When this warbler, an American Redstart, landed on the dead branch, hanging down from a tree, quick decisions had to be made. The bird was there only for about two seconds. I knew immediately when I saw this in the viewfinder that it was all about luminosity for this shot, and not so much about detail or what else might be interesting for my friends in the “birder camp” or for the “technical purists”. The male American Redstart can be easily identified by the color pattern on its tail. Having the yellow side bands of its tail against the tree trunk in the background is for me the story telling element in this photo. It says it all, yes, I’m pretty, I’m spending the summer here in Eastern Iowa, I see you and the girls see me… ;-)… Yep, its artsy-fartsy, but I hope you can tell that I liked the moment and finally the photo that came out of it…
NATURE CLICKS #337 - COMMON WHITETAIL
Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Lens
The Common Whitetail or Long-tailed Skimmer (Plathemis lydia) is a common dragonfly across much of North America (Wikipedia). Only the males have this white body. The females have a brown body and a different wing pattern. This dragonfly hawks for mosquitoes and other small flying insects. They often return to the same perch, like this spot on a rock, which makes getting a shot quite predictable and not so difficult.
I was hoping to point my lens actually at some birds along the Mississippi between Harpers Ferry and Lansing, Iowa, when this opportunity for a shot came up. Not enough time to go back to the car and change lenses, so I just stepped a few feet back and used the Sigma 150-600 for this photo. I can’t rave enough how pleased I am how this lens performs, even handheld.
NATURE CLICKS #336 - WARBLING VIREO
Warbling Vireo, Mines of Spain, Dubuque, Iowa
Today I watched a pair of Warbling Vireos in the Mines of Spain, the big recreation area south of Dubuque, Iowa that includes woods, prairie, and wetlands. I worked with the birds for almost two hours and it was just a good feeling to go out shooting again after mostly traveling during the last five weeks. The vireos were busy catching spiders and insects for their offspring always in the same tree. Finally I saw one juvenile just before I left the area. It flew from the tree down into the grass and waited to be fed. It obviously had just left the nest. The parents were in constant call contact with the young bird the whole time. They were catching a lot of insects and I was wondering if there was even more than just one juvenile.
It is always a great feeling if a picture of a particular species in my BIRD GALLERY can be replaced with a new and better one. In most instances it means there was improvement in my photography. Previous photos I made over the years of the Warbling Vireo had way too much distance between the camera and the subject, so they had to be cropped. Not good! This time I started with still a safe distance but didn’t really move the tripod much the whole time. As a result the birds got very quickly used to my presence and came closer and closer.
MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2016 - #6
Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Lens, tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head, 1/2500s, f/8, ISO200, @ 150 mm
When I was recently in Germany several friends were asking me to show more photos about the area where we live. Well, the recurrent readers of my blog know that I’m not a fan of the “postcard views”, the pictures that are taken just because the camera owner (sometimes referred as the photographer 😉) was at a location and had to make the click, no matter what time of the day it was and how the light effected the scene.
The subject in the photo above can be photographed several times every day during the summer here at lock & dam #11 in Dubuque, Iowa. The tugboats that move up to fifteen barges up or down the Mississippi River are a great subject for photography. The photo was made at 6:23 PM, and parts of the river had been already in the shade.
Exposing strictly for the highlights makes this image work for me. Exposure compensation had to be dialed in at -1EV. If the shutter speed is still at 1/2500 s, nothing can go wrong. You don’t even need to pan really with your camera to make this shot. The flying pelican was shot at 1/1250 s, still a fast shutter speed, but without panning this would have been a blurry mess.
Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Lens, tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head, 1/1250s, f/8, ISO200, @ 600 mm
While in California last week a conversation with one of my customers came up about the Mississippi River. We both agreed that the river looks always muddy, no matter what time of the year. It is no secret that the top soil of the former prairie erodes away, left and right of the river’s path to the south. If you zoom in closely at my first image, you can see the real color of the water at the back of the vessel, stirred up by the ship’s propellor. At the other hand, the surface of the river has an almost intriguing blue color. We all know it is just the reflection of the sky. Knowing about our light source, direction, reflection, and what ever else may influence our image can make the difference between just wasting time or come back with the photo we have in mind.
MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2016 - #5
American White Pelicans - Mississippi River, Dubuque, Iowa, lock & dam #11
This photo is almost a week old and all what I can say is that my work duties kept me on the road, in the air, in hotels and printing shops, and finally from using my camera lately. American White Pelicans are among my favorite birds and if a shaft of light creates some magic on the Mississippi River, I can’t help but have to make the click.
MEISSEN
There are cities in the state of Saxony that are even older than my home town Bautzen. Meißen is one of them and it was founded in 929. This view from the Albrechtsburg (Albrecht castle) across the Elbe River triggered my desire to make a panorama picture. Two images were merged in Adobe Lightroom, which took only a couple minutes, still unthinkable a few years ago.
Meißen is famous for its manufacture of porcelain. Meissen porcelain was the first high quality porcelain to be produced outside of the Orient.
Meissen, Saxony, Germany - Albrecht castle and towers of the Meissen Cathedral
Market at Meissen Altstadt
BACK AGAIN
Bautzen, Saxony, Germany - St. Michael's Church
Hey, I’m back from my trip to Germany. It started with a wonderful time at family and friends in Dresden and my home town Bautzen, Saxony and ended with a long and exhausting trade show in Düsseldorf at the Rhein River.
Photography wasn’t much on my agenda this time, especially not in the second half of the trip, but I can never resist to make a few clicks in my old stomping grounds, the over 1000 years old city of Bautzen.
Bautzen, Saxony, Germany - Schloßstraße / Hintere Brüdergasse
Bautzen, Saxony, Germany - Schloßstraße with Mathias Tower and gate to Ortenburg castle
THUNDER HEADS OVER DRESDEN
Dresden, Saxony, Germany
Spending time with my German family and friends is priceless. Yesterday we made a trip by train to the more than 1000 years old city of Meissen and returned to the capitol of my home state Saxony Dresden by paddle river boat. The famous skyline of Dresden was crowned by big thunder heads. You can’t ask for more as a photographer…
TAKING A BREAK
I just thought I let you know I will be out of the country for a little while. I’m not sure if I have much time to post here in the blog while traveling, but the camera goes with me and maybe I find a few interesting things… 😉
NATURE CLICKS #335 - RED-HEADED WOODPECKER
It took me 3 years and 12 days to make an image of the Red-headed Woodpecker again here in our neck of the woods. Today I finally saw an adult at a tree trunk, eying one of our suet feeders. At this time of the year the camera with long lens is always mounted on the tripod and ready to be used immediately. I didn’t get the shots the first time but the woodpecker came back a couple more times. The light was changing constantly from bright sun to slight overcast and back, and my index finger was switching between the button for exposure compensation and the shutter release all the time.
The Red-headed Woodpecker is supposed to be in our part of Iowa all-season but we have seen it only in May for short periods of time, the last time in 2013. All of the sources I use for identification and education about birds report a severe decline in the past half-century because of habitat loss and changes to its food supply. The good thing is, within the last two months we have seen all seven woodpecker species we had recorded before here on the bluffs above the Little Maquoketa River.
THE LOUD AND THE SECRETIVE
Female Baltimore Oriole
I promised you a few days ago I would show some more pictures of birds that have arrived here on the bluffs above the Little Maquoketa Valley. The Baltimore Orioles start singing beautifully already early in the morning but when they approach our bird feeders they chatter mostly loud. Both, females and males, love to eat from the halves of oranges we put out for them and also drink from our hummingbird feeders to gain strength after their long migration. Later in the summer, during the breeding process, they hardly show up again near the feeders. Their nests are usually high up in the taller trees and their diet consists of caterpillars, moths, beetles, ants, bugs, and aphids.
Male Baltimore Oriole
Female Scarlet Tanager
The Scarlet Tanager is a lot more secretive. It is not easy to make a photo away from the suet feeder, because most of the time they fly in very quiet and land right on the feeder. After their short meals they fly away immediately.
Male Scarlet Tanager
NATURE CLICKS #334 - AMERICAN TOAD
The American Toad (Bufo americanus) is one of the sixteen frog species that can be found in Iowa. They are abundant in the state, especially in forested areas. Every year we find a few in our yard, mostly in the flower beds or between ferns and shrubs.
Yesterday Joan called me down from my office while she was planting and doing yard-work. Usually the toads we saw in the past were a lot darker and more grayish but this one looked different. I put the Sigma 150 mm / f2.8 macro lens on the D750 and stretchedout in the wet grass on my stomach. Shooting this slow moving critter from above is really not an option for a decent image…
All images: Nikon D750, Sigma 150mm / f2.8 APO EX DG HSM,
VEGAS AT NIGHT
The most interesting time in Las Vegas is at night, with all the lights, shows, glitter, and glamor. The strain of sensual perception is hard to deny. Joan and I had a great time the night before the wedding, just walking around, having a drink here and there, and shooting some pictures... I didn’t bring a tripod for proper camera support and wasn’t able to experiment with real long exposures, but I had fun chasing the light at night. It helps to use a lens with vibration reduction, and except for the picture with the light and water show in front of Caesars Palace, all photos were made handheld. Exposure times were between 1/4 s and 1/60 s and in most cases I took multiple shots, sometimes leaning against a wall to stabilize the camera. You can click on each image for best viewing.
MORE BIRD ARRIVALS
Male Indigo Bunting
Before I post a few more pictures from our trip to Las Vegas I like to give you an update on more bird arrivals here on the bluffs above the Little Maquoketa River Valley. This morning I saw the first Indigo Bunting in our woods this year. This small blue looking finch is easy to identify. We don’t see very many up here on our ridge but down in the valley near the edge of the woods they are more common.
Female Rose-breasted Grosbeak
The first Rose-breasted Grosbeak showed up already two weeks ago. Now we can see several males and at least two females that use our sunflower seeds to gain strength again after their long migration from South America.
Other birds have arrived as well and I may show more photos later this week.
Male Rose-breasted Grosbeak -- All images: Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Lens, tripod, INDURO GHB2 gimbal head, Nikon SB 800 speed light, Better Beamer flash extender
TIME IN LAS VEGAS
I took a break from writing here in the blog for a week and there was a good reason for. Joan and I attended the wedding of Joan’s daughter Ellen and her husband Danny this weekend in Las Vegas, Nevada. No, I didn’t shoot the wedding, the wedding photographer they hired knew what he was doing and however his images will turn out, they will be better than what I can contribute to an event like that.
I haven’t been in Vegas since 19 years and of course, much has changed. It is still the city of endless fake to me but it also has a fascination that sets it apart from any place I have traveled to in my life. We had some time to explore the city and these are some of the photos I came up with.
It was a photographer friendly weekend in Las Vegas, with great clouds and even some rare rain. All what the lady at the wedding chapel had to say about it to me was, I don’t even own an umbrella…
Fake everywhere you look in Vegas. The indoor copy of the Grand Canal of Venice is fascinating but at the same time just mind-boggling for someone who was born in Europe…
You may used to see wildlife photos in my blog but all “wildlife” I can show you from this trip are the flamingos who had their own habitat in the gardens of our hotel… More to come, so please stay tuned.