Nikon Z6 III, Nikon NIKKOR Z 600 f/6.3 VR S, @ 1/2000 s, f/8, ISO 500
I haven’t posted another ”Mississippi River Story” since May but I like to do so at the height of the summer. The heat and very high humidity during the last weeks has been replaced by cooler temperatures, a bit of wind, nice puffy clouds at times, but we still had plenty of sunshine. All good reasons to get the kayak out for a couple paddle trips in the backwaters of the big river. The vegetation is lush and green and some flowers can still be found between the arrow heads and water lilies that grow everywhere in the Mud Lake area. The breeding season for most birds is almost over, it is a lot quieter on the water, and I had a lot less photo opportunities for wildlife. But there is always room for a surprise and a couple Great Blue Herons posed nicely within the range of the lens. I caught the first heron standing motionless in the water, like in the picture below. But the bird moved on and I missed the shot. At the second opportunity the wind pushed me almost too close to the bird but by reading its body language I knew a second ahead of time when the decisive moment would happen. This time luck was on my side.
Nikon Z6 III, Nikon NIKKOR Z 600 f/6.3 VR S, @ 1/2000 s, f/8, ISO 500
Mississippi River, Mud Lake, Iowa,
Nikon Z6III, Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S, @ 55mm, 1/320 s, f/11, ISO 100
I came back to the entrance of the marina at Mud Lake Park in the evening, hoping to get nice warm light on the puffy clouds we had all day long. Unfortunately the clouds dissolved very quickly due to the air getting drier. The blue boat came at the right time to rescue this photo. A couple minutes later the cloud show was over…