Jun 11, 2019 | Landscape Photography
When you first lay down in the sand, a chill instantly runs through you! At 6700′, the below freezing night temps put a chill on the sand that is only replaced when you look up. Cause that’s the only way you want to photograph the Sand Tufas, with your cheek (you decide which one I’m referring to), down in that sand with the camera pointing up. I first ventured to the Sand Tufas in 1959 and I’m just as hooked and intrigued by them today as I was then. These features are no more than four feet tall take on fairy tale shapes and SciFi mystery when you meet them at their level.
The hardest part of making the shot (besides getting up from the sand and not coating your gear with sand) is walking around and thinking what the photo would look like from a crickets point of view. The key is remembering the photo is all about texture which requires shadows to bring it out. Shooting the Z7 / Z14-30 made it easier because one, it goes so low with its small size and two, the flip out monitor. The Sand Tufas are fragile so once you get down, fining tuning your camera placement (ie your body) requires slow movements so as to not break anything. The shooting period is short as the sun raises fast but in a short period of an hour, it’s easy to have lots of fun photos full of imagination. And yet, when you leave, them sands are still cold.
May 30, 2019 | Wildlife Photography
We’ve been seeing their tracks a lot but not them, then today, two decided to say hello at the ‘ol homestead. Our Black Bears (brown phase) can be pistols, raising havoc with our bird feeders. So when they show up, I had two things in hand, Sadie and my camera! I have both at hand almost all the time, in this case I had the Z6 / Z24-70f2.8. With both in hand, I walked out onto the deck to say hello.
This bear knew me, it was instantly not happy to see me emerge from the door (it could be Sadie too). I instantly recognized the bear from a few years back. Then, mom was below and had sent the kid up to try to raid my bird feeders. It didn’t go well then for the cub and it did not go any better today. After I got my photos (cause a photographer does have to have priorities), I politely told the bear to get the $#*(@# off my tree. Well, I’m pretty sure that’s what Sadie said cause the bear rapidly departed, the tree and the property. It was great to see the cub had survived but after these years, wasn’t any smarter.
May 29, 2019 | Landscape Photography
Battery Point Lighthouse
At the moment, there are at least 445 named shades of red. Yikes! Red is one of the most powerful colors when it comes to grabbing our attention, fast! That’s why Stop signs are red. But what color is the word, STOP? It’s white and why, because red and white is the most powerful color combo to grab our vision. When you’re shooting a landscape like the Grand Canyon or Bryce, anytime you have snow, the red looks better. The same holds true for sunrises and sunsets but finding white at those moments is really challenging. How can we “introduce” white into our sunrises and sunsets to make the red, redder?
There are actually lots of ways when you think about it. A person in a white shirt or dress popped by a flash in one way. A white building or vehicle is another. And here you see another way I like to do it. It starts with a white lighthouse but it’s pretty small in the frame so to bring in more white, I brought in a light beam (here’s how you do that). If you look at both photos back and forth, you can see how the mind’s eye sees a deeper red in the light beam photo than the none. It’s such a little and simple thing but it can make a big impact. White makes the red, redder.
May 28, 2019 | Wildlife Photography
Bronzed Cowbird
captured by D5 / 800mm
The noise was totally foreign to my ears! I bird as much by sound as sight and when you’re sitting in a blind, the sound is everything so this really had me intrigued. It kept coming from behind some bushes, at the base of which were some Bronzed Cowbirds. Not being a cowbird fan, I ignored them as I looked for the source of the noise. Then I saw a cowbird launch in the sky 4-5 feet and do an aerial display that left me totally dumbfounded. Critters, they are simply bloody amazing and teach me something new all the time. And like usual, brought on a new challenge in visual storytelling!
Bronzed Cowbird
captured by D5 / 800mm
The actual aerial display lasts perhaps 10 seconds and it seemed, always a bit secluded. I saw it happen a few more times before I started to figure out the pattern. It was only then once I figured that out did I have a prayer of capturing it because it was so brief and hidden. It’s that old, combining biology with technology equation. What you see above is the indication the male is about to launch. He has an unattentive female he wants to impress. He starts by “puffing” up and strutting a tad. Then he launches straight up, flapping his wings as fast as he can. The was the source of the mysterious sound!
Bronzed Cowbird
captured by D5 / 800mm
Bronzed Cowbird
captured by D5 / 800mm
He hovers in the same spot, not really turning, for a brief time watching the female below him the whole “flight”. He makes no calls, just has the sound of his wings to grab her attention. I was able to photograph the flight numerous times (The D5 / 800mm shutter slamming on CH!). One time the male was sideways to me and you can see the incredibly iridescence in their wing when they do that. And it was not until that night when I looked at my photos did I notice just how alien they looked doing the display! With their head down, their bill looks foreign and those red eyes! Oh my, darn spooky and also so cool. I was hooked and for the rest of the week, constantly looking for the behavior thinking the entire time, it was from horror or sci-fi movie!
Bronzed Cowbird
captured by D5 / 800mm
And once he lands, did it make an impression? You tell me.
You can see and photograph this and a whole lot more on our Texas Bird Extravaganza Workshop in 2020. Come and join us!
May 17, 2019 | Wildlife Photography
Yellow Warbler
captured by D5 / 800mm
When you have nothing but green in the viewfinder, anything, no matter how big or small that’s a different color, can’t help but be incredibly visible and smack the viewer. This male Yellow Warbler this morning had to catch its breath which is why I was able to make the shot. Its nest had just been attacked by Blackbirds trying to rob it of its nesting material. It and its mate drove off the intruder successfully but it took quite some effort. It just happened to take rest in the perfect alleyway of leaves that provided the out of focus shapes and color so it’s bright yellow just sings. The saturated light from the overcast skies was perfect last element to finish it all off. Standing on a platform so shooting through the canopy with the D5 / 800mm and putting in the time was all that was required to capture small, with a dash of color.
May 15, 2019 | Wildlife Photography
Red-eyed Vireo
captured by D5 / 800mm
My style in wildlife photography is no doubt, “different” in that I love small! Critters are small and take up a small space and I like to talk about both as small as special. I rely on light in my formula to move the eye around the frame to find that critter then gets attached to it. I’m at the marvelous Magee Marsh looking for those two things, small critters and light and found a bunch. When this Red-eyed Vireo started to squirt towards the end of the branch through the D5 / 800mm, I knew I’d found my shot. As long as I got it sharp, I knew I’d love it. That’s cause, I love small!
