Category: catadioptric

1

Double Kayakers

Two kayakers with ponytails head out for Lake of the Isles on a warm day in Minneapolis. I'm fascinated by how people on the shore and those in kayaks/canoes don't really notice each other. When I'm out on the water, I rarely notice the walkers. One of my favorite photos was taken of another kayaker with this same lens: my 600mm catadioptric.

3

Early Bird Special

Recognize this lens? The effect of a long telephoto like this is a lot of fun. Especially when your circle of confusion has a hole in it! Extra credit if you have any idea what I just said...

1

Great Blue Heron Fishing

Fighting against the oncoming twilight and a 600mm f/8 lens, I managed to capture a Great Blue Heron catch a fish on Lake of the Isles.

5

Red October

Fall is creeping down from the North Shore, bringing with it color and cold.

4

Blue Crow at a Distance

Remember the 500mm Mirror Lens I had back in May? In spite of the horrid bokeh, I couldn't stop thinking about it. I broke down and found another one on ebay. After months of researching mirror lenses I settled in on the Sigma 600mm. This one is bigger, and on a DSLR it has an effective power of 18x. What led me to this one was the thought that what mattered was the size of the objective lens (the exposed glass on the front of the lens) which on the Sigma 600mm is 95mm. Anyhow, the stupid doughnut machine is back. It's so much fun to use, it's like the best binoculars that takes pictures and doesn't weigh a ton. The trick is to find things with plain backgrounds.

5

Grasshopper

What can you do with a 500mm lens? I found this guy standing on the foot path around Purgatory Creek in Eden Prairie and just had to take his picture. I hope he's as happy with it as I am.

10

Paddling While Distracted

Can you hear me now? Ploop, uh oh. People are the truly most fascinating subjects.

2

Yellow-rumped Warbler, Dendroica coronata

I just love these guys, they are so cheerful and cute. My friend Karen pointed out that warblers hop around a lot and it's true. They can be very frustrating with a long lens (focused, theres that branch... now where did he go?). One of the fun things about photographing all the birds with a big lens is that you realize the amazing diversity of birds. They were all sparrows, crows and robins to me before I started shooting. I never noticed these guys before. I still don't recognized them with the naked eye, the lens let's me identify them — though I am getting to know their chirp.

2

Barn Swallow, Hirundo rustica

This little buckarooo was gathering mud along the path on Lake of the isles to build a nest. Low morning sun is great for photographing birds, the low sun allows for capturing the iridescent quality of their feathers.

8

Common Grackle, Quiscalus quiscula

Would you believe that this is a blackbird? Gackles are right up there with sparrows on the unnoticeable list and look black most of the time. Their feathers are quite iridescent and in the right light, they can be down right spectacular. A lot of my images have been post-processed to enhance colors and detail, but this guy was so colorful that I left the image alone. I caught this fellow in a maple tree on the North end of Lake of the Isles in Minneapolis. I was using my new Nikon 500mm Reflex lens that, though powerful and light, is starting to bug me with it's ring bokeh effects.