SENSE OF FALL

Savannah Sparrow, Green Island, eastern Iowa

A big house project came to an end on Friday and I finally found the time to go out with the camera again and shoot some pictures. The photo above was made about 40 minutes before sunset at the edge of a field that was already harvested. The warm rim light on the dried up flower pods intrigued me and all the elements, including some spider web threads, give the photo of this sparrow a sense of fall.

Male Red-winged Blackbird, Green Island Wetlands

Thousands of Red-winged Blackbirds congregate in the wetlands along the Mississippi River at the moment and feed or rest during their migration to warmer areas in the south. If the winter is mild, as we had it during the last couple years, some of them will even stay here or at least return very early. I have photos in my picture library that were made in February.

NATURE CLICKS #560 - PRONGHORN

Male Pronghorn, Badlands National Park, South Dakota

Here is another reason to get up early in the morning. There is a good chance to get a Pronghorn, the fastest mammal in the grasslands out west, in front of the lens. The first light of the day put some rim light around the edges of the horns and other body parts and make the pronghorn stand out against the lush grassy background.

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S,   @ 600 mm, 1/800 s, f/6.3, ISO 4000

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… 😊