Mississippi River, Mud Lake, Iowa, August 2016
Going down to the Mississippi River near our home is never twice the same. The light and mood of the landscape seems different any time I stand at the mighty river. Sometimes I don’t bother taking the camera out of the car, although I always have it with me. You never know what comes next, how the light may develop, even in almost hopeless bad weather. Missing a shot just because the camera or a particular lens is not within reach is not an option.
Warbling Vireo, Mines of Spain, Dubuque, Iowa, June 2016 --------------
Much of my time out in the field is dedicated to wildlife photography and that wasn’t any different in 2016. The Mississippi Valley and surrounding areas provide habitat for many species. Some of them are here only for a few weeks, just enough to raise their offspring.
In June I had the chance to photograph a pair of Warbling Vireos. I saw them several times with insects in their bills and knew that they were feeding, but it took me more than 90 minutes before I finally discovered a young bird. The little guy sat in the grass below a group of trees and waited to be fed by its parents. The technical aspects of making a photograph are dealt with on a subconscious level in situations like that. It’s all about the bird, the light, and being fast enough to bring it all together…
Juvenile Warbling Vireo
The old chair, Farm in northwest Iowa, December 2016 ----------------
If there is one place where I like to wander around and scan the surroundings for remains of history or traces of light that may tell a story, it is the farm in northwest Iowa where my wife Joan grew up and that is operated still today by her brother Don and his wife Shelly. The morning of Christmas Eve, when there was snow on the ground and hoarfrost on bushes and trees, I went out with the camera and just did what I always like to do in this place, walk slowly around and look for photo opportunities…
Hooded Merganser with offspring, Green Island Wetlands, May 2016
One of the most memorable moments this year out in the field chasing the wildlife was the encounter of a female Hooded Merganser with her offspring. Everybody likes a picture of young ducklings but it was the story telling gestures of the female that led to my best photos that afternoon in the Green Island Wetlands next to the Mississippi River here in eastern Iowa. I have written about this here in the blog but I think there is nothing wrong including another photo of this great moment in my 2016 retrospect series.
Male Eastern Bluebird
One of the prettiest visitors in our yard is the Eastern Bluebird. We have at least four that fly in every day to drink or just sit at the bird bath to warm up a little. I shot this through the glass of a window. They are very skittish and fly away as soon they sense some movement. The glass has a little softening effect on the image. This benefits the background but makes it more challenging to obtain sharpness on the bird. The bluebirds are often in company with some American Robins that stay here despite the cold temperatures we had last weekend. What keeps both species here during the winter is probably the supply of juniper berries from Eastern Red Cedars that grow here on the bluffs of the Little Maquoketa River Valley. Bluebirds feed on insects, earthworms, snails, and other invertebrates during the summer but are highly dependent upon berries during the winter.
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
