From a previous blog, you know we had intended all along to go to Barnegat Lighthouse to view what wildlife we could see but ended up at the Edwin Forsyth area. Our plan was to see the Harlequin ducks. After the detour we finally made it. Sunday was a bright day so we knew we would have good light (and as you may have guessed, we Chased the Light!). The trip is about an hour and a half so you can't be too sure what weather will prevail until you get there because it is winter and it is along the shore. Changes may come about in just a few hours time. The lighthouse is 165' tall, colored white at the base and red on the top half and a first order Fresnel lens, which simply means the lens has prisms designed into it instead of just a giant convex lens. Early versions were of one piece of glass where newer ones were of several pieces. They directed light in several directions at once and also magnified it at the same time. The lighthouse was commissioned in 1859 and designed by Lt. George Meade (later to be Gen. George Meade of Civil War fame) who also oversaw the construction of the project.
The lighthouse has a long paved walk for handicap accessibility that takes you about 100 yards out along the inlet. Barnegat is one of the worst inlets along New jersey coastline because of the shifting sands and currents that come in and out. The new jetty has a lot to do with safer conditions navigating the sound. Past the concrete jetty are large boulders that allow travel further out. All are flat on top and although some are naturally flat or were excavated that way, many have manmade flattened tops to make travel on foot easier. if you are not
comfortable walking all the way out you can walk the shore and then climb back on the jetty. Sheryll chose this option for some of the distance. In all fairness, walking is easier and you can make better time. Just get back on the jetty where all the cameras are pointing. Birding is a popular event along the jetty and many species are seen. Brandts, mergansers, loons, longtails, scoters and eiders swim beside the jetty and on the jetty are purple plovers and turnstones. Fisherman use the jetty also. So photographic opportunities abound.
Harlequin ducks are only visiting during the coldest part of the winter and are usually found much further north in the rocky New England coast. They are a medium sized duck but very colorful. Bodies are a blueish grey with bright rust colored sides and strokes of white with black outlines on their bodies. They move along quickly as they bob up and down in between occasional dives under water. Although they don't seem to be moving, it takes a pretty fast shutter speed to keep them sharp. Even at 1/250 sec @f8 they are not tack sharp. They may look OK in the view finder but when viewed full screen on the monitor they are not as clear as you would like. Luckily, with good light, faster shutter speeds are an available option. You could also up the ISO rating but you should be aware of where your camera begins to become an issue with noise and stay below that. Of course, in the brightness of day this should be a non issue. You may just begin to lose some definition if you go too high.
As well as the 80-400mm lens, I also put my Tokina 12-24mm wide angle in my coat pocket to get a different perspective of the jetty on the way back. This is a cool lens and one I don't use enough. It can really make you look at a subject differently and get a little more creative in the process. It focuses very close, about 18", and has a great hyper focal distance. I got down amongst the rocks and it gave me a view different than looking down all the time. I converted the on e shot into an HDR and was happy with the results. This was a three shot mix using Photomatix 4. This is a great program I am planning to cover shortly in a future blog.
If you're looking for a different type of duck that is a rare visitor or intriqued by a chance to walk along some giant rocks, Barnegat lighthouse may be what you are looking for. Remember,
Always go to the light,
Steve
The lighthouse has a long paved walk for handicap accessibility that takes you about 100 yards out along the inlet. Barnegat is one of the worst inlets along New jersey coastline because of the shifting sands and currents that come in and out. The new jetty has a lot to do with safer conditions navigating the sound. Past the concrete jetty are large boulders that allow travel further out. All are flat on top and although some are naturally flat or were excavated that way, many have manmade flattened tops to make travel on foot easier. if you are not
comfortable walking all the way out you can walk the shore and then climb back on the jetty. Sheryll chose this option for some of the distance. In all fairness, walking is easier and you can make better time. Just get back on the jetty where all the cameras are pointing. Birding is a popular event along the jetty and many species are seen. Brandts, mergansers, loons, longtails, scoters and eiders swim beside the jetty and on the jetty are purple plovers and turnstones. Fisherman use the jetty also. So photographic opportunities abound.Harlequin ducks are only visiting during the coldest part of the winter and are usually found much further north in the rocky New England coast. They are a medium sized duck but very colorful. Bodies are a blueish grey with bright rust colored sides and strokes of white with black outlines on their bodies. They move along quickly as they bob up and down in between occasional dives under water. Although they don't seem to be moving, it takes a pretty fast shutter speed to keep them sharp. Even at 1/250 sec @f8 they are not tack sharp. They may look OK in the view finder but when viewed full screen on the monitor they are not as clear as you would like. Luckily, with good light, faster shutter speeds are an available option. You could also up the ISO rating but you should be aware of where your camera begins to become an issue with noise and stay below that. Of course, in the brightness of day this should be a non issue. You may just begin to lose some definition if you go too high.
As well as the 80-400mm lens, I also put my Tokina 12-24mm wide angle in my coat pocket to get a different perspective of the jetty on the way back. This is a cool lens and one I don't use enough. It can really make you look at a subject differently and get a little more creative in the process. It focuses very close, about 18", and has a great hyper focal distance. I got down amongst the rocks and it gave me a view different than looking down all the time. I converted the on e shot into an HDR and was happy with the results. This was a three shot mix using Photomatix 4. This is a great program I am planning to cover shortly in a future blog.
If you're looking for a different type of duck that is a rare visitor or intriqued by a chance to walk along some giant rocks, Barnegat lighthouse may be what you are looking for. Remember,
Always go to the light,
Steve
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