I’m back beach panning, one of my favorite ways to photograph birds. In beach panning, I lay flat on the sand so I am at eye level with the shorebirds with my camera and long lens affixed to a panning plate attached to a Frisbee. This allows me to be up close and personal with some of my favorite photographic subjects. But, things have changed a little since my last beach panning trips in Florida and Texas. I no longer own my Nikkor 600mm lens which is the lens I used when I was introduced to and fell in love with beach panning. I now have a Nikkor 500mm PF lens which is about half the height and half the weight of my 600mm lens. What I didn’t take into account until I was laying flat on the sand at Huguenot Memorial Park in Jacksonville, FL, my head scrunched sideways and my face almost pressed into the sand, was that the 500mm lens mounted on the panning plate was several inches lower than my old setup. Moose saved me by reminding me that I can easily hand-hold my Nikon D5 and 500mm lens. I could still lay flat on the sand and prop myself up on my elbows getting me to the perfect elevation. Problem solved and one of my favorite shorebirds, the sandeling, walked toward me while I took its photograph to commemorate the event.
