Assorted Images

Seven photos. The only theme is that all were taken with the Nikon D4 camera with a 500mm f/4 lens and 2x teleconverter attached. Teleconverters are notorious for degrading image quality, but this combination of camera, lens and teleconverters works for me.

Click on images to see a larger view.

Fulvous Whistling Duck - Oct. 2014

Fulvous Whistling Duck, Anahuac NWR (TX) - October 2014

Nikon D4 with 500mm f/4 lens and 2x teleconverter
1/1600 sec at f/9, ISO 800


Pied-billed Grebes - Oct. 2014

Pied-billed Grebes, Anahuac NWR (TX) - October 2014

Nikon D4 with 500mm f/4 lens and 2x teleconverter
1/1600 sec at f/9, ISO 1000


Marbled Godwit, Bolivar Peninsula (TX) - Oct. 2014

Marbled Godwit, Bolivar Peninsula (TX) - Oct. 2014

Nikon D4 with 500mm f/4 lens and 2x teleconverter
1/2000 sec at f/8, ISO 640


European Starling, Bolivar Peninsula (TX) - Oct. 2014

European Starling, Bolivar Peninsula (TX) - Oct. 2014

Nikon D4 with 500mm f/4 lens and 2x teleconverter
1/3200 sec at f/8, ISO 2000


Black-bellied Whistling Duck - Nov. 2015

Black-bellied Whistling Duck, Anahuac NWR - Nov. 2015

Nikon D4 with 500mm f/4 lens and 2x teleconverter
1/1600 sec at f/10, ISO 1000


Mourning Dove, Anahuac NWR (TX) - Feb. 2016

Mourning Dove, Anahuac NWR (TX) - Feb. 2016

Nikon D4 with 500mm f/4 lens and 2x teleconverter
1/1600 sec at f/11, ISO 1600


Hooded Merganser, Merritt Island NWR (FL) - Jan. 2016

Hooded Merganser, Merritt Island NWR (FL) - Jan. 2016

Nikon D4 with 500mm f/4 lens and 2x teleconverter
1/2500 sec at f/9, ISO 1400

David Sparks

I retired in 2005 after 40 years of research and teaching at the University of Alabama in Birmingham (24 years), the University of Pennsylvania (8 years) and the Baylor College of Medicine (8 years). Photography is my retirement hobby.

Nature photography, especially bird photography, combines a number of things that I really enjoy: bird-watching, being outdoors, photography, travel, messing about with computers, and learning new skills and concepts.  I now spend much of my time engaged in these activities.

David Sibley in the preface to The Sibley Guide to Birds wrote "Birds are beautiful, in spectacular as well as subtle ways; their colors, shapes, actions, and sounds are among the most aesthetically pleasing in nature."  My goal is to acquire images that capture the beauty and uniqueness of selected species as well as images that highlight the engaging behaviors the birds exhibit.