MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2020 #5 - MAKING SPEED VISIBLE

August 10, 2020

Wisconsin bridge, Mississippi River, Dubuque, Iowa

Dubuque has three bridges across the Mississippi River. The photo shows the highway bridge to the state of Wisconsin. The two other ones, connecting Iowa and Illinois, have been in my viewfinder quite often in the past. This one not so much. I went there last weekend to practice and experiment again with my graduated neutral density filters. Our vacation trip is coming up later this month and I like to be prepared for some new landscape explorations.

A lot of traffic on the river, with most boats slowly cruising and people enjoying a hot and sunny evening. We know there is always an exception and the approach of this very fast speed boat was announced by its roaring engine well before it came in sight.

I wasn’t interested in the details of the boat but wanted a long exposure to have a blurred trail, making the speed somehow visible to the viewer, while bridge and even background remain sharp. The darker part of the 3-stop GND filter was pushed all the way down in the filter holder to cover more of the frame, ISO 50 prolonged the exposure time a little more, and by using an aperture of f/20 I ended up with 1/4 of a second. Needless to say that the camera was on a tripod and focus was obtained manually by pre-focussing on the center of the bridge. The water in the foreground had some turbulences that were slightly blurred in the photo, making it a bit more interesting without distracting too much.

Nikon D750, Nikkor 24-120mm / f4, B+W F-PRO Kaesemann High Transmission Circular Polarizer MRC filter, Breakthrough X4 3-stop soft GND filter, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, RRS BH-55 ball head, Vello cable release, @ 66 mm, 1/4 s, f/20, ISO50, manual focus

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2020 #4 - REPEATING, NEVER TWICE THE SAME

August 4, 2020

The Dubuque Camera Club had a challenge on Facebook last month for submitting photos about the Mississippi River. Deadline was July 31st and I posted a photo of a storm cloud I took at Mud Lake Park some time ago, just an hour before the challenge ended, and repeated in my capture lines what I had said probably more than once before here in the blog, the MISSISSIPPI IS NEVER TWICE THE SAME.

Well, that statement was true even earlier the same day, when I created this image during almost high noon time. The clouds, some maybe made by airplane tracks, lined up with the landscape of the entry to the marina of Mud Lake. I have never seen it that way before and now my statement about the Mississippi River at Mud Lake IT’S NEVER TWICE THE SAME, maybe doesn’t sound just like a draw from the phrase book…

BUZZING AROUND

July 30, 2020

The red Bee Balms have passed their prime but these flowers still supply nectar for our Ruby-throated Hummingbirds and many butterflies.

The young hummingbirds are only a few weeks old but they are as competitive about the best food spots as the adult males. The body language says it all, someone is approaching. A second later he was buzzing around again.

NATURE CLICKS #465 - SWIFT LONG-WINGED SKIMMER

July 28, 2020

Found in a marshy area at the Little Maquoketa River Mounds State Preserve near Dubuque, Iowa

Also known as the Blue Dasher or Blue Pirat, this dragonfly stands out in the green grass or between the reeds of a marsh. Its wings are quite damaged and I wonder if that is from interacting with other dragonflies or from being the victim of a hungry bird? In this warm and often humid weather the Swift long-winged Skimmer has no problem to “hawk” its food, holding the legs in a basket shape and grasping mosquitoes and other small insects. The chance for the photo comes when they are perching on grass or small branches. Quite often the dragonflies return to the same perch. All what it takes is a little patience.

CLOUDS AND FINDING A GOOD LOCATION TO SHOOT THEM

July 27, 2020

Joan and I went on a cloud chase by car as a line of thunderstorms went across the area yesterday afternoon. Unfortunately our garden didn’t receive a single drop of much needed rain and we never really found the BIG SKY, but a few clicks were made out in the countryside of the driftless area. This seems to be an easy task but after a while of driving around you realize, it becomes more and more difficult to find farm buildings that have some charm. I love old farm structures and they can make a nice middle ground for a photo with clouds. Many of the old barns have been replaced by metal buildings without any “soul”. This farm on a hill and the winding road to Five Points, Iowa had what I was hoping for. The clouds tell the story of the developing thunderstorm at the end of a typical hot and muggy day in July here in eastern Iowa.

A word about the post process of the image. There was no location along that gravel road without a number of power lines in the frame. Thanks to the content aware healing brush tool in Photoshop the removal was a breeze and took only a few minutes.

LAST DAY IN THE NEST

July 26, 2020

I’m glad I created these pictures of our House Wrens yesterday morning. When the food the parents bring to the young wrens gets really big, like this moth, we know the time the offspring will leave the nest is near. I saw at least three young wrens jockey for the “window spot” and for the best meals. Well, they left the nest box yesterday evening. Unfortunately I wasn’t there when it happened. It was the second successful brood for the House Wrens in one of our nest boxes this year. But who knows what happens next? We have several pairs in our neighborhood and during some years we witnessed fledglings leaving the nest last week of August…

BEATING THE MUDDY LOOK

July 23, 2020

Earlier this summer I saw this bunch of turtles warming up in the sun on a log in a pool near the Mississippi. The water had a brown color and the turtles looked a little muddy too. The reflections of dead trees and turtles created a pattern that I liked. I knew this could be worked out in a black and white version of the image and here is the result.

THE SHORT MOMENT

July 21, 2020

Ruby-throated Hummingbird at a Tiger Lily

This immature male Ruby-throated Hummingbird is gleaning for tiny insects on the Tiger Lily in the garden. The lilies don’t last very long and a lot of things have to come together for such photo. Knowing that the time was perfect and the quality of the ambient light was right is one thing, but waiting for the moment for about an hour is the less predictable part. If you miss the two or three seconds the hummer spends at the flower, well, you may have to wait for another hour…

SUMMER AT ITS PEAK

July 20, 2020

It is this short moment during the summer when flowers and butterflies look at their best. Today we had two Giant Swallowtails and two Tiger Swallowtails feeding in our patch of prairie and garden flowers. A light overcast made for a balanced ambient light and just a very subtle hint of flash was used to pronounce the colors of phlox and Tiger Swallowtail.

HE LET ME KNOW…

July 19, 2020

Young Raccoon, Green Island Wetlands, Iowa

If I talk about a visit in the Green Island Wetlands, south of Bellevue, Iowa, you may expect pictures of waterfowl, shore birds, or raptors, but today I have an image of an immature raccoon. While I saw many birds on the water or between the reeds yesterday, I wasn’t too excited to make the click, due to harsh light or too much distance, but often for both reasons. Some four-legged critters performed, including a white-tailed deer and this young raccoon. As soon I stopped on the opposite side of the road and put the camera in position, the little guy started growling at me. I got it, I was the intruder in his space and the raccoon had every right to let me know about it… Cute, nevertheless…!

FEEDING THE SECOND BROOD

July 17, 2020

Male House Wren (German: Zaunkönig) waiting for his turn to feed the offspring with a good size spider

Our House Wrens are currently feeding their second brood. The little wrens grow rapidly and started making noise in the nest box. The parents are great, coming in with spiders, caterpillars, and insects every few minutes. The first brood this year was successfully raised already in June and behind the house, at another nest box, is a second wren couple busy feeding their offspring. The warm weather we had lately provides an abundance of supply for the little birds and we just enjoy watching them from our porch during “cocktail hour” in the evening.

1/40 s, f/6.3, ISO 200, @ 600 mm, -1/3 EV, flash -5.0 EV; with Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head, Nikon SB 800 speed light, MAGMOD MagBeam flash extender;

NATURE CLICKS #464 - IMMATURE BALD EAGLE

July 16, 2020

Young Bald Eagle from 2020, Mississippi River, Mud Lake, Iowa

Normally I don’t walk right up to a raptor that close, but I didn’t see the juvenile Bald Eagle perched on a low branch in the tree until I was just in front of the bird. I showed a photo back in April of the adult Bald Eagle still sitting on the nest and probably keeping a young one warm (Click HERE if you like to see that post again). Well, less than three months later the juvenile has pretty much adult size. For the first four years of their life Bald Eagles don’t have the iconic white head and white tail feathers. I moved in slow motion after I saw the eagle and the bird accepted my presence for about fifteen minutes before it took off and flew to another tree.

For today’s “lunch walk” with our dog Cooper at Mud Lake, down at the Mississippi River, I took the long lens on camera with me. It proved to be a good decision again, although noon hour in July is often not the best time for wildlife photography. I didn’t see the parents at all today but I’m sure they still bring food to the young bird.

NATURE CLICKS #463 - RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD

July 14, 2020

There is no boring moment when watching the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds feeding on the flowers or drinking from the feeders. No doubt that the nectar of the Bee Balm is their favorite food at the moment. The flowers may have passed their prime but still deliver plenty of food. The immature birds already feed independently and there is a constant coming and going. Immature males and females look essentially the same in their first year, both resembling adult females. During the late summer many young males acquire some random red iridescent feathers on the throat.

I like to shoot with relatively long exposure because I want a nice blur of their wings. Just the same way as you can see them when they hover at a flower. The flower bed was in the shade already this evening but a hint of flash helps to bring out the iridescent colors of their feathers and helps to “freeze” the part that needs to be sharp, the eye of the hummer.

1/100 s, f/6.3, ISO 400, @ 600 mm, -2/3 EV, flash -3 EV; with Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head, Nikon SB 800 speed light, MAGMOD MagBeam flash extender;

WEEKEND THOUGHTS

July 10, 2020

The story of our Ruby-throated Hummingbirds can be told in different ways and I’m very happy if I’m able to show them in their natural habitat. I have lots of photos of the hummingbird going back and forth drinking from one of our feeders. When I make a sharp picture, and of course do not have the feeder in it, I’m happy too. But is that really where to go with my photography about hummingbirds? Sure, I can fiddle forever about the technical aspects of a photo, but many technically perfect pictures lack the story about the animal. Still alright, if you contribute to the perfect bird guide book or app, but very few of us nature photographers do, and what’s left is just good storytelling about the animal.

Thanks to Joan’s gardening efforts we have over 50 Bee Balm flowers in the front yard at the moment. Prime food for the Ruby-throated Hummingbird! They still get the most energy out of the hummingbird feeders, hanging from the edge of the porch, but for a good photo the flower environment beats anything else.