Shorebirds & Gulls on the Beach - the Shoot

Join me as I photograph shorebirds and gulls along the beach in southern New Jersey.
View more details and full sized photos at
rayhennessy.com/lessons/shoreb...
Shoot video:
• Shorebirds & Gulls on ...
Photo edits video:
• Shorebirds & Gulls on ...
I had some unexpected free time one evening and decided to make a quick outing to a beach I knew in New Jersey to see what shorebirds I could photograph. It was a bit early for shorebird migration in New Jersey but I managed to find some Sanderlings as well as Ring-billed and Laughing Gulls. The wind direction was also wrong for capturing good birds in flight as they were all flying away from me. Since it was mostly an unplanned visit the tide was also not ideal. This was a location I’m very familiar with and had photograph countless times in the past but since I had last been there the beach had eroded away quite a bit and was quite different. Even with many conditions that were not ideal I managed to make the best of it and capture some good, clean beach bird portraits. I was unable to capture anything very creative and even felt uninspired while I was there but that happens to all of us and you simply make the best of it. The light was thankfully pleasing and took advantage of it as best I could during the short visit.
Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
0:45 - Setup
6:40 - Clothes and Cleanup
14:17 - Shoot
28:27 - Photo 1
32:18 - Photo 2
36:43 - Photo 3
37:04 - Photo 4
38:07 - Photo 5
39:09 - Photo 6
41:39 - Backlit bokeh lesson

[@kameronstrickland]

This was a great photo outing. I really liked when you showed the difference that all of the shell highlights made as foreground vs. background.

[@RayHennessy]

Thanks for watching and I'm glad you enjoyed that part of the video!

[@Andy.Garcia]

You are living my dream! GREAT video. Enjoying them all. Looking forward to your next Florida shore visit…..

[@RayHennessy]

Thanks so much, it is a great time! I'll have some Florida videos coming out in the near future!

[@JohnTomasella]

I went to the lighthouse last weekend hoping to get some photos of the Harlequin duck and wound up getting some good photos of Plovers. I'll try later this month for the ducks when I have off.

[@RayHennessy]

Oh nice, that's always a great place to shoot! Love the shorebirds there too.

[@frankfurter7260]

I think you will find a more interesting landscape as well as much larger flocks of birds at Nickerson.

[@RayHennessy]

Yes, I've been before, it's a nice place. Also busy with other people there. The main issue at the beach I was at was my timing, it wasn't peak season, it gets better when visiting the right time of year.

[@frankfurter7260]

@@RayHennessy go during the week for the sunrise and there are very few people, especially by the West colonies. Yeh I guess timing is everything in birding -- and in life. Your portfolio is beautiful. Cheers.

[@RayHennessy]

@@frankfurter7260 thanks so much, I appreciate that!

[@EricWoodyVariety59]

Do you know what your doing? Are you not taking those perfect shots?

[@RayHennessy]

I'm not sure I follow your questions.