2017 RETROSPECT / 6

For my retrospect about the month of June I have to revert to one of the best wildlife moments last year. While leaving the Green Island Wetlands at the Mississippi River the evening of June 9th I discovered four young raccoons having dinner in a mulberry tree. I have written in detail about this encounter in the blog and if you like to see the photos and read the full story I posted back in June 2017, feel free to click the link right here: http://www.exnerimages.net/blog/2017/6/10/a-gang-of-four

We photographers can talk about the technical aspects of photography all day long or get lost in overanalyzing our pixels, but it is important to have some fun while shooting, even if the results are not more than a “learning experience” sometimes. The good results will come with the passion we apply to our own photography. Watching the young raccoons was priceless and the only way to make these images was to crank up the ISO setting to 640 due to the very low light. Not my usual style for wildlife photography, but who cares if the technical side of the photo is not perfect but the story telling aspect reflects the fun I had while taking the pictures.

2016 RETROSPECT / 6

Warbling Vireo, Mines of Spain, Dubuque, Iowa, June 2016 --------------

Much of my time out in the field is dedicated to wildlife photography and that wasn’t any different in 2016. The Mississippi Valley and surrounding areas provide habitat for many species. Some of them are here only for a few weeks, just enough to raise their offspring.

In June I had the chance to photograph a pair of Warbling Vireos. I saw them several times with insects in their bills and knew that they were feeding, but it took me more than 90 minutes before I finally discovered a young bird. The little guy sat in the grass below a group of trees and waited to be fed by its parents. The technical aspects of making a photograph are dealt with on a subconscious level in situations like that. It’s all about the bird, the light, and being fast enough to bring it all together…

Juvenile Warbling Vireo