BUTTERFLIES… BELATED POST

Tiger Swallowtail

Hi friends, I was hoping to publish this blog post already a few days earlier, but the “pilot” made an error and the files didn’t make it onto his laptop. Hence, I was traveling for business, but discovered far away from home, that the portable drive with the copies of all my photos I made last weekend was accidentally left at home…

White

OK, nothing is in a hurry, here are some pictures, …. Every year , about at the same time, I make a statement here in the blog that I’m not a macro photographer and creating pictures of insects or spiders is just a side project. Well, I tested a new light modifier and as soon I have a real opinion about it I may give you my ten cents of wisdom about the experience…

Giant Swallowtail

One of the easiest pictures... We have three of them here in our flower beds  this year. They are in constant motion , but persistance pays back....

The Monarch, like many other species, is under the thread of extinction. Much has been done here in Iowa to prevent this, but the question is, if down in Mexico, where the Monarch is during the cold season, habitats can be secured in order to make it a story of success.

NATURE CLICKS #409 - BLUE DASHER

Blue Dasher, Green Island Wetlands, Iowa

My German photography friend Maren had recently posted some excellent photos of damselflies and dragonflies in her blog (https://marensfotoblog.wordpress.com/2018/07/06/wow-seltene-gaeste-am-gartenteich/). Her pictures always inspire me, and while visiting the Green Island Wetlands last weekend I realized that we have plenty of dragonflies this year. When they perch on a stem of grass or any other plant, you have usually a few seconds to make the shot, and quite often they return to the same spot and may give you another chance if you missed the first shot. The only problem last Sunday was the hot wind that blew over the wetlands and what made getting a sharp image a little bit of a challenge. I thought the key for making a decent photo of the beautiful Blue Dasher was incorporating the background, at least its colors, and without having any clutter in the frame.

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

EYES ON THE GROUND

Two photos of mushrooms today? Well, not every day we are able to enjoy a great vista or have an interesting critter in front of the lens. Sometimes it just helps to open the yes and have a look on the ground for the details nature provides. A week ago Joan and I went on a little hike in the Swiss Valley Nature Preserve south of Dubuque, Iowa. These clusters of mushrooms drew my attention. Nothing spectacular, but an important part of the food chain in our deciduous forests here in eastern Iowa. Their untouched beauty and shape made me push the button.

Nikon D750, Nikon Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm, f/4G ED VR

LOVE WHEN IT ALL COMES TOGETHER…

Mississippi River, Finleys Landing, Iowa

I often struggle with scenes that are backlit, in my wildlife photography and as well with landscape work. This evening I left the Mississippi River with a smile on my face, I knew I had something. I wished light would prevail always this way and the decision how to dial in the settings in camera would match my imagination about the final image as it did today.

Waters are high in the Mississippi right now, for example, the flood gates were closed at Ice Harbor in Dubuque, Iowa, but the higher water level makes the muddy banks below the grass in this shot disappear. Knowing the location helped to anticipate the shot before I even went there. Oh, I love when it all comes together sometimes…

THE BEST LENS OR CAMERA?

Black-winged Damselfly

The answer is always the same. It’s the one you may have with you when the light is right and a subject of interest is present. I like the walks in the evening with our dog Cooper and try to go to different places every time. Today we went down into the valley below our bluffs. There is an abandoned gravel road, perfect for a quite walk, nature observations, or just to calm down after a busy day. I don’t have to take the dog on the leash since there is no traffic, and Cooper waits patiently if I stop and fiddle away with the camera.

The Nikon Nikkor 70-200, f/4 was not the perfect match for a shot of this Black-winged Damselfly but it was the lens I took with me for our walk. A real macro lens, like my SIGMA 150, f/2.8, works much better, not just because of its true 1:1 magnification, but also because of its shorter minimum focal distance (MFD). Well, not exact macro quality, but I like the light, the shadow of the insect, and overall a damselfly is just a beautiful insect...

ADDING SOME SCALE

Another photo from yesterday’s shooting at the Dubuque Airport. This little helicopter flew by several times at the new observation deck. As already mentioned, I was there for the clouds, but having a flying object in the frame may change the subject. Well, the picture is still about the clouds for me, the helicopter just adds scale to the image. Other than that, shooting aircrafts is always a great exercise for birds-in-flight-photography.

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2018 #02 - ABOVE FLOOD STAGE

Garter Snake, Mississippi River, Mud Lake Park, Iowa --------

I have a hard time keeping up with my visual story telling about things that happen in nature right now around here. It is an eventful time. So, let me talk about the Mississippi River again. The river was above flood stage during the last few days but reached its high today. Some of my usual shooting locations and places where we give also our dog Cooper his exercise were under water. Yesterday I was down at Mud Lake Park and the picture below tells you how this recreation area looked like.

Mississippi River, Mud Lake Park, Iowa

Ok, so what has that to do with the photo of a beautiful Garter Snake? During the last few years the number of snakes has dramatically decreased in this area. Years ago I could make a picture of a snake every day in our backyard and found them at many other places. This is not the case anymore. I have a hard time to find any snake at all and last year I saw only a single Garter Snake, which were usually abundant. I talked to many people, like rangers from the DNR or biologists. Everybody observes the same trend but nobody has really an answer what causes the decline. I still hope it is a temporary thing but my fear grows that pesticides or other aggressive treatments of mother nature play a role. 

The high water level of the river and subsequent flooding have obviously effected the habitat of some critters and this Garter Snake was out in the open. A dangerous place since many predators, like herons, egrets, or owls may not hesitate to have them for dinner…

SPRING WITH SMALL STEPS

It seems like spring is arriving here only with small steps. Today it was lovely, it was warm and the sun was shining, and finally all of our crocuses had a chance to appear in all their beauty. We really enjoy it but I believe it is the third week in a row that I have to write here that snow is in the forecast for part of the weekend again. As I said, small steps…

NOW ONLINE: VISUAL STORIES - THROUGH THE DAKOTAS

Castles-Slim Butte, North Dakota

Some projects take a long time to become reality and some take even a little longer…😉

I just finished a new set of VISUAL STORIES here in my blog. The collection THROUGH THE DAKOTAS is finally online and you can find it by clicking up in the “Collections”-bar or by clicking right HERE. Some of the photos about a journey through the Black Hills and different “Badland” areas in the Dakotas have been previously posted in my blog a while ago and a coffee table book “BADLANDS - North and South Dakota” has been created as well. The only thing missing was a slide show in the blog. Well, as people in Germany say, …. gut Ding will Weile haben!

FASCINATING WINTER WORLD

Hi friends, I’m back from the moon! (just kidding…). The photo was made today during a flight from Denver to Chicago. Business required my presence in Colorado this week and the only camera that was in the pocket was my iPhone. I don’t know the exact location of this shot, it was somewhere between eastern Colorado and western Nebraska. It was fascinating how every little creek and water vein was filled with snow or ice, while other parts of the fields below showed the blank soil. Back home here in the Little Maquoketa Valley in eastern Iowa the reality was more disenchanting. We don’t have any snow on the ground, very unusual for this time of the year, but the weather forecast says this may change during the next few days…

THE LONELY SYCAMORE

Down in our valley at the Little Maquoketa River is a lonely Sycamore tree (Platanus occidentalis) that has intrigued me many times before. It seemed in all the years I never found the right light to make a photo telling the story about this unique tree with its mottled and flaking bark, that makes the tree standing out from any other one around. Today, an hour before sunset, Joan and I went for a walk on the trail in the valley with our dog Cooper. I don’t remember a year without any snow on the ground in January but this abnormal weather situation suddenly delivered the photo opportunity I had somehow in mind. I exposed strictly for the highlights to make the almost white bark standing out. This would have not worked with a layer of snow on the ground. Although the sun was very low already, the light is not really warm and I was actually thinking of black & white when I took the picture. But I like how the crisp light strikes the scene and only the corn stalks in the foreground pick up a little bit of the warmer light.

Nikon D750, Nikon Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm, f/4G ED VR

FIVE RAPTORS

CYSCO, Harris’s Hawk, hatched in captivity in 1994, excelled as a falconry bird, and came to the Schlitz Audubon Center after retirement. ------------ 

It was fun at the 30th Annual Bald Eagle Watch in the Grand River Center of Dubuque yesterday. The event that celebrates the American Bald Eagle had a very good turnout with people of all ages. We had lots of good conversations with visitors at the information desk of the Dubuque Camera Club and the other participating organizations have been very busy as well. The highlight for many guests was without any doubt the live bird program, presented several times during the day by staff and volunteers of the Schlitz Audubon Nature Center, Milwaukee WI. The program was great education, not just for all the kids who got involved by Sara, who did a very good job of moderating it.

BARON VON SCREECH, Eastern Screech Owl, lost his right eye in a car accident.

It was allowed to take pictures, even with flash lights, but I decided to use just the ambient light for making some images of the raptors and the people who showed them to the audience. All photos were made handheld at f/4 between 1/20s and 1/40s. The ISO was cranked up to 1600. Shooting indoors is not my usual thing to do and dealing with white balance in very dim incandescent light had its challenges. The presenters moved around to give everybody a chance to have a close-up view of these beautiful raptors and the birds themselves move as well, with other words, not an easy task to get a sharp image.

CUTRIGHT, Peregrine Falcon, a retired falconry bird.

All seven birds of prey that were introduced to the audience (I only show five of them) are unable to make a living out in the wild for various reasons. Since I didn’t make notes (too busy fiddling with the camera 😉), the information about each bird under the photos is from the website of the Schlitz Audubon Nature Center. https://www.schlitzaudubon.org/education/raptor-program

TSKILI, Great Horned Owl, was stolen from her nest by a human who wanted her as a pet.

VALKYRIE, Bald Eagle, Was left by her parents earlier than normal. She did not have the hunting skills to survive in the wild. I like this photo because it shows the enormous size of an eagle, next to Sara, the main presenter of the program.

All images: Nikon D750, Nikon Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm, f/4G ED VR

THE TWISTED TREE (2x)

This twisted American Arborvitae was sprayed by the waves from the surf of Lake Michigan every few minutes on that windy Friday after Thanksgiving. But that wasn’t what I was aiming for. It’s the killer light on the tree that made me push the shutter release button of the camera! Oh, you don’t believe me about the spray? Well, what can I say… 😊