Bautzen, Saxony, Germany, May 2016 --------
Back in May I was over in Germany, first to see my family and friends in Bautzen and Dresden, and second for a trade show in Düsseldorf. Especially during the first half of the trip I shot a lot of pictures in my old stomping grounds. This is always fun to do in cities that are over 800 years old, like Dresden, or even over 1000 years, like my home town Bautzen where these photos were made.
Male Yellow-shafted Northern Flicker -----------
We had quite a bit of snow during the last two days and the temperatures dropped way down (-22˚ C / -7˚ F). 17 different species of birds can be found in these tough times at our bird feeders and water supply and I’m not counting those who show up only occasionally. The flickers have found out about our place again and this season we see at least three males and one female.
The Northern Flicker has two subspecies, the red-shafted and the yellow-shafted. Here in Iowa and the eastern US we have the yellow-shafted form. The image below is not a real good photo but I wanted to show it anyway. While I focussed on the female sitting at a bird bath it suddenly turned its head for an incoming male. Although the male bird is not in focus, you can see why this subspecies is called the yellow-shafted.
Cloud over corn crib, Northwest Iowa, March 2016
Clouds are one of my favorite subjects in landscape photography. I like it when they are in some context with the rest of the image. Here the corn crib on one side and the barn on the other side frame the bright part of the cloud. The eye can actually wander in a triangle between the bright spots in the picture, the cloud, the trailer in the foreground, and not so obvious, the illuminated barn in the background. It doesn’t matter where you start exploring this photo, the eye will come back to the cloud and how it unfolds in the background.
Bald Eagle, Mississippi River, Le Claire, Iowa, January 2016
Last winter was a mild one and the Mississippi River wasn’t frozen all the time. Further north in Minnesota it obviously was and because Bald Eagles need to eat, they come south where they can find some open water. I was eager to get out with my new SIGMA 150-600 lens and test it in the field. The prime spot for shooting Bald Eagles along the Mississippi is lock & dam #14 in Le Claire, Iowa and that’s where I went again in January a couple times.
Of course, most of the time we aim for those shots where the bird looks big in the frame (without cropping) and I made my good share of it. The quality of the new lens exceeded my expectations. But sometimes I want a little more of the environmental aspect of the story in my picture. Gesture is the third ingredient for a good image, beside light and color, and that’s why you see me making clicks like the one above.
Blue Jay, April 2016
Every year in December I go through my catalog of images, refresh my memories, and try to find out if I have improved as a photographer or not. I analyze my shootings again and try to learn from the mistakes. While some photos will be deleted during this process I still discover other ones that I like to show here in the blog. I hope you enjoy this little pass in review.
High Falls, Magpie River, Ontario, Canada ------------
Nothing really new today. I have been on the road almost all week and the camera has been used only for business purposes. The good thing is that I still have a lot of photos from previous shootings on my hard drive that have not seen the eye of the public yet.
Lake Superior is considered the world’s largest freshwater lake by surface area and the third-largest by volume. The lake is fed by over 200 rivers and as you can image there are numerous waterfalls that are accessible for visitors.
Middle Silver Falls, Magpie River, Ontario, Canada
Probably almost all landscape photographers are attracted by waterfalls and I’m no exception. They are a good subject to hone the technical skills and it is just fun to find a good composition and to manage exposure and sharpness. All three images were made near the town of Wawa, Ontario.
Middle Silver Falls, Magpie River, Ontario, Canada
Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, Huntington Beach, California ---------
It is hard to believe that it was already a month ago when I visited the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in Huntington Beach, California. I hope you don’t mind if I show another image here in the blog, even if it is not “real fresh” anymore.
If you follow my blog regularly, you know that I never liked the fact that in most places in the wetlands you can’t really shoot near the water level. You are supposed to stay on the trail or levee and that is always higher located. Nevertheless, there is one spot where you can go a little lower (still not low enough) and look over a sand bank that is not submerged in water. At low tide hundreds of birds use it as a resting place or forage in the sand and between the stones. Dozens of Forster’s Terns are among them and they are now in their winter plumage. I have photographed them here at the Mississippi River during migration but never more than two at any time.
We finally got our first snow today. This is rather late for the season. It still isn’t really cold and so the white stuff was wet and clung to the branches and trees in our woods and garden.
All images: Nikon D750, Sigma 150mm / f2.8 APO EX DG HSM
Red-breasted Nuthatch ------------
We had an extremely mild October and November and I wonder if this is the reason that we see this Red-breasted Nuthatch still in the trees and at our bird feeders. I first saw the bird October, 29th and repeatedly after. It’s cousin, the White-breasted Nuthatch is here all year long. They are slightly bigger than the red-breasted and at the bird feeders the smaller nuthatch seems to avoid its bigger cousins.
White-breasted Nuthatch
Point Iroquois Light, Lake Superior, Eastern Upper Peninsula, Michigan ---------
Although we were running out of time towards the end of our trip around Lake Superior we still took every chance to visit lighthouses along the lake shore. Point Iroquois Light was constructed in 1870 and served until 1962. It is now a museum and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The photo was made at 16 mm with the Nikkor 16-35, f/4 lens and my Nikon D750. Working in black & white gives the image a more dramatic look and was finally my preferred version.
While entering the 20 m tall lighthouse tower the simplicity of the stair case caught my eye. The small window you can see in the upper photo shaped the light of the low sitting sun. Subtle shadows and the imperfections of the paint add charm and make this photo work for me.
Ravine Lake, Sleeping Giant Prov. Park, Ontario, Canada ---------
With a hint of quality light all what it takes is to compose and make the click. Nice reward after a hike to this hidden lake deep in the woods.
Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, Huntington Beach, California ---------
Almost every birder and photographer I met in the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve three weeks ago asked me, did you see a Reddish Egret? Yes, I did, I saw two of them! It wasn’t my first sighting of this bird and I have posted here in the blog about it exactly five years ago. I learned that a pair of Reddish Egrets had raised their offspring in the wetlands this year and people were just eager to see them.
I admit that this image was shot in “DX-mode” and in addition it is cropped. Unfortunately it is also not real sharp, with other words, a larger print is out of question. I had no chance to get closer during the short time I had the egret in front of my lens. There was too much water between me and the bird. If it was for a Great Egret, or even a Snowy Egret, I would not post this image here but this bird deserves an exception. Southern California is about as far north this egret goes on the west coast. The Reddish Egret is North America’s rarest heron and is usually confined as a breeder to the Gulf coast (source: National Geographic Complete Birds of North America).
Lake Superior, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Upper Peninsula Michigan ------
Most of the time during our trip around Lake Superior the weather was relative calm or at least moderate. This is nice for camping, kayaking, and a lot of activities, but it just sucks when you are eager to make photos with some dynamic. Towards the end of our tour, at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, we found what I was hoping for…
Whitefish Point Light, Lake Superior, Upper Peninsula, Michigan ----------
I have two more photos from the beach at Whitefish Point Light Station on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan for you today. The images were made just seven minutes apart from each other. First of course the glowing clouds after sunset followed by the blue hour shot with the lighthouse in the east. The clouds moved very fast and not a single image looked alike that evening. As you can imagine we were not the only people at the beach enjoying the light and mood of the moment. Thanks to the “content aware healing brush” in Adobe Photoshop CC, people with phones in their hand, taking selfies on the beach, are easy to remove… 😊
Just the beach with some glowing clouds would have been not enough for an interesting picture, at least in my books. The sun sets in more than a million places all over the world every day. I know this sounds sarcastic, but it is true. With the kid on the left, looking for stones to throw from the shore, we get a sense of scale and suddenly have another story telling subject, beside the clouds, in the frame. Even if we don’t know the full story, the presence of another person at exactly this particular spot gives a much better idea how vast Lake Superior really is.
To all my friends and family here in the US: Best wishes for a perfect Thanksgiving!
Whitefish Point Light, Lake Superior, Michigan
It seems like a long time ago already when we made our vacation trip around Lake Superior back in September. After crossing the border between Ontario, Canada and Michigan in Sault Ste. Marie we visited a few of the charming lighthouses along the southern shore of the lake. Arriving around sunset at Whitefish Point Light Station made for some good photo opportunities. This lighthouse was first lit in 1849 and is the oldest active light on the lake.
All images: Nikon D750, Nikkor 16-35mm / f4
