Lester Tsai Photography

12/08/2024

I hate being colorblind!

After a long weekend of pickleball and shooting I drove down to Eugene just as it was getting dark. I was exhausted but wanted to try to catch a few Perseid meteors. I did my usual planning and found a spot I figured wouldn’t have too much light pollution to the north and went on my way. As I was setting up my cameras I saw two huge meteors streak across the sky. Why couldn’t they wait 2 more minutes!? After composing my frames and took my first test shots I was confused as to why the sky looked so overexposed from what I thought was light pollution. Could I have been that wrong with my calculations? While I recomposed to the left, my eyes caught faint pillars lighting up the sky. I realized it was the Aurora Borealis! The reason it was hard for me to tell was because the initial color was green, which is hard for me to see. I wish I had known sooner so I could have used a 14mm on one camera to capture a larger portion of the sky. The 24mm and 35mm lenses did a great job though and here is one of my favorite captures from last night! You can see a large Perseid meteor streak just above the tree line. Let me know if you caught this amazing show last night and where you were!

Captured on the A1 and 24mm f/1.4 G Master lens

14/04/2024

More prominences during the April 8th solar eclipse. It was so cool seeing these change shape over the quick few minutes of totality.

Captured on the A7RV and 300mm f/2.8 GM + 1.4x teleconverter

12/04/2024

The moment of totality

This was captured milliseconds into totality. You can see the unbalanced light of the corona towards the top left as the sun finally hid behind the moon. I warmed up this image slightly so show the details a little differently. Where did you witness the 2024 solar eclipse from and did you get to see totality?

A1 and 600mm f/4 GM

10/04/2024

A closeup of some of the prominences coming off the sun’s surface during the eclipse. Using shorter exposure times I was able to get the detail in these images.

Captured with the A7RV + 300mm f/2.8 GM and 1.4x teleconverter

09/04/2024

Yes I slept a little lol

A few details to wanted to show during this eclipse were the solar flares as all as the overall corona. Using my Sony A7RV and 300mm f/2.8 G master lens with a 1.4x teleconverter was a great combination for this! I set my camera to shoot bracketed to give me a variety of exposures capturing both the bright flares on the sun’s surface which might be overexposed during a regular exposure time as well as the corona being projected out into space which might not be as visible with shorter exposures. I meant to do the same with my 600mm but in all the excitement and also trying to run 3 cameras I completely forgot to change the settings. Oops, I’ll just have to remember during the next eclipse lol

Sony A7RV + Sony 300mm f/2.8 GM + 1.4x teleconverter

09/04/2024

3 days later….

What began as a well planned trip last October almost turned into the biggest sh!tshow ever. Knowing the eclipse was coming and things might get crazy with travel I booked my flight last October to Austin, TX. Of course the weather would be great down south and of course I’d fly down, get some great shots, then come home and edit the beautiful photos I captured… only Mother Nature had other plans. I’ll explain more when I’m not going on my third day of little to no sleep or food. The last few days have been a scramble across four states and hundreds of miles to find somewhere with clear skies to capture the last solar eclipse in North America for the next 20 years. After driving back and forth between multiple states I made a final last minute change morning this is what I captured… swipe right for the full image. I’m absolutely wiped but I love what I do and I’m so happy to share this with you. Enjoy!

A1 and 600mm f/4

08/04/2024

RAW photo of today’s solar eclipse during totality. Will post a processed shot later. What an experience and adventure. Haven’t slept much in 3 days but I’ll fill you all in on the trip soon!

Captured on the Sony A1+600mm f/4

27/03/2024

A pair of American White Pelicans coming in for landing.

Capture with the Alpha 1 and 600mm f/4 GM lens

25/03/2024

Do you know what a group of pelicans is called?

If you said “pod”, “brief” or “squad” you are correct! These beautiful big birds are very social and are often seen flying, swimming and hanging out together.

Captured on the A1 and 600mm f/4

24/03/2024

It’s a pterodactyl! Oh wait, it’s just an American white pelican with its breeding “horn”. Mature adults grow this unusual projection during breeding season which is then later shed.

Captured on an overcast evening just before sunset with the A1 and 600mm f/4 G Master lens

17/02/2024

Ice covering everything. I grabbed my crampons and camera gear and slowly made my way to Fernridge Wildlife Refuge. Crunch crunch crunch. My footsteps broke the eerie silence with each step I took. A break in the clouds provided a beautiful golden hour sunset. As I scanned the frozen landscape a flying silhouette caught my eye. A northern harrier was gliding along looking for its prey. I love the sunlight hitting the ice covered marsh below.

Captured with the A1 and 600mm f/4 G Master lens.

21/01/2024

American coot running across the ice. You know what they say about coots with big feet right?

Captured on the A1 and 600mm f/4 G Master

20/01/2024

What do you call a group of American coots walking on a frozen lake?

Cootsicles! Just kidding! A group of coots actually have a few names. These include cover, rafts, swarms, commotion, and team. If you’ve heard them called anything else let me know in the comments!

Captured in the A1 and 600mn f/4 G Master lens.

18/01/2024

A pair of American Coot walking on the frozen lake during the ice storm with their cute and very weird little feet. We had temperatures down into the teens and the entire wildlife refuge was ice.

Captured with the A1 and 600mm G Master lens.

18/01/2024

17/01/2024

Happy to announce I will be hosting another wildlife photography workshop with my friends from Pro Photo Supply and Sony Alpha!

Registration is now open and spots are very limited so sign up today! Can’t wait to see you all there!

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/winter-wildlife-on-sauvie-island-tickets-797068231537?aff=PPSInstagramStory&fbclid=PAAaZ4IPz3kXtF2MonDHUUoV9z1JkGPrYkEQtgjVjFEv2jLEo0HbPXpFJWO8U_aem_AVmKU9xHv2B6ibpEnhBorjoH0rYR9OdhdwbAEylhsa5PC-qWMGvn3yfje5AbL4SsMgI

Join Pro Photo Supply, Sony Rep Dan Hawk, and photographer, Lester Tsai, for a morning of wildlife photography on Sauvie Island.