Reader’s wildlife videos

July 27, 2024 • 8:15 am

We have one more batch of photos in the tank, but fortunately we have Tara Tanaka’s videos.

Here’s what Tara said about this video of wood storks (Mycteria americana) in a rookery.  The baby is adorable:

We got a sit on top kayak that I can shoot from and I’ve been going out every couple of week at sunrise and shooting video.  Here’s one from a month ago.  The rookery is SO loud!

18 thoughts on “Reader’s wildlife videos”

  3. What a beautiful video. The baby keeps putting things in its mouth like it’s teething.
    It also sometimes looks like a hand puppet.

  4. Love the video, but I’m not so sure about the “cuteness” part. That younggin’ is getting old enough, big enough, strong enough, and demanding enough to be annoying! It’s on the cusp of exiting the cuteness stage.

    1. Yes, LG, all of their nests (well over 150 this year) are in cypress trees.

  7. Great video, Tara! I must admit, though, that I was really distracted by how steady the video was. How in the world did you manage to get such rock-steady video while sitting on a kayak?! In only one sequence was there any camera motion at all. Astounding!

    Could you please describe how you got this amazing footage? In-camera and/or in-lens image stabilization? A camera platform stabilizer? Post-processing image stabilization? Or just amazing skill and lots of footage?

    Looking forward to more of your videos.

    βPer

    2. Hi bPer,

      Here is my set-up, and I have added two pole anchors on either side of the kayak:

      fcfc704f19 None of the wildlife clips in this video were stabilized in post – you can see how much movement there is w/o it.
      I shot this very early in the morning before there was even much of a breeze, but with 1000mm every TINY movement was visible. I didn’t have any stabilization turned on my camera; my lens doesn’t have it. I am using a video head and my beefy tripod legs are very secure. I literally didn’t move, and hardly breathed when I was filming. There were one or two clips that I was able to stabilize in Davinci Resolve, but the rest didn’t need it.

        1. Many thanks, Tara! The video from the manufacturer’s site was very informative, although I can’t imagine riding that high in a kayak. It must be extraordinarily stable. My kayaking wife was very impressed.

          I now realize that you’re shooting along the long axis of the boat, which would minimize pitching motion, and I suspect the pole anchors minimize roll and yaw motions, right? So you’re almost using a tripod on a tripod.

          Is the eyepiece on the camera for checking focus? When you’re filming, are you strictly hands-off the gear (I noticed the remote trigger). When I’m using my astronomical telescope (f/l 2032mm), once it’s on target, I don’t touch the telescope because every touch disturbs the stability of the image. Even with my extraordinarily-stable mount, a disturbance takes about a second to damp out. That’s be unacceptable to a videographer, I imagine.

          Thanks again for showing us your setup. To me, it just makes your videos all the more amazing!

          bPer

          1. Hi bPer,

            The pole anchors don’t provide any stability other than keeping it from being blown left or right. I forgot that after that video I also got the NuCanoe seat height adjustment kit and lowered the seat 3″, although I did have some trepidation about appearing to be even “shorter” to our 9′ and 13′ alligators!

            I chose that particular boat for the extreme stability and that it has a seat that swivels 360 degrees. I knew that I wanted to be able to mount the tripod in the back so I had freedom to paddle in the front without being restricted by the camera, or getting the camera wet. As it turns out the floating vegetation is getting so thick from all of the nutrients that the rookery is providing, that it can be really hard to paddle through it now. Being able to just swivel around and start shooting has worked out well. My 84 year old husband uses the boat to get out into the swamp to do work, and he likes to stand when he paddles out, so the stability is also great for him to keep him above the alligators.

            The loupe allows me to use the larger LCD instead of the EVF, and it also blocks the light. I shoot in 100% manual focus, but for something like the nest shots I focus and then only use the panning arm to keep adjusting L to R to keep the nest centered if the boat is moving back and forth. Since you’re used to using >2000mm, you can imagine how much it changes the view when you’re only about 100-150′ away from a nest using 1000mm and there is even slight L to R movement.

            Hope that helps!

          2. p.s. The remote trigger is because I am always shooting in MF, so I use the remote for the shutter and my right hand to focus.

          3. A tippy boat and alligators? Nope, not for me. 🙂 Although I have been out at an isolated observatory near here (Ottawa, Canada) and heard something much bigger than a raccoon rustling in the bushes nearby. Ended up in the clubhouse until the rustling stopped.

            You’re right, I do know what it’s like to try to adjust framing at high magnification. Luckily, my ‘scope has a motorized, 2-axis mount making such adjustments smooth and easy, but not fast. It’d drive you nuts, I’m sure.

            Thanks again for indulging my curiosity. Much appreciated! Best of luck with your filming.

            βPer

  9. Beautiful film. It would be tempting to stroke the head of the young stork’s head.

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