Jul 23, 2013 | Landscape Photography
Ungulates; deer, elk, pronghorn, moose, bighorn sheep, simply don’t like heat. About this time, they have shed their thick winter coat and are starting to store fat for the fall rut and winter. In this process, they seek the cool. At the same time, the light this time of year gives us about, oh, two minutes in the morning and four minutes in the afternoon when it’s not nasty. This combination makes for tough big game photography which leaves you with a couple of options. The most obvious is, wait until Sept before heading out to photography big game (my personal favorite). In Sept, they are back out as the hot days are fewer and they are starting to grow their winter coats so look much more like magnificent wild critters.
The other option is to be in the field before sunrise heading to locations where you’ve done your homework the night before to find where they are bedding down. Once you know the location where they are bedding down, find the closest water because they’ve got to drink and typically they’ll do that early in the day. You’ll have to wait to see if mother nature will be nice to you and give you the photo. While you’re doing your homework, look also for shade that’s being used. You will be able to tell, the ground cover will be beaten down and much of the shrubs will be browsed. Because if you want to photograph big game now, this is what you’ve got to do. Oh, looking for racks like the one this Mule Deer is wearing, you’re too early. You’ve got about 45 days before they are this big and longer before they are this clean. When it comes to lenses, I prefer those in the 200 – 400mm range, my preferred is the 200-400VR2 but will be trying out the new 80-400 this fall.
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 16, 2013 | Wildlife Photography
Seven days ago, we had no, zero, nada hummers in the yard! The flowers were all in bloom, feeders filled and out and still, no hummers. We were really wondering what was up and pretty bummed. As you might remember, last year we had our friend Alvin and learned about how much fun I have with our hummers. Then six days ago, the first hummer appeared and we were happier. At first, only one juvenile Allen’s was in the year and by today, we had five in the meadow fighting for dominance. I’d even seen a Calliope a could of times so I was getting excited. And then this evening … a Rufous Hummer, an adult male, took over “the perch.” Oh my!
We have Rufous in the yard all the time, but never had one proclaim dominance of “the perch” (you’ll need to watch my Kelby class to understand about “the perch.”) And while I’ve photographed them before, I’ve not for a long time. How long? I don’t have any digital images of a Rufous! So I dropped everything, set up the D4 / 80-400 on the Really Right Stuff with Pocket Wizards. When Caesar (what we’re calling him) took off chasing another hummer, I ran out on the deck and basically dropped the tripod to see how it would react to it sitting there (that’s the top photo). It didn’t hesitate for a heartbeat, it came right back to the perch with the camera out. So next time it took off after another hummer, I went back out and fine tuned the placement of the rig and then snuck back into the house. I was no sooner back in and it was perched on the perch.
Here’s the rub. I had to raise the ISO to make anything happen and I hate doin that! Ya, I like the photos but they’re not up to my snuff. When Caesar took over the perch, the sun had already gone behind the pines. I could have used flash but not knowing how tolerate he’d be, didn’t want to scare him off before the morning. So, I shot while I could crossing my fingers the whole time these won’t be the only images I’ll get.
So, if life is being good to me, while you’re reading this, I’m out on the deck with my new best friend, Caeasr.
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.
