IN THE VIEWFINDER

January 27, 2021

In a blog post last year I called the mountain on the left hand side the ‘Winking Mountain’. I don’t know if it even has an official name but I thought that name would fit… This is another picture I made in Badlands National Park during our vacation trip in 2020. It was made from a different vantage point, that includes the mountain, but doesn’t make it the central subject of the photo.

When you are on a road trip you can’t always be choosy about the time at a particular location. This was late morning and the colors were already kinda soft. Darkening the sky brings the clouds to our attention and gives the scene a bit more drama. Finally working on the contrast with the highlights and black sliders in Adobe Lightroom allowed me to create the photo I had in mind while looking through the viewfinder.

AFTER THE SNOW STORM

January 26, 2021

We had about a foot of fresh snow last night. While the snow storm slowed down this morning I made a few clicks of the birds that try to survive the winter here in eastern Iowa. Dark-eyed Juncos are present by the dozen and are among my favorite birds to photograph.

The challenge is always to separate the dark eye from the rest of the upper part of the bird. Getting a little bit of light on the eye ring is key and it helps if the eye has a hint of catch light, even if it is the reflection of the flash that was used to bring out some colors. The flash also helps to tell the story about “Winter-wonder-land”. The background has to be dark if you want to see the falling snow. A slower shutter speed makes for nice snow trails but this morning I wanted to capture more of the calm that follows a snow storm. Without totally “freezing” the snow flakes in the background the desired balance was attained at 1/640 s for this image.

NEW COLLECTION: ICY ART

January 24, 2021

I have quietly started a new little project, called ICY ART. I don’t know yet where I’m heading with this one, but for now I like to show some of the results here on my website. The idea to photograph frozen water as a natural appearance came already several years ago but I have not pursued it seriously until recently. I’m in the great outdoors almost every day, sometimes only for a few minutes and sometimes for a whole day. I like the idea that nature alone is the sculptor and light can reveal or conceal shapes, colors, and reflections, sometimes just depending from what angle we look at the subject. If you like to see what made it into the ICY ART collection so far, click on the photo above and it will take you right there.

SQUIRREL APPRECIATION DAY

January 23, 2021

Early this morning I read a FB post from my German photography friend Maren about ‘Squirrel Appreciation Day’ last Thursday, which also included a nice photo of a squirrel. A moment later I looked out the window and checked our bird feeders and had to start laughing out loud. Seven Eastern Gray Squirrels had hijacked the feeders and bird bath and didn’t leave any space for the birds. This isn’t totally unusual but after a very cold night (-19ºC / -2ºF) the squirrels were really desperate to get some food in their bellies.

Alright, they can be annoying at times but they are also cute and play a role in the eco system. Let them have some sunflower seed too! Here is one of my favorite photos of an Eastern Gray Squirrel as a belated tribute to National Squirrel Appreciation Day.

NATURE CLICKS #480 - AMERICAN TREE SPARROW

January 17, 2021

This photo is already two weeks old but it could have been made today because the landscape had a fresh layer of snow on top of the old one this morning. The American Tree Sparrow breeds in far northern North America but during the winter they migrate south and we may have a chance to watch them. They feed usually in small flocks, mostly on seeds, but here in our woods we only see one or two occasionally.

During these gray days, with little or no sun peaking out from behind the clouds, I still like to include a little bit from the “cold part” of winter in my visual storytelling. Blue is the color of cold and I try to keep the white balance around 5500 Kelvin. Gray clouds render gray snow and the idea is just to counter that by controlling the white balance in camera. A hint of flash helps again with the colors of the sparrow.

THE DAILY PRACTICE

January 13, 2021

Theoretically I could make this photo almost every day right here in front of the house when we have snow on the ground. The White-tailed Deer, who roam the area, know where to find food despite the snow cover. If you hang your bird feeders too low they may empty it within a short period of time. Usually they come for what’s dropped to the ground by birds and squirrels, but if we have really deep snow, I throw a couple extra hands full of seeds out just for the deer. This morning I saw a doe at 5am, and that was still too dark for a picture. The best time is usually in the late afternoon. We have a few fawns, born in 2020, that are brave enough and come all the way to the front porch. If I see them ahead of time and before they walk in, I can open the bedroom window and just wait for them…

I have made photos of White-tailed Deer in better light but we can’t be always choosy. We need to keep the ball rolling, even if weather, light, or other circumstances are not in photographer’s favor. If nothing else, it’s the daily practice behind the camera that counts and that may help us to make the technical side of shooting a subconscious part of the process.

NATURE CLICKS #479 - CAROLINA WREN

January 11, 2021

The Carolina Wren has one of the most remarkable songs we can hear during the winter. They are here all year long but we see them most of the time only in the cold season. I saw a pair the other day but usually only one bird shows up briefly every day. The wren moves fast and hops around between a suet feeder and the ground. Hard to make a good image that way. Yesterday, while I was out on the balcony with the camera on tripod, this Carolina Wren appeared right in front of me. They are slightly bigger than the House Wrens, who spend the summer here every year between the end of April and August.

The equipment I used for the photo was the same as mentioned in yesterday’s blog post. That little bit of flash light made all the difference again between a dull picture and one with some colors.

IN THE BACKYARD STUDIO

January 10, 2021

Yikes, another day without sunshine! Time again to do some shooting in the “backyard studio”, means putting the tripod on the balcony and waiting for birds who would use the nearby elm tree as a perch before they finally approach a bird feeder.

Northern Cardinals seem to stick together during the winter and since several weeks we have a conclave of about 25-30 that are attracted by our sunflower seeds. The trick is to stay put and let them approach you. If you make a sudden movement or any noise they will fly back in the timber and the waiting game starts all over.

The Dark-eyed Juncos spend the summer up in Canada and when they disappear we know spring is not far away. Most of the time the juncos scratch on the ground, looking for seeds or droppings from a bird feeder. Those ground pictures are often not so clean and background can be a problem. Well, they need a break once in a while too and if they perch in a tree or bush you have your chance to get a photo of one of the most handsome birds.

I’m very happy to see so many Tufted Titmice this winter. I knew they had a very good breeding season last year here in our woods. The Tufted Titmouse is not as shy as some of the other birds. The problem with them is that they hardly stay in the same spot for much more than a second, unless they try to crack the shell of a sunflower seed. The titmouse holds the seeds with its feet and hammers relentlessly with its beak until the shell cracks open. The keeper rate for sharp pictures is a little lower than usual during that procedure… 😉

The overcast is not really bad. Yes, it mutes all colors but it also creates a soft ambient light. With the snow on the ground some of the light is thrown back at the birds from underneath. A little hint of flash, and I mean a real small amount of light, concentrated with the MAGMOD MagBeam flash extender makes all the difference.

All images: 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

A GORGEOUS WINTER MORNING

January 9, 2021

After four really gray days in a row I had enough and I’m reverting to earlier this week when we were greeted in the morning with an accumulation of rime ice on every branch and twig in the trees. The photo below was made shortly after sunrise and the timber below the house showed a glow like the entrance to the palace of the Snow Queen.

About an hour later the sky had an incredible deep blue color that contrasted perfectly with the rime ice and when I saw an airplane approaching, I knew there was another photo opportunity…

RETROSPECTS 2020 - #12

January 8, 2021

Milky Way, Medicine Rocks State Park, Montana

I’m ending my retrospects not with a photo from December last year. For actual reasons I show you another image from Medicine Rocks State Park in eastern Montana, taken in September 2020. In December, the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) designated Medicine Rocks State Park in Montana a certified International Dark Sky Sanctuary. There are now 14 dark sky sanctuaries worldwide.

I consider myself a beginner for night photography. I’m looking into that for quite some time but I’m often discouraged by the light pollution we face most of the time, even in a not so densely populated area like here in eastern Iowa. Back in Montana last year it was just amazing and I’m not sure if any picture can reflect how gorgeous it really was. I have seen impressive skies before, for example back in the mid 80’s during backpacking tours in the Carpathian Mountains of Romania in southeastern Europe, but dark places like that become rare. We camped in Medicine Rocks State Park for two nights but only during the first the skies revealed some of their secrets…

If you followed patiently my retrospect series I like to thank you. I enjoyed sharing some of the photographic moments of 2020 with you again and I hope it helped to overcome the daily worries that might be larger than usual for some of you these days.

RETROSPECTS 2020 - #11

January 7, 2021

My retrospects 2020 series isn’t so much about the best picture for each month but for the moments that put a smile in my face when I look at the image. In November, after the leaves are all on the ground but snow hasn’t touched the land around, the one thing that makes me taking the camera everywhere I go is the crisp light. Without the haze of the warmer months here in Iowa and the sun low above the horizon, the quality of light makes photography pure fun.

RETROSPECTS 2020 - #10

January 6, 2021

Mississippi River, Lock & Dam #11, October 11, 2020

It was the beautiful colors of the leaves we had last October that were my most photographed subject last fall. One opportunity was a shooting together with other members of the Dubuque Camera Club at Eagle Point Park in Dubuque, Iowa. I’m pretty sure nobody came back with an empty memory card that day. I showed some photos from this event before but here is a picture that hasn’t been published yet. Below the park is lock & dam #11 of the Mississippi River. You can’t see the lock in the foreground but I like how the winding road leads the eye away from the dam and into the colorful hills on the Wisconsin side of the river.

HOARFROST

January 3, 2021

I haven’t counted the days recently when we had a gray overcast, I just know it is always too many during the winter. But today was different. Some dense fog hugged the landscape and as a result we had hoarfrost clinging to trees and shrubs. All what we had to do was go out and capture the beauty with the camera…

RETROSPECTS 2020 - #8

January 2, 2021

Now we have entered the new year and I’m still not done with my photography ‘Retrospects’ for 2020. So here is another one. 😉

The Castles, a grouping of steep-walled, flat-topped buttes rising 200-400 feet above the surrounding prairie, was a place we revisited during our trip through the Dakotas and Montana. The photos taken during the day were ok, but it was that one evening we camped there I was looking forward to. The colors of the sandstone remnants came to life during the hour before sunset and the moon above the rocks is a bonus that makes up for the missing of any clouds. It was another good photography moment in 2020…