Oct 14, 2015 | Wildlife Photography
It is obvious, I really enjoy spending time with Moose, especially those in Alaska. Being the biggest of our four subspecies, watching them going about daily life is fascinating. Many forget they are just an over grown deer but those long legs and nose are highly specialized for the world they live in. All you have to do is walk literally in their hooves and you quickly appreciate just how well adapted those long legs are to the Alaska world they call home. This bull, he really intrigued me because he has an infliction which is not really that uncommon and that makes photographing this common Moose, uncommon.
If you look closely at his antlers, you’ll see they look like weathered wood and in some spots, he still has his velvet. CWD affects very few and is only the second time I’ve seen it all these years which is why I focused in on this bull for five hours. I shot with the D4s / 200-400VR2 with the TC-14eIII at times depending on where he was and what he was doing. Where I stood in relation to the bull all depended on the light since the story is the disease. My goal was to show off that CWD by using the light to bring to life the “deformity.” Now this particular bull we only saw this one afternoon, never saw again during the week. That’s in part because he is not part of the breeding pool. Those antlers couldn’t withstand the impacts of the rut. Will he be around next year? The last bull I saw like this I was with a noted Moose biologist who said it’s 50/50. And that is the way of life for the Moose. Keep in mind the most fit bull, the one who breeds with the most females might not be either. They have a hard life and I was honored to have spent this time with this icon of the Alaskan wilderness!
Oct 5, 2015 | Wildlife Photography
Saturday was a great day on the property. The morning had the Lewis’s Woodpecker and then in the afternoon, these guys wondered in. Now we have had deer on our property in the past, but normally we only know about it when our beagle’s nose tells us. We rarely see them. So to have a 6 & 4pt buck and doe come in and make themselves at home, that floored us. For the first 30-45min we just watched them as they went through and munched on the greenest plants they could find. Why were they there in the first place? There is a semi annual migration of the Mule deer through the area. Normally it’s on the other side of the valley but with the drought, I think they game through the area with all the green plants from folks watering (had a doe and fawn come through on Sunday). After that time, I decided I’d go outside and see if there were any photo opps to be had.
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I grabbed my favorite backyard set up, D4s / 300PF and headed out. I didn’t “sneak up” on them but didn’t rush out either. I stayed in the shadow of the house and slowly, smoothly, sundered up to were they were. They were no more than 20-30′ from the house and with no effort, was able to walk right up to them. With this seemingly big hurdle no hurdle at all, I dealt with the next big one, the background. I’ve put up a number of the images so you can see the progress of the shoot which lasted 90min. We were really shocked with my just standing right there when the doe laid down. At one point, the 4pt buck went over and nozzled her and then made her get up. And another point when a person walked by with a dog, they froze and watched them. In the end, the light got dark and I got bored because, it was way too easy a shoot. But it was fun to sit with the 6pt, talk to him and have him walk up to me for his portrait. That image is above and my favorite. But it was just cool to have this time with these wild critters on their own world.
Oct 5, 2015 | Wildlife Photography
Well our new buddy, the Lewis’s Woodpecker has spent a week with us now, so we just call him Lewis. This immature male is a first for our property and getting to know him and his biology has been great fun. It would seem he is getting use to us as well because we can move about the inside of our house and he know ignores us. That’s great! This weekend, I worked with him more to the point where I could venture outside with the camera and photograph him. No more shooting through the windows and that vastly improved image quality. I have to sneak out the door with the D4s / 800 / Zenili rig but he does permit me to come and and play.
His general pattern is to fly into the Aspen in the front (top photo) and get warm in the sun and watch the activity at the feeders. Then he flies up to the perch next to the feeder (bottom photo) and suns some more and then feeds when he feels safe. At first, the other birds, squirrels and chipmunks kept him from the feeder. Basic immature kid stuff. But by Sunday, we was feeling his oats and he was driving off the other critters so he can eat. He’s a big woodpecker, about the same size as the flicker so he can easily rule the roost. He was fine except when Edgar would come in. Edgar is our “pet” Raven that comes by to talk every so often. Lewis didn’t like Edgar and that was the only time he wasn’t around. It’s been a real hoot to get to know Lewis. I’m on the road the next ten days but Sharon is there to watch, take notes and enjoy Lewis. Can’t wait to get back and work with him some more. When he has his adult plumage, he’ll be a knock out!
Oct 1, 2015 | Wildlife Photography
It started on Tuesday when Sharon called me into the office and pointed out the window at the bird bath. “What’s that bird at the bath?!” She was pointing at a big, dark bird and all we could see was its head, but that was enough. I said, “that’s a Lewis’s Woodpecker!!!” We’ve seen them in the Sierra before, rarely, they prefer the higher altitudes. We’ve seen them on the ridge above our home but never on our property. We watched it drink for a while, then it flew off behind Tree 1 and disappeared. Great bird and thought that would be the end of him as we’ve had a lot of birds come through for a quick sighting not to be seen again. But we were looking!!!
Then today it reappeared! This time, in the front at Tree 3. Being that I’d only gotten a couple of clicks of one decades ago in Montana, I wanted to very much photograph him (it’s a male). So we stayed inside and watched it through the windows. Hard to get any work done this morning as both Sharon and I were watching its every move. Now the Lewis’s Woodpecker is a big bird, the size of a flicker. And it would seem, just as shy. Now we have Red-shafted Flickers, Hairy & White-headed Woodpeckers and Red-breasted Sapsuckers nearly everyday at our feeders so we’re use to their reactions to us. We wanted to learn about the Lewis’s biology and how it would react to us so we just watched. The D4s / 800mm w/TC-1.25e were set up inside and used to watch the Lewis’s through the dual-pane windows. I need it to get comfortable with us moving around and watching it. Slow and easy wins the race! It wanted to come to the seed feeder, same as the flicker you see above (taken on the branch it kept going to). The feeder was so busy with other birds, smaller birds, that these two woodpeckers waited until it was empty to venture in. It spent a god two hours with us, last being seen as the sun set. Fingers crossed it will come back tomorrow. I didn’t want to work anyways!
Sep 2, 2015 | Wildlife Photography
We had landed just a couple of hours before after an interesting 28hrs of travel. Settled in our tents, had a meal and assigned a vehicle, out on our first drive we went. Eyes wide open, minds still spinning, I know I wasn’t exactly in a photographic state of mind. All I can assume habits took over because some of it is still a blur. We emerge from the brush to Topi, Zerba, Elephants and the roar of a lion welcoming us to the Mara. We’re literally hitting the ground running! With no clue what we’re heading for, I didn’t even have a camera out yet. I was just along for the ride.
Then I hear we’re heading to a Spotted Hyena den. I’d only seen them briefly on my last visit to Africa but being selected as the first critter we were to focus in on now we’re at the famous Mara had me scratching my head. But like I said, at the moment I was just along for the ride. The sun was getting low and the afternoon thunderstorm made the light dark and moody. Now I’ve never been to a hyena den so had no clue what was coming up. All I had in my mind of a Hyena is the photo you see at the top. That goofy looking, vicious mannered hyena. Then there is my warped sense of humor with my mind wondering off to Hardy Har Har!
Then we pull up to the den complex and my mind’s a scramble! I see adults, subadults, old pups and a new pups, all above ground and like most critters of the Mara, could care less we’re in their lap staring at them through long lenses. Within a moment I have the D4s/800mm on the Zenelli shooting away! It’s like someone had slapped me on the side of the head and said wake up (no, it wasn’t Sharon as she was placed in another Landi but it would have helped). I had a Pavlov’s Dog reaction when I saw the Hyena pups popping around, it kicked me into San Joaquin Kit Fox mode as I’ve spent so many weeks at their dens over the decades.
It was a MARVELOUS way to start the safari! Nothing is a celebration of life like a den site and the Hyena were no different. They were great! The pups were a hoot to watch. There was no doubt which was the Alpha, the runt, who caused trouble and who went with the pack. As it turned out in my mind, we didn’t spend EVEN enough time at this den site and in fact, we didn’t visit it again during our ten days which now really bums me out. As I went through all my images, some of my favorites were from this very first stop on safari. There could be many reason for this but I think the main one is the most obvious. Making the uncommon from the common, simply breaking the mold!
Sep 1, 2015 | Wildlife Photography
One of the first birds you see in Africa are the Egyptian Goose. We’d call them a dirt bird in the US. That’s because they are so common, so very bloody common, as common as dirt. In the case of Africa, you can call them a dirt bird because they are not only so common as well as you most often see them, in the dirt. They are a big bird, about the same size as a Canada Goose. So after the first record shot to show you saw them, the Egyptian Goose receives no photographic love. It’s just that common. With that knowledge, it leaves the door wide open to make a special photo, making the uncommon from the common. The first example of this is the top photo where the geese are in running water. This is the only time I’ve seen them in such. This is a quick grab shot taken with the Df / 300PF. We can do better thinking those magical words, Light, Gesture and Color.
Then there was this opportunity. It came near the end of our 10 days and the goose was firmly placed in the “dirt” bird category so most of the time, they weren’t even recognized as even being present. But as you can see, I made us stop for this one. There were two but by the time we stopped, there was just the one. And it stayed long enough for me to only get two shots off (D4s / 800mm) but I love this shot. Ya, butt shots are rude but that’s part of the gesture I love. But the life to the colors of the goose’s feathers on its flank and in the background brought out by the light is what really made me put the brakes on the Landi. It’s a classic example of making the uncommon out of the common. Now the one thing I didn’t see when I took the photo is the log, on the log (left by a baboon). My sweet wife asked me if I was going to make that go away in post. She asked that with a big smile because she knew I would never, but now it’s a family joke. I guess, it all depends on your point of view of the too common, Egyptian Goose.
