Jun 28, 2013 | Landscape Photography
I have this really well earned reputation for getting up really early for a photograph. And it is well earned, I do just that, a lot! Yesterday morning was no exception because this time of year, the sunrise is really early and traveling up to 10,000 to greet the day, 04:00 was the time. Now you’ve not probably done exactly that, I have no doubt though you’ve been up early at some point for a shot. You’ve also probably had the same results as we did. You’re there, the mosquitos are there but the light, it was nowhere to be found. Don’t worry, the sun did rise but there was no magic, no pop, no drama. It just did it’s usual thing, it came up with no ceremony. So, what do you do?
Shooting with the D4 and 80-400VR3, I actually ended up spending more time playing with the iPhone at times than the D4. Why, well, been there done that at Minaret Vista a few hundred times before. Why? It’s literally my backyard, we can be there in minutes. Why go back to the same place over and over again when, I knew at 04:00 it was going to be blah? OK, photographically it was blah but for the soul, it’s an amazing WOW! And being the only ones up there, we knew the rest of the world didn’t know about it. When you can take a photo with your iPhone and thousands of folks can instantly experience what it was we were experiencing. Now how cool is that? And that’s partly why I’m posting this rather ho hum photos because, you weren’t there and you don’t know how amazing it can be. You only know what’s contained in the photos presented you and that’s the point. Even when it might be blah blad to us, those not with us, it is really possible it is amazing and that’s one of the great gifts of photography. When we share, we just never really know the impact the simplest photo content might have on someone. Sharing is just as important as getting out at 04:00 when it comes to photography. So, get out, shoot and share this weekend. Your blah (and hope you don’t have blah) might just be the light someone needs that day!
Jun 26, 2013 | Landscape Photography
The extra reach of the 800mm got my mind to thinking. Heading to another window in the office, I stood, watched, thought and acted on making that view a shooting gallery just for the 800mm. So, I got out the big stick again and went back to pruning Kelby Training style quickly making a great path for shooting. I no sooner got cleaned up and back in the office and behind the D4 and a good lookin Cassin’s Finch landed right I had just cleared out a bunch of sticks.
I’m shooting with the straight 800mm and as you can see, got a great image size. Being spring, the male’s have a nice glow to the head and breast and this was a pretty good lookin male, so I spent some time with it. The best part was there was a little kiss of light filtering through the pine boughs. I was very pleased that so quickly the new shooting gallery was producing.
Now the Cassin’s Finch is a real, dirt common species, nothing special. So the goal as always was to make the uncommon out of the common. I didn’t get there this first attempt but with a start like this, I have high hopes. It was just great to be back with my friends and being able to share them with you.
Jun 26, 2013 | Landscape Photography
Well life has finally landed be back in home, for more than a day. So the first order of business was to get the shooting gallery all up to snuf. This meant doing two things, get out my big stick and break off all the little sticks (Kelby Training style) so I have my clean foregrounds/backgrounds. That took a little while and with the addition of the 800mm to the shooting gallery, a little deeper pruning. Once that was done, time to get back behind the camera.
Since I hadn’t done any serious gallery shooting at the office with the 800mm, I set it up first on my woodpecker post. I didn’t take time to set up lights, I just wanted to get back into the swing of the critters. Spring has sprung and there are kids about so parents are real busy. First up to bat is the Red-shafted Flicker which came in to say hello. Next was on of the new Hairy Woodpecker chicks that just fledged from the nest in the front yard last weekend. I took a couple of shots of it and than slowly walked up to it. I was about three feet away when I stopped. It just watched me, begged when dad landed, got fed by dad and than flew off with dad. Dad came in to the food with me there because I did the same thing with him when he was young. It was a good morning to be back in the shooting gallery. I got an idea for a new feeder so I started to gather the materials for that idea. Fun in the backyard, life is good.
Jun 18, 2013 | Landscape Photography
Ya, we gotta know that f/stop and shutter speed stuff (this might help with that!) and you have all the right gear (until the next batch of new stuff comes out) but are you ready for the sneak attacks? One of the greatest parts about photography no matter what kind you want to think about are the surprises. Those surprises are the serendipitous moments that often make your ordinary photograph very special. When these moments happen, we have to not only have the right gear and techniques, but be smart enough to recognize the surprise as being special to take advantage of it. Our knowledge base has to be so large to recognize that what we’re seeing is not only very special, but be able to bring that back in our images!
Case in point. We were shooting in the march in Churchill, Canada late one evening (21:00 late) working a great group of shorebirds. I was shooting with my bird rig: Gitzo 5561SGT w/ Wimberley Head(w/ RRS Quick Release mount attached) is the Nikon 800f5.6 AFS (w/TC800-25e) and D4 working the Solitary Sandpiper when I saw an unique walk emerge from the bank. Knowing biology can pay big dividends with one being able to recognize the unique. I swung the lens around to see the unique walk belonging to this Common Snipe foraging. Wow!
While it’s name contains Common, it’s anything but common! You can hear and see them in flight overhead but just seeing them foraging out in the open is anything but common. Knowing it was there, I instantly approached it to photograph it. As you can see, the light and habitat was picture perfect for this cryptic critter. I never was able to be a bigger image size than you see here, it kept its distance, but these were the first photos I have EVER taken of a Snipe foraging (I had a couple of “post” shots and that all) in my three decades. The bottom photo told me its a female. Why? There was a male flying overhead wanting to court and when she heard it, she took this posture. Your photography has to incorporate all basics but to get those special moments, your mind has to have much more info you can draw on for those special moments. You gotta ask yourself, are you ready for sneak attacks?
Jun 11, 2013 | Landscape Photography
When I’m down at the river working with the Cliff Swallows, this Eared Grebe keeps me company. I know it has a nest somewhere nearby but its mate must be on it since it I’ve never seen it go to it. How do I know it’s the same grebe? Look at it, see that worm looking thinking coming from its bill, that’s its tongue. If you look, the bottom mandible is broken and part of it is hanging down. If you look at the overall condition of the grebe, it looks like it’s been beaten up. What caused the damage has me asking what happened?
At the same time I wondered is the damage was enough to cause its eventual death. Grebes are divers, going underwater and chasing little fish that they have to catch to feed themselves. As you can see, this guy had no problem in that department! That’s a trout fry its got there, what I fish for in the very same river! Shooting with the D4, (including Di-GPS) Nikon 800f5.6 AFS on Auto Area AF, I track it as if fishes basically at my feet and this little dude is bloody successful! So while I wonder what caused the damage, I have no doubt it will survive. Now just to find its nest and photograph its young when they’re riding on its back. That’s the next challenge!
Jun 10, 2013 | Landscape Photography
For decades the Cliff Swallows have been nesting on this 1920’s bridge structure. The roadway is long gone but the supports remain making great structures for the mud nests of the swallows. I work the colony every spring, arriving at sunrise and shooting for a short period until the light gets hard (which is about 25min). I’ve tried a whole bunch of techniques over the years but have yet to get the photos I have in my mind.
Using my basic bird photography rig: D4, (including Di-GPS) Nikon 800f5.6 AFS (w/TC800-25e), on the Gitzo 5561SGT w/ Wimberley Head (w/ RRS Quick Release mount attached). All this rig was perched on the edge of the river about 20-30′ away from the three structures holding the colony. The “trick” is to photograph the biology while minimizing the tremendous glare from the mud nests. If only our afternoon thunderstorms would form at sunrise, I’d have it easy but such is not the case.
There is a couple of aspects of the colony that are really attractive. First if you’re shooting at eyelevel with the nests which is special. Normally you have to shoot up on them. Second is the blue background, the water of the river that is just three feet below the nests. And as you can see, there is plenty of biology going on. From just hanging out at the colony to bringing in nesting material and the bottom photo, competition amongst each other. While you’re reading this, I’m at the river again trying to improve on what I’ve taken before and photograph what I’ve missed.
