FOX, …YEP, GETTING CLOSE

Red Fox - Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada ----------

I wrote about his young fox already a few days ago. If you missed this post, please feel free to click right HERE. After the critter lost focus on a possible prey, somewhere in the ditch beside the gravel road, it walked right towards us. I had to shorten the focal length of the Sigma 150-600 mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Lens quickly in order to make this photo. As I often state, I’m more an environmental shooter than an eyeball photographer, but this photo is kinda the golden mean in my humble opinion…

NATURE CLICKS #343 - HERRING GULL

Marie Louise Lake, Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada -------

Making a picture of a Gull is not too difficult, they are usually anywhere near a big body of water. It has to be something special involved, like a great natural light situation or a story telling aspect that can make a photo of an ordinary bird, like a gull, standing out from the rest. This Herring Gull was interestingly enough the only gull we saw during one of our kayak tours on Marie Louise Lake in Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada. It just had caught a fish and was still messing with it as we drifted towards the shore with our boats. Usually a gull takes off and flies away if you get too close but this one didn’t want to give up the fish at all costs.

It is the low perspective that makes these shots special for me and the pictures from this incident tell the story.

All images: Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Lens

 

NATURE CLICKS #342 - RED FOX PUP

Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Lens -----

The morning when we pulled out of Sleeping Giant Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada and moved on with our tour around Lake Superior we decided to check out another small lake not far from the road. As we came around a corner we suddenly saw this young Red Fox right beside the gravel road. We stopped, sneaked carefully out of the car and started shooting. The fox decided to ignore us. There were several challenges to master beside not scaring the critter away. One was to deal with some “stupid” grass in the foreground. I have several images where it is right in front of the eye. Not good! The second challenge was the backlight situation. I have ruined many photos in the past with similar light but this time I learned from previous mistakes and chose the right exposure compensation. The rim light separates the fox from the background and works very well for this shot. Starting a day like this is hard to beat… 😊

 

TAKE OFF SHOTS

Marie Louise Lake, Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada

As mentioned in an earlier post I have been brave a few times and took the camera and long lens with me in the kayak, despite some choppy winds at times. One of the best rewards were some shots of this adult Bald Eagle, taking off from its perch at Marie Louise Lake. The photo would not be very difficult to make on solid ground with the lens supported by a tripod. Handholding the heavy SIGMA 150-600 Sports lens in a kayak is quite a challenge and I’m very happy about this shot. The image is not cropped and was shot with 1/1600s, f/6.3, ISO 320, at 600 mm.

 

CHANGING THE SUBJECT

Marie Louise Lake, Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada ---  

When I looked across Marie Louise Lake I thought that Sleeping Giant, the mountain range in the back that gave this provincial park its name, would be a good subject for a photo. While evaluating the scene I became aware how rough the wind made the lake surface and how the reflections on the water played a role how we saw the lake. Suddenly the lake with its subtle reflections was a lot more interesting and the Sleeping Giant played just a second role for this image. Sure, the eye will go briefly to the bright parts of the clouds in the back, but the clouds are not interesting enough in this matter and the eye will return to this beautiful light and the rough surface of the water in the foreground. It became one of my favorite shots from this trip around Lake Superior…

 

NATURE CLICKS #341 - COMMON MERGANSERS

Marie Louise Lake, Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada --- 

During our travel around Lake Superior we had the pleasure to watch over 30 bird species. I was of course not able to photograph all of them, but the best opportunities came while on the water. We had our kayaks with us and made some nice paddle tours on lakes that surround Superior. 

This family of Common Mergansers had actually ten members but they didn’t always stay close together for having them all in the frame. Mergansers are a lot more tolerant with humans than ducks. Several times we just paddled with them, always keeping a safe distance, and when they sticked their heads under water to look for fish, we just knew that they had accepted us.

Shooting with the long lens from a kayak in windy conditions can be quite a risky maneuver. My practice here at home on the Mississippi River helped me a lot to learn how to handle the boat in the wind and work with the camera at the same time. It is important to keep an eye on the birds and watch the direction of the light, but also make sure your own safety and equipment is not at risk. It is easy to get stuck between rocks or on a log in shallow water.

As you can imagine it takes a few more clicks to get a sharp shot. The first day on Marie Louise Lake in Sleeping Giant Provincial Park we spent over an hour with the mergansers. We tried the same the next day but got distracted by some other birds. But this is for another story later…