I Love Limpkins!

Feb 4, 2010 | Wildlife Photography

I don’t know why, but these unique and crazy birds are just cool to me. With that said, I’ve not photographed them for a decade. Not for the lack of trying, they just aren’t common until you find the location where they are common and then they are everywhere. This morning, they were EVERYWHERE!

So I come up to the group and they’re shooting the last of the White Pelicans lifting off the water (remember, that was the goal for the morning). I then notice this Limpkin flying in with something big in its bill. It’s got a snail, a big ass snail too boot. I get over to where it landed to catch this lovely scene. In my mind, I was just excited to get glass on a Limpkin again.

Then it flew off to a bank and at first, went behind some scrub giving up no shot. So it went from bad to worse, typical wildlife photography scenario. Then, it flew out to this floating debris mat and performed. It was great! It whacked the snail, yanked on it until finally the animal was pulled out of the shell.

The light, not so hot. The shutter speed, not as fast as I would have liked to freeze some of the motion. But it ended up being a ton of fun for just five minutes. We went out for White Pelicans and I ended up photographing 11 species in less than an hour and some images are just down right cool. I’ll take a morning like that anytime! Am I heading back to this locale for more? Hell yeah, I’ll bring our FL Base Camp here, it’s a killer spot. Where’s here? That’s for me to know and to tell you next month :)

Photo captured by D3x, 600VR on Lexar UDMA digital film

Magical Surprise – FL Sandhill Cranes

Feb 4, 2010 | Wildlife Photography

I had up until yesterday morning photographed all but one of the Sandhill Cranes species and subspecies in North America. I started with the intention of photographing White Pelicans but as the day’s posting unfolds, you’ll see that’s the one bird species I didn’t shoot. RC has this really neat group of photographic friends that have been kind enough to include me in their merry band of adventures and the treat this morning was just killer because I was able to photograph the FL Sandhill Crane.

[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP9603.swf, 585, 444 [/swf]

This is a Federally listed Threatened species but you wouldn’t know it here in FL. There are communities in FL that have signs saying things like “Crane Crossing” because the Sandhill are living right amongst the homes.

[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP9562.swf, 585, 444 [/swf]

But this morning we found a band of them where they should be, in the open marsh on the edge of a swamp forest. It was really cool to come around the corner and hear the pairs calling.

[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP9715.swf, 585, 444 [/swf]

This one male has on helluva red crown. My lens was stuck on him as he moved around. We had a heavy, dark overcast so there was no light to bring the eye to him but that red, well, as you can see you can’t but help zero in on that color. Damn, what a great opportunity, what a moment!

Photo captured by D3x, 600VR w/TC-17e on Lexar UDMA digital film

Yellowstone Bighorn Sheep fun

Feb 3, 2010 | Wildlife Photography

The Rocky Mtn Bighorn Sheep of Yellowstone were very, very good to me this year, any we’re only one month into the year! They really aren’t that difficult to find, they are right on the road beyond the north entrance of Yellowstone. That’s when they are down because much of the time they are just high enough to easily hide in the crevasses of the cliffs. This means you’ve got to be lucky or put in your time; we were lucky and put in our time. As I mentioned before, I have a particular image I want so worked toward that, but this is as close as I got to it this winter.

Not being totally successful just means I keep working on it. The key is finding a location where the ram would be physically eyelevel to me and that’s the challenge. Sheep prefer being above everything which puts their strength in their favor when it comes to predator avoidance. That’s one of the great things about the north entrance and why I’ll have to hit the road and wait more to make the shot.

In the meantime, here are some of my favorite images from the weeks. I enjoy these the most because of the habitat in the shot, the light, posture and in some cases, knowing the story behind the images. I hope they bring a smile to your face.

click here to open Gallery

Wildlife Photography – Your Cup of Tea?

Feb 1, 2010 | Wildlife Photography

I hope you had a great weekend, I sure did. I’m down in FL putting the finishing touches to the book layout. Of course I brought the camera and with my good friend RC now feeling like a wildlife photographer, we had to head out and shoot. Gathering up a couple of friends, Mike, Jim & Tony, the five of us headed out to a Bald Eagle nest Mike had found. While we started nice and early, the storms hadn’t completely blown out leaving behind their dark gray skies so like any good band of wildlife photographers under such conditions, we got breakfast.

[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp5298.swf, 585, 444 [/swf]

The 1st rule of bird photography is to not photograph flying birds against gray skies. Why? Well just look at this photo, kind of a exposure mud. You might also look at the photo itself. The female coming in is a bit small in the frame and the nest support tree, a bit massive and overpowering. Those things not withstanding, we persevered on.

[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp5326.swf, 585, 444 [/swf]

Now I really love this shot but the small size on the blog just doesn’t work. But that itty, piddy head sticking up is one of the two chicks in the nest. Looks a little bewildered if you ask me.

[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp5335.swf, 585, 444 [/swf]

Then it got real exciting, just for a heartbeat.

[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp5337.swf, 585, 444 [/swf]

[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp5338.swf, 585, 444 [/swf]

[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp5341.swf, 585, 444 [/swf]

It was hard to concentrate on the incoming male with RC and all his excitement over the opportunity, that and laughing as he made fun of himself and his skill set. Hell, it was his second time behind a 500mm shooting wildlife, Bald Eagle in flight no less, so I thought he was doing great but still funnier then hell. And then after all this excitement, back to gray skies and this.

[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp5381.swf, 585, 444 [/swf]

That’s how wildlife photography often goes, a day of “boredom” for a heartbeat of panic. The total time spent at the nest, about four hours. Number of frames taken during that time? Me personally, 121. It was totally worth every minute. If you’re wondering if you can do it, here’s a little test. I put together a little video. The sound has been removed, all the perches and nest are swaying in the wind which might make you sea sick and if you can watch the video in its entirety, you might have what it makes to be a wildlife photographer.

01.01.2013 Pages are in the process of being updated. In the meantime you can watch our videos on our YouTube Channel as well as all Videos are available on iTunes as Podcasts!

Now I had a GREAT morning with the guys and the nest and wouldn’t have even passed it up. I hope you not only could as well, but have a similar opportunity in the near future!

Photos captured by D3s, 600VR w/TC-17e on Lexar UDMA digital film

Simple Click – Great Sunday with Friends!

Feb 1, 2010 | Wildlife Photography

[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp5337.swf, 585, 444 [/swf]

Photo captured by D3s, 600VR w/TC-17e on Lexar UDMA digital film