The vegetation here on the bluff tops and down in the valley has passed its prime and finding a patch of ferns, flowers, or herbs that isn’t fading becomes difficult. It was a rainy Sunday and during a walk with our dog Cooper in the valley I kept my eyes on the ground, always looking for a little light that may make a difference. Using black & white as the medium to tell the story about what’s left from the beauty of these ferns seemed right to me.
ROMANCING AN UNROMANTIC LOCATION
Heritage Pond, Dubuque, Iowa
This shot with soft light and reflections on the water suggest a quiet, romantic location, just a few minutes before sunset, right? But nothing of the above was true. Behind the belt of reeds is a busy highway where people headed home from work or shopping. The noise level was not bad but definitely not quiet and the sunset was still 45 minutes away.
The steep bluffs of the Mississippi Valley make the sun disappear a little earlier, hence the blue reflections from the sky on the water. The light is nevertheless very warm and by watching the white balance settings in camera and underexpose by one f-stop we can romance the photo to the final result. Shooting from across the pond and keeping any distracting element from the highway out of the frame was possible by using the Nikon Nikkor 70-200, f/4 at 200 mm. No magic, just using what the camera has to offer…
RIVER OTTER
North American River Otter, (not a wildlife image)
Almost two weeks ago we had the grandkids here and visiting the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium in Dubuque, Iowa was fun and educating for everybody. The North American River Otter is my favorite critter in the museum. The otter sleeps most of the time but we were lucky to see the animal swimming and climbing over the rocks in its enclosure. There used to be two river otters but we learned that one of them had passed away. A few years ago we have seen an otter family in the Little Maquoketa River, down in the valley and a few miles upstream, but I never had a chance yet to make a picture of this beautiful critter in the wild. Well, I still keep my eyes open…
RUNNING AROUND THE FLOWER BED
Hummingbird Moth
We have lots of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds here at the moment but seeing a Hummingbird Moth is still a rare treat. It is almost the same size as the birds and they hover from flower to flower not much slower than a hummingbird. The phlox has spread in our yard and the Hummingbird Moth is obviously attracted to its nectar.
Not the first time I have chased this moth and trying to get a new perspective was my goal, while running around the flower bed with the Sigma 150, f/2.8 macro lens on camera this time…
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…
GORGEOUS MORNING
After another day with nasty weather I think we finally deserved a morning with gorgeous light. Here is a photo with the light as the subject The luminousness didn’t last very long and the snow was gone after a few hours.
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
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…