THE ELEMENT OF SURPRISE

John Deere Marsh, Mississippi River, Dubuque, iowa

The trees at John Deere Marsh, down at the Mississippi River, had a white coating after yesterday’s snowfall. The temperature had dropped quite a bit overnight (-14ºC / 7ºF) and the snow was clinging to almost everything. Part of the marsh is still very dry and doesn’t have much water, due to little rainfall last summer. Normally we wouldn’t see that much vegetation still standing and ice would cover the area up to the tree line. As so often, I document weather and climate related changes but still try to do it with an artistic touch.

I focussed on the dead tree in the middle ground with a wide open lens, knowing that foreground and background would render just graphic impressions out of focus, when suddenly the element of surprise came into play. While looking through the viewfinder and zooming with my feet, back and forth, left and right, a male Northern Harrier came buoyantly gliding into the frame. I can’t think of another bird of prey, except for certain owls, that is a better representative for the marsh and wetlands than the Northern Harrier. Their owl-like facial disk helps them with directional hearing to locate their prey. At this time of the year they rely mostly on rodents and birds

The Nikon Z6II is capable to combine multiple shots into one picture but the time was way too short to make a change in camera settings of that magnitude. However, I made three clicks, with the second one the photo you see here. In Adobe Photoshop I copied just the bird from the two other images into the final picture, at the same spots as in the originals. Now you have an idea how this story developed within one second in my viewfinder.

The detail obsessed viewer may see more in the photo. At the tree line in the back is a huge Bald Eagle nest. An eagle is guarding it and maybe we see them breeding again next year at this location.

IT’S HERE NOW

First snow fall, shot from my office window. 

Nikon Z6II, Nikkor 70-200mm / f4, FTZ adapter, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, RRS BH-55 ball head,   @ 145 mm, 1/30 s, f/16, ISO 1000

Finally we got our first real snow fall this season today. It was later than ever before within the last 18 years since we live here on the bluffs along the Little Maquoketa River Valley. It took me a while to find the right exposure time that makes the fast blowing snow visible and make it part of the story. I started in the woods behind the house with exposure times, between 1/10s and 5 seconds, and this was definitely too long for making the snow trails visible. The golden medium was found at about 1/30s, while the snow fall had intensified and I was shooting from my office window. Winter and snow means cold and the color that carries this message is blue. I played with white balance settings between 4000 and 5000 Kelvin and for this picture ended up with about 4150 K, giving the scene a nice blue tint.

HOLIDAYS WITH BIRDS

I trust you all enjoyed a wonderful holiday weekend and the photographers among you had a chance to aim their lenses at something interesting or learn and play with a new piece of equipment that you found under the Christmas tree.

As mentioned in the last blog post, it was our first Christmas without snow here but the mild weather was perfect for a hike yesterday and for some shooting with the long lens in the front yard today. Seventeen bird species used the stand that holds the perches, bird feeders, and a bird bath this morning and I used their presence to make myself more familiar with the new Nikon Z6II mirrorless camera. One goal was to customize some of the camera buttons to my preference, so I can operate and change settings at the camera on tripod with the right hand only and without taking my eye from the viewfinder. The left hand can remain on top of the lens barrel, helping minimize vibrations during the shooting process.

The American Goldfinch is in its winter plumage but still very pretty. This picture is a composite, actually showing the same bird. I had this idea when I saw both photos side by side on the screen.

The American Robins stay here for the juniper berries on the red cedars that grow on the rocky bluffs of our valley. They use the bird baths frequently and the best chance for a click is right before they jump down to the water from a higher perch.

The Eastern Bluebirds is another consumer of the juniper berries. Today we had three males and one female here.

The third bird that prefers berries during the winter time is the Cedar Waxwing. They sometimes “wait in line” when other, bigger birds occupy the water source.

Today I saw the first Purple Finch during this winter. They spend the summer up in northern Minnesota and Canada and we usually see them only during the cold season. The appearance of this female is a clear message that some real winter weather may lie ahead of us.

All photos: Nikon Z6II, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, FTZ adapter, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2021 #11 - FREEZING OVER

Mississippi River, Brownsville overlook, Minnesota, Nikon Z6II, Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S,   @ 70 mm, 1/640 s, f/8, ISO 100

Finally some much colder nights hit the Driftless Area along the Mississippi River. I drove back from a customer visit up north on the Minnesota and Iowa side of the river today. The bays and backwaters with no or little current freeze over very quickly and I saw some people even ice fishing, which seemed a little risky. I stopped at the Brownsville overlook, Minnesota, the same spot where I watched and photographed thousands of migrating tundra Swans less than four weeks ago. If you missed these pictures you can click on the link HERE to still see them.

The swans have of course moved on to the Atlantic coast and the bay is frozen over. It was the sunlight coming through the clouds and reflected on the ice that made me stop. As you can see, we don’t have snow on the ground and it looks like for the first time in 18 years we will not have a white Christmas…

NATURE CLICKS #511 - CEDAR WAXWING

Cedar Waxwing, Nikon Z6II, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, FTZ adapter,  @ 600mm, 1/800s, f/6.3, ISO800, DX crop

I shot this photo yesterday morning, just before I went on my hopefully last business trip for this year. There is only one big reason why a few Cedar Waxwings show up at our heated bird baths during this time of the year. We must have a good crop of juniper berries on the red cedar trees here on top of the bluffs above the Little Maquoketa River Valley. Most of the time the waxwings are in company with a number of American Robins. Both bird species love to eat the berries and between feeding frenzies they drink a lot of water. Last winter we haven’t seen a single Cedar Waxwing here, because there was obviously not enough juniper berries available. It is so good to see this beautiful bird back again!

I’m very impressed how good the new Nikon Z6II deals with luminance noise from shooting with higher ISO settings. With my older cameras I would not stretch the ISO settings up to 800 in my bird photography. I always found the necessary noise reduction in post process would remove way too much detail in the bird’s feathers. With the Z6II it becomes a totally different game. It allows shooting in low light, as we had yesterday morning, and a sharp image with all details still intact becomes more likely under these conditions. Another reason I wanted the Z6II. 😊

COMPROMISE

Moonrise over Green Island Wetlands, Iowa, Nikon Z6II, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, FTZ adapter,  @ 340mm, 1/1000s, f/8, ISO1600, 4 images merged in Adobe Photoshop

Last Saturday the moonrise was less than half an hour before sunset. While I was out in the Green Island Preserve, hoping to get a glimpse on some Short-eared Owls during dusk, the almost full moon illuminated the landscape, with a little bit of light left from the sun that had just disappeared behind the horizon line minutes ago. Unfortunately no owl showed up this time. An ISO setting of 1600 would still have allowed to freeze some owl action at about 1/1000s but some luminance noise in the picture was inevitable. The trick was to shoot 4-5 subsequent pictures while handholding the long lens. Later at home, in front of the computer, the 4 pictures were merged (stacked) in Adobe Photoshop into one image. Since luminance noise is randomly distributed in each picture, it would disappear in the final photo. I liked how the vertical lines of the tree trunks at the bottom were emphasized, but overall the impression of a dreamy landscape was still left. Shooting this from a tripod is probably the better way to do, but how would I have caught a Short-eared Owl in case I had seen one? Photography is often about compromise…

FIRST FIELD DAY WITH NIKON Z6II

The Eastern Bluebirds will hopefully stay here all winter long.

Today I had my first real field day with the new mirrorless Nikon Z6II camera. It started in our front yard this morning with three Eastern Bluebirds taking advantage of the water in our bird baths. But the real challenge was a trip to the Green Island Preserve, the wetlands along the Mississippi River south from here. It isn’t the season when wildlife is present in abundance but a few raptors, a bunch of American Coots, and a few sparrows gave me some good opportunities to practice with the camera and to develop some muscle memory for the shooting workflow that comes with an Electronic Viewfinder. I do not like shooting with my glasses but the EVF allows me to shoot without them. The new challenge is to keep my eye at the viewfinder after a click and evaluate the results or make changes in the settings menu just right in the viewfinder. As soon I move my head away from the eye piece and look for the brilliant screen in the back of the camera, well, I need my glasses again. It may take some time to memorize not to look at the screen, at least during wildlife photography.

All images: Nikon Z6II, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, FTZ adapter

American Coots busy feeding on aquatic plants in the Green Island Wetlands, Iowa

Beside Bald Eagles and a pair of Northern Harriers, the Red-tailed Hawk is another raptor that finds food in the wetlands during winter time.

AFTER A LONG DAY

Liberty Lake, Oklahoma, Nikon D750, Nikkor 70-200mm / f4, @ 92mm, 1/2000s, f/4, ISO100

It may not be the last picture from our recent trip through New Mexico that I will post here in the blog but it was one of the last photos of the journey. On our way home we stopped for the final night at Liberty Lake, just north of Oklahoma City, OK. A peaceful sunset like this was the perfect moment to unwind after a day with nothing but long distance driving.

THE ESSENCE

Sand ripples, White Sands National Park, New Mexico

It is easy to get carried away by colors, shapes and details, or the beautiful vistas of a landscape as we can find it in White Sands National Park, New Mexico during a first visit. Sure, I make my good share of documentary shots, like any other tourist, but at the end of the day I’m always asking myself, what did I miss, what is the story that can be embedded into a piece of photography art? Having this in mind while going back to a location another day always helps to get a little bit closer to an answer and maybe to a result that gives more satisfaction than anything captured during the first visit.

I know, many viewers today can’t find anything in a black & white photo anymore, but for me it often boils down to the KISS acronym, keep it simple stupid. The wind shaped dunes are always in motion, shadows can be different from one moment to the next in the ever changing light. What more do I need to photograph the essence of White Sands?

ON THE LEARNING CURVE

Nikon Z6II, Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S lens  @ 66mm, 1/10s, f/8, ISO 1000, handheld

When I work on pictures like the one above there is usually one out of two reasons behind it. It is either testing a new piece of gear that made it into the camera bag or I try to learn about a new post-processing technique or software feature. At this time it was for both reasons.

Let me start with the gear. I finally made the step into the mirrorless camera world with the purchase of a Nikon Z6II camera with the fantastic Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S lens. In addition the Nikon FTZ adapter allows to use all my older F-mount lenses on the new Z-mount of the mirrorless camera. Circumstances of the purchase were in my favor (I traded some older lenses in) and so it is an early Christmas gift that gives me now the chance to test and learn about the new equipment ahead of the holiday.

On the software side, Adobe had introduced new masking features to Lightroom and Camera RAW in their latest update. I’m familiar with masking techniques in Photoshop but having some of them now available in the RAW editor (like Lightroom) makes it for many photographers less time consuming and easier to do selective editing in their images. So far I like it a lot and trying it out with photos from a new camera doubles the fun.

I provide quite often operator training on machines in the print & finishing industry and I know from experience many people do not like to read manuals. As a result, some will never get to the full potential the equipment has to offer. I try to be not that person and work my way through the manual with a new camera. Even if many things are the same or at least similar on a Nikon camera, I think it is about mastering the new features that come with improved technology. New focus modes, higher shooting speed, better high ISO handling, and an Electronic Viewfinder (EVF) are only a few of the new features that got me excited about the new Z6II and I hope I can adapt my workflow quickly and don’t have to think about it anymore during shooting after a while.

A German Rolling Stone magazine with the title image of the late Charlie Watts was on the table. I poured a glass of port wine in a tasting glass as my subject and lined it up with the elements on the carpet in the background. Just playing with autofocus response and higher ISO values. In Lightroom I darkened the foreground, brightened Charlie’s face, and worked with the shadows on the glass, all on separate masking layers. On the turntable played a record of the Rolling Stones… Reading the manual doesn’t have to be boring!

Nikon Z6II, FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S,  @ 600mm, 1/800s, F/8, ISO 400, cropped to DX dimensions

The FTZ adapter arrived a few days later and I was really excited about how the Z6II would perform with the long Sigma lens. Last weekend I spent some time on the front porch, watching woodpeckers and other birds. There is no verdict possible in such a short time but I was impressed about sharpness and focus tracking on a fast moving bird. More testing has to be done…

Nikon Z6II, Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S lens,  @ 70mm, 1/320s, f/4, ISO 100

The woods here in the driftless area along the Mississippi River are not always attractive at this time of the year without snow on the ground. But the low “winter light” can still make a difference. This image was made during a short hike in the Swiss Valley Nature Preserve last Sunday. I found a spot with almost no dead wood and branches on the ground and as the sun came briefly through the clouds, well I had a photo that tells a story about the quality of that “winter light”…

WHITE SANDS

White Sands National Park, New Mexico, Sacramento Mountains in the background, Nikon D750 + Carl Zeiss Distagon 35mm f/2 ZF T*

As further south we drove in New Mexico last October as more grew my excitement about a destination we had pinpointed on our route. White Sands National Park preserves half of the worlds largest gypsum dunefield, located in the Tularosa Basin, between the San Andres and Sacramento Mountains. It is a fascinating landscape that offers so much for any photographer and nature lover.

Colors in the desert, Nikon D750 + Nikkor 70-200, f/4 , @70 mm

I took only two lenses with me while we walked and hiked in the dunefields during two late afternoon trips in the national park. Most of the time I had the Nikkor 70-200, f/4 on camera. Without switching lenses I was able to make quick decisions between scenes that included the curves and structures of the dunes or detail shots, like solitary trees or yucca plants. The other lens was the Carl Zeiss Distagon 35mm f/2 ZF T*, a manual focus lens that I love to employ in landscapes like White Sands NP because of its excellent sharpness and color rendering. The lens changes were not so critical as in other desert areas we have been before. Compared to other dune types the gypsum dunes remain moist even during a long drought. However, we avoided to go there during a sand storm the day between our two visits. Sand in the gear is bad news!

Dunefield near sunset, White Sands NP, New Mexico, Nikon D750 + Carl Zeiss Distagon 35mm f/2 ZF T*

Soaptree Yucca, Nikon D750 + Nikkor 70-200, f/4 , @130 mm

A DAY ABOVE THE DESERT

Rabbit Ears, 8,050 ft / 2454 m, Organ Mountain - Desert Peaks National Monument, New Mexico

I have been traveling for a few days last week but I didn’t forget about my promise to post some more pictures from our recent trip through New Mexico.

We pitched our tent on the east side of the Organ Mountains in “Organ Mountains - Desert Peaks National Monument” for a few days. The campground is located just below the “Rabbit Ears”, two magnificent summits. The facility overlooks the Tularosa Basin, home to White Sands National Park and White Sands Missile Range. A stormy day with very high winds was in the forecast and we decided to hike in the mountains near the campground. This high area is home to a number of plants and tree species not seen on the desert floor. Everything looked still very clear in the morning and we were blessed with gorgeous light on the Rabbit Ears above our tent during sunrise. Later during the day the harsh light makes you think twice before you hit the shutter release button of the camera…

Ornate Tree Lizard, a morning guest at the breakfast table

Prickly Pear Cacti, yucca, agave, grasses, and shrubs dominate the desert floor below the mountains

Most wildflowers were gone already but Rabbitbrush doesn’t look bad either between the rocks in higher altitude

Bizarre trees overlook the Tularosa Basin. A sandstorm hides the details of White Sands National Park and all the military installations of the missile range that surrounds it.

ORDINARY SITUATION, BUT THE LIGHT!

Downy Woodpecker, Little Maquoketa River Valley, Iowa

I actually thought to continue with some more photos from our recent trip through New Mexico but a few days ago I caught this picture of a Downy Woodpecker in front of the house and I like to share it with you. There is nothing special about this male woodpecker although they have a special place in my heart. The Downies are here in our woods all year long and we see about 6-7 coming to our suet feeders at the moment. The “woodpecker tree”, a dead cedar log that holds one of the feeders, is always in the front yard. So, what is so special? It is the gorgeous light of the setting sun that hits the tree and let the woodpecker stand out briefly, just moments before the night swallows the scene. I hope you don’t mind and enjoy. More from New Mexico next time, I promise…

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2021 #10 - MIGRATION OF THE TUNDRA SWANS

Migrating Tundra Swans, Mississippi River, near Brownsville Minnesota

Right now one of the most interesting stories about fall migration happens here in the Mississippi Valley. Thousands of Tundra Swans migrate from the arctic tundra to the Chesepeake Bay at the Atlantic Ocean. On their way south they stop along the Mississippi River, and one of the best places to watch them is at a couple overlooks near Brownsville, Minnesota, just a few miles north of the Iowa border. The river is already freezing over in some of the backwaters. That means the swans may take off any day with more ice forming soon.

I have been at the Brownsville overlooks several times over the years with the camera and any time I ask myself, how can I tell a better story of this annual occurrence with my photos? It’s easy to take a wide angle lens, point it across the river, which is almost three miles wide at this place, and have thousands of wide dots in the picture. I do that for my own documentary purposes but those images do not make a good wildlife photo. 

So I try a little bit of everything, a single swan, a pair, or a family of Tundra Swans. It seems getting closer to a roosting place would help, but most of them are quite a bit away from the shore. On my way home I looked at a certain bay and got lucky. The bay was already frozen over and became a roosting place for the swans. With the sun disappearing fast behind the bluffs on our side of the river and the shadow line creeping forward across the ice, it was the right time to make a photo that tells a story about fall migration of the Tundra Swans.

All images: Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Sigma APO Teleconverter 1.4x EX DG, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head (last photo without tripod)