These birds were shot either at the shore (Litchfield Beach, SC), or near ponds at Huntington Beach State Park.

The shots at Huntington Beach State Park used the same setup as used in the Birds in Flight and Pairs and Reflections Galleries: Canon 100-400L/f4.5-5.6 lens, with the Canon 1.4x II Teleconverter, mounted on an Arca Swiss B1 Ballhead using the Wimberley Sidekick, all sitting on top of the Gitzo 1325 tripod. I was very pleased with how balanced and mobile this setup was, considering the weight of all this equipment.

The ones taken at the beach were hand-held, using the same lens and teleconverter, and my knees were given a real workout, as I tried to get down to 'birds-eye' level as much as possible. In some, the 550EX flash, with the Better Beamer attached, was used as well, to try and fill in some of the shadows from the bright sun.

Be sure to check out all the images in this gallery, with a surprise to be found at the end!