Since I got my current camera last April, I haven’t had much success mastering shutter priority.  I think it’s because it acts way different from my old camera the Nikon 1.   Since the Nikon 1 was a mirrorless camera with a small sensor, I had to crank my shutter speed up to 1/2500 or higher to capture sharp pictures of birds.

Well, when I got my Olympus micro 4/3 camera, it has a much better sensor and overall is a much more advanced camera.   So when I tried shooting in shutter priority with the same settings as my old Nikon 1, my photos came out very dark.  I got very frustrated and just quit using it altogether.  I switched to aperture priority.  Sadly, I wasn’t happy with my photos if there was any movement to the subject.  I just couldn’t get a sharp photo.

So a few days ago I went out with the sole purpose of finding birds and shooting them in shutter priority.  It started out rough, but I soon realized I had to crank the shutter speed way down.  It was a beautiful February day and there was quite a variety of waterfowl at the duck ponds.  I had no shortage of subjects to practice on.

Soon I was shooting photos I was much happier with.  I realized I had a lot of sunshine to work with and was able to get nice crisp shots at 1/800 or less.

My first successful shot I was very pleased with was of a female Northern Shoveler stretching her wings.

Northern Shoveler female

From that point forward I was changing my speed up and down to see what worked best.  In the past, even a calmly swimming duck would be somewhat soft because aperture priority just couldn’t handle the movement properly.  Here’s some more shots I got a the ponds.

Bufflehead – female.  Still a soft pic….hmmmmm

Canvasback

Pied-Billed Grebe

American Coots

A pair of Mallards

Northern Shoveler male

Canada Goose

While shooting I heard someone say there was a Cinnamon Teal at the far end.  What!? I quickly worked my way along the pond to find this bird.  I rarely see them in Albuquerque.  He was a distance away from me, but I was able to get a decent photo.  It was a male, and he was beautiful!

Cinnamon Teal

I was really pleased with the detail that was captured on this Ring-Necked Duck.

Ring-Necked Duck

I happened to notice an American Coot and a Northern Shoveler interacting.  The Coot had pulled up a tasty morsel and the Shoveler was interested in what the Coot had.

American Coot and Northern Shoveler

I guess the Coot didn’t want to share, because he gave that Shoveler a smackdown!  LOL!

Uh-Oh!

That’ll teach him to try and steal from a Coot!

I was pleased with the sharp pics using shutter priority! I worked my way north from the duck ponds to see if I could find any smaller birds to practice on.  It was a pretty quiet morning for the little guys.  Up ahead I spotted larger bird.  At first I thought it was a Cooper’s Hawk, but as I got closer I saw it was a Greater Roadrunner.

A lovely female sunning herself.  To warm up, the Roadrunner drops its wings and exposes the dark feathers underneath.  These dark downy feathers quickly capture the warmth of the sun.

Greater Roadrunner sunning

As I was photographing this beautiful bird, it became alert with the approach of another hiker heading our way.  They had a dog with a bell on its collar.  The crest feathers came up and I was able to get a good pic showing the beautiful purple feathers of the crest.

Beautiful crest feathers!

As the hiker and his dog got closer, the Roadrunner decided it was time to go.

High alert pose!

I was thrilled to have a few quiet moments close to this bird to capture some nice photos.  When I think back, I realized it wasn’t afraid of Scarlett who was right next to me.  She’s so calm and just lays down while I take photos.  I find birds are rarely afraid of her.  🙂

Once the Roadrunner was gone, I looked out over the river.  I saw a lone Common Merganser female grooming on a sandbar.  She was a long ways away, but I can never resist photographing these birds.

Common Merganser female

I finally found a few small birds foraging in the bushes.  They were deep in shadow so it was a challenge getting pics.  This is when I struggled most using shutter priority.  My photos just came out too dark. I had a lot of editing to do.  Hmmmm…I’m still going to need a lot of practice in low light situations.

Spotted Towhee

Eastern Bluebird

I turned around to head back to the car. I decided to walk past the fishing ponds at Tingley Beach.  There were some Neotropic Cormorants out sunning themselves.

Neotropic Cormorants

They were quite close to me so I took advantage of that and got a nice portrait shot.  They have the most beautiful teal-colored eyes.

Look at that beautiful teal eye!

It was such a pretty day, I decided to head over to the Botanical Gardens which are right next door to Tingley Beach.  There are always wood ducks there.  What better subject to practice on!  🙂

When I arrived I saw some Dark-Eyed Juncos feeding on the big lawn area.  They were in the shade, so I practiced taking some more shutter priority photos in low light.  I think I’m getting better.  🙂

Got a juicy bug

Dark-Eyed Junco

I think Albuquerque has a beautiful Botanical Gardens.  I keep an annual membership as I love to go often throughout the year.

Main Ponds at the gardens

As expected, there were several pairs of Wood Ducks on the pond.  It was so much fun practicing on them.  Such a beautiful bird!

Wood Duck

I especially liked the pic below.  I liked his pose and how the sun brought out all the beautiful color of his plumage.

Beautiful colors!!!

Whenever I visit the gardens, I always have to visit the Japanese Garden section.  It is one of the newest sections of the garden and has been maturing nicely over the past few years.  I’m looking forward to visiting it in the spring when the trees are in full bloom.

I had hoped to see the Black-Crowned Night Heron that pretty much lives there at the pond.  He is missing all his toes on one foot so it’s hard for him to make it in the wild.  But here at the gardens, he gets special attention from the man that feeds the coy.  Sadly, he wasn’t in view when I visited this time.  Probably snoozing somewhere in the trees.

While there I took few pics of the beautiful waterfall.  By now it was around noon.  Not the best time for scenic photos, but I took some anyway.  🙂

Pond and waterfall in the Japanese Garden

Beautiful

It was a fun morning out.  It’s always a good time when when you can get out on a beautiful day with your camera.

As I was about the get into my car, I saw several Sandhill Cranes flying overhead.  I have noticed lots of them flying overhead during the past couple weeks.  They are strengthening their wings for their migration north.  I will miss them.  But I also know their leaving tells me spring is not too far off!

Sandhill Cranes

A few days later I had to drive to Belen for work.  I stopped in at Owlville in Los Lunas.  I was hopeful there were some owls there.  And sure enough there was one hanging out.  I just had to share a few pics.  Who doesn’t want to see an owl!

Burrowing Owl

Such a wonderful bird!

Those keen yellow eyes are captivating!