Apr 16, 2018 | Wildlife Photography
Gtr Prairie Chickens
captured by D5 / 800mm
There are many celebrations in nature announcing the coming of spring. One of my favorites is that of the Greater Prairie Chickens. Looking at the image above, it would appear they are jumping for joy with the passing of snow and the coming of green grass and warmer days. And while they are celebrating spring, their jumping has nothing to do with joy!
Gtr Prairie Chickens
captured by D5 / 800mm
The Chickens come together for a short period, about a month, on a lek, to get lucky. Arriving on the Lek in the dark, they establish small territories then perform their hearts out to attract a female to the territory. And if another male should come close to that territory, the fights begin. It’s true chicken fights with biting, scratching, kicking and tackles all part of the fight trying to make the opponent look unworthy of a mate. Now I call it getting lucky because to our eyes, it never seems to ever work as copulation is never seen on the lek. But a celebration it is for 90 minutes each morning during that month as they are jumping for spring!
Note: Shooting, the only challenge is keeping up with the birds (and working in the blind)! Shooting with the D5 / 800mm, the Auto Area AF takes care of focus and with it being dark, raising the ISO takes care of the rest.
Apr 13, 2018 | Wildlife Photography
We took a short break from chicken and grouse and made the drive down to the Platt River for the evening flyin. It’s a spectacle that’s really hard to put into words and the still click doesn’t express it well enough. That’s because when there are 20k cranes filling the sky from behind to on the horizon to the water in front of you, the “360” visual and audio is something that has to be experienced in person!
Lesser Sandhill Cranes
captured by D5 / 300PF / TC-14eIII
The Cranes are on the Platt near Kearney, NE for just about 6 weeks typically. They are coming from the south on their way north. This evening, I went with the bridge on Elm Island to watch the flyin to the river night roost. Some nights there are a few birds that pick this location, last night it was thousands! So standing on the edge of the road with the D5 / 300PF / TC-14eIII, all you had to do was look for the great background, match it up with the symmetry of the flight and go click. I love see the crane on the Platt each year, as they’re headin north!
Apr 11, 2018 | Wildlife Photography
Greater Prairie Chicken
captured by D5 / 800mm
I’m up in Nebraska with one of my favorite birds, the Greater Prairie Chicken (at my favorite place, Calamus Outfitters). So I’m up literally with the birds. And then we’re in the blinds well before the sun even thinks of peaking its head out, so I’m still up, literally with the birds. And I enjoy every minute of it!
Today the fun was watching the males getting up on the fence gate and try to “strut their stuff” while doing a high wire act. It really never worked out well so they ended up back on the ground to dance to the ladies. But the best part was about 30 minutes after this, the females got up on the fence. Now they don’t strut their stuff. They just flew up there where the guys could see them, got them all spooled up and then, did nothing! After about twenty minutes, they just flew off leaving the guys literally, eating dirt. It was great fun, at least from my point of view. And tomorrow again, I’ll be up with the chickens!
Mar 26, 2018 | Wildlife Photography
Sharp-shinned Hawk
captured by D5 / 800mm
From the office in the softest voice possible, Sharon said, “Get in here slowly with your longest lens!” I slowly walked into the office to see Sharon pointing cautiously out the window. There on Tree 2 about eight feet in front of Sharon was perched our winter, Sharp-shinned Hawk. We’d seen it many times, mostly perched right out in the open like it was right now. A gorgeous bird, I grabbed the D5 / 800mm which is always set up when I’m home and walked out to the the shot. That’s what you see below, the first shots. I always take a couple of shots in this kind of situation so we have at the very least a visual record of birds that come on the property. But looking through the viewfinder I saw I had two major problems. The obvious one is the background, the not so obvious but bigger problem, snow flare!
The solution to both issues was moving to the left, which I did and shot the Sharpie until he continued on with his hunting. Now how did I see that snow flare? If you look at the two photos, see how in the bottom one there are no “blacks” in the bird? Look then at the background and compare the two, the loss of black is even more evident. Finally, look at the color between the two. The issue with snow flare is it is bounced light, light coming from above and then bouncing off the snow from below. Where you normally expect flare is shooting towards the sun, with snow it can come from any direction. As that bounced light strikes the front element, it causes the least noticed flare which is loss of contrast and color. Now in getting rid of the snow flare, I ended up with a background which might be a tad better but it was the best I could so with the snow flare. The best part is we have a visual record of a cool bird that munches on other of our cool birds!
Mar 20, 2018 | Wildlife Photography
It was one those classic winter morning sunrises on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon! The light slowly builds in the depths of The Canyon like a perfect symphony rise to a crescendo as sunrise approaches. We scan left and right watching it build and photographic opportunities as they come and go. The air temp might be only a single digit, it doesn’t matter as the excitement warms the air and builds with the light. I have the D850 / 24-70VR in hand as I patrol the rim looking for opportunities taking photograph after photograph. I’m scanning over to the North Rim when from below in the morning exchange of air brings a gorgeous Peregrine Falcon up in front of me as it riding on an elevator in the early sunrise light. And there it hangs in front of me, close enough to reach out and touch so by instinct, I put the camera to my eye and shoot. I’ll never forget the experience!
The one problem for me is I have a D850 / 24-70VR in my hand! In my world, I don’t have a photograph that shares this experience. Yes, you see one above but it’s one where the image was severely cropped in post to get the image size you see. You must understand, I don’t crop in post. After I missed this shot, I did put the 300PF on and waited. The Peregrine didn’t appear until I went back to the 24-70VR, doing that twice to me, so I never got “the” shot with the right lens. It’s really hard for many to understand the stringent standards I put on myself for my photography. But it’s because I know how weak I am and if I let myself slide on this or that standard of a photograph (a standard set by my clients and my desire to make money), I’ll always let myself slide. In the photo above, not only is the image severely cropped, the exposure was corrected because I was shooting for the landscape at -2exp comp, not an amazing Peregrine right in front of me. If I wasn’t writing this blog post, you’d never, ever seen this photograph. And for me, it’s that simple, I’ve got to get it right in the camera. I won’t sacrifice the welfare of a critter for a photograph and when it comes to my wildlife photography, what you see is what I saw. I know of no other way to improve my photography but always asking can the bar be raised?
Feb 21, 2018 | Wildlife Photography
There are so many “things” that go into a photograph! There is the great, brand, f/stop, shutter speed and of course, the Photoshop concerns. The one “thing” that I find many photographers don’t consider or act upon is the most important element to go into a photograph, themselves! Ya, there are all the worries, the … will this qualify for the camera club judging or the … will I get a bunch of likes on Facebook, but what about your wants, desires, your favorites? What is it YOU want in your photograph? This is the most difficult because all I just listed and more plus the fact there is no, (insert your name here) Menu Setting or Slider that automatically puts (insert your name here) instantly into the formula. Do you even know what that might be if you could have such a setting?
I can tell you some of mine, the Glossy Ibis above is a good example of them. All my images require light, not just light but a light that captures the imagination to tell the story. Then, there is what you see is what I saw, no cropping or post finishing. That’s a must in my critter photos (landscape and aviation see Photoshop but still no cropping)! Next, I have to have the light that’s going to lead your eye through the frame. Then the critter has to share with all of us that moment of, of, of, well there’s the important part that I don’t have a word for. I hate to say gesture because so many don’t understand this important element in a photograph. With the Glossy Ibis, it’s not just its stare but how the light brings out the white eyebrow above the bill that follows the stare that goes with the curve of the bill that the light kisses that are framed by the reeds … etc, etc, etc. That’s the gesture that made me stop to wait for the moment.
And that, in a long-winded explanation is what I wait for in all my photographs that I want to share, to reach out to the viewer and if all goes right, grabs heartstrings. But I know that’s what I want, what I’m looking for, what I need in my own mind as a formula that BEGINS the photographic process. That “other stuff,” the technical is there, in the background, for a heartbeat and then it’s thrown by the wayside as it comes time to record the moment. I think knowing YOURSELF is really the key here more than knowing brand for exposure equation. I honestly feel you need to know what’s in your favorite!
