be smarter than most think!)
I think a Fast 400mm could still be used,but to try and hold it on your fast moving subject while your in a boat that’s moving(tide,swell,wind) takes ALOT of trying. With even more out of focus,partial/out of the frame to be tossed out at the end of the day.But thats part of it.
A good friend of mine is always telling me not to give up and to keep trying,because if it was easy …….everybody would be doing it!(thanks Stu)

Baldy Turning

I love it when they turn. They basically are not moving for a second and are easy PREY for my camera !
They also seem to have a funny face too at this point.
Eagles do not have a face that seems to changes much. I can only speculate that their facial musculature must not be as developed as ours?

The Daredevil Snags Another!

This is the Daredevil grabbing another salmon. Trying to pan with these guys going by so fast is very hard. Your almost always too fast and overshoot him when he pounces. They slow down slightly when they hit the fish and this causes you to overshoot the subject.
They hurry off to the nest to have a snack. Kind of like us after going to our favorite take out place!

Blow Hole (plateau)

I almost always watch the Blow Hole from this vantage point. It’s safe and you are up high enough to see the sets as they come in. I figure you are about 40-50 feet above the ocean here. That gives you an idea the size of these wave explosions.
Still,these are very small compared with the Blow Hole

Bow Hole (Plateau)

I just tried to silhouette my friend against the sky/explosion!

Delilah Snagging!

The golden light was perfect. The head is alittle blown out,but still usable.

Romeo Attacking

This is an excellent example of how they control their descent by skimming across the water on their tail feathers! The tail feathers act like a toboggan! They don’t always hit the water. This only gets used when they misjudge the speed or how high they are. Kind of like a safety device.

He Ate The WHOLE Thing!

What can I say about this?
I think this is self explanatory.
This is Moe and he ate the whole thing! You can see the the tail going down.
They usually start with the head ,and finish with some tail! We all like to end with some tail!

Vampire Pose

This is a excellent shot of what I call the “Vampire ” pose. It’s because the first wing flap after hitting the prey has to be a really big one to get back up in the air. This makes them sweep really far out in front of him.
I changed the exposure & found a area with darkness in it for the background. I figured that he would stand out because of the contrast difference. & he does.

The Daredevil’s Blackness

The shutter speed was 1/1200 of a second. Thats fast enough to freeze these guys. I found I can go down to 1/400

California Group Hug

I came across these guys down in front of Cannery bay. Down Tofino Inlet to the east.
They like to bask in the sun and make lots of noise!
A few of them showed scars from a fight! I can only assume that it must be from each other.
Only the adult males and juveniles come up from the south. The females stay in the south.
There are 7 types of Sea Lions(Pinnipeds) and they are found all over the world ,except in the Atlantic. Nobody knows why this occurs?

Eagle in Flight

This shot is great because of the background. It really works well with this guy and the fact that he was looking left.

California Sea Lions

The guy on the right, is either deaf or the guy on the left is pissed!

Immature Eagle

I think this is one of last years eaglets from the Deadman Island couple. I have yet to see or get a shot of one of these guys grabbing a fish. That leads me to think that Mom and Dad leave food for them. After Mom and Dad finish filling their belly’s,they will allow their offspring to chow down. They would not allow another strange eagle to grab it however!

Harbour At Sunset With Strathcona’s Mountains In The Background

The colour of this sky is the last visible wavelength before the sun says nighty nighty! Violet is the longest wavelength and as a result the last to show.