SUBSCRIBE TO THE BLOG
Nature clicks #75 – Northern Cardinal
- Nikon D300s, Sigma 50-500mm / f4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM
I have written here before about “having a plan” or “setting goals” for your photography. I still believe it is important to do that if someone wants to see improvements from a technical as well from the artistic point of view. My friend Dave Updegraff, who is like me an amateur photographer here in the Dubuque area, was looking some time ago for new goals and decided to focus on photographing old barns out in the countryside. I follow his blog and can tell that his approach to the subject became better and better any time he publishes new barn photos.
I try to do the same with my wildlife photography. I have this gallery about wildlife in Iowa at pbase.com. (Click HERE for a glimpse). One of my goals is to replace images from the early days of my digital photography with photos that are taken from a closer distance, and of course, that are technically and artistically better than my first shot of a particular animal.
I was very proud about my first photo of a Northern Cardinal, taken 2007 from quite a bit away, and finally cropped to death in post. Even if I don’t want to look at the old picture anymore for many reasons, mainly image quality, but making the photo was as much fun as last week during the snow storm. For the first time I got a picture of a male cardinal that fills the frame. Little steps, and some take time, but the better image makes me feeling good again…
Way I like to head
- Below Clingmans Dome, Great Smoky Mountains
As the mild winter progresses I’m still in process to reorganize and clean my photo archive. I know that I will not have much time for this job when the birds start to migrate south again and I want to be out shooting every possible minute. The best part of this task is to look at some photos from a distance in time and to make choices about publishing.
This one is not really that old yet, it is from last year’s trip to the Great Smoky Mountains. We just returned from Clingmans Dome, the highest summit in the Smokies, back to the parking lot when this cloud caught my attention. Why did I choose this one? It is the direction I try to head with my landscape photography. It is not about black and white, it is about story telling drama in the sky. This photo can be repeated over and over again with a boring blue sky and will always look the same. Most postcards are this way. It is unique with this particular cloud, and this is what makes the difference, at least for me.
Nature clicks #74 – Dark-eyed Junco, late arrival
- Nikon D300s, Sigma 50-500mm / f4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM @ 420 mm (630 mm FX), 1/60s, f/6.3, -1.5 EV, ISO 100
I went to Indianapolis, Indiana today and had actually planned to try the Bald Eagles at Mississippi dam #14 down in Le Claire, Iowa. I was hoping to show some eagle pictures in today’s post but winter weather conditions, fog, and gray sky didn’t allow any photo that would have made sense. Nevertheless, I stopped briefly at the dam and at least saw a Bald Eagle high up in the trees beside the parking lot.
Instead, here is another image from shooting two days ago in the snow storm. The Dark-eyed Junco is not easy to photograph in low light. It’s one of the birds hard to focus on, because there is hardly any contrast between the eye and it’s head. They are always moving and quite often gone before focus is obtained. This one isn’t even exactly sharp but I like the bird’s pose on this branch. The Juncos are usually here during the winter in big numbers. This season was a little different. They just came down south together with the arrival of the first snow, probably due to the warm temperatures we had here in December and early January. No eagle, but still a nice looking bird. I hope you enjoy.
Nature clicks #73 – Mourning Dove withstands the winter
- Nikon D300s, Sigma 50-500mm / f4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM @ 420 mm (630 mm FX), 1/45s, f/6.3, -1.5 EV, ISO 100
We are back to “normal” here in Iowa. Yesterday it has snowed all day long and we have plenty of the white stuff in the woods here. As much as I hate driving in these weather conditions, I love the doors it opens for photography. The snow on the ground is one of the best light sources for wildlife photography. Despite a complete overcast of the sky the reflection of the light from the snow makes for great light conditions. There are no shadows to deal with and in this matter the dove got wonderful light from underneath.
It is tempting to crank the ISO settings of the camera up but the price is paid in post, where you have to deal with noise. I tried to push my limits (I think, there is nothing really to loose when you are at home and can shoot around the house). I set the camera to ISO 100 and just tried to get the best out of it. My Sigma 50-500 is one of the older models that doesn’t have vibration reduction but shooting from a tripod probably doesn’t make that much of a difference anyway.
The Mourning Dove here belongs to a flock that is hanging around our house all winter long so far. I believe they are beautiful birds and for me it is just mind-boggling that the law in Iowa does allow to shoot them (for the first time in my blog I really mean shooting with a gun and not with a camera!!). We always have one or two couples here that raise their young but I have never had such great light to make a picture of one of them. The snow pouring down tells the story about survival in winter for all birds. More to come…
Ice fishing fun and a little bit photography
We finally got the winter here in Iowa and have some snow on the ground. However, I would have seen snow anyway, because it was the weekend for the annual ice fishing trip with friends. For the sixth year in a row we went to the Northwoods in Wisconsin. The ice was not as thick as other years but nevertheless still thick enough to drive on. I usually take my camera with me but photography was not the top priority last weekend.
My fishing luck wasn’t really great. I caught a couple Northern Pike but they were small and I didn’t keep them. “Fisher king” was my brother in law Don, who pulled two 28 inch Northerns onto the ice. It was my pleasure to make a few clicks of him with his catch.
- Nikon D300s, Nikkor 24-120mm / f4
The main reason why I take my photo gear on the ice is the never ending hope to catch some great light. I always have one eye on the sky, especially during the time around sunset. The image above tells the story about a great final of a wonderful day on the ice of Fay Lake in Wisconsin.
Nature clicks #72 – American Goldfinch
- Nikon D300s, Sigma 50-500mm / f4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM
Nothing in particular today, just an easy click from Sunday’s afternoon shooting in my yard. Nice and soft natural light gives the colors of this American Goldfinch in its winter plumage the right push. As I said, an easy click…
Not as planned
- Nikon D300s, Sigma 50-500mm / f4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM
Today things didn’t really go my way. I had planned to go to Mississippi dam #14 down in Le Claire and was hoping to make some Bald Eagle pictures. I wrote about this already three days ago. All camera batteries were fully charged, the CF-cards formatted, and the gear was ready to be used. As always, I like to be prepared when I go out for any kind of shooting. It wasn’t the photo gear that prevented me today from seeing any eagles. After four miles of driving I pulled over into the parking lot of Heritage Pond just north of Dubuque. I wanted to check on some noise coming from one of the front tires. What I found was a little crack that made the tire already bulging. I thought it was too dangerous to continue driving for several hours under those circumstances. After using all the words that are usually beeped out on TV I decided to return home. Better safe than sorry.
- Nikon D300s, Sigma 50-500mm / f4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM
Just before I left I saw that a flock of Canada Geese and a couple Mallard Ducks were resting around a spot of open water on the thin ice of the pond. The light was great in quality and quantity. I got the tripod out and made a very slow and careful approach towards the birds. I took about 15 minutes to get as close as possible to the geese without disturbing them. 45 minutes and 490 clicks later a lady jumped out of her car and made the same approach in about 30 seconds!! The geese, of course, turned around and moved further away and the ducks were even flying off. I bet her pictures suck… ;-) What can I say, I guess I made the best out of my dilemma today. I came home with a damaged tire but also with a bunch of wildlife shots, and most important, I had a good time shooting in great light for almost an hour.
