Jul 18, 2013 | Landscape Photography
Well, spent basically all day with Caesar and it’s clear, he’s no Alvin! Nope, Caesar is like most hummers, just not really sure whether he can trust me or not. Unlike Alvin who would greet me, land on my lens, Caesar really wants nothing to do with me. He did finally by late afternoon permit me to be on the deck with him, but I’d best not move or he moves to another perch further away. Shooting with the D4 / 800mm, I started the day by setting it up and leaving it in place while I went on about my business. I did connect the Pocket Wizards and shot some video but remote photography just doesn’t work for me. During the day when Caesar was out chasing other hummers, I would move the rig closer until by late afternoon, the rig was at the 800mm MFD. With him coming and going with it there, I than sat at the lens. When he first came in, I didn’t do a thing. Then slowly I started to shoot. By the time the sun was leaving the perch (flash is not a pain in the ass to do with a hummers), he sat and slept which is a great sign. It means he’s OK with me being there. Today is another day, fingers crossed.
Jul 15, 2013 | Landscape Photography
This was the scene just a month ago. The majority of our street signs have at least one active woodpecker nest. This spring the one by our home had a Hairy Woodpecker nest. Setting up the D4 / 80-400 as a remote, I fired the rig with a Pocket Wizard. With the street sign being right on a corner, standing there behind the camera just wasn’t a wise thing to do. So from across the block I watched with bins and clicked as the parents came in to feed. They fledged two kids, a male and female.
So while having breakfast on the deck, one of the kids that just fledged dropped by our feeder. Still shooting with the D4 / 800, it was fun to see the youngster. Now I’m not really thrilled with the lighting on the lower half of the branch, but I do like having one more click in the kid’s life. One of the cool things is, this kid is like generation 13 or 14 to come to our feeders. Their parents bring them so they are very use to our just doing our thing. Unlike the Band-tails, we can walk up to the window just a foot away from them and they don’t even bother to look at us. So once this kid has all its feathers all popped, it will be a great subject!
Jul 15, 2013 | Landscape Photography
Being it was a gorgeous morning, we decided to have our breakfast on the deck. It is most definitely one of the great summer perks of living in the Sierras. And of course wherever I go, the camera comes along so set up next to me was the D4 / 800. One of the bird species that nests on our property are Brewer’s Blackbirds. A very, very, very common species but why they are nesting up on the slope where our home is rather than by a creek like they should be is a mystery to us. We had eleven nests in our manzinettas this year fledge young. Other than watch their antics when they dive bomb our dogs right when their eggs hatch, I really don’t take note of them. But this morning, this one male was noteworthy. First, the angle of the light was just right to bring out the sheen in its black feathers. Next, it saw a female and well, you get the idea. So while I only have a minute or two with it, the final image makes me smile. I love the expression the stare and cocked head brings.
Jul 15, 2013 | Landscape Photography
No, that’s not a translation of their Latin name, but it might as well be as far as we’re concerned. This is a Band-tailed Pigeon and in most regions of the country, it’s a hunted species (and I’m told tasty). Ever since our first fall in the Sierra, we’ve had this very wary species at our feeders. That is for about ten minutes which is about how much time it takes for them to suck them all dry. Now you know what we call them vacuum cleaners.
Prior to moving to the Sierra, we had seen the pigeons in other regions of the state, but never got close enough to get glass on them. I suspect that comes from the fact they are hunted. And even though they are coming to us (my preferred way of getting close to critters) and are here what seems like the hundreds (probably only 50), the slightest movement inside the office and it sounds like a Huey lifting off from the driveway. Though they’ve been sucking down our seed for nearly twenty years, I still have to stand way back in the depth of the office and shoot with the D4 / 800. Why go to all of this for a “pigeon?” Simply business actually, hunting magazines need photos of them and with them being so difficult to photograph nearly everywhere, they are money in the bank. Now I have a deal with them, they pose, they get to eat. No posing and we walk through our office and they fly off. And when you take a moment and look at them, they are a pretty cool bird.
Jul 11, 2013 | Landscape Photography
With the D4/800 in my lap and Puffin Pad beside me, Sharon & I took off to check out Upper Souris NWR outside Minot, ND. The Upper Souris is a location I’ve long heard about so wanted to see it for myself. I was really hoping our timing would be perfect for the hatch of grebes but such was not the case. We were about 10 days late, the chicks too old to be floating around on their parents backs. But the trip was anything but a bust!
I put the 800mm away and grabbed the 18-35AFS and 24-70AFS and worked the amazing fields of Mustard that seemed to stretch to the horizon. The skies were nearly perfect for landscape photography even though the sun was high in the sky. In fact, I don’t think I would have wanted the sun any other place. The bright, cheery yellow screams for bright and cheery. There is no filters, no post processing, these are simply images out of the D4. The ones I like the best are the ones that show a little topography to the mustard fields. A little creek at a diagonal was something I seeked. To say getting back, earlier to the area is on the calendar. We saw nearly 50 species of birds and that with being technically “late” so I can’t wait to see what we’d find being ontime.
Jul 9, 2013 | Landscape Photography
It’s summer time and the afternoon thunderstorms are rolling through. I love it! Is there a trick to lightning photography? These days, you can capture the bolt pretty darn easily with tools like Ligthning Trigger, which permit you to capture the bolts even during daylight hours and not even touch the camera. And that’s when I think some of the best lightning images are made. Like many aspects of photography, just capturing the “one” aspect doesn’t make it a good photo. Just capturing a lightning bolt in itself doesn’t make a good photo. It’s just the subject and like all photographs, elements around it should support it. What are those elements? In the top photo, it’s the glow of the bright skies that are behind the storm. Summer thunderstorms typically are “regional” so getting to their edge, there is bright skies behind them that can light up the clouds giving them a unique glow all their own.
Some of the strongest are simply clean landscape photos that can stand on their own without the lightning bolt. My favorite which is above was taken many years ago in Montana at sunset. The great color is courtesy of a forest fire and by simply turning the camera to follow the fast moving storm, the Lightning Trigger did the rest of the work. The “tricks” to this is first staying dry because often you’re in the rain. I have a large, golfer’s umbrella we use. It has a carbon fiber post that in theory help prevents being struck but lightning. And that is a concern you need to take into consideration. The other “trick” if there is one is to underexpose by at least one stop. It doesn’t lower the intensity of the bolt but the rest of the scene which then makes the bolt look brighter. Lastly, never leave home without your Lightning Trigger because the moment you do, you will witness the most amazing lightning storm, ever!
