TWO WAYS TO TELL TONIGHT’S STORY

Canada Geese, Mississippi River, Mud Lake, Iowa,

Nikon D750, Nikkor 70-200mm / f4, @70 mm, 1/1250s, f/6.3, ISO800

During my recent presentation at the Dubuque Camera Club about storytelling in wildlife photography I stated to take the camera with us, wherever we may go. I’m sure glad I did tonight when I took Cooper, the dog, down to the Mississippi River for a walk. The sun had disappeared already behind the bluffs, light was fading away fast, and I thought there wouldn’t be much to photograph. And boy, was I wrong! Hundreds of Canada Geese crossed the river in groups, flying towards the setting sun.

There were at least two ways to make a click and tell the story, and I tried to accomplish both. In the western sky was the glow of the setting sun with some hazy clouds, and to the east, over the river, was the moon. The shot aiming the lens at the sunset was indeed predictable. The geese fly in V-formation and I wanted to bring that somehow in connection with the clouds and the sun light.

Nikon D750, Nikkor 70-200mm / f4, @70 mm, 1/500s, f/5, ISO800

The other photo, with the geese flying “through” the moon, required a little bit of luck. Many flocks crossed the Mississippi this evening and I just waited for the right moment. You can’t really pan with the camera, follow the flock, and shoot with a slower shutter speed in order to keep the ISO low and the digital noise out of the picture. This would result in an even more blurred moon. I had to set ISO to 800 for maintaining a shutter speed of 1/500s. Not that this one is perfect, but it was pretty much how I saw it with the thin layer of haze in front of it.

NATURE CLICKS #418 - EASTERN BLUEBIRD

Sure, this is only a picture taken at a bird bath but this is a favorite place of the four Eastern Bluebirds that visit our backyard frequently. They come in to drink and quite often sit at the edge of the pool and warm up a little. I have photographed them many times but this is the first time that I was able to make a photo of a female and male side by side and both birds in focus.

OUT WEST #29

Little Rock Creek, Wind River Range, Wyoming

Our last destination in the mountains of western Wyoming was the Wind River Range, an approximately 100 miles long part of the Rocky Mountains. We pitched the tent for three nights in Sink Canyon State Park, west of Lander, WY. These mountains are not so well known by the public as for example the Tetons or Yellowstone, but there is no lack of interesting geology and beautiful nature. We went on hikes and traveled off the beaten path by car, but time was too short to explore more than a small area of the range.

Wildfire smoke, Louis Lake Road, Wind River Range, Wyoming

One reason why I didn’t shoot a lot of wide landscape views was the fact that the impact of wildfires created a certain haziness, even if the fires were far away. The photo gives you an idea…

Mule Deer, Red Canyon, Wyoming

Finding wildlife is not very difficult in the Wind River Range, there was always a Pronghorn or Mule Deer somewhere, but when we saw this doe with her two fawns on a rock ledge in the Red Canyon near Lander, WY we had to stop and make the click. Mountains Lions are not uncommon and are a great danger for the young Mule Deer and this spot was obviously a good place to have control over the terrain for the mother.

Least Chipmunk, Popo Agie Falls, Wyoming

The Least Chipmunk is smaller than the Eastern Chipmunk that lives in our woods here in eastern Iowa. In areas that are more frequented by people, like along the hiking trail that leads to the Popo Agie Falls, the chipmunks have not much fear and can be easily photographed within the range of a 200 mm lens.

TAKING ADVANTAGE

The last snow melted finally away today but there is more in the forecast for Sunday. I always like to take advantage of the “big reflector” and use the extra light for some shots around the house. About half a dozen Eastern Gray Squirrels (at least!) invite themselves and take advantage of the sunflower seeds at our bird feeders. They are a good subject to practice and study how the direction of light can effect the outcome. And yeah, there is always the cuteness factor that comes with these critters…🐿

GREEN ISLAND WETLANDS IN THE WINTER?

First snow in the Green Island Wetlands

I had a nice audience last night for my presentation about storytelling in wildlife photography, with some great questions afterwards and the emails and messages I received today tell me that people received some inspiration for their own photography. This made my day!

I introduced some of my favorite shooting locations, and the avid reader of my blog knows already, the Green Island Wetlands along the Mississippi River play certainly an important role in my endeavors. Actually Joan, our dog Cooper, and I went there for a little hike last Sunday. We had some fresh snow on the ground and most water bodies were covered with a thin layer of ice. I’m sure the duck hunters were not so happy about that because we didn’t see any.

Bald Eagle

So what can we find at this time of the year under winter conditions in Green Island? We saw several hawks, a few Song Sparrows, and for the first time ever a coyote on top of a levee. Unfortunately he had seen us earlier and during the two or three seconds we watched him I was not able to make a sharp image. Ten minutes earlier this Bald Eagle posed nicely against the blue sky and later we saw the bird with its mate sitting in another tree further away.

Beside all that, the lakes and backwaters had some nice blue color and the cracks in the ice and the snow painted some surreal patterns. As mentioned in my presentation, it’s difficult to come back from the wetlands with an empty memory card…

COME AND SEE MY PRESENTATION

Black-tailed Prairie Dogs, Badlands National Park, South Dakota

A year ago I joined the Dubuque Camera Club. The exchange of thoughts, ideas, and photography knowledge between members is priceless, and beside the educational aspect, it is a great group of people to socialize with and share the fun photography has to offer. We meet twice a month (first and third Monday each month between September and June) and for the 2018 /19 season we offer some member presentations about different aspects of photography. The meetings of the camera club are open to the public anyway, but these special events are advertised in local and social media.

Mobile phones made almost everybody a photographer these days and photography is as popular as never before, so we like to share our presentations with a broader audience. Maybe you guessed it, I volunteered to be the first presenter…

It’s a wrong assumption that good wildlife photos can only be made with expensive equipment. Sharing the story of your wildlife encounter, even through a technically not so perfect image, is more important for the future of our natural heritage than seeing the last detail in a critter’s eye. I will give you my thoughts on this and other aspects of wildlife photography.

If you live in or around the Tri-state area of Dubuque, Iowa, please join us for our first presentation this season next Monday. Here are the facts about this event:

Monday, November 19, 2018, at 6:30 PM

STORYTELLING IN WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY

E.B. Lyons Interpretive Center, 

Mines of Spain Recreation Area

8991 Bellevue Heights 

Dubuque, IA

My presentation will touch the questions below, and hey, we can discuss your ideas and thoughts as well after what I try to cramp into 60 minutes.

  • How to start with wildlife photography, even with a small camera and lens?

  • What are good locations for wildlife shooting in and around the Mississippi Valley?

  • How to become better storytellers with our photos?

  • How about safety and ethics?

The program is free and I would be happy to see you next Monday at 6:30 PM in the E.B. Lyons Interpretive Center at the Mines of Spain 😉

FALL IS OVER

White-breasted Nuthatch, Little Maquoketa River Valley, Iowa

Oh, you see some white aside from the bird’s body and between the trees in the background of this photo? You got it! We had our first snow a couple days ago and it took until today to melt it. With the snow came a bunch of Dark-eyed Juncos from the north, who will spend the winter here, and their arrival is always the best indicator that autumn is almost over. It was a gray weekend again and the best I can come up with is this photo of a White-breasted Nuthatch in its typical position on a tree trunk.

OUT WEST #25

Moose, Gros Ventre, Grand Tetons National Park, Wyoming

We are not big fans of large campgrounds but there were a couple reasons we chose Gros Ventre at the Gros Ventre River for our stay in Grand Tetons National Park. First its location, with easy access to many good viewpoints, and second, it is known for the presence of moose nearby.

And yes, we watched four moose every morning. They were easy to find, we just looked for other people with big tripods, cameras, and long lenses…😉

There was a lot communication between the big animals going on, vocal and as well by body language, in particular the ears. At 8:30AM the show is almost over, they disappear and lay down in the grass between the sage brush and willow thicket and rest.

NATURE CLICKS #416 - CAROLINA WREN

To say it mildly, the weather has been lousy, with a lot of rain lately. Consequently having a little bit of hazy sunlight yesterday morning felt very pleasant. Early morning has been the best time to see migrating birds recently, or at least birds that are not around our house all the time. There are still two Red-breasted Nuthatches present and during last weekend I saw a White-crowned Sparrow. Two Carolina Wrens were picking up spiders on our porch yesterday morning and when one of them posed nicely in the mild sun, I got this photo right from the bedroom window.

OUT WEST #22

Trumpeter Swan, Firehole River, Yellowstone NP

It was in Yellowstone where we photographed Trumpeter Swans for the first time, long before I documented the recovery of these swans in Iowa here in the blog. I had two blurry birds in the frame but was nevertheless very proud of my picture. During this year’s visit in the National Park, more than ten years later, we saw them again in the Hayden Valley, almost at the same spot. The last morning, while on the way out of the park to our next destination, we stopped along the Firehole River and found this beautiful Trumpeter Swan foraging in the shallow water. It took me a while, but in this shot it came all together, killer light quality, gesture, sharpness, and background.

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, @ 600 mm, 1/1000 s, f/6.3, ISO100

OUT WEST #20

Osprey, Lamar Valley, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

It is always exciting to see a nest with a raptor on it, like this Osprey, especially if we can be on eye level with the bird. The nest site was across a narrow part of the valley, not far from the road and a pull out parking lot. Other people stopped and took pictures but the bird seemed not be bothered by it. The Osprey was eating but liftet its head from time to time. The problem here in the Lamar Valley was the distance. I had the camera in DX mode, which narrows the angle of view for the 600 mm lens to the equivalent of a 900 mm lens but at the end still cropped the photo to make it work. The details and sharpness suffer but I still like the environmental, story telling aspect of the picture.

NATURE CLICKS #415 - MIGRATION TIME

Red-breasted Nuthatch

I like to interrupt again my “OUT WEST” series here in the blog for some actual photos and wildlife encounters we had here in our woods on the bluffs of the Little Maquoketa Valley. Since a few days we have a few birds here that either migrate through or may stay for part of the winter.

The White-breasted Nuthatch calls our woods home but every fall we have at least one Red-breasted Nuthatch joining them for some time. They never stayed here all winter long. The red-breasted is much smaller than the white-breasted and their white eyebrow and orange belly makes it easy to identify.

Carolina Wren

Carolina Wrens are supposed to range all year long in this area but we see them only occasionally in fall or during the winter. Maybe they avoid our neck of the woods because our House Wrens, who are now already much further south, are too aggressive and territorial. I hardly ever show pictures that are made at a bird feeder, unless it is a species we don’t see very often or it is a first sighting. I couldn’t resist to make this click through the glass of my office window. The deer antler sits on top of the roof of a wooden seed feeder and allows the birds to perch.

OUT WEST #14

Pronghorn, Black Hills, South Dakota

One of our favorite animals in the grasslands and mountains of the west is the Pronghorn. Driving through the western parts of South Dakota and the state of Wyoming in fall, well, you can’t miss them. We saw many herds or single individuals along the road during our trip. The Pronghorn is not an antelope, as many people call them pronghorn antelope, it is a unique American creature, neither in the antelope nor goat family, and has been in North America for over a million years. The pronghorn is the fastest animal in the Western Hemisphere. It can run at speeds of up to 60 miles per hour and it can run long distances at speeds of 30-40 miles per hour. (source: http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/pronghorn.htm)

Facts aside, the Pronghorn is also a very beautiful animal and I don’t know any photographers who would turn their back if this critter is within the reach of the lens. As you can imagine, the colors of their fur, including black, white, and brown, can bare a challenge during the day hours, because of too much contrast. Getting up early in the morning or staying late in the evening will lead to the results you may have in mind. This seems to be a rule that can be applied to almost any critter out in the open of the prairies and grasslands, but for the Pronghorn I would put a bet on…

OUT WEST #13

Red Squirrel, Bighorn Mountains, Wyoming

It is easy to look only for the big animals in the great outdoors of the American West but aiming the lens at the small critters is fun, sometimes challenging, but can be very rewarding. At any place where you have conifers, like pines, firs, or spruces, you have a good chance to find a Red Squirrel. Usually you can hear their rattling before you even see them. That means the squirrel has seen you and may not want to pose for a picture. If you stay quite and move only slowly, and if the seed they chew on is very tasty, and in addition the light is just right, well, you may get your chance for a good shot. This picture was taken during a hiking trip to Bucking Mule Falls in the Bighorn Mountains. On the way back Joan and Cooper were way ahead of me and I dallied, making a click here and another one there… And then suddenly was there a Red Squirrel beside the trail… 😊

OUT WEST #12

Morning in the Bighorn Mountains, Wyoming

So, how about the moose? The next morning after the evening we watched the Red-tailed Hawk we went back into the valley where the North Tongue River flows along highway 14A. The rock cliffs above the valley and the aspen groves below were in beautiful morning light and the colors suggested that fall wasn’t too far away. The hawk wasn’t there anymore but we watched Mule Deer and some elk far in the distance. Later, after we had packed our tent and camping gear, we drove through the valley again, and finally we found this young moose bull munching on willow leaves. Hard to beat a morning like this…

Young Moose bull