Jun 16, 2010 | Landscape Photography
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp2660.swf, 404, 600 [/swf]
Steve created a site where every afternoon, the Harris Hawks and Crested Caracara come to hang out. It is a magical place especially those days when the birds come to play. At first, you see the Harris Hawks in the trees around the perches just waiting.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp4092.swf, 585, 473 [/swf]
Once the pair of Harris decide it’s time to play, then with incredible speed and agility they are on the perch. Here you see the male & female, you know how to tell who is who? The female is the larger of the two and in this case, the bird closest to the lens.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp2575.swf, 404, 600 [/swf]
And then once the Crested Caracara appear, defense of the perches can get hot and heavy. In that process they come closer and closer to the blinds. Yeap, we just sit in the blinds watching and shooting. The activity can go in a heartbeat from panic to utter boredom, and there isn’t anything better. Much of the time I am manually focusing, prefocusing where I think the birds will land and then fine tuning really quickly.
A very common question which has no real answer is, “where can you crop birds?” There are no rules, no guidelines only good and bad places to crop. You want to avoid creating a hunter’s wall mount with your crop or anything that just feels uncomfortable. Otherwise, there really is nothing to aid in saying what’s right or what’s wrong. It can be a challenge.
Photos captured by D3x, 600VR on Lexar UDMA digital film
Jun 16, 2010 | Landscape Photography
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp3045.swf, 404, 600 [/swf]
Just were was I last week? I’ve had a whole bunch of people as that question so thought I’d best fill in some of the blanks. We were shooting at the ranch of Steve Bentson. He has created a place where photographing young Golden-fronted Woodpeckers is down right simple.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp3827.swf, 404, 600 [/swf]
He purchased 370 acres of native TX habitat and has turned it not only into a preserve, but a heaven for bird photography. Sitting at his Pondesto Blind, photographing this Great Crested Flycatcher was really easy!
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp3296.swf, 585, 473 [/swf]
And photographing this gorgeous little Painted Bunting is just as easy. Steve’s secret? Well, in a land where there is no water, he has created water features that not only attract the birds, but the photographers. He has built custom, permanent blinds at the water features. Some blinds are just for the morning and others are just afternoon blinds. Some are sunk in the ground to shoot at water level and some are above ground. All are just great opportunities which is why I keep going back to Steve’s year after year. This time I brought back 32 species from five days of shooting. Not too shabby!
Photos captured by D3x, 600VR w/TC-20e3 on Lexar UDMA digital film
Jun 15, 2010 | Wildlife Photography
There are some birds that you see in TX that you see over and over and over. They are the local residents that live all year in the scrub habitat. The trashers, No Mockingbird, Long-billed and this one, the Curve-billed provide countless hours of entertainment.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp2934.swf, 404, 600 [/swf]
Now when you get into a blind for the first time and these characters first show up, you click like mad. The Curve-billed has got great visuals to it, who can help themselves. But then you see them all the time, most tend to turn their attention to other birds, ignoring these guys.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp2868.swf, 404, 600 [/swf]
But I’m weak, I find it hard to pass them up especially when they come up to point blank range. This was taken just outside the MFD of the 600VR. The soft light, the background, the perceived action screamed to be photographed in my mind.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp3455.swf, 404, 600 [/swf]
Then there is that biology that makes the trashers unique and one of those traits is the wing pumping. This Curve-billed is reacting to a Coachwhip Snake that’s on the ground going by. Folks see Mockingbirds doing the same biology during the spring when they try to warn off competition from their territories. You never know when it’s going to happen so what you see here at least for me is common, clipped wings. It was this reaction that told us a snake was coming from behind the behind the blind. Had too much lens for the moment so while they are common, really cool and funny, I find making the shot of this biology a real challenge.
Photos captured by D3x, 600VR w/TC-20e3 on Lexar UDMA digital film
Jun 15, 2010 | Landscape Photography
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp3612.swf, 585, 431[/swf]
I have 427 species of birds in my files, so adding new species is kind of a challenge. I’ve seen over 650 species so it’s even more of a challenge to see new species since I stay within North America. But there are some kinda common species that despite my looking for them, I’ve just not seen. Well this past week I finally got to see and photograph the Dickcissel. It’s just a little grassland sparrow but I’ve always thought there were pretty cool with those markings. And like normal, once I saw them and made my first click, I saw them all the time and had plenty to click. It’s a simple pleasure in life, seeing a new species. It was a good day!
Photo captured by D3x, 600VR w/TC-20e3 on Lexar UDMA digital film
Jun 11, 2010 | Wildlife Photography
That’s a “#%&**” Cuckoo!!!! We’d been in the blind for a couple of great hours, tons of birds, when I first saw this bird across the alley way. Before I could swing the lens on it to see who it was, it flew over to the blind.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp1727.swf, 391, 600 [/swf]
The Yellow-billed Cuckoo is a cool lookin bird that acts “cuckoo!” They are a goofy bird and in California, they are a listed species. I photographed my first on in the state 20yrs ago. But the last place I thought I would find this riparian species is in the heat of Texas.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp1803.swf, 391, 600 [/swf]
Well when the cuckoo landed in the shrub and I saw who it was, my jaw dropped after saying some appropriate words. Not knowing if I would get any better shots, I made shots that I could like you see above. Now I’m not making this up, it’s not a windy, I have a witness who is not related to me, I said, “Why don’t you fly over to that perch so I can get a clean shot of you.” And wouldn’t you know it, seconds later, it was on the perch where you see it in the bottom photo. I guess Mother Nature likes me again.
Photos captured by D3x, 600VR w/TC-20e3 on Lexar UDMA digital film
Jun 10, 2010 | Wildlife Photography
At first I didn’t recognize these doves and we had a few this morning. I liked the pattern in their plumage, they were doing cool things so I shot away. I really like this shot, the very narrow band of DOF gives the gathering a neat feel I think. So I clicked.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp0809.swf, 585, 473 [/swf]
Then there is this basic biology of drinking but doing it a nice shaft of light. And the best part, they are just plain old Mourning Doves, young ones out of the nest. Kinda uncommon shot of a very common bird. Most pass up these kinds of opportunities. I just love em!
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp0823.swf, 585, 473 [/swf]
Photos captured by D3x, 600VR w/TC-20e3 on Lexar UDMA digital film
