Sample Images: Pentax 560 MM Lens

 Some Bird Shots

It will take a month or two for me to write an honest review of this monster lens.

I decided it would be a good idea to post a few photos before they get buried in my files.

This Northern Shoveler, launching into the sky was taken on the morning of November 22, 2020.

Using  1.4 Teleconverter the focal length of this image was 784 MM.

The Great Egret image was taken December 8, 2020, shortly before 9 AM.

Focal Length: 560 MM

Other Equipment

A Gitzo tripod and Wimberly Gimbal with Arca-Swiss quick release plate.

Unless walking a short distance, shouldering the contraption, a backpack is required.

My favorite spots (hiking) for wildlife photography are kilometers away from home.

I backpack the big lens, while I shoulder the tripod and camera with a 300MM lens attached.

Nearing a location where the big lens will be needed, I unpack and build my big rig.

One of these days, I'll have an assistant photograph the old guy hiking with all his gear.

Meanwhile, just use your imagination!

Ducks Can Brighten Up a Rainy Day in Okinawa

 

Out for a quick four-hour walk in the wind and rain, this was one image I decided to save.

Normally, the dog and I would be out for five hours or longer in better weather.

Lots of time was spent getting shelter from the cold drizzle, beneath a highway overpass.

The ducks (Northern Shovelers) hangout in wetlands, sucking what they eat from the water.

Sometimes a flooded field and other times, this canal they're seen taking flight from.

They migrate here for the winter months and I photograph them almost daily.

It's lots more fun, taking long walks on sunny days with blue skies.

But, any time spent outdoors beats sitting around stuck indoors, on a day in December.

What do you do for excitement on foul-weather days?

MORE ABOUT NORTHERN SHOVELERS

Wordless Wednesday: We Missed NOV Full Moon but Not in 2017

 

Wordless Wednesday: Northern Shoveler

 

Great Cormorant Flying Over Kin Town, Okinawa

 Photographed Today with Pentax 560 MM Lens

There won't be a review of this new lens until it's been fully evaluated.

Lately, I've been backpacking the monster each morning, as I do my 10,000 daily steps.

Plenty of ducks migrate to Okinawa for winter. They were sort of avoiding me today.

All of a sudden, two strange-looking birds flew overhead and I wasn't sure what they were.

Here's a favorite image of one I used to get an identification. I'm not exactly a bird expert.

So, I wind up jumping through all sorts of Internet hoops, to get you this information.

English Name: Great Cormorant

Scientific Name: Phalacrocorax carbo

Japanese Name: Kawa-u (カワウ)

More of these birds may be seen in this 2012 post from the other side of this island.