Royal tern in flight, La Jolla, CA | Nikon Z9, Nikon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6S VR + Z 1.4x TC
I spent most of last week in San Diego, leading my annual Southern California birding & wildlife workshop. It was my first real test of the new Nikon Z9 and Nikon 100-400mm S lens. The camera and lens combo performed flawlessly, tracking the fast-moving royal terns along the coast as they circled the rocky shore, looking for a landing spot.
Image Specs
Nikon Z9
100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 VR S Nikkor + Nikon Z teleconverter 1.4x
Great Sand Dunes National Park, Mosca, CO 720nm infrared capture processed in Adobe Lightroom Classic and Silver Efex Pro 2.
I took a much-needed break and spent two days photographing around Great Sand Dunes National Park here in Colorado. The dunes themselves are massive, and can be a challenge to shoot depending on the light. During the day, I utilized my Nikon Z6 camera that I recently had converted to capture infrared images (720nm/Standard IR). The infrared capture really made the clouds stand out on an otherwise hazy day at the dunes. Foliage is rendered bright/white when using an infrared camera, so it adds to the unique look. I finished off the processing using Silver Efex Pro 2, part of the Nik Collection by DXO.
Rainbow over the Scottish countryside, Cairngorms National Park
On the road from Pitlochry to Inverness, we stumbled upon a glorious rainbow in Cairngorms National Park. I asked our driver to stop the van, and my clients and I captured the fleeting moment of sunshine and color from the roadside.
Tech specs: Nikon Z7 with 24-70mm f/4 S Z-Nikkor 1/200s f/8 ISO 64 (hand-held)
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Most people have heard of the famous Blue-footed booby, but the Galapágos is home to several other species of these comical birds, such as this Nazca booby. While boobies are quite ungainly on land, they are agile in flight and excellent swimmers.
Fisher Towers under moonlight, Moab, UT Nikon Z7 with 20mm f/1.8 AFS G Nikkor and FTZ adaptor, 20s f/2.0 ISO 3200
I recently got the Nikon Z7 mirrorless camera, and I decided to make a quick trip over to Utah to do a little test shooting. For this shot, I set up the camera on my tripod and used my Nikon 20mm f/1.8 AFS G lens via the Nikon FTZ mount adaptor. Much to my surprise, the Z7 was able to focus on the towers in near total darkness (the viewfinder image was completely black).
I must say that I was impressed with the overall image quality from the Z7 for night photography. I’ll be posting more about my experiences with this Nikon mirrorless camera over the next few weeks, so be sure to check back!
