Vacation in OBX. Snapped these before Irene kicked us out early.

I just picked up a 7D recently and this was my first real outing with it. I decided to try my hand at some birds in flight and was, I think, reasonably successful. Here are a couple that I'm particularly happy with, along with some other random captures that I think turned out pretty well.

I took along my kit lens (28-135 f/3.5-5.6 USM) and a rental 70-200 f/2.8L IS II. All but one of these were with the 70-200. LOVE that lens. The saving has already begun to buy one.

Love to hear your thoughts on these! Thanks!









I'm pretty irritated that I clipped his wing on this one.





This gull didn't quite know what to do with this pufferfish after he caught it. He eventually just flew away with it still in his beak.









I somehow managed to cut this guy off at the hooves without noticing. Shame, cause I like this one otherwise.





Thoughts on the vignette? Too strong?





Wish I would have had a longer lens for this one. I had to crop it quite a bit to get a composition I liked.

It looks like you have years of experience with that cam and lens. Good job!

You got out of there just in time.

--
John

Semper Fi!

Thanks!

Evacuation was mandatory for visitors on Thursday morning. Lost 2 days of vacation, :| but we all gout out safely.

Lovely shots! What a shame you had to lose 2 days of your vacation. However, I did have to look up OBX to figure out what you were talking about. I went camping in Ocracoke back in 1970 or 71. It was our first camping trip and my husband didn't know how to set up a tent. It collapsed on us during the night during a storm. We laugh about that now that we all now how my husband is all thumbs.
--
Olga

Thanks Olga! It felt more like 3 days as we spent most of the day on Wednesday waiting to see what time we would have to leave. We knew it was coming, just weren't sure when. :|

Ocracoke was one of the first places evacuated since you can only get out to the island by ferry. We were actually up Rt. 12 between Duck and Corolla so we got an extra day.

Olga Johnson said:

Lovely shots! What a shame you had to lose 2 days of your vacation. However, I did have to look up OBX to figure out what you were talking about. I went camping in Ocracoke back in 1970 or 71. It was our first camping trip and my husband didn't know how to set up a tent. It collapsed on us during the night during a storm. We laugh about that now that we all now how my husband is all thumbs.
--
Olga

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Great images! An old business partner has given me an open invitation, but have never been to the area yet. Someday...

Thanks! You should definitely try to make it there. Lots of great landscape and wildlife opportunities. All the lighthouses make for great captures as well.

Sidekicker said:

Great images! An old business partner has given me an open invitation, but have never been to the area yet. Someday...

Click to expand...

Hi Jason,

At least your safe, and Irene didn't hurt as much as we first thought !

Okay, on with the pictures:

1. WOW ! I love the sky colours, and the details on the bird are, awesome !
2. I likee the sky here also, it's different, I like the vignette on it ! Nice framing also !
3. Okay, I took this from the buffet guys, and just realized what it is, can I put back, what do I do with it LOL !!!
4. A bit soft, looking at the tail, but nice shot of isolating the subject !
5. Yeah, too bad the hooves got cut off, otherwise a very nice shot, I have one in my gallery of a couple horses.
6. Nice shot of the scenary, I like the composition, the coulds, the colours, the ocean. Oh, and I don't think the vignette on that shot is too strong, not for my taste, it suites the mood.
7. I know what you mean by reaching further, but you know what, none the less the dolphin jump right out, I saw it right away, and you get a scence of the space around.
8. Beautiful sunrise, simply beautiful !

Thanks for getting up real early to take the shots, and share them with us.

Bernard

--

I measure my success in life not by my awards, but by the amount of smiles, hugs and kisses I get from my family on a daily basis !

Thanks Bernard!

It wasn't nearly as bad here (Baltimore, MD) as we all thought it would be. There are still a few thousand people without power, but that number is shrinking by the day. Luckily we were only out for about 15 hours or so.

I had planned on being content capturing some sunsets over on the sound-side since i'm definitely NOT a morning person, but my wife managed to drag me out of bed a couple of times to capture these. I'm glad she did!

Thanks again for the kind words.