* WARNING * 21 pix.

Zoo Dad · Jan 10, 2006

joelfoto said:
More geuine BEAUTIFUL Barred Owl shots!

Thank you Joel, very nice of you to say.....

)

--
Jody Melanson
Capturer of God's Creations.
CATS Member > ^..^
http://www.pbase.com/jody_melanson

There is a very fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'.

Zoo Dad · Jan 10, 2006

SayersWeb said:
Jody,

Please convince some of those owls to come down to Virginia so I
can have a try at photographing them!

OK, I told him you have a TON of big fat juicy mice down there.

)

SayersWeb said:
I especially like the lighting in the mouse shots. My cats liked
those shots best.

Heh heh, I have a feeder just out my back door. My cats sit in front of the sliding door watching "kitty TV" as I call it.

)

SayersWeb said:
The flight shots are amazing.... 1/250th! Amazing! Are these with
the 400mm f/5.6L?

Yep, 400. Who says it isn't a low light lens! Not bad for handheld. Gotta love that Bushhawk! I can consistently get keepers at 1/160-200 sec with this setup.

--
Jody Melanson
Capturer of God's Creations.
CATS Member > ^..^
http://www.pbase.com/jody_melanson

There is a very fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'.

Zoo Dad · Jan 10, 2006

G. Gray said:
Very nice Jody. Lydie Shores ??

Thanks Gerry. No this guy has been hanging around Halls Rd. Anywhere around both paths or in between.

G. Gray said:
Bushhawk is an interesting device. I think I will make one.

I thought about making one. By the time you buy the neccessary hardware though, it is almost as cheap to buy. Only a $100.

G. Gray said:
I think my next stop will be the Park in Quebec that Daniella
suggested. I really would like some shots of wolves. Seagrave seems
to not offer much.

You're right, you can't get a good Wolf shot at Northwood. I did see a Wolf in the wild today, but too far away.

(

G. Gray said:
Again beautiful action shots . Camoflage on jackets and lens etc
seems to be a nice touch. I notice you also use this. Just bought
one of thse 4 way ladders so I can shoot over fences. Think I will
camo it. Makes for a strange looking tripod.

The camo does seem to help. Going to make some mobile blinds I think also.

G. Gray said:
Anyway.... great shots

Thanks again, Gerry, I'm sure we'll see you around.

--
Jody Melanson
Capturer of God's Creations.
CATS Member > ^..^
http://www.pbase.com/jody_melanson

There is a very fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'.

Zoo Dad · Jan 10, 2006

sarat said:
my co-workers and i were admiring the owl shots especially! i was
curious as to if you had taken these photos with your new camera.
it didnt say which gear you used- your pics are awesome as always.
wish i could take pics half as good as you some day. and i wish i
had the wildlife/birds that you have near you! sara

Thank you Sara, yes I used the 1D and the 400/5.6 for these. That is almost all I use now. I am truly blessed with the abundance of wildlife around me and I am really grateful. I will shoot it the best I can and share it here with you guys/gals.

You are very kind. I only started doing this just over a year ago....when I look back at some of my early shots! Hoo boy, there were some real stinkers! I've come a long way. I just keep reading, practicing and experimenting. Remember I only show you guy/gals the good shots.

)

--
Jody Melanson
Capturer of God's Creations.
CATS Member > ^..^
http://www.pbase.com/jody_melanson

There is a very fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'.

Zoo Dad · Jan 10, 2006

Blue II said:
Absolutely stunning. Great job, once again.

Thank you Steve for the very kind words!

--
Jody Melanson
Capturer of God's Creations.
CATS Member > ^..^
http://www.pbase.com/jody_melanson

There is a very fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'.

Zoo Dad · Jan 10, 2006

RobMcD said:
Those are some stunning pictures there.

Thank you Rob, I'm glad you enjoyed them.

)

--
Jody Melanson
Capturer of God's Creations.
CATS Member > ^..^
http://www.pbase.com/jody_melanson

There is a very fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'.

Zoo Dad · Jan 10, 2006

jmagdiel said:
Hi Jody!!!!

Nothing less than I expect from your pics. Really impresive work.
I´m also buying one of those.

Thanks Jose. Have fun!

--
Jody Melanson
Capturer of God's Creations.
CATS Member > ^..^
http://www.pbase.com/jody_melanson

There is a very fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'.

Zoo Dad · Jan 10, 2006

John Quin said:
An outstanding collection of images Jody, you now have me thinking
about the Bushhawk....is there a Canadian distributer?

The only place I know where you can get them is directly from them.

http://www.bushhawk.com

John Quin said:
I hadn't seen an owl in the wild for over a year until I tagged
along with a local birding group yesterday who were checking out
the area to the north-east of Fergus, we saw two Snowy Owls (though
not close enough for decent shots), Red-Tailed and Rough-legged
Hawks and the real surprise was a mature Bald Eagle perched on a
branch overlooking the Grand River..

I heard there was a Mature Bald Eagle hanging around Port Credit. I saw a Juvenile Baldie today, but he was too far away for a shot. We went looking for Snowy Owls today, but no luck.

(

Thank you John.

--
Jody Melanson
Capturer of God's Creations.
CATS Member > ^..^
http://www.pbase.com/jody_melanson

There is a very fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'.

Zoo Dad · Jan 10, 2006

Numfar said:
Numfar said:

along with a local birding group yesterday who were checking out
the area to the north-east of Fergus, we saw two Snowy Owls (though
not close enough for decent shots), Red-Tailed and Rough-legged
Hawks and the real surprise was a mature Bald Eagle perched on a
branch overlooking the Grand River..

Click to expand...

John - I'll have to check out the area - my in-laws are in Elora
right along the Grand, and we visit a couple times a year. Just got
back, actually.

Let me know if you find any please.

Numfar said:
Jody - great shots, again. The 400mm?

Yep, 400. Great lens. Very fast focus speed. I was shooting the Owl the other day and looked to my right and saw a Bluejay flying over. I pointed the camera at him (now overhead) and grabbed 2 quick shots. Both were in focus and almost full frame! Unbelievable!

Thanks!

--
Jody Melanson
Capturer of God's Creations.
CATS Member > ^..^
http://www.pbase.com/jody_melanson

There is a very fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'.

Zoo Dad · Jan 10, 2006

Gary Grainger said:
Do you use boot warmers? How is the camera in the cold?

No, I have Baffin boots though, good to -40. The camera is great in the cold. I have had the XT out in -16 and no problems at all. I have had the 300D out in -22 and the LCD was a little slow displaying, but other than that, no problem. Just make sure you have fully charged battery(ies) as the cold will sap them.

--
Jody Melanson
Capturer of God's Creations.
CATS Member > ^..^
http://www.pbase.com/jody_melanson

There is a very fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'.

Zoo Dad · Jan 10, 2006

--
Jody Melanson
Capturer of God's Creations.
CATS Member > ^..^
http://www.pbase.com/jody_melanson

There is a very fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'.

Zoo Dad · Jan 10, 2006

PeterY said:
You must have been an owl in your previous life ;-) Great shots.

Heh heh. Any Short Eared around Peter? I have found a Saw Whet Owl around here. Went looking for a Snowy Owl today but no luck.

--
Jody Melanson
Capturer of God's Creations.
CATS Member > ^..^
http://www.pbase.com/jody_melanson

There is a very fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'.

Zoo Dad · Jan 10, 2006

icmp said:
..first off, very nice captures. Thanks for sharing! My daughter
(well, one of my 4) was favorably impressed by the eating sequence.
"Eww" followed shortly thereafter by "Cool!". I have to agree. A
great sequence, there.

Thank you! It is just like at this private Zoo I was at in the summer and they fed some Lions a roadkill Deer. All of the kids went "Ewwwww" followed by the "wow!"

icmp said:
Now, my question (pls forgive me if I've missed this in my brief
search!): Have you tried using the Bushmaster for MACRO
applications, at all? If so, what say you to value of this for
macro? If not, then hurry up and give it a try! Please?! ;-D
Please comment, if you would be so kind, as to how the use of a BM
for macro compares to your experience of shooting entirely handheld?

I haven't tried it for Macro yet, but I think it will work great. It is like a tripod as you have both hands on it and the stock against your shoulder, so you have 3 points of contact. You can put your other elbow (the one that is just holding and not using the shutter release) against your side, like I normally do and give you another point of support.

icmp said:
I'm thinking this could be a great compromise and would make me
feel less guilty about leaving the tripod at home as often as I do.
The Bushmaster, if effective to use as a Macro tool, could be a
reasonable compromise... or, so I imagine and hope?

Since I bought the Bushhawk, my tripod now sits at home. I mean for a lousy hundred bucks to buy the Bushhawk, how can you go wrong? I paid 3 times that for my tripod and head.

icmp said:
And, it's a heck of alot lighter and cheaper than one of these:
http://www.ken-lab.com/stabilizers.html

=D

I looked at these, but they look very heavy and expensive.

icmp said:
Thanks for any insight you can provide,

You're welcome Mark, hope this is useful info.

--
Jody Melanson
Capturer of God's Creations.
CATS Member > ^..^
http://www.pbase.com/jody_melanson

There is a very fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'.

PH-Digi · Jan 10, 2006

Hi Jody,

Those shots are really nice!!!! Taken with a EOS-1D MII N, uuuhhhh.......
--
Paul Hakimata
http://www.hakimata.com

.....and in the end everything will be okay. If it's not okay, it's not the end......

CJ in CA · Jan 10, 2006

Great series again Jody! #1 is a beautiful, classic pose but my favs are #3, the cropped picture, #4 the full face, close-up (he looks positively cuddly!) and #13 where he's landing and you can see his concentration on the branch. You guys look like you had fun out there dispite the weather. Is deer season over? Be careful out there! You guys might get it from an over-anxious deer hunter

--
CJ

'But I don’t want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked.
'Oh, you can’t help that,' said the Cat. 'We’re all mad here'
Lewis Carroll - Author, Mathematician, Photographer

Zoo Dad · Jan 10, 2006

Slacker said:
Those pictures are awesome!

How does your friend, The Squirrel Whisperer, like his Better Beamer?

Thanks Slacker. Actually I don't like mine much. I find from a distance, it will flash the top part of the pic or the bottom part of the pic if you don't have the thing centered exactly on your flash. It does move around fairly easy so it is difficult to keep it centered. I am going to modify mine with a bigger freshnel lens.

--
Jody Melanson
Capturer of God's Creations.
CATS Member > ^..^
http://www.pbase.com/jody_melanson

There is a very fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'.

Zoo Dad · Jan 10, 2006

Fahro said:
Number 4, where he looks right into your lens, is simply fantastic!
You're visible in his eyes too... where you using flash for that
shot? (Reflection in his eye)

Yes I was Fahro, for a diffuser, I have the bottom of a opaque squirt bottle that I bought from the dollar store for a buck.

)

--
Jody Melanson
Capturer of God's Creations.
CATS Member > ^..^
http://www.pbase.com/jody_melanson

There is a very fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'.

Zoo Dad · Jan 10, 2006

Boefje said:
The are very good.

Thank you, Boefje.

--
Jody Melanson
Capturer of God's Creations.
CATS Member > ^..^
http://www.pbase.com/jody_melanson

There is a very fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'.

Zoo Dad · Jan 10, 2006

Bill Linn said:
All are nice, Jody. I especially appreciate the series as stand
outs, though. Especially like the last one where it is folding his
wings after landing.

Thank you Bill. I just have sooooo many pix, I post a whack at a time. With this new body I bought just over 2 months ago, I have already taken over 16,000 pictures!

Bill Linn said:
Also, the pictures of your buddy show us that you guys were out in
the elements under harsh conditions, low light and snowing and
still came away with some fabulous pictures. Thanks.

Thanks Bill for appreciating what we go through for these.

)

--
Jody Melanson
Capturer of God's Creations.
CATS Member > ^..^
http://www.pbase.com/jody_melanson

There is a very fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'.

Zoo Dad · Jan 10, 2006

PH-Digi said:
Hi Jody,

Those shots are really nice!!!! Taken with a EOS-1D MII N,
uuuhhhh.......

Thank Paul. Yep bought it at the end of October. Have taken over 16,000 pix with it so far.

)

--
Jody Melanson
Capturer of God's Creations.
CATS Member > ^..^
http://www.pbase.com/jody_melanson

There is a very fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'.

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