Photography | Moose Peterson's Website

Time for Buffet

Dec 31, 2021 | Wildlife Photography

Red-shafted Flicker captured by Z 9 / 800f5.6 w/TC-1.25

With temperatures hitting single digits for much of Northern US, our resident critters could use a hand weathering the weather. It’s pretty simple, putting out a buffet of water, food and shelter make their lives just a little easier. You’ll need to place a birdbath heater in any water you put out so it doesn’t freeze. In our water feature, we have a horse trough heater keeping it ice-free and it is by far the busiest place on The Ranch! We have seed feeders all around The Ranch going through 20-40lbs of seed a week. We have just one peanut feeder out this winter. And we have four suet feeders out and quite active. We’ve had as many as seventeen flickers at the feeders at one time. There is an ulterior motive here and while I want to help the critters, I wanna help my photography as well. While I’m illustrating this piece with a flicker at the feeder, I don’t want to take photos of critters at the feeders.

The feeders and baths are placed so the critters go to a shelter (shrubs or woodpiles) or perch before and after they get their fill. That’s where the photos are made. If you’re putting out the buffet for the first time, you might have to be a little patient at first. You might have critters instantly or it might take a little time. Whatever the case, spend time watching them, watch their pattern coming and going, and then set up your camera for that spot they land with the best background. Or place your perch (attached to a light stand) for them to land with the best background. It’s a lot of fun and your guests will love you.

Zoom Into The Land

Dec 30, 2021 | B&W Photography, Landscape Photography

Bitterroots captured by Z 9 / Z70-200f2.8 w/Z1.4x

I probably could have used more glass, but that little cloud cut me some slack making the image. Some of the best landscapes are just slivers of the overall scene. They catch our attention but in taking the photo, often there is something we’ve read that says you need to shoot landscapes wide, close the lens down to its smallest f/stop, and filter like crazy. When the image pops up on the computer, it leaves you short of the feeling you had when you were standing there. That’s when you know you should have zoomed in!

I say zoom as that is typically the lens landscape photographers have in their kit. For me, it’s the 180-400VR and the Z70-200f2.8. In this case, the Z70-200f2.8 and the Z1.4x were all I had in my bag at the time. Heading up Bear Creek Road, I pulled over as soon as I could safely and jumped out. The whole range was gorgeous but it was the light on these crags that truly caught my eye. That’s when I needed all the reach I had with me. The detail highlighted by the light in the scene shot with a lens like the Z14-24 would have been too small, you wouldn’t have known the subject or its story. Next time you’re arranging the elements in the viewfinder and the detail just doesn’t smack you right between the eyes, remember to zoom into the land!

Catching the White Stuff

Dec 23, 2021 | Wildlife Photography

Downy Woodpecker captured by Z 9 / 800f5.6 w/1.25x

If you combine photographing a creek as “milky” along with a kayaker shooting its rapids, well that’s kinda what photographing a woodpecker in falling snow is like. We were experiencing bands of snow moving through The Ranch when I was out shooting. One moment, it would be coming down in beautiful curtains and then the next, a flake or two. I positioned the Z 9 / 800f5.6 so I had a darkish background behind the Downy Woodpecker so the falling snow would show up. The challenge is the right shutter speed to show it falling while keeping the movement of the woodpecker frozen. It’s not like there is one magical shutter speed for capturing this action. The snow falls at different rates so we need to either slow it down or speed it up the shutter speed so we see the snow. But you go too slow, below 1/125 or so and the woodpecker blurs. Go to fast and the snow doesn’t look like it’s falling. I got a sharp “Woody” but no real snow. Here’s to hoping for a white Christmas and more opportunities to nail the shot!

B&W – Z 9 Loves Them!

Dec 22, 2021 | B&W Photography, Landscape Photography

Sky Pilot Peak captured by Z 9 / Z70-200f2.8

One of my favorite times to be out with romantic light on the landscape is after winter storms. The landscape is blanketed in white and the clouds are busy jostling for what remains of the moisture. The scene is in total flux as the winds push it all westward. At one moment there is nothing to photograph and the next, you can’t point and shoot fast enough. And there is no more romantic medium for the chase than B&W! That’s how it was yesterday afternoon as we traveled down the Bitterroot enjoying the views. The only challenge on the icy roads was finding a place to pull over safely, fast enough to make the shot as they were happening left and right as we drove.
I was out with the Z 9 shooting B&W. The Z 6II / Z 7II do a gorgeous job with B&W right out of the camera B&W files, I wanted to experience the Z 9 B&W update and it’s gorgeous! In a heartbeat, I made quick changes to my Picture Control settings and I was off to the races. A change I made that I didn’t see coming was to the firing rate. I don’t need 40 frames of a rock so I have to get use to changing the FPS when shooting landscapes. It was fun though, the Z 9 rips!

The Heavens Dance!

Dec 16, 2021 | Landscape Photography

Northern Lights captured by Z 6II / Z14-24f2.8

Many years ago I was in Barrow, AK, and late one night while tucked into my warm room, I heard howling. I thought it was just sled dogs calling so went back to sleep. Nights later long after lights out, there was a panicked pounding at my door. I got up to find Bunna standing there all excited. “The Lights are out, let’s go!” On the shore of the Beaufort Sea on a gorgeous clear night, I experienced my first North Lights shoot. The howling was the locals celebrating the dancing heavens and it was a celebration. The skies were magical, my photographs of them, not so much. I vowed to go back and do much, much better. Fast forward the clock fifteen years and you find me outside Fairbanks, AK a couple of weeks ago doing my own howling.

The shooting process begins with scouting during the day. The day had only five hours of light from the sun appearing over the horizon. Basically from 10AM to 3PM, I looked for locations with dark skies and some sort of character in the foreground. Using Aurora and Aurora Forecast Apps and heading to the Geophysical Institute, I’d determine the activity and likelihood we’d see and photograph the lights. The first couple of nights, they were just screaming overhead but we couldn’t see a thing. Clouds, snow clouds prevented any observation of the heavens. The last two nights though we had totally clear skies and the times of our lives out in the -34 degree temps shooting up a storm!

The photography was really very simple. The Z 6II / Z14-24f2.8 were attached to the Platyball and set up on a tripod out in the cold. The Z 6II was connected to the MB-N11 which has two batteries. The Z 6II was set to Aperture Priority and I changed the exposure comp based on the lights, from 0 to -2 stops. The Z14-24f2.8 was set to Infinity and I had the self-timer going taking nine shots at a time. Did that for two reasons. The first is the lights are moving, it’s like waves crashing on a shore and at the same time, changing in intensity. The second reason for the self-timer, get my hands back in my pocket to stay warm between shots. The first night we stood out in the cold for a few hours with no issues. The second night the cold set in so we went inside our running vehicle and controlled and fired the Z 6II with Snapbridge.

And the whole time, we just enjoyed the amazing show. The lights lasted two hours one night, nearly three the second night. The Z 6II had no issues, operational or battery being out in the cold that whole time so all we had to do was enjoy the light show. The -34 really wasn’t an issue since there was no breeze. We just took in the lights. I more about the Arctic that I’ve enjoyed for so long and have a new appreciation and love for Northern Lights. I am going back in ’23 just to see the heavens dance!

Yeah … Jump for Snow!

Dec 9, 2021 | Wildlife Photography

Red Fox captured by D6 / 180-400VR

The snow has finally arrived and with it, great critter opps! Snow acts as a great reflector, the first big plus. You can see into the belly of this pouncing Red Fox, that’s because of the reflected light. The snow brings with it a great feeling and in large part makes finding a great background much easier. The best part of winter snow though is the pelt critters bare to stay warm. This all adds up to good times behind the camera. Staying behind that lens in the cold does take a little extra prep and thought. Let’s talk about your fingers, the extremity that takes the cold first.

Gloves are the obvious way to go to keep your fingers warm. Yes, pockets work as well but make it really hard to fire the camera. Keep in mind that gloves are meant to warm up your fingers. Your fingers are not meant to warm your gloves. The simplest thing is to use thinner gloves and hand warmers. Start with warm gloves. You can do this in many ways from keeping them in an inside jacket pocket to in a packet with hand warmers. The second method works also for keeping your hands warm. When you feel the slightest chill or a lull in the shooting, put them in the pocket with the warmers and let them do their job. Thick gloves like ice climbing gloves work great if you use them as intended. Warm your hands with the lines and put a hand warmer INSIDE the main glove to heat them up before using.

With all this in mind, practice in the warmth of your home operation all your camera controls, tripod controls and proper handholding and long lens technique wearing your gloves. With that, you’re set to go out and yeah … jump for snow!