Canon EF 800mm f/5.6L IS USM Lens Sample Pictures

It was -4° F (-20° C) this morning and the wind was howling. The meteorologist was warning of frostbite occurring to exposed skin within 15 minutes.
 
I can take cold weather, but wind chills approaching -30° F (-34° C) are getting uncomfortable enough to keep me and a large majority of other photographers indoors. What is the answer for someone wanting to photograph outdoors when weather conditions reach this extreme? Wait until warmer weather arrives or go somewhere that is warm. The latter is of course my preference. Where to go? Closer to the equator, of course. Or, cross the equator to find summer.
 
One example of a winter photography location is southwest Florida. This location is renowned for its bird photography and the weather here is very comfortable most of the time including the middle of winter. Take you long lens and migrate with the birds.
 
This Roseate Spoonbill was found at Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island, Florida in late winter. The spoonbill was standing in place for a long time and I had taken plenty of shots of various standing poses – and insurance shots of the same. I was waiting, looking for a new and hopefully more interesting behavior. A preening session provided just that.

A Rufous-sided Towhee about to take flight. I like how the tail angle matches the angle of the log it is perched on. A 25mm Extension Tube was mounted for this shot (though maybe not needed) - corner darkening is from the ET.

I shot this monster White-tailed deer buck picture for a breeder. The deer was in a large enclosure, but still a great challenge to photograph as it was far more intolerant of humans than any deer I've come across in a national park. The original background was not acceptable, so, just over 1 year later, after the folliage turned fall-like again, I recreated a new background using the same camera, lens and focus distance. After painstakingly removing the original background in Photoshop, I tried various options for the replacement. This is the one I settled on.

This small herd of Sitka Deer are being bothered by an incredible number of mosquitoes in this Assateague Island wetland. I was bothered as well. My Deep Woods Off repellent ran out in the afternoon on my last day of this trip. A lessor spray did not work so well - I had 55 mosquito bites on one arm after my evening shoot. It was worth it.

A small family watches the abundant birdlife from this Chincoteague Island bay dock at sunset.

This shrimp-hunting White Ibis was in a tidal pool at JN (Ding) Darling National Widlife Refuge in Sanibel Island, Florida. Bird photography at Ding Darling is hit or miss with tidal schedule being a key factor. Due to visitor restrictions, getting down to the bird's level is not possible at many of the better shooting locations in the refuge.
 
This White Ibis was looking forward with what I thought to be a not-pleasing eye position. A little Photoshop magic resulted in a centered eye.

A Snowy Egret stands on a stump in the water at Assateague Island National Park.

This Great Egret struggled to get this large dragonfly down its throat for several minutes. It just couldn't get those big wings past its beak.

An 800mm lens is not what you normally grab for your portraits, but anything works. Feature compression is the result. Lighting is from a late-day sun.

A Little Blue Heron searches for breakfast in Assateague Island National Park.

The sun sets over and reflects from the bay by Chincoteague Island in Virgina, USA. About 600 (just over 10%) pixels were cropped off the long end of this full-frame 800mm shot.

A Snowy Egret shows its beautiful plumage at the water's edge in Assateague Island National Park. The 1/1000 shutter speed was overkill, but I was shooting other action that required it - and didn't have time to change between opportunities.

A Great Egret sits in a large pine tree in Assateague National Park. This is a common site in this great birding location.

Fresh from the roundup, two of the famous Chincoteague wild ponies swat mosquitoes and eat grass in Assateague Wildlife National Park.

The Snowy Egrets would stand around the edge of the water, then take off, catch a fish and return to the banks eat it. Assateague Island National Park is loaded with the bait fish these beautiful birds are looking for.

A beautiful girl stands by a fence in the city. Even at this very long subject distance, the 800mm focal length creates a strong background blur.

An immature Black Crowned Night Heron perches on a large, dead pine tree over the water.

While most people would not pay the price of the 800mm L IS Lens just to capture a sunset reflection, if you already own it, use it for more than just your primary purpose.

This is a captive, but very elusive, huge Whitetail buck. It was moving rapidly and I cut off the left side of the antler. Fortunately, I was shooting rapidly and was able to replace the missing side by using another capture composited in.

A Great Egret has just speared its breakfast. Looks like a challenge to swallow.

A White-Breasted Nuthatch clings to a dead tree in a classic upside-down pose. The dead tree was planted by me near a feeder. the birds perch on the tree on their way to grab a seed.

A gull dives for fish in Assateague Island National Park.

A Mourning Dove sits on a large, dead tree limb. The 800mm focal length completely blurs the distant background. The Ameristep Stackhouse Ground Blind I frequently use for my bird photography was employed for this shot.

A female Cardinal rests on the top of a log before going on her way.

This Snowy Egret is searching for fish on the shores of Assateague Island National Park.

When shooting small birds like the Black-Capped Chickadee, the longest focal length you can afford is usually the best choice. In this case, 800mm of focal length nicely separated the Chickadee from the not-too-distant background.

A beautiful male Cardinal perches on a dead tree. A late-day sun provides warm light to this handheld shot.

A Great Egret stands in stark contrast to the dark green pine needles surrounding his selected perch.

A couple sits on a Chincoteague, VA dock watching the sun set over the bay.

A Little Blue Heron hunts for fish on the shores of Assateague Island National Park.

Well, it used to be a fish. It turned into Great Egret breakfast a few moments after this shot.

A Chipping Sparrow poses in the late-day sun from the top of a dead tree. Actually, I planted the dead tree - and am hiding in a blind (hide) close by.

This Snowy Egret is very intent on catching its shrimp breakfast. If the light is unchanging, I'm probably using manual exposure mode - especially when shooting a white subject on a dark background. I set the exposure so that there are no more than a few blinking highlights on the LCD with a Neutral Picture Style. Nearly every shot will then be properly exposed for ideal post processing image quality.

In the right location (such as Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge) and on the right day, the biggest challenge to photographing American White Pelicans is to keep them properly framed and in focus - at the same time of course. But, always look for something more than a simple portrait of the species (after you have a few dozen of those). In this case, a tiny fish is about to become breakfast.

A Mourning Dove peers back over its shoulder. The 800mm focal length at f/5.6 creates a very strongly-blurred background.

A pair of courting Blue Herons entertain in their Venice Rookery nest. Venice Rookery is a great location for birding, but a challenging location for photography. Getting a clean background is one of the challenges as you are basically shooting a small island full of nests in the middle of town complete with various structures.
 
I much prefer to shoot big lenses on the Wimberley Head II, but I had already limited out what I could get on a domestic flight - had to leave the Wimberley at home.

One method of getting a clean background at Venice Rookery is to shoot into the sky. This Anhinga cooperated long enough for me to take advantage of the clear background.

A Pied-billed Grebe swims across tidal waters in Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge.
 
I liked the small wake showing motion, but the frame had a lot of nothing above and below the bird and its wake. So I cropped it to a wide format.

A Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge shrimp breakfast is about to be had by this Snowy Egret.

A beautiful Roseate Spoonbill feeds at low tide in Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, Sanibel Island, Florida. The constantly moving back and forth head makes composition and critical focusing a challenge.