The American Dipper & the 800mm – pt2

The Dipper is just the best entertainment! They are a panic in feathers 365 as they go about their daily routine. They were once called Water Ouzel but their named was changed which more reflects their basic biology. They are constantly “dipping” as they peer through the water looking for their food under its surface. Add to this mix a fledgling along with double clutching and it’s non-stop fun!

So the photographic challenge is first and foremost the water. The creek is full to the brim with the winter runoff so getting close physically for the most part if not possible. If the Dippers come to you, fly to your side of the creek, you have a chance otherwise you need big guns to get a decent size image of this fist size bird. I’ve shot here with the 300f4, 200-400VR2, 600VR2 and now with the 800AFS w/TC-25e all with success. I normally have flash for fill because of the shadows but didn’t this day. One problem with flash with all the water is the spray and mist. It’s floats in the air and often is between the flash and the subject. The flash freezes it making the image full of white orbs which are really visually distracting.

This bottom photo is the one I wanted, how’d I get it? The problem is the light gray plumage against the light colored rocks. I wanted that wide open mouth and frantic wing beats of the food begging so needed a dark background with just some light on the fledgling. Lower light levels with a moving subject means you risk an out of focus photo because of slower shutter speed. But slower shutter speed communicates the frantic beating of the wings as the fledgling begs. So I watched the parent and the fledgling. The fledgling spent a bunch of time in the sun, can’t say I blamed it. When the fledgling moved back in to this dark corner of the creekbed I didn’t take my eye off of it because of the darkish background. Luckily there was some reflected light off the water onto the fledgling. Having seen the parent come and go to feed with heartbeat speed, I knew I’d have just a moment to make the shot. With the slower shutter speed, I knew I’d get the wing beats, it was just that mouth that was in question. As the parent flew towards the kid, you see what transpired and by letting the D4 rip, captured one tack sharp frame (the 800mm is freakin sharp!) of the moment. You could sum it all up with my general wildlife photography philosophy, combining biology with technology…with a big dash of passion gets the shot!

The American Dipper & the 800mm – pt1

So there we were after breakfast on our Mono Lake Weekend at the falls. Now the falls have had American Dipper nests since the creation of the Sierras. Knowing that, I took the 800AFS with me to the falls. For the first time, I had the dedicated TC-25e attached which makes the 800mm a 1000mm f/7.1. I figured my friends the Dippers who I’ve been photographing in this one location since 1982 would be the perfect test zone for this combo.

What I didn’t expect was the Dippers would already have fledge 1 kid and working on double clutching. Or the fact that the 800mm/TC-25e combo would be for freakin sharp! Not only sharp, but in these conditions it would focus blazing fast on the D4. OMG, I was in pig heaven! After helping a participant on our Weekend, I would use the lull time to stand at the 1000mm and watch the fun of the Dippers which was catchy, most of the Weekenders got into photographing them as well. Why not, they would practically land on your shoe! What you see here is what I saw and photographed.

The adults spent most of their time going in and out of the nest (the top frame). Their nest looks like a igloo made out of moss. Then every 10-15min, the adult would grab a grub (they get by flying underwater) and would feed the fledgling. Normally I would use a flash to light up the shadows but I didn’t think I would really be spending much time with the Dippers. Well, I was wrong but couldn’t go get the flash. So I waited until the white water would work as a reflector. The 1000mm worked beautifully, the creek really ripping and the Dippers were really active and as you might have guessed looking at the blog title, what you see here isn’t all of the story. You’d be guessing correctly, mtc.

Look for the Gesture

Push! Just so we start on the same page, you can photograph your critters any way your heart says works. You like that click, than you are doing it the right way. There will more than likely be a point in time when you just want something more, spread your wings as it were. It’s at that moment in time you need to start pushing your photography. How do you push? You do it one foot at a time: right foot, left foot, right foot, left. In this case, the first step I recommend you take in photographing shorebirds is, gettin down!

Getting down works wonders to clean up the background, but we’ve got to do something with it. We want that clean background to make the subject pop so that’s the start, but we want to push our photography a bit further. Shooting with a D4 / 600VR2 w/TC-20e3 (damn sharp converter!) the combination of focal length and being flat on the sand makes the Marbled Godwit visually pop. It’s then we push, push the shutter release looking for that gesture!

The top image is the safe shot. It’s the one taken when there is little or no movement. It’s the safe shot because if the subject is not moving in the low light, than you have a sharp image. With wildlife, the eye at the very least has to be sharp. Then you go for a the little more riskier shot, when the Godwit start the sewing machine action looking for food. But I’m going to encourage to go beyond that, risk it all and look for that gesture when the shorebird walks and does sewing machine! In low light, this is a lot of action to freeze but can be done. This last frame with beak down and legs crossed is what I like to go for. It’s a real simple click when you look at it but then, there’s a lot going on. But makes it happen is the clean background making that gesture pop. In pushing your critter photography forward, look for the gesture.

The 800AFS – OMG!!

The weather finally broke so at 05:15 Sharon and I were at Mono Lake with the new 800f5.6 AFS on my shoulder. I had my typical setup, Gitzo 5562GTS, Wimberley WH-200 with Moose Cam (Contour, with the only change being shooting with the D800 as my D4 and half of my gear is in for their annual CLA at Nikon. I was happy as a pig in clam shit to be out shooting critters! It was a brisk morning but not even a stitch of wind with clear skies. With the dirt still wet from the “storm” that went through, I figured the critters would be out and busy, making up for the days of snow, hail and rain. We walked and walked, looked and looked, nothing! Seriously?!

Carrying the rig over my shoulder as I always have, I swear it felt a little lighter than with the 600AFS but I know that’s because the 800mm rig is slightly better balanced on my shoulder. With time to kill, I started to check simple things like, how close can I get with the 800mm and focus on a critter? Manually focusing, I can be 18′ away from a subject and have it sharp. This is not how close it focuses with autofocus, but manually which is what I do most of the time when up close. At this distance at f/5.6, the DOF is bloddy narrow as I discovered when the first Violet-green Swallow appeared. Now being the middle of May, there should be a bucket load at the Tufas but all we had was this one. So as the sun came over the horizon, I had it in my sights and started to shoot. I was way too far away but it was the first bird we’d seen this morning so I wasn’t waiting. I wanted to photograph some critters in the worst way!

OK, I got a little closer, made some more clicks and then it flew off. Bastard! So there we stood, in the gorgeous light with no one to play with. So we kept walkin, lookin, checking all the normal haunts for swallows but with none in the air, I was feeling a little low. Then we came across some Canadian Geese with goslings! Goslings already, pretty big ones no less. While cute and all, shooting them with the 800mm seemed, well, a little anticlimactic after waiting three days to shoot so we just watched them as they strolled by. It was a gorgeous morning at Mono Lake though, looked like I should have been after landscapes rather than critters. We continued walking….

About 45min after sunrise and the nip disappeared from the air, I started to hear the swallows but didn’t see any. Then one came in from high above and landed. I now had two and then, lucky for me, a female showed up! Yeap, being spring and all, soon we had male swallows coming from everywhere to woo the one female and I could finally go to work. The swallows perch on the Tufas for brief periods as they do flight displays, fight with each other, all those male things they do in spring to get the attention of the female. The 800AFS had zero problems focusing from perch to perch as the swallows moved about. The AF speed is great and when the opportunity afforded itself, I would walk in slowly to get as close as I could to continue shooting. Only once did I walk too close that I couldn’t focus. That doesn’t count all the times the swallows landed so close I couldn’t focus no matter what. And was the Moose Cam on all of this time? It was running, I just haven’t edited it to post.

Sharon then saw another group of swallows on another set of Tufas so we wandered over to them. This is where I struck gold and had a male land on a Tufa right in front of me after taking a bath. For five or six minutes it groomed its feathers while calling to the other swallows flying by. On top of the Wimberley, the 800mm was real easy and fast to swing around to keep up with the action. You must be wondering if I was chimping all this time to see the results? Nope, didn’t check them until getting back to the office a short time ago and could see them on the 24HD Cintiq. That’s when I was blown away by the spooky sharpness of the 800AFS! I mean, this is one very sharp lens! It is also very obvious that the DOF at MFD is nothin, not even from the tip of the bill to the back of the eye on the swallow. Well, with these images in the can and the light getting hard, we started walking back towards the truck.

We spent time where we normally see Least Chipmunks but they didn’t want to play. Looked for the cottontail rabbits, none to be found. We kept walking back up the path. As were strolling up looking about, I heard the distinctive twitter (song not social media) of a Green-tailed Towhee. A second later saw it singing from the top of a big Tufa. While not a great perch, I walked to it. Then a female flew up from below it and they were off flying through the sage. I was just about to move on when the male came back and perched on a much better, smaller Tufa. I made a couple of clicks and moved closer. Made a couple of more clicks and then it sang! Those are the shots I love to get in spring.

For the next ten minutes I was able to work the towhee, getting closer and refining the background. The 800mm focal length has always been my favorite because of the ease of manipulating the background, in this case grabbing rabbit brush way off in the distance just getting its spring green. Now as my good friend Kevin pointed out this morning, the 600AFS with 1.4x gets you to the same place and this is true. Well, not too long that female reappeared and my subject jetted off through the sage in hot pursuit once again. So ended my first outing with the new 800AFS lens. Sitting now at my desk looking at the results, there is no doubt whatsoever in my mind that Nikon did an amazing job with this lens! This morning’s shoot was just with the 800mm itself, I didn’t attach any teleconverters to it. I will in due time but for now, I want to learn just what the lens will do on its own. mtc.

D7100 Stories: The baby Black Sea Turtles

As we had been doing everyday, we were in the field and shooting to greet the sun. This morning we were in sea kayaks in a croc filled lagoon shooting. Out on the lagoon once the light had gone hard, we had a few moments to paddle around to enjoy the incredible beauty of where we were (I insist on that!). By staying in one place and simply doing a 360 turn of the kayak, I could see three, THREE species of Kingfisher! All new species for me and as a birder, this is nirvana! I simply can’t express verbally or in photographs the immense richness of Costa Rica’s wilderness! We slowly paddled in birding our way back while trying to get out of the increasing heat of the sun (I don’t think I’ve ever sweated so much in my life!). I do have to admit, having the croc there watching us as we disembarked from the kayaks was fun, some others in the party didn’t see the humor.

I had two D7100 bodies with me, one with the 28-300 and the other with the new 70-200VR3 (I really love that lens!), both on straps and both in seabags just in case a croc got me, we could save the cameras. We have priorities! With the kayaks all brought back to shore, covered to protect them from the white wash of the locals, we started to walk down the beach, back to where we parked the Rover. We were walking along and our truly amazing guide Gary (this kid really impressed me!) pointed to a pile of white, what look like deflated balloons in the disturbed bowl of sand. We were quite a distance from the surf and on the edge of the vegetation. Gary said, “This is a Black Sea Turtle nest and it looks like it just hatched last night.”

Just then Gary dropped to his knees and started digging like a dog going after a long, lost bone. The sand was flying and before we knew it he was down to his shoulder in the pit he had dug out with his hand. Then he said, “Found one!” and he pulled out a “baby” Black Sea Turtle. It had hatched and got stuck behind a root deep in the sand. Lana & Gary explained that this was pretty common which is why Gary started digging. The first, then second, third, fifth, tenth baby sea turtle was placed in our hands as Gary continued to find more and more stuck in the roots. When our hands were full, Lana said to take just a couple of steps and put the turtles on the sand. It was bright, hot in the sun and the water was a longs ways off but the baby turtles have to make the trek themselves to embed the beach in their senses so when it’s time for them to comeback and lay eggs, they can find the beach. Damn, Mother Nature is just so darn cool! How in the hell does this biology start in the first place?

That long distances in the hot sun though is not what the baby turtles are meant to do. They should have gone in the cool, protective cover of night. Knowing that the odds are that 1 out of 20 survive the first year and Gary had recovered nearly two dozen, we wanted them all to make it to the water. On this big, empty expanse of a beach, don’t think these humans making a fuse didn’t get some attention. Not from other folks as there are none on this deserted, gorgeous beach, but rather from those wanting to make a meal of the turtles. The magnificent Mangrove Black Hawks appeared out of nowhere when the first turtles were put on the sand. So in between bringing water to keep the turtles cool, we stood over them providing aerial assault protection. Now if them baby turtles would have stayed together and all gone at the same pace, things would have gone smoothly. One had a slightly injured front flipper and while it didn’t just go in circles, it didn’t make a straight line either to the water’s edge. Some went fast and some seem to be taking in all the sights and before we knew it, they were scattered about the beach. Then a scream went up as the aerial assault was launched!

With moves worthy of a Heismen Trophy winner, one of the group made a move foiling the hawk stoop on the baby turtle, ending up with with a talon of sand rather than an easy meal for its attempt. While mother nature is amazing there are times to us, it seems cruel. But that’s why so many eggs are laid, so many hatch because the odds of one turtle making it back are slim. Finally with what seemed like hours past, the turtles started to reach the water and safety. Smaller than the palm of your hand, it seems unbelievable they head out into the big expanse of the Pacific ocean without any hesitation. With our protecting duties comin to an end, I picked up the D7100 and started to shoot. The D7100 instantly grabbed focus, locked on and blasted away. I didn’t have to think about the camera, just the photograph…and protecting the baby turtles! I’d never seen such a thing in my life, doubt I will again and I was going to have at least one click of this miracle of life. To Lana and Gary from Luna Lodge, it’s just what they do because of their fulltime involvement with the environment and protecting of the rich biodiversity of Costa Rica. For our little posse though, this was a very special event, a wonder of nature none of us will ever forget!

D7100 Stories: Moose & the Sloth

It was our very first day at Luna Lodge, Costa Rica and we were in meetings about our shoots for the next two weeks. We were in the open dinning area overlooking the rainforest when Gary, our guide came up to use kind of excitedly. “They found a Two-toed Sloth and it’s really low!” The species (Two-toed being the harder to find) and being low were both the important part of the statement. “You want to photograph it?” It was on the list so we suited up with gear and headed out.

With the D7100, 70-200f4 & TC-20e3 in hand, we got in the Rover and headed down the canyon. In not too long of time, there we were right next to the Sloth. Man, what a cool animal! Not really much bigger than a watermelon, there is “sat.” It wasn’t going anywhere until nightfall so we could take our time to make the shot. There was a number of avenues through the forest to get the shot, I looked for the one bringing out the character of this unique critter. I had to shoot stills and video so I was busy. In my mind, the priority was the stills first, video second so that clicks were being made.

It was all going really well. In fact, despite the tremendous pressure I was putting on my self to produce, I was having fun. The one feature about the D7100 I enjoyed was the dynamic range. You’ll notice in this photo the highlights on the leaves in the background aren’t blown out, the camera held the detail, which made the shooting just a little easier. With the stills in the can (I shot everything on Lexar 64GB 600x SD cards), I moved to get the video. I needed to shoot both DX and Cropped video (New feature for a Nikon DX camera). So I moved over to capture some more forest for movement in the video since the sloth wasn’t moving, a hair! With it all set up, there I stood whispering with the rest of the group what I was doing.

The D7100 was on the Really Right Stuff Tripod / BH-55 just running away. I had set up so I was standing on the edge of a cliff with the tripod right in front of me. The group was at my three o’clock and the sloth at my ten o’clock. The filming was going great, really cool stuff being captured. I was standing there behind the tripod talking with the group when, all of a sudden….NO MORE MOOSE! The tripod was there and the D7100 was still running, but I had completely disappeared!

Without any warning, the edge of the cliff gave way and like an elevator ride, I went straight down into the tangles of the rainforest below! One moment I was looking at the gang and the next, I was staring at rock and dirt! I didn’t know what happen but all of a sudden, I heard a bunch of excited voices and hands grapping me. They got me up and back on top of the cliff without seeming too much problem and amazingly, I didn’t have a scratch on me. But I had injured my right wrist in the fall, fractured it (didn’t tell anyone until after we left Costa Rica). Everyone was pretty calm, making sure I was OK and then after a short time, looking at me, they all broke out in full blown laughter shaking the monkeys from the trees!

I didn’t get it until I looked where they were staring. They were all starin at my crotch! I looked down to see that my convertible pants had completely and fully, blown out from front to back leaving EVERYTHING hanging out! I mean everything! Well, I finished the video and we all got back in the Rover. All I had to do now was figure out how to get through this five star lodge and to my bungalow without embarrassing myself further. And there you have the glamorous life of a Nikon shooter on assignment for a new product launch on his first day….. and there’s more to come!

(Note: This photo was taken with D7100, 70-200f4, TC-20e3 and this is a Jpeg from the Raw file, no processing)

Great Light or Great Moment?

As photographers, we seek that great light. And many of the great photographs we enjoy, one of the first comments is, “great light!” And one of the first comments made when a photograph doesn’t measure up is, “bad light.” And yet, some of the historically most important photographs we treasure weren’t shot in the best light but rather, the best moment. I think that raises the question which is more important when you have to make the choice, great light or great moment? I pose this question because I think many sacrifice the great moment thinking they can only shoot in the great light. Here’s the funny thing about wildlife, sporting events, aviation, and whole bunch of life, they don’t read the same material we do and know to only perform in the great light. So what happens when great light takes a back seat? Will your photography suffer?

I’m not giving you a reason to shoot in bad light. I am giving you a reason to get out when others might say the light sucks looking for that great moment. This Wood Stork is such an example. It’s becoming that time of year in the south, the birds and the bees thing and it’s when critters do there thing whenever they want. To get it on film, you gotta be out there with them. Joe McNally quotes a photographer, a quote now used by many in it’s short form that might help. In a nutshell, you want an interesting photograph, stand in front of something interesting. In that quote, light is not mentioned. In this example the Wood Stork in not so good light but for showing off the glow in its black feathers, it’s great light. If you know that than being at the rookery when the light is great for that one great moment rather than the overall photograph might be worth while. But then while there for that shine in the black you get it in a moment of passion, well then the great moment grows. The something interesting being rather just some primary feathers is a leading lines up to a bigger moment. Ya, we should seek the great light with the great moments there is no doubt, the reason we get up early and stay out late. But in those hours in between, I want to encourage you to not hang up your cameras but rather, look for just the great moments. Photography is this funny thing, it happens whenever you’re behind the camera. It’s just the images when end up sharing are from the great moments.

Shot with the D4 with 600VR2 with TC-20e3

The Challenge of #1mil

God bless Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets because they get more photographers into wildlife photographers than anything else! Being found in just about every nook and cranny of North America, who hasn’t photographed these graceful but dirt common subjects? I don’t think I have 1mil photos of the Great Egret, but I might be wrong. So when you’re confronted with taking picture 1mil and one, what do you do? Well, I tend to get really picky and push things a little. What’s pushing it? In the top photo, not a thing! I have a Great Egret in a nice little shaft of light, it goes with the other thousands like that which I have in my files.But this lone egret won’t be alone for long.

Now, I’m not a “raise the ISO” when the light levels drop kinda shooter. So to answer the 1mil challenge, I use the old fashion approach, watch for peak of action and shoot. Shooting with the D4 with 600VR2 with TC-20e3, I focused on the single egret waiting for the mate to comeback. The small shaft of light is slowly fading when the mate returns. He (I assume it’s him) shows up with a twig, makes the presentation and the displaying begins. I simply watch with my finger half way depressing the shutter release so I can shot in a heartbeat. When the wings spread, I watch the head and when it stops its travel, I go click. Na, not some amazing photo but rather, a way to meet the challenge of 1mil and push you photography forward. I’m constantly looking for a way to meet the challenge and of course, win. It’s what pushes my photography.

The Predawn Light has Value

Light is the element we all have in common and what we seek in our photos to distinguish them from the next. Is there a place you can go and know that light will be good, like a guarantee? I think there are many one are the sands of Fort DeSoto prior to sunrise. When the sun has yet to kiss the heavens, the little light that is present bounces off the sand which does such a great job at filling in the slight shadow. That is, if you’re down on the sand at their level.

Lying on the sand with the D4 with 600VR2 in a panning plate, we can take advantage of the light with our subjects. Now we get down low to not minimize but BLOW AWAY the background! With the very soft light and soft pastel colors, I big part of the photographic challenge is accomplished, but it’s not everything!

The top photo is your basic shot and while the light and being down low make it a nice shot, we can do much better. Plying the clock, we give the birds in this case the Willets, time to get use to our presence and with that comes more poses. These poses can have attitude in them that along with the light bring a little uncommon to the common. I like that. Then when you wait for after they take their nap and the wake up, you have the opportunity to get an even more uncommon pose. In this case, after waking and preening, the Willet scratched its head. You can see how shallow the DOF is at f/5.6 but that’s perfect because just what I want sharp is sharp. There is something special about greeting dawn’s first light and often, you’ll see it in your photographs if you go looking for it.

Be Vary, Vary Picky!

Wildlife photography is just like Christmas morning quite often. You find that great subject and just like a kid on Christmas morning you just start wrippin and in the end, you have just the one present. The problem is the leftover pile of paper you have to clean up afterwards. The problem though for the wildlife photographer, all that wrippin really kills the great photo as you dig through all those images you have to delete afterwards! I understand all to well the excitement of seeing that gorgeous subject that you’ve never photographed it before and you just start clicking. I seen that happen with every subject on the plant by excited photographers and that’s just damn cool! That excitement will take you photography a long ways down the road! The problem with it though is it instills really bad photographic habits! Be vary, vary picky. Go into what I call sniper mode, get the one shot!

The top photograph is the first picture I took when we came up to this Spoonbill at Fort DeSoto. It was early morning so one knows that as the day gets older, the light gets harder. So wanting to take advantage of what you think is the best light, you shoot a lot trying to get the shot. What you have to do is take a deep breath and think the PHOTOGRAPH through. I’m much happier with the one clean shot then a thousand shots showing I can push a button (that you have to edit through later). In this case, the foreground and background are nasty. NASTY! The tide is out so lots of muck is coming through in the photo taking away from the beauty of the Spoonbill. Shooting with the D4 with 600VR2 with TC-20e3 and knowing the tide was coming in, waiting made sense to make the better photo. I’ll let the rising tide not only remove the busy foreground and background, but give me a reflection to work with. At the same time, the harder light will increase the contrast making those elements disappear even more. Finally, staying longer, the Spoonbill got use to my presence so would come closer. Yes, knowing all of this takes times in the field shooting. And learning not to astro blast through you excitement was learned easier when we shot film not digital because throwing away all those rolls of film really brings the point home. But I’m going to encourage you to be vary, vary picky!

It’s Winter – FL TIME!!!

I really have a thing for shorebirds and one of my favorite places to go to fulfill this love affair are the beaches of SW FL. Lying on the sands this morning shooting, it reminded me of just how sweet this pursuit really is. It really is easy to do. You grab yourself a panning plate, attach a D4 with 600VR2 and let the birds comes to you! I might be making it sound over simplistic, but that’s really all I do. If for no other reason, once I’m laying down flat on the sand, I simply don’t wanna move. It feels soooo good!/p>

Why go down flat? This Red Knot is a good example, it’s all about the background. I want this smaller, plain (winter plumage) lookin bird kinda just blends in when you shoot down on it from eyelevel. One of the goals of our photography is to make the uncommon out of the common. A simple way to accomplish this is simply getting down on their level and making them pop by removing the background. Then you add to this with a great color, in this case being careful to get only the blue in the background. Then you finish it off with gesture. Is this planned? In every way. Does the plan fall through? In every way. That’s the very nature of wildlife photography and why I love it so!

Favorite Winter Photos – Big Game Mammals

I’m often asked what is my “favorite” image. I’m incredibly fortunate that life has presented an amazing number of grand opportunities permitting me to have a number of favorite images. With the Bison image I posted yesterday, I had a couple of folks asking if it was my favorite winter shot. That had me thinking what I might consider my favorites for big game in winter. I couldn’t find just one and even three doesn’t quite cover it but it gets me close. This first photo was taken at -10 up in the Yukon territory with a D1H and 400f2.8 AFS. I’m looking down slope and the background for this Dall Sheep ram is a lake. It was snowing, cold and gorgeous and that probably makes it one of my favorite photographs more than the photograph itself. That was a great week!

It wasn’t nearly that cold when we were up in the Arctic with Polar Bears. In fact, it was bloody warm, so warm you see the Beaufort Sea and not pack ice! And that’s what I was thinking about when I saw this male walking the beach. It was like it was lost, couldn’t figure out which way to turn and was all alone. Of course I was projecting all of these feelings onto this poor male. We watched it stroll until we could see it no more except the lonely flock of gulls that followed it. To this day, for me it reminds me of the fate of this majestic northern traveler. This was a real simple D2xs / 70-200 shot.

Bighorn Sheep are just cool! They live such a simplistic, complicated life and depending on when you find them, it’s one or the other. This winter scene was definitely the simplistic when just walking the slope and munching was all that mattered. This big curl ram was fun to watch as he went wherever he wanted to and the younger rams just parted. He was a real easy shot to make as he walked on past us up on the slope. He would stop only long enough to see what the rest of the herd was up to. This is a D3, 200-400VR2 click. And like I said, this aren’t like killer images of a lifetime, just favorites from my winter travels that have great memories.

Grizzly Bear Adventure – An Opening

Life does get in the way of life so we have 1 opening in our Grizzly Bear Adventure in 2013. Now this isn’t your normal, run of the mill grizzly bear shoot. I’m not even saying where I’m taking folks as it’s not a place photographers normally get to venture to. It’s rather unique, it a locale where you’re just as likely to see and photograph wolves as your are griz. For me, watching these two top predators use the same area is fascinating as all get out and photographically makes for some unique opportunities.

Don’t snooze and let this opportunity pass you by! The beauty of the locale, you really don’t need more than a 200-400 lens, a big appetite (great food) and the desire to see wild, unspoiled Alaska. Click on the big box to the right if you need more info or just call Sharon (who is going as well) @ 760.924.8632 to join us!

Alvin’s Portrait – How’d You Do That?

Having Alvin around has been great fun! Hummers tend to have some personality but Alvin has the extra little bit that just makes you laugh at his antics! I’ve had lots of opportunity to photograph him (know it’s a him from the gorget) over the last couple of months and have enjoyed how he seems to have put smiles on many. That’s just cool! At the same time, folks keep asking how’d I get his portrait? It really is no great secret, nothing magical but it is a whole segment on my Beginning Wildlife Photography course we just filmed. Here’s the recipe, it’s pretty much right out of the Moose Playbook.

The gear set up is basic backyard formula, D4, 300f4 AFS & Pocket Wizard III set up on a tripod perhaps 4′ from Alvin. More importantly is the biological setup, something you won’t be able to see until the class is online. Alvin’s perch is a piece of Manzanita that’s in a Justin Clamp on a light stand 18″ from his feeder (and I mean HIS!) and that is 30 yards or so from the background. All I do is when is wait for the light and shoot. There is no more to it than that, sort of. Getting to this point though takes a little more which is why we made a class out it but when it comes to Alvin’s portrait, that’s everything.

It’s Coming up on Big Game Season!

That’s how my good friend, a biologist in the Rockies started his email to me yesterday. We call fall that because it’s in the fall that big game, moose, elk, deer, pronghorn, bighorn sheep and bears (though they are not big game) grow out with their gorgeous, new winter coats. It’s also the season when I think about getting out in the forests and photograph these majestic critters. For most big game, this is the season of love, what most normal folks call the rut. This annual ritual of life is a fascinating right of passage to watch. You see the classic battle of the big boys going at it. And then the younger, faster males shoot in while the big boys are fighter and mate and get out before the big boys know what happened. Then the big boys get all sexually frustrated and do things I’m not going to mention on this family blog. And the next day when the sun comes up, it starts all over again. It is an amazing, fascinating, ancient call of biology that is just a great show!

When it comes to photography, it’s a slam dunk! Really!! All you need is a lens in the 200 to 400 range, my favorite choice is the 200-400VR2 and this fall I can’t wait to take the D4 out with its 6 stop range. Why? I like the dramatic light, a spot light on the critter surrounded by darkness. While I like it, I don’t always get it but at least this fall when it is served up to me, I’m ready. But generally, fall presents the best light for wildlife photographers, especially in October. If you do your homework now, looking for where the big game are gathering in open areas, you can easily get great shots using just a 70-200 lens. All these photos here where taken with just a 70-200!

Now you might be looking for some big racks in a blog post about fall big game. Well, I thought I would give the moms a little call out today. Typically ignored, when mom has a kid in tow, they make for a great subject. One of these photos was taken in the spring. You know which one? And while I have your eye, I want to call your attention to something on NPR today, part of the reason of my friend’s email yesterday. It’s something we’ve been talking about for years and now more science is showing what we thought was happening actually is. It directly effects big game and our photography!

Having a Blast with Kelby Training!

Sharon & I are having a blast with the Kelby Training crew, Adam & Brandon here in our home and office filming my latest class, Beginning Wildlife Photography. The guys are from FL of course, so just being up in the Sierra and right now has them big eyed and clicking a ton of iPhone photos. Then we introduce the to our birds and squirrels (my Stellar Jay kid who flies into the office to say hi really got them!) and they really go gaga! I was hillerious watching Brandon try to photograph Alvin, our Allen’s Hummer with his iPhone. We finished our first day last night at 21:30 filming a segment with our Northern Flying Squirrels. This is one of our juvenal Hairy Woodpeckers posing for the camera during the class. This photo taken with a Nikon 300f4AFS, the main lens for the class. They are do back shortly to start our 2nd day and can’t wait. Had a bear the day before they arrived and hoping one comes by today. I want to see how their iPhones does with it! Oh ya, they say the class should be posted in the next 60days! mtc

I Can’t Get No Respect!

I just think these are the coolest birds, the Turkey Vulture. I am often asked what one critter have I not photographed that I want to. Obviously I’ve photographed the Turkey Vulture but never on a nest. I day a paper presented on these misunderstood birds long ago and say some cool images of their nest life and have always wanted to spend a season at a nest ever since. Where most look at birds like the Robin to signal the coming of spring, I look to the TV migrating up the Eastern Sierra. The one factoid I love about TVs is, they use more calories to perch then they do to fly. That’s pretty darn cool!

Then there is that red head, I just love it! It has a very specific biological reason, it’s all about cleanliness. Vultures stick their heads in places where heads shouldn’t go, into gooey, gory, parts of dead things eating stuff that smell alone would knock us off. Because of that, they have no feathers on their heads so they can keep clean easier. That’s cool evolution! North America has three in vultures, the Turkey, Black and California Condor. Other then the condor, vultures tend to be ignored even though they are not only cool, but an important part of our wild heritage. Some populations in North America have suffered some server decline in the last decade. If you have the opportunity, give them a little of your time. You might just find them like me, pretty darn cool! Photos taken with D4 w/600VR.

The Northern Critters are Calling Me!

There is just something about the critters of the north, those that eek out survival around or above the arctic circle. The vast majority of the critters of the north are physically larger, what’s often referred to as the Northern Effect. This is part of their strategy for survival as well as a means of having more body area making the most of their limited daylight. But lastly, the vast majority of the critters of the north don’t see humans much, they don’t know they should be scared of us so they are very cooperative. I like that!

This is a Red Fox pop that we photographed for a couple of days. The family den site was back in the trees so we didn’t always have great light but on the days we shot the den, it was overcast which worked best for lighting. This particular Red Fox family had a red phase mom and a dark phase dad so the pups are what are called Cross (the biologists, crazy namers they are). Now laying down on the ground to get the background to totally blur really seemed to intrigue this one pup, it started at me for what seemed like hours and I didn’t mind for a second. This photo was taken with a F5, 800f5.6 EDIF on Agfa RSX 100.

The Arctic Hare is so big I tend to look for a saddle to take one for a ride. They have such an attitude about them, probably because they know they can kick the crap out of us. But while they are diurnal, seeing them at dusk is kinda common when it’s an up year. Those years, I would tend to seek them out because just love their hair do. They are molting out of their all white winter coat to their summer gray coat. Just the ears intrigue me to no end. This photo was taken with the same gear as the fox.

And why are these critters on my mind? I’m busy making the plans for our K&M Adventure Churchill (we have two openings), talking to old friends and hearing about the critters up at Churchill. One year we had a Polar Bear with 3 cubs that I ended up petting the mom and holding one of the cubs, a very fond memory. So I just couldn’t help and stop, look at some images from my last trip up there and day dreaming. Hope you can join us, you’ll come back with the same kind of memories and even better, photograph!

Next Page »