It is easy to forget everything around if you have an interesting subject in the viewfinder of the camera, like the Eagle Harbor Lighthouse at Lake Superior on the Keweenaw Peninsula. This pine on the cliffs just below the lighthouse wasn’t less captivating and it was the puffy clouds over the bay that made for a balanced composition.
Eagle Harbor Lighthouse, Lake Superior, Upper Peninsula, Michigan
All images: Nikon Z6II, Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S
Manido Falls, Presque Isle River, Upper Peninsula, Michigan
We came back from a trip to Michigan, mainly on the Upper Peninsula, a few days ago. Our first campsite was at Black River Harbor at Lake Superior and from there we explored the Western UP and in particular the Porcupine Mountains.
The Upper Peninsula is a gorgeous nature area and some of the highlights are the many beautiful waterfalls. One of my favorites is Manido Falls. Although it is the smallest fall along the Presque Isle River, only about 4.5 meters high, but I love how it is tucked into the natural landscape. Naturally occurring tannic acids in the water give the falls their brownish tea color. I have photographed Manido Falls in November of 2010 with some snow and ice and a bit more water coming down across the terraces in the foreground, but I like the contrasty look we had this time as well. As always, it pays back to take a tripod on the hike to a waterfall and try out different longer exposure times for the appearance of the flowing water. This can vary and is often a personal preference.
Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Nikon Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm, f/4, GITZO tripod GT2931 Basalt, KIRK BH-3 ball head @ 70mm, 1/5s, f/16, ISO 100
Turkey Vultures, Mississippi River, near lock & dam #11, Dubuque, Iowa
From early spring until it gets cold here they belong into the Mississippi Valley. Some people think of them only as ugly birds but they may have never watched really how elegant these vultures fly and soar in a thermal lift. I consider them as the environmental police along the Mississippi River. They feed on carrion and without their presence, often in large numbers, the Mississippi River would be at times very smelly.
I was eager to try out the new Nikon lens last Sunday along the river on both sides around dam #11 in Dubuque and over in Wisconsin. With the dam visible in the upper part of the photo I thought of an environmental portrait of the Turkey Vultures. Five of them rested on driftwood and the rocks of the flood wall. I could choose which bird I wanted to have in the frame and this one was among my favorites.
Nikon Z6II, Nikon NIKKOR Z 600 f/6.3 VR S
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
A new tool made it into the gear locker. The Nikon NIKKOR Z 600 f/6.3 VR S lens was delivered last week during my absence from home. Today I’m not writing about it, or why I wanted it in my camera bag, or even how it is performing. I just like to share some photos I made over the weekend with the new lens.
I still think the best place for trying out a piece of new camera gear for the first time is at home or in a well known local area. Reading the manual (I know, not everybody likes that part) and trying and testing in a controlled environment is the key for me to find out if a new acquisition is matching my expectations or if it has the potential to exceed them. In the front yard or any other place you have shot hundreds of times before, where you know how the light will hit your subject, it is easy to compare your results with everything you have done before at the same location.
Well, there is not much activity at this time of the year in our woods. Even very few local bird species come to a feeder or bird bath at the moment. Most of the migrating birds have left and headed south already, except for the smallest one. We still have quite a few Ruby-throated Hummingbirds coming through, stop at our feeders, stay for a while, and fight with other hummers about the ownership of a feeder. Usually this will end at the end of September or in early October.
Blue Jay
In my blog I always have tried to be a helpful source for other photography friends and shared my impressions about locations, things that I learned from other photographers, and of course, the experience with any part of photo gear I use. Can you tell how much I’m excited about the chance to improve my visual story telling with this new lens? I will share what I hope to learn in the next few weeks about this new wildlife lens with you, so please stay tuned…
All images: Nikon Z6II, Nikon NIKKOR Z 600 f/6.3 VR S
The Sphere - Las Vegas
It has been a busy week and I spent it in Las Vegas, Nevada where the annual trade show of the printing industry took place. I’m not really interested in the activities Vegas is known for, however, while walking back to the hotel after dinner one night I found an unobstructed view to the SPHERE, the music and entertainment arena and the world’s largest spherical structure. I recorded some footage of the impressive display at night and I hope you enjoy it.
Photo and videos: Nikon Z6II, Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S
Red-tailed Hawk at Julien Dubuque Monument, Mines of Spain, Dubuque, Iowa
Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head. @ 600mm, 1/640s, f6.3, ISO800, image slightly cropped
This morning the Dubuque Audubon Society had invited for another birding event into the Mines of Spain State Recreation Area. Our guide Tony Moline, a very experienced birder, helped the group to find warblers, vireos, and other migrating birds and study them in the early morning sun. Most activities required binoculars for watching and identification but the distance for a decent photo was often too big. Nevertheless, it was very interesting to see at least a few of the migrators. I just read that tonight 426.7 Million birds are predicted to move south in the United States. A very impressive number!
Just before everybody was ready to say goodbye shortly after 10am we were treated with a bonus. This Red-tailed Hawk suddenly landed in a tree just in front of the group and on eye level with us. The camera was on tripod and pointed already in that direction and all what I had to do was to adjust quickly the exposure compensation for the existing light and lay down the hammer on the shutter release button. The bird gave us about one minute for that very enjoyable moment.
Thank you Tony for being such a good guide again and for sharing your knowledge with us!
Chimney Swifts, Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa
Tonight was a pop-up birding event, made public by Marty Corfman, a very active member of the Audubon Society, at the Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa. We were able to see hundreds of Chimney Swifts circle around the tower of the seminar and finally pour into an old chimney after sunset. I’m sure everybody who joined this event enjoyed it and was touched by watching the swifts showing up one after another and entering their roost for the night. Thank you Marty for the invitation!
The Chimney Swifts will depart soon for the tropical areas in South America, where they will spend the winter. I shot a number of still images, like the one above, but also recorded a short video sequence. Feel free to click the video link below.
Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Nikon Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm, f/4
Chinese Mantis, Mines of Spain, Dubuque, Iowa
Yesterday I promised you the photo of an interesting insect we found during a hike in the Mines of Spain. It was a species, commonly known as a praying mantis, just sitting in the grass on the trail. This one is a Chinese mantis, native to Asia and nearby islands, but it was introduced to America accidentally in 1896. They eat primarily other insects but females are also known to catch sometimes small vertebrates. This one was about 4 inches long (~11 cm), much bigger than the European mantis or the Carolina mantis, which can be found here as well.
I read September is there mating time and this can be a tragic time for some males because the females are cannibalistic and cannibalism occurs in about half of matings.
They have forelegs that are greatly enlarged and adapted for catching and gripping prey. Their upright posture, while remaining stationary with forearms folded, has led to the common name praying mantis. (source for all facts: Wikipedia)
I started taking some pictures from slightly above but it didn’t satisfy me. Laying in the grass and going down with the lens to eye level with the mantis made at the end for the better photo.
Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Nikon Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm, f/4
We used the afternoon of Labor Day last Monday for a hike in the Mines of Spain State Recreation Area, just south of Dubuque, Iowa. Yes, many prairie flowers and plants have passed their prime already, but there is still a lot of beauty on the prairie and in the woods above the Mississippi River at the end of summer. Here are a few photos I made along the trail during our hike, which led us to the most remote parts of the Mines of Spain. The Nikon Nikkor AFS 70-200 f/4 was the only lens on camera. I like this focal range for hikes or walks, allowing me to zoom in for details, but also still having the choice for a wider view on a landscape at 70 mm if necessary.
We had a nice discovery of an interesting insect, but this is for another blog post, maybe tomorrow. So please stay tuned…
All images: Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Nikon Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm, f/4
Juvenile Ruby-throated Hummingbird
I can’t let the summer go by without making a few pictures of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. I guess the birds who have been in our woods during the breeding season have moved on already and it seems we see different hummers every day now on their way south to Central America. However, this juvenile defended one of the hummingbird feeders fiercely and didn’t let any other bird even come close all afternoon.
I experimented quite a bit today with different exposure times or exposure compensation for the background and used also the Westscott FJ80 II speed light. In the picture above the bird was backlit and I froze the hummer at 1/4000s and let the translucency of the wings tell the story. The sun didn’t hit the front element of the lens directly because I shot from underneath the roof of our porch. A hint of flash made sure the body of the bird got some light as well.
The photo below was shot three hours later, about mid afternoon, when the sunlight wasn’t as harsh anymore. With almost the same settings (f/8, ISO8000, -1EV) but a shutter speed of only 1/400s the result was totally different. Of course, with such a slow shutter the wings are not frozen, which I actually prefer in most of my photos of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds.
Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head, Westscott FJ80 II speed light, Westscott Magnetic diffusion dome
Male Belted Kingfisher, Mississippi Valley, Green Island Wildlife Preserve, Iowa
Long time readers know that I always called this beautiful bird ”the bastard”, due to the fact that I have been on the chase for a decent picture of a Belted Kingfisher since a long time. They are very skittish and often fly away before you even have a chance to aim the lens at them. During a short trip to the Green Island wetlands yesterday afternoon I finally had this male kingfisher even twice in front of my lens. First it was placed on one of the bowls that are provided as nesting places for Canada Geese. They are placed in the water, getting closer was not an option, but at least I made some sharp images.
A little bit later I saw the same bird sitting on a branch just beside the gravel road and this time the kingfisher didn’t fly away, even when I moved slowly right next to the tree with the car. There is still room for improvement since the light was a little too harsh for my taste but I think I should stop calling him ”the bastard” after the jinx is broken now…
Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S
Giant Swallowtail
It is hard to believe that this photo was created already 40 days ago, when the purple cone flowers were in their prime and a food source for some Giant Swallowtails. Time is flying. Overall it wasn’t a good year for butterflies. It seemed we had not as many as other years. My biggest concern is about the Monarch butterflies. I saw only a single one in our yard all summer long and very few at other places I visit frequently. Most cone flowers have dried-up already and the seeds are eaten by American Goldfinches. Some of the trees loose their leaves already but summer isn’t over yet and the remaining butterflies find stilll other flowers with nectar in them.
Juvenile Barn Swallow, Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge, Olympia, WA
Here are a couple more images from last weekend’s visit in the Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually Wildlife Refuge near Olympia, Washington. Despite the rain, there was tons of insects, means food in abundance, for all six species in the swallow family that can be found in the Nisqually delta, especially during low tide. However, this juvenile Barn Swallow landed next to me on the reeling of the boardwalk trail that goes across the estuary. It obviously was still hoping to be fed by any of the parents.
The Sigma 150-600 was on camera but the Nikkor 70-200 was available in the backpack as well. I was afraid that the bird would fly away before I had performed a lens change and just stepped back a few feet to get beyond the minimum focal distance of the Sigma, which is slightly below 10 feet (3 m).
For the second photo it really needed the long lens and I even cropped the image a bit. Dead trees or logs, stranded in the mud, are a favorite perch for all kinds of swallows. Our guide Rob told us that the Barn Swallows have their nests most likely underneath the boardwalk we were walking on. There is also a couple of big barns in the sanctuary, left from the time when this was still used as farmland. Farm buildings are preferred places to build nests for this species, hence the name Barn Swallow.
It was low tide and these Double-crested Cormorants used this small island to socialize and took care of their plumage.
At the southern end of the Puget Sound is the Nisqually River Delta, a biological diverse and rich area with a variety of habitats. The freshwater of the Nisqually River combines with the saltwater of Puget Sound and forms an estuary, which was restored in 2009 and was set aside for wildlife. The Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1974 to protect the delta and its diversity of wildlife habitats. (source: Brochure Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge)
Last Saturday I joined a guided tour in the refuge. Rob, a volunteer and our guide took us more than four hours on all the trails and the boardwalk through the estuary, despite the rain most of the time. It was time well spent, we saw lots of wildlife, and learned much about the delta and its biological diversity.
The Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge is a great place for watching and photographing critters and birds. It is now on my list of places I like to revisit, with hopefully more time on hand when I travel again to the Pacific Northwest. Here are a few documentary shots I was able to make during the hike.
We saw several flocks of Least Sandpipers. It is the smallest shorebird in the world. The photo was made from above on the boardwalk trail that goes across the estuary.
Our guide knew where to find them. These tiny little chorus frogs blend very well into their environment. This is most likely the Pacific tree frog.
A bird I have seen here in eastern Iowa during migration very often before, the Greater Yellowleg. At low tide there is plenty of food they can find in the mud or in the remaining puddles.
Talking about wildlife diversity, a Great Blue Heron hunts for fish near a group of Harbor Seals in the background, while a cormorant just flies through my picture at the same time.
Ruby Beach, Olympic National Park, Washington
It took me more than 16 years to revisit Ruby Beach in Olympic National Park on the North Pacific coast of Washington. At the end of a week long business trip to California and Washington I added a couple days and spent the weekend on the Olympic peninsula. In 2008 these sea stacks were kissed by bright sunlight but this time a rain jacket was an important part of my gear. The high tide was coming in and watching the waves was highly recommended while looking through the view finder of the camera to keep the feet dry. With colors not playing a big role in the rain and with this heavy overcast I quickly decided to set the camera to monochrome mode and shot with the intend to produce some black and white photos. The beach behind me was full of big tree logs that the storms had accumulated over the years. Usually I don’t like dead trees in the foreground but a few pieces of driftwood seemed to be ok as part of the story the image would tell. I waited for waves that would create a nice foam pattern when the water runs back and that took many tries from different angles. Nature is always incredible and when a wave went right between the two pieces of driftwood, I suspected at least one image was on the memory card that I would probably like.
Later that evening I met my Airbnb- hosts Debby and Bob in Olympia, WA. Despite the discovery of a wasp problem in their studio apartment they didn’t cancel my stay and moved me into their house. Thank you again Debby and Bob for all your help, great conversation, and being such wonderful hosts!!
