Mid Sierra Musings: Assorted Animal And Bird Photographs

Dale Matson

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Red Tailed Hawk

Although my favorite subjects to photograph are landscapes with mountains and lakes, I have been taking more photographs of wildlife recently. This is partly because of all the snow in the mountains and having to recover from anemia. Snowshoes and skis are out for now and hopefully I may have an opportunity for spring skiing if I continue to recover. Of course there are always the ‘drive byes’ where I can drive the rural roads that pass by and around our reservoirs on the San Joaquin River.

My subjects are partly determined by the lenses I have available to me. Until this year, I could not find a suitable long lens. I bought a used Canon 400 f4 D.O. lens and adapted it to my Sony. It has provided the ideal long lens especially when combined with the Canon 1.4X extender. This gives me a sharp 560mm lens for my Sony A7R2. This length and clarity make it suitable even for birds although I would not call it a good combination for BIF.

I generally find that using aperture priority and manual focus works fine. With an aperture of f8, the zone of focus is generous. The camera adjusts the shutter speed and ISO automatically. Sony has both focus magnification (5X and 12X) and focus peaking where the subject is highlighted when in focus. It is almost fool proof but consider the source.

There is a nice trail that follows Millerton Lake for about 2 miles to a place called Winchell Cove. The trail starts about 2 miles from the entrance on the Fresno County side of the lake. The trail is fairly flat with gentle rollers along the way. It has become one of my favorite winter walks. There is rarely a day when I don’t see an eagle or hawk.

I have learned to live within my new limitations and make the best of the restrictions.