May 15, 2019 | Wildlife Photography
Red-eyed Vireo
captured by D5 / 800mm
My style in wildlife photography is no doubt, “different” in that I love small! Critters are small and take up a small space and I like to talk about both as small as special. I rely on light in my formula to move the eye around the frame to find that critter then gets attached to it. I’m at the marvelous Magee Marsh looking for those two things, small critters and light and found a bunch. When this Red-eyed Vireo started to squirt towards the end of the branch through the D5 / 800mm, I knew I’d found my shot. As long as I got it sharp, I knew I’d love it. That’s cause, I love small!
May 9, 2019 | Wildlife Photography
Painted Bunting
captured by D5 / 800mm
Oh, I’ve seen them many, many times. I’ve even photographed the Painted Buntin on many occasions. But those photos were all, “I saw this” when the photo needs to say “You need to see this!” so I have kept the pursuit going. A bird not much bigger than your thumb is on the secretive side of life so you often see them coming into a seed feeder or bird bath. This time of year, you look for the female because typically there is a male close behind. That was the case this week in Texas. We had seen and photographed lots of females. When I saw this male in the viewfinder of the D5 / 800mm, I hit the back button focus and shutter release and finally got the photo I desired. Now, it’s on to improve on this one!
Apr 24, 2019 | Wildlife Photography
Western Brown Pelican
captured by Z6 / 500PF
There are lots of rules in life, photography, and following them is totally up to you! I had the opportunity to shoot with the 500PF for our 1st afternoon at La Jolla Cove. Since I’ve not used the 500PF in this kind of opportunity, I went for it. I was sucked into that “shooting with a cool new lens” rather than thinking through what lens I should have shot with. As such, while the Z6 / 500PF is a killer combo, it was way too much lens (all you need is 200mm). That brings up this post’s topic. The photo of the gorgeous male Brown Pelican is really tight, so tight I cut off the wing tips. Most of the time, that’s a bad thing. In this case, you gotta ask, do you have light, color, gesture and if you do, are the wing tips needed? It’s really your call!
Apr 11, 2019 | Wildlife Photography
Greater Prairie Chicken
captured by D5 / 800mm
There are lots of shots I would love, love to add to my files. The only reason, they are ones that have eluded me forever. They are ones I have hints of from other photos. Those hints led my imagination to wonder what would the real, final photo be like? Would the reality be as good as I imagine? This is just one example.
Greater Prairie Chicken
captured by D5 / 800mm
Here you have your average male, Sharp-tailed Grouse on the lek displaying. I’m watching him through the D5 / 800mm using back-button focus to lock on and then not hitting it when I take the photo. I do this because I know that when he jumps up, the plane of focus for the eye almost never changes when he jumps. What I don’t know is just how high he will jump. It changes every time. I have him at the very bottom of the frame, sometimes cutting his feet off so when he jumps, he’s all in the frame. What you see is the closest I’ve come to that shot taken yesterday morning. Been trying for years for that shot, looks like I’m still trying!
Apr 4, 2019 | Wildlife Photography
One of the unique adaptations of the bird world are the Nuthatches. They’re the bird that walks DOWN the tree trunk, head first looking for a meal. When you think about it, it’s really smart ’cause all the rest of the bird species go UP the trunk looking for a meal. Those species miss the majority of the time stuff stuck in the top of the bark, but not the nuthatches. While I love all three North American species, it’s the White-breasted I work the hardest at getting that single, clean portrait. What makes up that portrait?
Well, there are a number of elements, two of the more important ones are the bird and the tree. In the spring the breast is its whitest. It starts to get dirty once nesting season begins and they are drilling out their cavity. So you wanna catch them early and on a trunk with character. Then, you need to be able to get close to them ’cause they are small! Lastly, you want a background that shows off their unique biology of traveling down a trunk, curving their head out looking for the next meal or, competition. Doesn’t seem like much to ask of a subject but having chased them for years, it’s easier then it sounds!
I was very fortunate to set up the D5 / 180-400VR / TC-14eIII on a trunk right next to a hanging feeder the birds loved. This one White-breasted frequented it making is easier to get the shot. You can see three photos here. The top one is my favorite as the wind has blown its feathers just a tad and along with its pose, gives the White-breasted a little gesture with the light and texture. The second one, yeah, not a favorite at all! It appears like I grabbed the nuthatch and threw hard against the tree where it stuck. Yuck! I like the light on the last one but a tad of the tail is out of the frame and gesture like it wants out of here. Just like portraits of folks, those of critters need to tell a story and share its character, especially the White-breasted portrait.
Mar 21, 2019 | Wildlife Photography
Bobcat
captured through dual pane glass / Z6 / 300PF
It all began at New Years, a Bobcat was in the neighborhood and everyone was seeing him (I think it’s a young male). Then in January, I got my first glimpse of Bob. Over the last few months, we knew it was all over our property. Between Sadie’s nose and all the tracks, we knew when he’d been around and the path he was taking. But we never saw him, often missing him by just minutes (fresh tracks in new snow). And bobcats are just so cool so we were on a mission, especially Sharon. I was in the office packing just prior to going to England for The Photography Show (such a great event, thanks all!) and just zipped up the camera bag when I hear in that “I want your attention now voice” Sharon said, “the bobcat is here!”
Bobcat
captured by Z6 / 300PF / ISO 12800
I come out to see him on the corner of our deck taking a bath. It was dark as sin out so I took a quick iPhone photo through the window to quickly record the date and time. If someone was watching Sharon and me, they probably thought we were nuts as we were “hiding” in our own home so as to not scare off our visitor. There Bob sat as it kept getting darker and darker. It’s then I decided to get out the Z6 / 300PF / FTZ Adapter, crank the ISO up to 12800 and see if I could crack the door and get a shot of our new friend.
Bobcat
captured by Z6 / 300PF / ISO 12800
He knew we were there, the only surprise is when the door started to open. The hinges on that door are well greased so it opens real smooth and quick (not the first time trying this technique). He instantly stopped what he was doing (he had jumped to Tree 3 and was sharpening his nails) and stared down at Sharon and I. My first thought is he would scent Sadie and be gone. To my great surprise, after a moment he went back to his nails. He probably smells Sadie all over the property so no biggie. He then stopped, kinda hunched down and watched us for a few minutes, just as curious about us as we, him. One thing I really LOVE about the Z6 is it make NO noise when shooting. I slowly put the rig up to my eye, got off some shots and then stopped as it was so bloody dark. He sat there for a few more moments and then went up the tree a few branches to take a nap. While over in the UK, Sharon had Bob back two more times. There is a pattern growing so if lucky, tonight I’ll have more time with him. He’s welcomed anytime!
