New Zealand native parrot has been visiting our valley over the last few weeks, popping in again yesterday to our property for an awesome photo op!  It very graciously sat in our walnut tree long enough for me to run inside, and return with camera and lens for a few nice pics.

Nikon D600, Nikon 200-400 f/4 VR2  lens, hand held – no tripod

ISO 200, 400 mm, f/4, 1/160 seconds exposure, aperture priority mode, auto focus,

Cropping, raw file conversion and minor adjustments in Photoshop CC

New Zealand native parrot has been visiting our valley over the last few weeks, popping in again yesterday to our property for an awesome photo op!  It very graciously sat in our walnut tree long enough for me to run inside, and return with camera and lens for a few nice pics.

Nikon D600, Nikon 200-400 f/4 VR2 lens, hand held

ISO 200, 400mm, f/4, 1/160 seconds exposure, aperture priority mode, auto focus,

Cropped and minor editing in Photoshop CC

Our home, our bottle brush tree, sunny day, beautiful bird – what more to say ..

Nikon D4, Nikon 200-400 f/4 VR2 lens

ISO 250, 400mm, f/4, 1/1,600 seconds exposure, aperture priority mode, auto focus,

Raw file conversion, basic adjustments with Capture One Pro 11, vignette added in Photoshop CC

Mallard Duck (as opposed to Drake) fanning it’s wings on Manawatu waters

Nikon D90, Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 lens

Hand held, VR (image stablisation) off, ISO 200, 200 mm, f/3.5, 1/1000 seconds exposure, aperture priority mode, auto focus,

Sharpened, light and colour adjusted in Lightroom 4, layered in Photoshop for background/vignette effect.

Taken in forestry between Carterton and the Coast.  Amazingly this Falcon was not too worried about me swapping lenses and slowly approaching close enough for a series of shots

Nikon D600, Nikkon 70-200 f/2.8 lens

ISO 100, 200mm, f/4, 1/800 seconds exposure, aperture priority mode, auto focus, hand held

Capture One Pro 8 for RAW conversion, cropping and minor adjustments.  Photoshop CS5 for vignette layering effects.

A pair of Wood Pigeons (Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae, Kereru) tasting the delights of new christmas plumb leaves in the Pohangina Valley, Manawatu, New Zealand.

Nikon D600, Nikkon 200-400 f/4 VRII lens, hand held, VR set to normal

ISO 200, 400 mm, f/8, 1/640 seconds exposure, aperture priority mode, auto focus,

Import sharpened and minor adjustments in Capture One Pro 7

The humble sparrow, a juvenile female.

Nikon D600, Nikkon 70-200 f/2.8 VR lens attached to TC14E teleconverter, hand held with VR on

ISO 100, 280mm, f/4, 1/250 seconds exposure, aperture priority mode, auto focus,

Import sharpening and minor colour and light adjustments in Capture One 7 Pro, final tweaks with Topaz Clarity

NZ Falcon in Wairarapa forestry, lovely against the blue of the sky in soft afternoon sunlight. The warm light belies the chilly mountain air. As I travel the roads and tracks of New Zealand’s north Island high country I have seen a few of these Falcons but this is the first “photo” opportunity.

Nikon D600, Nikkon 70-200 f/2.8 lens, hand held, VR on

ISO 100, 200mm, f/4, 1/800 seconds exposure, aperture priority mode, auto focus,

Sharpened, light and colour adjusted in Capture One Pro 7. Detail and clarity adjustments with Topaz Labs Detail2 and Clarity.

A small Pohangina valley creek where Fantails feed on small insects like mosquitos! This mosquito is very still on the leaf right in front of the Fantail, as yet unseen.

Nikon D7000, Nikkon 70-200 f/2.8 VR lens, TC-14E 1.4 Teleconverter

ISO 100, 220 mm, f/4, 1/320 seconds exposure, aperture priority mode, auto focus, hand held, VR on

Sharpened, light and colour adjusted in Lightroom 3 …

Female Mallard Duck

Nikon D90, Nikkon 70-200 f/2.8 lens

ISO 200, 200mm, f/3.2, 1/800 seconds exposure, aperture priority mode, auto focus, single focus point selection

Imported into Lightroom 3.6, first pass sharpen and colour adjustment. Further adjustment layer in PS CS5