A Walk in Nature with the Nikon Z9 and the NIKKOR Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S lens
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I’m fortunate that I live close to a nature trail that runs along a small creek, just a few minutes’ drive away from my home. During the spring and early summer, the creek runs with a fair amount of flow that originates in the foothills nearby, draining the accumulated snowpack from the prior winter from their peaks. It’s during this period that you are more likely to find interesting things to photograph along the trail. Busy mothers attending to and protecting their young while males defend their territory around their home base and wildflowers blooming along the clear water creek
Based on many prior excursions to the same location, I knew I would most likely be seeing a verity of subjects: birds, wildflowers, and possibly other wildlife in the area. To have the best chance of filling the frame, this would call for the most powerful telephoto glass I had; the Nikon NIKKOR Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S lens. To add just a little more power, I attached the Z TELECONVERTER TC-1.4x, bringing my telephoto lens to 1120mm. If I have the most powerful Nikkor lens, I may as well use the most powerful Nikon camera to balance it out, the Z9. All photos below were shot with this configuration and lightly processed in Capture One Pro.
The following photos are the result of this early morning field trip:
In perfect profile: A male red-wing blackbird sporting his red shoulder patches.
A female Red-Wing blackbird catches a spider to feed to her hungry young who are below and out of site in the marsh.
A male Red-Wind black bird shouts out that this is his territory.
Although regarded as nuisance birds due to their abundance, the Starling is not so bad looking in the proper light.
Photographing cattails at 1200mm makes for an interesting composition.
Back lighted wild flowers along the stream at 1200mm. I admit that the bottom of the frame is a little too busy for me but I really like the top and decided to keep it in this collection.
A swallow tail butterfly searching for food among the many mature trees in the area.
One of the benefits of shooting at 1200mm is that it has the ability to completely render the background out of focus, giving your subject all the attention in the frame.
A lizard basks in the warm morning sun while sitting on the top of a fence post.
Although this bird might look exotic, Black-billed Magpies are actually very common in Idaho.
A raptor (that’s as specific as I can get. If someone knows what type of bird this is, please indicate in the comments below-no sign in required) way up on top of a utility pole.
Overall, I was pleased with what I captured with the Nikon Z9 and the NIKKOR Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S lens and teleconverter. Let me know in the comments below your thoughts on this short photographic essay (no sign-in required).
I’m fortunate that I live close to a nature trail that runs along a small creek, just a few minutes’ drive away from my home. It’s during this time of year that you are more likely to find interesting things to photograph along the trail.