Digging in the archive

 

Ok, I'm having the blues. No new snow today but a uniform gray sky didn't boost my creativity either. I haven't touched the camera for almost a week now. Instead I'm digging in my archive for pictures that were made in great light and where the sun played at least a role.

I came across this image of a Snowy Egret. It was made in 2010 at my very first visit at the Bolsa Chica Wetlands in Southern California. The egret enjoyed the last light beams, just minutes before the sun dived into the Pacific Ocean. I think it is important to look back sometimes and analyze why some images worked out great while others didn't work at all. I do not delete all misses. They help me quite often later to remember how a particular shooting situation was approached and maybe prevent me from making the same mistakes again. Having a few better ones in reserve isn't so bad either, especially if you can use them after a week with no shooting at all... :-) Have a great weekend!

Nature clicks #107 - Caspian Tern

I'm already in the next city on this week's business trip but still like to show you another image from my short visit to the Bolsa Chica Ecological Preserve two days ago. This Caspian Tern flew over my head a couple times and I'm very glad I can share this photo with you. I had a nice conversation with a local photographer and he helped me with identification of the birds and I learned a lot about their behavior. It is always nice when wildlife photographers share their knowledge about the local species with someone who is relatively new to the area. Terns are not always easy to identify and they may have a different look during the winter.

Nature clicks #106 - Foster's Tern

Nikon D300s, Sigma 50-500mm / f4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM

I flew to Los Angeles today because business requires my presence here tomorrow. The long daylight gave me the chance to visit the Bolsa Chica Ecological Preserve for a couple hours this evening. I have written several times before here in my blog how much I like these wetlands at the Pacific coast just south of Long Beach, California. At this time of the year we can't find by far as many birds here as during the winter. However, this is a place where always something is going on.

The light is just great for bird photography here in the evening and today I was able to make finally a picture of a Foster's Tern in flight that I really like. I have tried this many times before but never got the result I envisioned. These birds are very fast moving while hovering over the water and hunting for fish. The difficult part is not so much to get a sharp shot. The hard part is to get a catch light just right on the eye of the tern, so that it is clearly visible and doesn't just blend into the black cap of the bird. The Foster's Terns have nests nearby but the location does not allow a clear view into them. The adults look different than during the winter, when they miss the black cap but have a black eye patch and a dark bill instead. The Foster's Tern wasn't the only tern I saw today, but this is something for another "Nature clicks" post...

When the night comes

Snowy Egret, Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, California

I'm still in process to review my whole photo library. I put that on my To-Do-List for this winter. It takes time, can be very boring sometimes, but I really hope the process of analyzing, sorting out, and evaluating my photos will help me to become a better photographer. The best part of this "winter task" is the fact that I discover some photos in my library that have the potential for more than being just documentary shots.

This one of a Snowy Egret, getting ready for the night among hundreds of, what I believe are Willets,  is one of the images I have rediscovered. It is the type of environmental portrait of a critter that I enjoy and where I try go with my wildlife photography. The photo was made in the Bolsa Chica Ecological Preserve at the Pacific coast just minutes before sunset.

Nature clicks #67 - Surprised to see a loon

Nikon D300s, Sigma 50-500 / f4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM

It hit me by surprise during my recent visit in the Bolsa Chica Ecological Preserve in Southern California when I saw a loon among the pelicans, cormorants, and grebes. Their breeding grounds are far north in Canada and in some of the northern states in the US. I have seen them in Minnesota and Wisconsin before but never in their winter plumage.

This Common Loon was in fierce competition with some of the other birds about the fishing rights in the laguna. Making a click wasn't as easy as it looks. The loon was under water for most of the time and it was hard to predict where it would show up again. It also preferred the southeast side of the bridge we were standing on, and that means I had to shoot against the low sun in this early morning hour.

None of the fights about the best hunting spots lasted very long. The laguna has an abundance of food and that's why so many birds migrate there for the winter. This Western Grebe had just swallowed a fish and it didn't take long before it went for the next one.

More important than any picture

Long-billed Curlew

You may wonder why non of my shots from the Bolsa Chica Wetlands is made on eye level with the birds. It would quite often make for a better, less distracting  background and sometimes for a more interesting image. Like almost all ecological preserves or areas that have a protected status Bolsa Chica has rules to protect the sensitive vegetation and the habitat of the critters. One of them is to stay on the trail and to respect closed areas. No problem, the trails are real wide enough to leave enough room for everybody, walkers, runners, bird watchers, and of course photographers with their tripods. The reason you can't go down to water level with your camera is that all trails around the laguna are a few feet elevated above the water and nobody is supposed to go down to the water. Signs are everywhere. The laguna has plenty of photo opportunities and I can't see any reason why not to obey the rules and risk the well being of the animals and vegetation. The protection of our nature is more important than any shutter click that someone could have made. I know, there is always a small percentage of people that say, one time doesn't hurt anything, or those who don't give a damn at all. I will not keep my mouth shut if I see people being ignorant towards the nature or just don't know any better. I may not always make friends this way but I have earned a few thank you's in the past for making them aware of existing restrictions. And this is why my pictures from Bolsa Chica, including this one of a Long-billed Curlew, are all made from slightly above. By the way, if you just stay in the parking lot along the Pacific Coast Highway, you may get some good low level shots, especially in the evening. The parking lot is only slightly above the water level. Unfortunately this time, as already reported, the rain stopped all shooting at 10AM.

Nature clicks #66 - Snowy Egret, the last click

Nikon D300s, Sigma 50-500, f/4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM

I like to come back to my shooting in the Bolsa Chica Wetlands, California about a week ago. I shot more than 50 images in less than four minutes of this Snowy Egret. It was right before the rain started and the light wasn't as good anymore as earlier in the morning. See my earlier posts if you want to know what I mean. However, the white egret against the not much reflecting water seemed to bear still the chance for a good shot. The wind was blowing quite strong already and gave the feathers a different look in every image. Most of the pictures were sharp. So which one should I choose?  It was the last one in the whole session that made the difference for me. In all other images the egret's yellow feet were hidden behind the rocks or only partly visible. Beside that the bird showed me its side profile and didn't move much. Not really bad but I was hoping for more. It is again the gesture of the bird that made my choice finally easy. You can tell this Snowy Egret was now on the hunt for foot. My presence slightly above didn't bother it anymore and the egret started even walking towards me. The click was made when the Snowy Egret came across the gap in the row of stones along the shore and its contrastive feet became visible.

Nature clicks #65 - A Reddish Egret (I'm thrilled!)

Nikon D300s, Sigma 50-500, f/4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM

As I mentioned before I was not the only one up early in the Bolsa Chica Ecological Preserve last Sunday. It is always nice to shoot wildlife together with local photographers that are on their home turf. I learned allot about the species that were present and what and where to look for in the wetlands in general.

I was busy working the pelicans when I heard something croaking behind me on the other side of the bridge that crosses the laguna. I pointed at the egret standing in the water and everybody got excited. It was a Reddish Egret, a bird that is relatively rare to find. My books say that there are only about 2,000 pairs left in the US. I was told by another photographer that he had seen up to four in the laguna. However, it was a thrill for me to get my glass on a Reddish Egret, the first one I have ever seen.

Nature clicks # 64 - Brown Pelican performance

Nikon D300s, Sigma 50-500, f/4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM

Here are a couple more pictures that show how great the light was for short periods of time last Sunday at the Bolsa Chica Wetlands. The Brown Pelicans are one of the many reasons why I like to go to this place.

Nikon D300s, Sigma 50-500, f/4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM

These majestic birds are fun to watch. One minute they just swim slowly in the laguna and a moment later they go up in the air and dive furiously head first into the water. It is a breath taking spectacle when they perform their hunt for fish. I had the camera with the Sigma 50-500 on the gimbal head mounted to the tripod but that was not the best way to shoot them in flight. Handholding would have served me probably better.

Nikon D300s, Sigma 50-500, f/4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM

A new adventure at the Bolsa Chica Wetlands

 Bolsa Chica Wetlands at 6:10AM

Hi folks, I'm still in Southern California. Work related events have prevented me from shooting the last few days. However, today I had planned to spend all day in the Bolsa Chica Wetlands again. Click on the "Bolsa Chica" tag below if you want to see my older posts about this nature preserve along the Pacific coast. I got up really early this morning because I wanted to be there before sunrise. The weather forecast had predicted rain for today but at 6AM it still looked like that we would have a chance to get some early sun light. I was only the second photographer on the wooden bridge that goes over the laguna and that is ideal for shooting in both directions. At this time of the year thousands of migrated birds are in these wetlands and from my previous visits I knew that the light can be gorgeous so early in the morning. Me and several other photographers have been finally not disappointed and we were able to shoot until 10AM before rain and heavy clouds set an end.

Western Grebe

I want to start with this image of a Western Grebe that is right out of camera, except for the usual contrast enhancement by tone curve and the necessary sharpening process (as always I shoot RAW only). The Western Grebe is not so difficult to focus on because of its contrast around the eye. That doesn't mean all images were sharp but it really helps to focus, especially in this early morning "killer light". More to come…