Dec 9, 2014 | Wildlife Photography
The Bald Eagle is an amazing flier, I could watch them for hours in the air. They are a gorgeous bird, their beauty is so distinctive. And they are the laziest forager when not nesting. I had a great time just watching them on the Chilkat River a week past as they hung and waited until another eagle grabbed a “floater” and pulled it a shore. A floater is a spent salmon, one that has spawned and died. When one of these floaters hits just right and beaches itself right on the shore and it hits a eagle in the foot, they might partake in the carcass (yes, eagles at times do grab a floater before it hits the shore). But once one eagle has that piece of food, all hell breaks loose!
While speaking in generalities because nothing in Mother Nature is 100% predictable, Bald Eagles love to steal from another eagle even if a fresh salmon were hitting it on the foot. We’re not talking about some gentle, uh hmmm asking for a tidbit here, oh no. They come in full force baring talons and drawing blood in many instances. Feathers fly! There are times I wish I had a scorecard to know who is who. Are the eagles for example related in any way? You can see here in this exchange the ferocity they go about stealing that scrap. And as you can see, they defend their scrap with the same ferocity. It really is an amazing site and sound as this plays out.
Knowing all of this is very important in getting the shot. Knowing this biology, you can be ready for it as it unfolds. In my case, I was shooting with the D4s / 800mm for two reasons. The D4s because of its fast FPS and high ISO capabilities. Unlike normal, I was shooting at ISO800 to have the faster shutter speed to freeze the action. And the 800mm to eliminate some of the visual distractions while not being tight. Many shoot with 1200mm or more but I don’t want to be that tight on a critter that flies so magnificently as the Bald Eagle. The D4s with its greater range permitted me to shoot as well with + exp comp not only “brightening” the otherwise dark light but opening up the shadows. Lastly, with the dark, overcast light I cranked up the AWB to bring up the warmth in the photo that otherwise would have a very blue cast. Ben Franklin preferred the turkey over the Bald Eagle for our national symbol because he too had seen the Bald Eagle’s character traits. But it’s that biology that when we know it and combine it with our gear and desire to tell the story we can prove Mr Franklin right in our photos.
Dec 8, 2014 | Wildlife Photography
As a youngster, I spent many an hour at the zoo watching the Giraffe. I always wondered how such a crazy lookin critter lived in its world. There is nothing else that wanders our planet like a Giraffe, a critter which looks so calm yet can have some amazingly violent fights. They roam alone and in small groups and occasionally, even fall prey to the large predators. Photographing them is to some extent a challenge. In the region of South Africa where we were at, the open woodland scrub, doesn’t make watching Giraffes easy. They not only blend in but believe it or not, can actually hide really well. And while not shy, they didn’t walk right up to us like the Leopards. These shots were taken with the D4s / 800mm in order to get intimidate with them as well as isolate them from their surroundings. I went over thinking these would be short lens subjects. Another lesson learned. Nothing will replace though my first seeing them on the way in from the airport and I don’t think I’ll ever get enough field time watching them go about their day. Giraffes are just cool!
And while we didn’t see a lot of Giraffes, we did see them in small groups many times during our safari. I really didn’t think anything of it, not seeing them everywhere, I had gone to Africa with the impression they were “common.” But I went to Africa with many impressions which mostly turned out to be wrong so didn’t think anything of it until a couple of days ago. That’s when I read this piece Giraffes are silently disappearing, and it really had me wondering based on what I saw first hand. They call it a “silent extinction” in the piece but when compared to elephant numbers, it’s a rather alarming extinction. It messes with the mind and heart to have so easily seen these magnificent and puzzling critters in the wild only to learn they are disappearing. I guess the truly sad thing is how silent we’re letting things slip away. If you’ve ever seen a Giraffe in a zoo, you’ve never really seen a Giraffe. At least, that’s what I learned.
Dec 2, 2014 | Wildlife Photography
The impact of our Africa safari still has its influence on me, it’s hard not to blog non-stop about it! One critter I wanted to really see in the wild was a big maned African Lion. Why? Seen them in zoos, seen them at the start of movies, wanted to actually see one that had nothing to do with man. If you’ve ever watched The Ghost and the Darkness, you just gotta wonder if you see these magnificent critters in the wild, if you’ll survive the encounter. Since I’m here talking about it and I have photos, it would appear I did survive my encounter with male African Lions. And my desire to spend time with them is even more intense after doing so!
The biology of Lions is really, well, just darn cool! The first thing that still amazes me is they sleep on average 20hrs a day! This is why in part seeing them actually making a kill, not just eating on a carcass, but actually witnessing the take down and kill is so prized. It’s a rare siting! Next was the pride, the group of lions that hang and operate together. A pride might be just two females, it might be 12 females but often it does not include full mane males. The males hang in their own little groups and often range far and wide from the pride of females they associate with. These two younger males had just started that behavior and had returned just prior to our arrival to Africa. We spent an hour watching the interactions of these males and it was fascinating. Using the D4s / 800mm w/1.25x not only to capture the moments but as a scope to get in close helped a lot. In some ways, they are just giant house cats pawing at a passing leaf or staring at a twitching tail tip until they pounced on it. The next moment they are showing their male dominance in very graphic, male ways. And being at times so close that one could reach out and grab their mane as they passed the Landie was, well, simply mind blowing and life altering. They are one of the reasons we’re heading back to Africa in 2015, I didn’t see the giant maned male or get enough time with these fascinating and magnificent members of our wild heritage!
Nov 24, 2014 | Wildlife Photography
I just wanted to take a moment to say thanks … thanks for the gorgeous Chilkat River Valley that in the 70’s wise folks were smart enough to preserve for the eagles. Thankful for the GREAT guys who asked us to come up to witness this amazing part of our wild heritage. And thankful the majesty of the Bald Eagle still flies in our skies and we can watch them endlessly going through their antics. It was an amazing week with much more to come once back to a reliable connection. Homeward bound after this past week, it sticks in your soul, the magic of eagles.
Nov 21, 2014 | Wildlife Photography
The Eagles of Haines or Chilkat River are legendary! I’ve known about them long before I was even a photographer. It was once the place only the brave traveled, it remoteness and severity in weather made it a locale few ventured to. That changed and now it is a destination for many wildlife photographers from around the world. A loyal group of K&M folk asked Kevin & I 18 months ago to bring them up here. We’d never been here but were more than up for the adventure, so here we are! But the eagles, well …
You need two important elements to get the legendary show the area is known for, ice and salmon. We have neither right now and that makes the photography a challenge. Furthering the challenge for me personally is, I have photographed Bald Eagles, a lot, and have my own favorites that will be hard to improve on. With the challenges of getting here, we got a late start today, what good light had slipped by before we were in the field. None the less we found eagles. Now, these photos to me are really, well, barely keepers. One thing I mentioned to the group is the Bald Eagle is a commonly photographed bird. Hard to understand when they are a challenge for most but so many venture to locations like Chilkoot that there are lots of great images out there. So getting the uncommon shots of the common will be the goal. These photos though shot with the D4s / 800mm are common shots at the very best. We will do better but I won’t be satisfied with these kinds of images. Only time will tell how well we’ll do as I’m back with the eagles.
Nov 20, 2014 | Wildlife Photography
The effects of going to Africa are still very much resonating in my heart even a month later. All the images are filed, backed up and finished and I find myself constantly going back and looking at them to see if, the trip really did happen and if I really did take the photos. This is a pair of White-fronted Bee-eaters. Greg did a marvelous driving the landie right up to them and with a couple of tweaks, I had the perfect background. Not only were the birds really cool, but the light and more importantly, its direction perfect to light up them colors. Just look at them backs light up! Gorgeous, simply gorgeous! And the fact they were in love didn’t hurt a thing, they were quite animated.
Shooting with the D4s / 800mm (with the converter) I still used HSC to make the shot. The HSC helped also with the FPS, increasing it so I could capture the small, quick gestures of love the two displayed. If they were on any other perch, bigger in diameter or deeper in the tree, the photo wouldn’t have worked and there were times, they used other perches while foraging. It was this moment that lasted perhaps, 2-3 minutes though which stand out in my memory. I’m just so thankful that the moments aren’t committed to just memory. So glad the camera captured the moment to.
