Not In MT Anymore

Sep 7, 2022 | Wildlife Photography

Regent Bowerbird captured by Z 9 / Z400f4.5 w/Profoto A10

Nope, nope, Sharon & I are definitely not in MT anymore! There’s no way we could walk out our door and see the ground carpeted with a “common finch” like the tiny Red-browed Finch nor see in the tree a Regent Browerbird. Nope, we are on holiday at O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat located up in Lamington Nat’l Park. This is our fourth time here and we are simply having the time of our lives. Yep, the trip is all about birds, birds the colors, shapes, sizes and call that are soooooo different form the ones on The Ranch. And man, is the photography fun and great this trip! Why???

Red-browed Finch captured by Z 9 / Z400f4.5 w/Profoto A10

Two main factors. The first is I have grown as a photographer since I was here last. You could sum it up as, I’m not in as big a hurry last time, looking way more the story, and really focused in on making the uncommon from the common. The other big factor is the gear helping do all of this. The Z 9 and Z400f4.5 are making it soooo simple to concentrate on these aspects of the story and not on the gear. At the same time, I’ve added the Profoto A10 flash to the kit. This gorgeous, powerful light source permits great ease at bringing the color home in a click. The Regent Bowerbird was taken before the sun was up in the cover of a rainforest. The background is all ambient light, the Regent is all Profoto. Its sweet light just kissing it. The Red-browed Finch, the whole rig is lying in the grass, the monitor flipped out on the Z 9 and it’s doing all the work (except the back massage needed) and the Profoto A10 kissing this bird, the size of your thumb as it forages. Lots of pixels flying, battery being used up and color, color, color flying about, in the trees and on the ground. Yep, definitely not in Montana anymore!

View from the Top

Sep 7, 2022 | B&W Photography, Landscape Photography

Queensland AUS Lowlands captured by Z 9 / Z400f4.5

Perched at the top of the mountain in the rainforest of Lamington Nat’l Park, looking down and across the lowlands can be quite spectacular! It had been a marvelous day of photography the birds of the rainforest. When we emerged from that mysterious and darkened world we were looking out at this splendor. With the long lens already attached, it was real easy to make the click!

Queensland AUS Lowlands captured by Z 9 / Z400f4.5

When the light first broke through the breaking rain, the drama to me was all B&W so that’s what I shot. Then as the opening in the clouds got bigger, the light warmed and it then became a full spectrum shot. Then from the treetop bar as the sun set, it became a very rosey photo. At that point though, the camera was put to rest. But I can tell you that it was splendid, the view from the top!

The Silence is So Loud!

Sep 6, 2022 | B&W Photography, Landscape Photography

The Bitterroots captured by Z 9 / Z24-120

It was almost like someone flipped a switch! The hummers vacated the premises about the middle of August and that signaled the seasons were changing. Then our aspens started to drop a leaf here and there. Then the bird seed consumption really slowed down. Our White-tailed bucks have shed their velvet in the past week. And finally, the trees are mighty quiet. Fall is fast taking over our little valley and critters are hunkering down. The light has mellowed and we’re blessed with wildfire smoke only just now kinda lingering in the air. I miss the explosion of sound of spring of all the critters at The Ranch. It’s such a great start to the day. But then, I love the light this time of year. I look forward to the explosion of color I think we’ll have because of the good rains last month combined with our morning temps in the high 40s. A chill in the air and the fall color for me just make the silence so loud!

Chasing the Sea Back

Sep 2, 2022 | Wildlife Photography

Sanderling captured by Z 9 / Z400f4.5 w/Z1.4x

My mom was a big time beachcomber with an incredibly impressive shell collection from around the globe. I spent a whole lot of my time as a kid on the beach amongst the thousands and thousands of shorebirds vying for the same sand where I as building castles. There was one group I constantly saw running back and forth with the waves. The pattern they made as they ran as a flock fascinated me. We’d see them in spring and winter and they looked totally different though they had the same behavior. I asked my dad who was a reluctant beachcomber what they were doing there on the beach, he looked at the Sanderlings and then looked back at me and said, “They chase the water back into the sea.” There isn’t a time when I’m lying on the sand photographing these incredible travelers I don’t think of that. These days though, there are a whole lot fewer Sanderlings and other shorebirds and there is a whole lot more water. It might just be in the near future we’ll truly need their “special” skill at chasing the sea back!

Coming Down to The End

Aug 30, 2022 | Landscape Photography

South Dakota Black Hills captured by D5 / 18-35AFS

I Love Weather! Especially in the summer with the drama afternoon thunderstorms can bring. Chasing clouds like this for me is a passion that quite often I don’t get to fulfill so at the summer and monsoon season, I get in desperate mode trying to make up for time lost. I watch weather apps like a madman, look at long range predictions, watch for those lows sucking in the moisture and then plan my time to make the run. I have the Z 9 / Z24-120f4 & Z14-24f2.8 literally in the Think Tank ready to run out the door. The Miops is charged, firmware up to date and in the bag as well. I just love this time of year, sad to see it floating by, we’re coming down to the end!

Might Be Brief, Rest Up

Aug 26, 2022 | Wildlife Photography

Alaska Bull Moose captured by D5 / 800f5.6 AFS

Fall is the time for those big, gorgeous big game photos. The moth eaten summer coats have been replaced with their lush winter coats. Fat levels are getting high storing up for winter. We’re approaching the time to get out with these symbols of wilderness. With much of North America in drought conditions, with the heat that has being intense in some areas, big game will respond possible with a shorter, more intense rut. Looking at the White-tailed Deer here in the Sapphires, they appear to be setting up now for rut. That’s about 3-4 weeks earlier than last year. Talking with some folks, they are seeing kinda the same thing in their parts of they country. In the past when these conditions were seen, an early, intense rut was the outcome. In your planning for that big fall shoot, check into the weather. Might change the timing of your photography.

error: Content is protected !!