Trip Report: The Eagles of Conowingo Dam

July 23, 2019

If you are looking for a great trip where you can see plenty of eagles, and not just from below, then consider a day at Conowingo Dam. It spans the Susquehanna River in Maryland, just before it meets the Chesapeake Bay.

1-conowingo-map Google map of the Conowingo Dam area, showing the curved viewing area to the left of center

2-conowingo-eagle-fight A pair of juvenile bald eagles battling over food

As the energy needs increase throughout the day, operators open flood gates, releasing water and fish that inadvertently get sucked through the turbines. The eagles have figured out that the pickings are easy and they hang out on the downstream side, waiting for snack time.

In addition to eagles, with many juveniles, you can expect to see varieties of seagulls and cormorants as well. The eagles numbered more than 50 on our first trip there in November of 2015. Most were sitting in the trees and on the rocks on the far shore, outside the reach of even the longest lenses, but there was almost always some action going on in the air over the water. Although much of the action was still pretty far away, sometimes the air battles and chases brought them well into the view of traditional zooms.

The most common lenses there on this trip were the 600mm/f4 and 500mm/f4, about equal in quantity. There was about an equal number of 800mm and 400mm lenses and a scattering of smaller primes and zooms. We had an assortment of bodies and lenses for the distant shots as well as for the nearby birds in flight.

I took advantage of the Canon Professional Service’s evaluation program and took along a new 800mm/f5.6 lens. This image shows our arsenal for the day. Lenses from left to right are 80-200/f2.8, 400mm/f5.6, 300mm/f2.8, 500mm/f4, and 800mm/f5.6 while the bodies included three 6D’s and a 7D MkII.

3-lenses-1024x739 The gear for the day

The 500mm with the 7D MkII body gave me the full frame equivalent focal length of an 800mm lens. I also carried a 300mm/f2.8 on a Black Rapid strap to capture the close flybys and the occasional eagle that landed in one of the trees behind the viewing area. The 200mm was also fine for some of the closer opportunities.

4-0079-1024x683 Big lenses lined up just after sunrise

Upon arrival at 6:20 in the morning, the parking lot was already close to full and there were about 50 people lined up along the rail on the lower platform. We managed to find a spot on the rail toward the dam. We soon discovered that this was not a great spot but we were still better off than many.

5-0058-1024x514 Our viewing station at the end of the rail

Although most of the action is said to happen when the gates open and fish come floating to the surface, stunned by their journey through the generators, we were lucky to see it start well before that as air battles were launched every few minutes. The seagulls were numerous as were the cormorants but the eagles were the ones who engaged in the battles. The cormorants mainly looked for easy pickings near the dam as they perched on the concrete wall while the seagulls either joined them close to the dam or scavenged below the fighting eagles farther out.

6-20151115_090815-1024x576 Big glass everywhere!

The prime spot for viewing seemed to be the center of the curved, lower deck, the one we were on. There is an upper level which is a little farther from the shore and a fence which runs between the parking lot and the bank. By mid-day, there were about 70 people on the upper and lower concrete areas and about an equal number on the rocks along the shore and along the fence above them. The upper concrete area has a handful of individual observation stations that are great for staying away from the crowds. They are just higher and farther back from the rail where we were.

7-0069-1024x548 The late arrivals, lined up along the fence

In just over eight hours of shooting, we each shot about 2000 images. Many were duds with focus and framing issues but many others were great shots, capturing amazing action like never before. Like I usually do with birds in flight, I used multipoint focus and AI Servo with back button focus. I wavered between wide open at f4, and stopping down to f8 in order to decrease the number shots with poor focus.

8-0106-1024x683 Overflow photographers on the rocks

I would suggest bringing a folding chair and some snacks since you won’t want to give up your spot once you get set. The late arrivals were frantically searching for good places to set up. Although you can set up on the lowest level, which is below the rail and toward the dam, you may need to move once the flooding waters rise after the gates are opened. The water can get surprisingly rough and even splash onto your feet a little.

9-conowingo-juvenile One of the many juveniles seen at the dam

There are numerous websites that have all sorts of useful information for shooting here. Both the Bella Remy guide and Rick Blom’s guide on the Hartford Bird Club page are worth checking out.

Interested in getting better pictures? Consider one of my private or semi-private clinics.

A Warm Winter’s Day

July 23, 2019

Have you ever ventured out on an unusually warm day, during an otherwise chilly winter, only to find that your long-lens images are not so sharp? It’s probably not you but what you’re looking through.

As a windsurfer, I used to love to get one of those Spring days in the middle of Winter, where short sleeves and the beach were calling my name. I quickly found out that the strong winds blowing the trees were not so strong down at the water. Or rather they were, but they were extremely gusty. I could feel the warmer gusts of air hitting me. It made for frustrating sailing and it makes for poor visibility over long distances with your photography as well.

Consider this cold day image of the James River bridge taken at a focal length of 1000mm on a full frame Canon 6D. That high rise is four miles from the camera. Not bad considering it’s a prime lens with a 2X teleconverter added to it.

Across the James River at 1000mm on a cold Winter’s day

Now consider this exact same scene, but a few days later, on an unusually warm day. Same camera…same lens. Nothing seems to be sharp.

Across the James River at 1000mm on an unusually warm Winter’s day.

As the warm air struggles to mix with the cooler, more stagnant air that it is trying to replace, it roils in like a tumble weed, bouncing across the water and the land. As a fluid, air has a particular density but it changes with its temperature. We all know that hot air rises and cold air settles. As this warm air moves in and tries to displace the cold air, you end up with a mix of different densities (temperatures) along your line of sight. You won’t have any problem over short distances, but as your viewing distance increases, you ability to get a sharp image decreases. I’ve see this affect scenes over distances as little as 100 yards.

An example of turbulence over a short distance and a fraction of a second.

In this example, I was shooting over a distance of only about 120 feet and I held the shutter long enough in high speed burst to get two shots. Even though these were only a fraction of a second apart, the distortion due to the turbidity in the air is apparent. In the image on the left there is nothing that is truly sharp. Many of the shots that day were not usable because of the poor air quality. It was a cold day that warmed up quickly in the strong sun. Although it felt good, this heating of the ground caused sufficient mixing of substantially different air densities to make for a frustrating day. And to make matters worse, this can easily happen in warmer weather, especially if you are shooting over roads or other surfaces that collect heat from the sun.

Astronomers are well aware of this phenomena and their weather reports include an entry for the visual quality. So when the warm winds blow on those unusually pretty days. Don’t be surprised if your normally-great gear seems to be not so great.

Interested in getting better pictures? Consider one of my private or semi-private clinics.

The Calm Before the Storm

July 23, 2019

This image tells a little bit of a story. I shot it about 20 minutes before the start of DEJA’s tribute to Pink Floyd’s, The Wall, at the Virginia Beach Museum of Contemporary Art. It shows lead singer John Coleman and bass player Jimmy Wiseman, relaxing before the show. This was to be a compete recreation of the entire album, solely by the band, while the muted video played in the background. It was complete with all the sound effects, lots of props, and pretty ladies singing in the back. This was the second time I had seen the production so I know a huge amount of work went into it before they ever stepped on the stage. The full impact of this image is just not complete without seeing the show. But what is telling is the apparent calm of these two gentlemen, who I knew were anything but calm.

I had been asked by the Tidewater Musician’s Alliance to come shoot some of the background photos. There was already an over abundance of photographers who had come to shoot the show itself so I was not going to add to the mayhem. I chose my usual body for low light, my Canon 6D. In order to keep things simple in the crowd that I was expecting to have to navigate, I decided to carry one body and one lens, my Canon 16-35mm.

When shooting in and around live music, one can never expect to have much light. And not only is flash distracting to everyone, it kills the color that is so much a part of the event. So I’ve made it standard practice to expect extremely challenging conditions.

For this particular shot, I ventured out between the curtains from behind the stage. I had wanted to get a shot of the empty theater but I was too late for that and the lights were already heavy on the stage. As I turned around, I saw John and Jimmy standing there and I quickly took aim. Knowing the reflection on the floor was going to saturate, I dialed in -2/3eV with the thumb wheel on the rear of the body, grabbed focus on John, and snapped off the shot. Two seconds later, John turned and walked off, Jimmy stepped farther out of the scene, and someone else walked in through the doorway. I took the second shot but I knew it was a dud, leaving just the one as a potential keeper.

RAW capture of DEJA backstage

Initially, it looked like the floor was completely blown out but I figured I could recover it all. I did a pretty heavy crop on it since at that distance, my 35mm was just not enough, but I had not had enough time to walk the distance to get what I wanted. I didn’t even have time to set the aperture, otherwise I would have never sacrificed that much light for a shot like this. After the usual lowering of the highlights and a little increase on the shadows, I set the white balance on John’s arm, clicking around until I was happy. I reduced the saturation a little because the color just made it too happy and I wanted to reflect the quenched tenseness of the scene.

DEJA RAW settings

I can’t say enough good about the high ISO performance of the 6D. An ISO of 12800 and a shutter speed of 1/10 second gives you an idea of how much light I had to work with. Having recently started doing all my noise reduction and sharpening in Noiseware, I had those defaults in Adobe RAW turned off. The image cleaned up very nicely and I ended up with exactly what I was hoping for.

1-8903 1-8903 John Coleman and Jimmy Wiseman, moments before showtime

The Best Camera…

July 23, 2019

P-Bass_Charger1 You’ll never hear me falling for one of those Canon versus Nikon debates. I started off with Minolta in the film days and then made my way to Nikon professional gear for many years. It wasn’t until about half way through my photographic journey that I ended up with Canon gear in my hands. I won’t even tell the story of why because it doesn’t make any difference today. Even so, I’ve always said that the best camera is the one in your hands and this photo is another perfect example of that.

Canon? Nope.

Nikon? Nope.

Samsung! A three year old Samsung cell phone.

And the editing I did afterward? Absolutely no tonal or exposure edits. Natural garage lighting. The only edit was to clone out the protective rag underneath the guitar headstock. I didn’t even do any sharpening or noise reduction. Yes, cell phones have gotten that good if you know when they do and do not perform.

So don’t get caught up in the debates but more importantly, make sure you always have a camera with you, no matter what it is.

Should I be Shooting in Manual?

July 23, 2019

The Grand Tetons taken at a small aperture to get increased depth of focus

This is a huge pet peeve of mine. I’m constantly seeing novice and even beginner photographers struggling with shooting in manual mode because someone told them they should. That’s akin to having a tool box full of tools but being told you’re not a real mechanic until you do all your jobs with a hammer.

I shoot with a Canon 1DxMkII. That’s Canon’s most sophisticated body ever (at the time) and it comes with the two “semi-automatic” modes that most professionals use the most, shutter priority (Tv) and aperture priority (Av). The Tv stands for time value while the Av stands for Aperture value. Nikon users will see S and A instead. There is manual of course for when that’s needed.

So, when does one use manual mode? It’s entirely up to the photographer. There is no right or wrong way to shoot. I often use manual when I have a scene where the lighting is not changing. Even then I will use one of the other modes first to get my initial meter readings and then shift into manual. For example, if I’m shooting a subject that is moving, I may want a shutter speed of 1/1000. I’ll start in shutter priority and let the camera choose the aperture (and maybe the ISO). I’ll take a test shot or two and look at my histogram to see if I’m getting the result I want. I’ll then move into manual with the corresponding aperture and ISO.

I work alongside photographers in the concert photo pit, some who shoot all night in manual. I’m not sure how they do it with the lighting that is changing so rapidly but they end up with great shots. I do the same but I either choose the slowest shutter speed I want or the greatest aperture, letting the histograms tell me if I need to dial in any exposure compensation. My histograms show after each shot (blurry but I can see the position and shape) and I can see them without moving my face away from the shooting position. This allows me to quickly dial in compensation as needed.

Note that you cannot use exposure compensation when in manual on some bodies. You must make adjustments to shutter speed, aperture, or ISO. In essence, shooting in one of the semi-automatic modes but dialing in exposure compensation is very similar to shooting in manual. I just think it is much easier to let the camera’s sophisticated metering help me determine the best exposure rather than rely on guesswork to get started.

In my lessons, I teach the various shooting modes but I never throw my students into the deep end by telling them that they have to shoot in manual, mainly because it’s just not true. I think it’s funny that we rely on auto focus so heavily yet some of us think it’s cheating to use auto exposure. Actually, I use autofocus to get close but I manually override it often to get the focus exactly where I want it.

The shooting modes are among the various tools available for us to get the images that we want. There is no right or wrong way to achieve the desired result. Each of the auto-exposure modes is very useful in different situations. Learn them all, figure out what works for you, and don’t be swayed by the way others shoot or how they tell you that you should be shooting.

Interested in getting better pictures? Consider one of my private or semi-private clinics.