Black-crested titmouse, Rio Grande Valley, Texas

I’m back after another trip to my favorite birding destination, the private ranches of Texas’ Rio Grande Valley.  A group of photographers joined me for three days of photographing birds from private photo blinds. By using the blinds, we not only got close to the birds, but we had perfect “studio” settings to photograph them in!

This black-crested titmouse is probably only 4-5 inches in length, and yet we were able to get great close-up shots of it. For this image, I used my Nikon D810 and 500mm f/4 AFS G VR Nikkor lens with TC-14EIII teleconverter. The 36 megapixel D810 allowed me to crop the image without sacrificing detail.

I’m already putting in my plans to photograph in Texas next year. If you’re interested, please become a member of my workshops group so that you’ll be the first to know when the trip is announced. I only have space for six photographers, so you’ll want to reserve your spot ASAP.