At number 10 – Cedar Waxwing, Bombycilla cedrorum

I’ve included this one because my friend David Middleton had a waxwing image that he took from his kitchen window and was always bragging about it. I know it may be bad karma, but now he can’t brag about his anymore…

At number 9 – Bald Eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus

This was a great story during the beginning of 2011 with the birth of a new eagle on Tierra Verde, Florida. I watched for weeks and captured a lot of images of this circle of life. This one was a particular favorite from them all. You can read about the whole encounter…HERE.

At number 8 – American White Ibis, Eudocimus albus

I can never stress enough during my workshops how important getting low is. You really want to be at eye level to get the most impact. In this shot I am actually knee high to an Ibis and that is low!

At number 7 - Yellow-headed Blackbird, Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus

It may seem like I am picking on David (Middleton) again, but I like to do that when I can! If you know David this is one of those he was right, but he was wrong and you might guess which way l chose to tell the story. You can read it…HERE.

At number 6 – Cattle Egret, Bubulcus ibis

One thing that you will find if you pursue bird photography is that the hardest thing to photograph is the most common of birds. Mostly because everyone with a camera has already photographed the beast and so finding that unique look is hard to do. I am always looking for that moment and I think I found it with this one. The backlight on the feathers and in particular the bill along with a dramatic near black background made this one really stand out in my 2011 bird photographs.

At number 5 - Coppery-headed Emerald, Elvira cupreiceps and Green-crowned Brilliant, Heliodoxa jacula

I made my first of what I hope is many trips to Costa Rica and these hummingbirds were among the many treasures that I brought home. We were setup with perches of our choosing and I liked this exotic heliconia for them to feed on. You can read more about how to setup hummingbird photography in your backyard in an article that I wrote…HERE.

At number 4 - Blue-grey Tanager, Thraupis episcopus

This parent feeding the chick image is also from Costa Rica. August was a good time to be there as we saw this scene played out several times. Fortunately with digital you can shoot a lot of frames to get just the right moment with good separation of the interaction between the birds.

At number 3 - Swainson’s Hawk, Buteo swainsoni

During my Birds of Prey Workshop we had this great hawk as one of our subjects. It is a falconry trained bird and we were able to free fly her and that was just awesome. This image was selected as the cover image for The Peregrine Fund. This workshop will be held again in early October of 2012. Details will be post…HERE.

At Number 2 - Least Tern, Sterna antillarum

I’ve always said, “I would rather be lucky than good!” and this one is a perfect example. I had just focused on the tern on the ground and not yet zoomed in tight when the second tern came flying in over the top of me at just the right moment!

And finally at Number 1 - Scintillant Hummingbird, Selasphorus scintila

Another image from Costa Rica is this hummingbird. It is rather special species bing the second smallest hummingbird in the world, behind the Bumblebee Hummingbird and endemic to Costa Rica. This bird is only about 2.5″ (6.35 cm) and to give you an idea of scale the Verbena cluster is about the size of a quarter! I only saw this one a couple of times and only took about 5 frames and that is why I’ve nominated it as my favorite bird image of 2011.

So, what was your favorite?

I encourage all of you to join or at least buy the calendar and support their good work.

The calendar will be available soon and you can learn more on their website…HERE.

I found that when I was importing my images I was making the same small tweaks to the image mostly adding a touch of black, maybe clarity, maybe saturation…you get the idea. I was always just giving them a bit more pop. I’ve used the camera profiles in the past, usually when I really needed help to fix an image I’d mangled in camera. When looking at the profiles supplied by Adobe, I discovered that I really prerferred the “Camera Standard” setting vs the “Adobe Standard” setting. If you shoot with other brand cameras the name might be different, I think that “Camera Faithful” is what the Canon setting says. At any rate, I’ve now changed the default setting so Lightroom and ACR in Photoshop apply my preferred setting to all images on import.

This small change really adds up when you are editing hundreds of images. And since I shoot in RAW, if I don’t like it I can always change it back.

I made this short video to show you how it works, not that I am lazy or anything, but it sure was easier than typing!

This gallery has all of the images from the video. The only change was to the camera profile and a bit of a crop. They are labeled with the setting that I used for each.

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These birds are in the same family as blackbirds and orioles. You can see all of Oropendola images and order prints…HERE.

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In case you were curious:

• You probably are and I was pronouncing the name of the bird incorrectly, it’s a soft “c” so you would say it “Ara-sah-ree”.
• an arboreal species which does not migrate which means often they may live in the same tree for their entire lives
• up to six adult birds will sleep in the same tree hole with their young with their tails folded up over their backs
• typically 39-41 cm (15-16 in) long and weighs 190-275 grams (6.7-9.7 oz.)

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The Fruit Loops toucan was…Toucan Sam!

The tanager species in the tropics are not the same as the Scarlet Tanagers in North America. The molecular level bird ID says that our tanagers are actually cardinals.. I’ve kept mine in the same galleries at least until the bird nerds change the common names. You can see the images and order prints…HERE.

Costa Rica boasts 36 species of tanagers and that is just the ones with tanager in the name. I only managed to photograph 4, so clearly another trip is in order. They have some unique species too, Plain-colored, Spangle-cheeked, Cherrie’s, White-throated Shrike, Sulphur-rumped, Black and Yellow, Black and Gold, Sooty-capped and the Black-cheeked Ant Tanager are all endemic to Costa Rica.

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You know how much I love collective nouns and could not find an “official” one, so I’ve taken it upon myself to provide the group name…Hive! Come on you have to love a hive of honeycreepers!

You can see my hive and order prints…HERE.

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You can order prints and see all of my parrots and parakeets…HERE.

In case you were curious:

• The collective nouns for parrots are company, pandemonium, prattle and flock.
• 8.3 in (21 cm) long and weighs 5.8 oz (165 g)
• eggs are laid in an unlined nest, usually a natural cavity in a tree

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Using my Nikon D300s and a 10mm lens I set up the shot and programmed the camera to take 9 images and to change the exposure by 1 stop on each image. My exposure duration went from 1/400 to a little more than half a second so of course I was on a tripod. In the camera, the images went from nearly black with just the light from a few of the stained glass panels to nearly blown out all over the image in the last. UGH, this was ugly.

I am a big NIK software fan and I buy all of their software whether I really needed it or not and so I have their HDR Pro software. As a side note, I use Dfine and Sharpener on all of my images. The next step is really the easiest. You open the images in Photoshop and open the NIK HDR filter and say “merge says a me” and voila, you’ve got a fully exposed image. Yes, I know you don’t really have to say the magic words, but it so magical it makes it more fun. Try it, you know you want to. This is the quite simplified version, there are a lot of sliders and effects that you can play with and come up with a bunch of other looks for your HDR image. I was trying to create as natural an image as possible given the situation. Many of the options will give you a far more artistic rendering, so enjoy it! Click the image to embiggen it. I like to make up words too…

You can buy a copy of NIK HDR Pro from this link.

Nik Software HDR Efex Pro Software

This is the Keel-billed Toucan and they are very comical to watch and incredibly gorgeous to photograph. You have to special attention to the the DOF (depth of field) when you photograph them so as to keep their 5-6 in (12–15 cm) bill in focus.

If you’d like to order prints or see more toucan images you can do that…HERE.

In case you were curious:

• The bill is made of keratin, the same material is human hair and finger nails
• An omnivore that eats mainly fruit, but will eat eggs, lizards and frogs
• Very social and nearly always in a group of 6-15
• Size: 17-22in (42-55cm) Wing Span: 43-60 in (109-152 cm) Weight: 4.7-8.8 lbs (2.1-4 kg) Flight Speed: 39 mph (64 km/h)
• The collective noun for a group of toucans is a Durante!

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The pale coyote in the snow was photographed during a spring snow storm in Yellowstone . He caused a bigger car jam than the bison! The other images were taken during my winter wildlife photography workshop and my baby wildlife photography workshop.

You can see all of my coyote images and order prints…HERE.

You can learn more about my wildlife photography workshops…HERE.

• Coyotes are very good swimmers.
• They can run up to 40 miles (64 kilometers) an hour.
• Head and body, 32 to 37 in (81 to 94 cm); Tail, 16 in (41 cm) Weight: 20 to 50 lbs (9 to 23 kg)
• They hunt rabbits, rodents, fish, frogs, and even deer. They also eat insects, snakes, fruit, grass, and carrion.
• Collective noun for a group of coyote: Most commonly called a band, but also referred to as a pack, and a rout.

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You can see more of Fisher images and order prints…HERE.

You can also sign up for my baby wildlife photography workshop…HERE.

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Pre-Order it Here:
Nikon 40mm f/2.8G AF-S DX Micro NIKKOR Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

In case you were curious:

• The collective nouns for Swallows include, a flight, a gulp, a herd, a kettle, a richness, a sord or a swoop.
• They spends more time in the air, than any other land bird.
• They usually mate in the air.
• They are capable of feeding their young while they are in flight.
• Length: 7.5-8.5 inches Wingspan:12.6-13.6 inches

You can see all of my swallow images and order prints…HERE.

If you would like to know more about my photography workshops you can see that…HERE.

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These barn Swallows are on private property and while Roger and Trish like company, they prefer to make the invites.

You can see all of the images from this workshop session…HERE.

You can also sign up to join me next year…HERE.

Here is something to help you decide to go take a peek!

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Check them out…HERE.

You can see all of my tiger images and order prints…HERE.

Here is a taste of what you’ll see!

In case you were curious:

• Size: 26 to 41 in (66 to 104 cm); tail, 4 to 7 in (10 to 18 cm) and weighs 11 to 30 lbs (5 to 14 kg)
• The bobcat is the most abundant wildcat in the U.S.
• bobcats can kill prey much bigger than themselves
• Collective Noun: A group of bobcats is a tantrum.

You can see more of my bobcat images and order prints…HERE.

I have several opportunities to join me on these wildlife photography workshops, read more…HERE.

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These images were taken on private property, but I still like to include the map so that you know where you will be going when you sign up to join my workshop and photograph a bobcat for yourself!

The Bighorn lambs in these images are about 5 days old and already ready to leep great distances as well as run with their moms. Which is a good thing when you have Golden Eagles hunting them too!

In case you were curious:

• Bighorn ram’s horns can weigh 30 lbs (14 kgm)—more than all the bones in his body combined.
• They have split hooves which aid in balance and rough hoof bottoms for natural grip.
• Can jump a length of 20 feet (6 meters) ledge to ledge

You can see all of my Bighorn Sheep photography and order prints…HERE.

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Here’s the map of the top secret location for finding the bighorn lambs! Ok, it isn’t really top secret, but it is where I found them most evenings.

It was quite a rush to be able to photograph them on a couple of occasions. Of course having a long lens is essential and I was lucky several times to be at the right pull off at the right time to get some images. Still there are a lot of bears. I was surprised that I only saw 1 black bear and that was at a great distance…

You can see all of my bear photography and order prints…HERE.

In case you were curious:

• The largest land mammal in North America
• In 1800 there were 50,000 bears in the lower 48 states of which there are now 1300
• Males can be 7ft tall and weigh upwards of 600 lbs
• 85% of their diet is plant life

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It was cool seeing the bears in virtually every part of the park. You can see where I photographed mine on this handy map. Since they are territorial, who knows you might still find them!