YEARS IN THE MAKING

Moonrise over the Mississippi, Mud Lake, Iowa

Today’s photo was several years in the making. I had this shot in mind for a long time but quite a few things had to be true for this image. First I wanted the Mississippi River with an ice cover and with a fresh layer of snow on top. Of course, I needed a full moon and time of sunset and moonrise only a few minutes apart from each other. It was important to me to have a little glow on the rocks of the Wisconsin side of the river and also still some light left that filled the valley and gave the snow some structure. And last but not least it required a clear sky to make it all happen. As a bonus this evening there was no wind and the temperature was balmy -10 ºC / 14 ºF. What I didn’t expect, but really like, is the fact that the moon lightened the snow patches on top of the bluffs and make them stand out.

I have scheduled and tried this shot several times before over the years but quite often clouds were in the way or something else didn’t work out. At one time a few years ago I showed up a little bit early at bitter cold temperatures. Some moisture must have built up in the camera and about when the moon showed finally up over the horizon line, the shutter mechanism was probably frozen and the camera failed to do the job. Back home and after bringing the camera slowly back to room temperature and let it dry out, everything worked just fine again. I learned my lesson and today I made sure the camera didn’t undergo any sharp temperature changes (like from heating in the car) before the actual shooting.

Here is an app for your phone I can highly recommend for an event like this. The Photographer’s Ephemeris (TPE) is a great planning tool and shows you exactly on a map where the moon or sun will rise or set and when the time is right to be ready for the shoot.

Nikon D750, Nikkor 70-200mm / f4, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, RRS BH-55 ball head, Vello cable release,   @200 mm, 1/8 s, f/8, ISO100

RETROSPECTS 2020 - #7

Juvenile Bald Eagle, Mississippi River, Mud Lake, Iowa

I work out of a home office, no matter what, and with not much business or leisure travel this year it is easy to get symptoms of the “cabin fever”. Usually this feeling occurs during long winter months and not in July and so I made it a habit to take our dog at lunch time and walk him at a place in nature. With the Mississippi only a few miles away and many other river valleys, little canyons, or patches of prairie not far either, it is just a matter of deciding where to go. As the avid readers of my blog already know, Mud Lake Park is one of my favorite places. Not only the closest spot to the mighty Mississippi from our home, but always with a chance to see wildlife or weather related drama in the sky. It hit me by surprise when I found this juvenile Bald Eagle sitting on a branch right above me.  A few days later I learned that the parents were actually feeding two young birds but that day I only saw one.

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2020 #7 - RAINBOW BEFORE SUNSET

Mississippi River, Mud Lake, Iowa

Visiting the Mississippi River during the hour before sunset can always lead to a good surprise. A couple days ago we took our dog Cooper down to Mud Lake, one of his (and our) favorite places. The rain cloud you see in the second image moved in quickly from the northwest. The rain drops started falling and we rushed back to the car. Suddenly a full fledged rainbow appeared right over the big river. Who cares about a few drops, but the dilemma was that I had the Nikkor 70-200, f/4 on camera, too long to capture the full rainbow while it lasted. The compromise was to shoot one end in tall orientation as you see it here. 

I was hoping for more, ran back to the car and changed lenses quickly. The Nikkor 16-35, f/4 has everything what it needs for a full rainbow, but the cloud had moved on to the southeast and with it what was left of the rainbow. Still one of the occurrences that will be remembered on the positive side for this crazy year…

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2020 #6 - IT’S ACTUALLY TWO OF THEM

Juvenile Bald Eagle, Mississippi River, Mud Lake, iowa

Almost a month ago I told you about my encounter with a young Bald Eagle at Mud Lake down at the Mississippi River. This photo was made the same day and as mentioned before, I usually don’t walk up that close to an eagle but the bird saw me probably long before I discovered its presence on a low branch almost above me. A few days later I checked the place again, this time staying away a little further. To my surprise I found a second juvenile eagle, looking almost identical. The parents come still in and feed them. Last night I was again in the area and heard the parents interacting with their offspring. It’s a good year for them!

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

Mississippi River, Mud Lake, Iowa

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…

NATURE CLICKS #464 - IMMATURE BALD EAGLE

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.

THE LOW PERSPECTIVE

Muskrat, Mississippi River, Mud Lake, Iowa

We used Memorial Day weekend for two kayak trips. The first one on Sunday took us to the backwaters of the Mississippi River and we paddled in the Mud Lake area, not far from home. All photos in today’s blog post are from this enjoyable tour.

Bald Eagle

Paddling a kayak is a relaxing exercise for body, mind, and soul. Sure, it can be risky taking the gear into the small boat. Who wants to loose a camera or lens? They can sink darn fast…😉 If you are a paddling novice or need still all your attention to deal with the ins and outs of kayaking or canoeing, you don’t want to take any valuable photo equipment on a trip. If you are comfortable doing it, it will open new doors for your photography.

Map Turtle

I think the biggest advantage is the low perspective you have in a kayak, very close to the water surface, and quite often near eye level to the animals that are out there. The boat allows to approach a critter very quiet and many animals stay in place much longer than they normally do when they are approached on land.

And when you think you finally have him in the viewfinder,  the American Beaver makes a big splash with its tail and dives down again…

All photos: Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S

BALD EAGLE ON THE NEST

This Bald Eagle and its mate started building this nest already last year. It is only a few yards away from the former location of an old nest, a Great Horned Owl had used for several years. It fell finally apart two years ago. I have posted about the owls many times here in my blog between 2013 and 2017. Last year the eagles were maybe still too young to breed but it looks like they feed their first offspring now.

I went with my tripod into a swampy area about 50 yards away from the nest while none of the adult eagles was in it. I tried to hide between bushes and small trees and when the adult came back it didn’t look in my direction. It probably knew I was there but didn’t seem to mind my presence. These Bald Eagles are used to humans, there is a campsite nearby (of course, not used at the moment) and the access to a boat ramp and marina is not very far either. You can drive up very close to the nest, and some people may do because they don’t even know it is there.

It was sunny but still a little chilly today and after the adult bird arrived it seemed to feed and wiggled its body into the nest, probably keeping some young bird(s) warm. The partner was in another tree, closer to the Mississippi River, and hopefully came back with a good meal for the family…

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2019 #14 - DYNAMIC IN THE SKY

Storm cloud over the Mississippi, Mud Lake, Iowa, June 2019

Here is another image from earlier this year. A thunderstorm had just passed our area and moved across the Mississippi River into Wisconsin and northwest Illinois. The storm was moving very fast and I made quite a few shots. The light and shape of the clouds in every photo looked quite different from the one before. I have photographed the Mississippi River at Mud Lake many times before and in every kind of weather. Rarely was I able to capture such a high dynamic in the sky.

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2019 #12 - GREEN HERON

Green Heron with prey, Mississippi River, Mud Lake, iowa

Sometimes it is not possible to shoot with a low ISO setting if you want to capture what is in front of your eyes for just a brief moment. The moment can be as great as it gets, if you don’t have enough light, increasing the ISO setting in camera might be the only choice. I’m a big advocate for using the lowest possible ISO in order to have as much detail as possible. For my wildlife photography ISO100-200 is the standard, sometimes up to 400, very seldom beyond that.

Yesterday evening I took the Nikon D750 with the 70-200, f/4 with me while going for a walk down to the Mississippi River with our dog Cooper. When I saw this little Green Heron, who had just caught something and posed nicely on a piece of drift wood, I knew that 200 mm was really not enough focal length and light was critical. I still gave it a try, cranked up to ISO1600, and made the click. I shot in DX mode (with just part of the sensor), which already limits the amount of pixels to play with and still had to crop the image a little bit in Adobe Lightroom to make it work. The image needed of course more noise reduction than what is usually applied. With every little bit the noise reduction slider was moved to the right, more details in the bird’s feathers went away. I think the photo still tells the story of that moment down at the river and it works somehow here on the website, but making a nice print for the wall…? I guess not.

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2019 #05 - AN EYE FOR THE LITTLE THINGS

Four-spotted Skimmer, Mississippi River, Mud Lake, Iowa

Here is another photo from our little paddle tour yesterday evening. Of course, if you see a picture of a dragonfly you may think immediately, oh we talk about macro photography today. Well, with 600 mm focal length attached to the camera this is not what it really is. Dragonflies are permanent companions during a paddle trip in the summer on the Mississippi. They are beautiful and I try to include them in my story telling if the setting is right, even if it is not a macro shot. Due to all the rain we had in spring and early summer the vegetation everywhere here in eastern Iowa is lush and green and yellow colors have a strong impact on many photos. The Four-spotted Skimmer can be found here along the river and it wasn’t the first time that I had this dragonfly in front of the lens. Handholding the D750 with the Sigma 150-600 attached is always a challenge, especially in a kayak. The low sitting sun led to a shutter speed of only 1/160s. Not really intended, but having the dragonfly sharp and the water soft and silky made this photo a keeper that I really like.

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S   @600 mm, 1/160 s, f/8, ISO200

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2019 #04 - BACK ON THE WATER

Painted Turtle, Mississippi River, Mud Lake, Iowa

It is always an enjoyable way to finish the weekend with a paddle tour in the kayak on the Mississippi River. Joan and I took kayak-dog Cooper and the boats down to Mud Lake, the closest access to the big river from our home. Very little wind made the paddling easy and I thought it would help with bird photography, but we didn’t see any within the range of the 600 mm focal length of the Sigma 150-600. Other critters stepped in and let us get close for a photo. Painted Turtles are usually very skittish and slide into the water as soon you come within a 10-20 yards range, but this one didn’t mind our presence at all. I accidentally hit the log it was siting on with the bow of the kayak but this turtle was more than patient and stayed on the piece of driftwood.

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S   @600 mm, 1/500 s, f/8, ISO200

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2019 #03 - CLOUD CHASING

Mississippi River, Mud Lake, Iowa

The disadvantage of living in the woods is that we are the last ones that know when some interesting clouds are around. Yesterday evening some nearby thunder and a few rain drops made me grab the dog, jump in the car, and drive to a ridge in the countryside. Some quick photos were made of an old farm (I may show them another day) but the way the clouds were moving I expected that down at the Mississippi River some drama would develop in the sky. I just hit it right. The last rays of the setting sun over the banks of the river painted the landscape with some killer light. 

A minute later I was attacked by a bear, whose shadow you see at the bottom of the picture. Alright, I’m just kidding. The big shadow beside mine belongs to our little dog Cooper, who patiently followed me again, although he hates thunderstorms…

The time stamp in the metadata of both photos reveal that the second picture was made just two minutes later. The sun was gone, the thunderstorm moved along the river, and on the Wisconsin side of the Mississippi parts of a rainbow developed.

These are the moments when I employ the Schneider Graduated Neutral Density filter 0.9, which darkens the upper part of the photo by 3 stops of light. Both Photos were made with the Nikon AF-S Nikkor 16-35 f/4 at 16 mm focal length. The ring of the Schneider ND filter creates a little bit of corner vignetting with the lens zoomed out to 16 mm, but this is easy to fix in Lightroom or Photoshop.

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2019 #01 - ATTEMPT TO GET THE BIG ONE

American White Pelican, Mississippi River, Mud Lake Marina, Iowa

It is an easy task to make a photo of the American White Pelican while they swim almost motionless against the current in the Mississippi River or just drift along. It is a perfect bird  to practice shooting techniques and proper long lens handling. If nothing else, our story telling with the final photo can always be about a majestic bird that is at home on the Mississippi River.

Wednesday night I saw this guy messing with something big in the water and soon it became clear that the pelican tried to swallow a giant carp. I don’t think the carp was dead, but it was definitely somehow impaired and didn’t defend itself aggressively. The story ended with the pelican giving up, not able to swallow the big fish, even after he tried hard several times. What I saw beside the the bird trying to eat, was the gorgeous light, great colors, and the reflections on the water. Just another “Mississippi River Story” that needed to be told…

DEPENDING ON INSECTS

Eastern Wood-Pewee, Mississippi River, Mud Lake Marina, Iowa

I have been out of town for a few days but I guess I didn’t miss much in regards of wildlife photography. It was rainy and cold here. It warmed up today and this evening, after my return, I took our dog for a much needed exercise down to the Mississippi River. The water level is almost back to normal and Mud Lake Park is open again. Some dirt and debris is still evidence from the recent weeks of flooding.

The month of May was relatively cold overall and I had already concerns about the many flycatchers species, who spend the summer here and depend so much on flying insects. It was nice to see an Eastern Wood-Pewee, catching insects mid-air. Knowing the feeding and foraging habits of birds has helped me many times to find them. The pewee was very busy between the stranded logs the river had left along the shore he and returned quite often to the same perch after catching an insect. I used the car for cover and after getting the MAGMOD MagBeam flash extender out of the bag my results improved while the sun was hiding behind a cloud.