Nature clicks # 247 - Woodland Vole

 

This photo, of what I believe is a Woodland Vole, can create mixed feelings in our house. We knew already since the late summer that the critter is back in our yard after a couple years of absence. The recent development of a system of underground runways just below the grass surface, and even some mounds, is a good indicator. The damage in the yard can be tremendous and Joan is already afraid that none of the flower bulbs in the ground will survive. The diet of a Woodland Vole is diverse and according to several sources it includes roots, bulbs, tubers, nuts, seeds, and even animal material.

I saw the vole for the first time November 17th, a day before this photo was made eating under one of our bird feeders. I kept watching the spot and finally was able to make this one image. I “nuked” the shot with the flash since the natural light was not sufficient anymore in the early evening. It is not really flattering, although it is a sharp image, but I wished I had reduced the output of the flash light a little more. Too much work in post processing... Well, next time… I’m glad I can add this critter to my Iowa wildlife gallery.

Colorado landscapes: Mesa Verde - Cliff dwellings

 

I like to continue my photo story about our recent trip to Colorado. Our second destination was Mesa Verde National Park. This park was created in 1906 to preserve the archeological heritage of the Ancestral Pueblo people. Mesa Verde includes over 4,500 archeological sites, including 600 cliff dwellings. I’m sure you find a way to learn more about this unique place on the internet, if you are not familiar with it yet. There is no reason for me to repeat here in the blog what much smarter people than me have already written down. I just can tell you, it was amazing what we learned about the Ancestral Pueblo people that made the area of Mesa Verde home for over 700 years, long before European settlers came to North America.

Let’s talk a little bit photography. The harsh sun in the Four Corner region (Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah) creates a big challenge for landscape photography during the day. I concentrated on close-up shots of some cliff dwellings, for which Mesa Verde is most famous. The images I show you today are from Spruce Tree House on Chapin Mesa. The well preserved dwellings can be accessed self guided (other dwellings require a tour ticket and I was not sure if this would be a good choice for a photographer). I always try to keep people out of the frame. Even the best looking tourist is just a distraction from the subject, which of course is the architecture of these buildings. The overhanging cliffs keep the harsh sun away, at least for part of the day. In order to reveal the colors, that are sometimes a kind of muted during daylight, I used a flash light with dome diffuser. By just pointing the flash towards the cliff ceiling I got a nice mix of daylight and bouncing flash, just enough to enhance the colors of the stones and to give the walls some structure and dimension.

A Kiva in Mesa Verde is a round chamber, mostly underground, built in or near almost every homesite and village. Entry was by ladder through a hole in the center of the roof. They were used likely for religious, social, and utilitarian purposes (source: Mesa Verde NP brochure). In order to tell the story about the architecture of a Kiva I used the widest angle available, the SIGMA 10-20mm / f4-5.6 at 10 mm.

There is more to come about Mesa Verde, so please stay tuned…

Habits and biology

 

When I told you a few days ago that it will be quiet for the rest of the summer, because the little House Wrens had left their nest box, I did not know that in one of the other boxes at the edge of the woods another female was still sitting on her eggs. Well, since a few days we can hear their hungry chatter and the parents deliver insects and spiders every few minutes. We are very happy that we had four successful broods just within the range of our house this year. The parents approach the box always very carefully, especially if there is a guy with a tripod and camera not far from the nest.

I highly respect their privacy and use the full range of the long lens to make these images. By watching them for a while I knew that the old birds would always first land in a shrub nearby, then fly to a tree branch above the nest, before they finally go to the hole in the box with their food. Knowing the critters biology and habits leads to more photo opportunities and quite often to better results.

Nature clicks #243 - Gray Tree Frog

 

This is our “house frog”, a little Common Gray Tree Frog. It lives on our balcony, under a canopy of grape vine leaves and between flower pots that we have outside during the summer. The 4 - 5 cm long (1.5 - 2 inch) frog is always good for a surprise and we see it quite often. The Gray Tree Frog can change its color in seconds and this helps it to blend in with tree bark or leaves. They are nocturnal and spend the day resting in trees and shrubs, or like this one, in the plants on our balcony. One of the most interesting facts is that the frog is capable of surviving freezing of their internal body fluids to temperatures as low as -8°C (17.6°F).

It took me quite some time to figure out how to light my subject and to make these photos in very low light between the branches of a Crassula ovata plant. Luckily the frog was cooperative and didn’t move too much. The best results were obtained by using a camera off flash, pointing upward, and using just the light that bounced back from the grapevine leaves that grow above.

Nature clicks #216 - Chestnut-sided Warbler

 

If you stop here in my blog for the first time or haven’t been here for a while, this week it’s all about the warblers that came through here during their migration in the last few days. Today I’m happy to report another first sighting for us, the Chestnut-sided Warbler. It breeds in Canada from south-central Alberta east to Nova Scotia and in the US from the Great Lakes region to New England. They feed mostly on insects and some fruits (source: iBird PRO app, which I can highly recommend for any bird lover).

The photos I have shown recently were all made in “sniper mode”, means just a single click, one shot, no continuos shutter release. This is how it was in the days of film, when nobody would rip through with 6 frames per seconds or even faster. One reason why I do this is the recycle time of the speed light that I use for some fill flash, to let the colors pop even in low light conditions. The other reason is that I try to shoot at the peak of action, the short moment when the warbler may stop for a fraction of a second before it makes the next move. Most warblers feed on small insects that they pick from underneath the fresh leaves and they are constantly on the move and seem never to stop. Sometimes you have to follow the bird with your lens while it is behind some branches or leaves. The short moment, when they enter a clear spot, without obstructive objects between them and the lens, is the moment when the shutter release button gets pressed. As you can imagine despite “sniper mode” some images will land finally in the trash can because focus was not obtained correctly or the bird was not even in the frame because the photographer was too slow… ;-)

“Warbler week” is not over yet, although I saw a lot less birds today from my office window, but I still have some more birds to show here in the blog. So please stay tuned…

Nature clicks #215 - Yellow Warbler

 

The Yellow Warbler is not just here in Eastern Iowa during migration time. We have seen them before in previous years during the summer but these are my first photos of this species where I had a chance to get close. Both photos were made in the early evening, right after a thunderstorm went through, two days ago. Using a speed light was necessary because there was really not much ambient light left. The raindrops on the branches and a little reflection here and there help to tell the story about this male Yellow Warbler, gleaning little insects while it still drizzled. I told you it would be a “warbler week” here in the blog, so please stay tuned if you like it…

Cardinals everywhere

I think I stayed a little more on the conservative side when I told you a few days ago that we have a conclave of Northern Cardinals of about 15 birds here in the woods around our house. They are here now most of the day and I had the chance to count them again. Now I would say the flock has at least two dozen birds that stay together during the winter. I hope you don’t mind that I show you a few more images of these great looking birds. They will separate soon and it is hard to make a click that close during the summer (oh, I will try anyway).

Here is “The Punk”. The photo was made yesterday during the big gathering in the evening and the wind was still blowing after we had some more snow during the day.

This female had checked in at our “balcony studio” and used the Red Cedar branch to wait for a free spot at the bird feeder.

The last image is a day older than the other two but it was made also a few minutes after 6pm. The snow on the slope in front of our house made for a nice background and bounces the indirect flash light nicely onto the cardinal.

Nature clicks #191 - Northern Cardinal

The last birds that we see here every day are the Northern Cardinals. They seem to prefer the very early morning and early evenings for their visits. We have a conclave of about 15 cardinals who stay together during the winter. The daylight lasts already a bit longer than during the winter solstice a month ago. This allows to make a few clicks after work without relying totally on the flash light. However, I use the speed light as a fill flash to bring out the colors. This photo was made at 5:30PM today. As you can see there is still some daylight coming through the woods in the back and from the side, making for a nice separation of the bird from the background. The branch from a Red Cedar is part of our “balcony studio”. I think it worked for this photo… :-)

Enhancing the light with flash and soft box

Today we got reminded that we are still in the middle of winter. Lots of snow fell during the morning until noon. Well, I call it ideal weather for bird photography! The snow drives the birds to the feeders and water sources that we provide for our feathered friends. Snow flakes create always a nice dynamic in the photo and help to tell the story about survival in harsh weather conditions and this is why I like this kind of weather for shooting birds around the house.

The lack of light (strong overcast) was compensated by using the Nikon SB600 speed light and my self-made soft box. If you like to see how that light enhancer looks like, click on the link HERE , and one of my older posts will open in a new window. The softened light from the flash brings out the colors in the birds. While this works well you still don’t want too much reflection of the flash in the frame. I set the camera to manual mode (today I used most of the time 1/250s, f/8) and also reduce the output of the flash by -2/3. The shooting distance was about 3 meters (10 feet). After a few test shots it is not difficult to find the settings that you may like for your photo. I prefer to use the manual mode for this kind of shooting because it gives me consistent results over a period of time. If the light changes on a larger scale I change the settings of the flash light accordingly.

If you like to try something similar at your bird feeders but do not have a soft box, just take a white napkin and put it over your flash. This is not perfect (neither is my self-made soft box!) but it will give you some results you may like much better than just from the naked speed light. It is a starting point, give it a try!

Post processing for these images was very simple. I cloned out a few snow flakes that reflected the flash light a little too much. Other than that, just the usual tweaks in the basic menu of Adobe Lightroom, RAW sharpening, a little noise reduction, and finally some Highpass sharpening in Photoshop of the critical parts (eyes, maybe feet or some feathers). After three minutes the photo is ready to be saved as a jpeg file as you can see it here in the blog.

I hope my little description of today’s bird shooting may encourage you to try something similar at your own bird feeders, or even better out in the woods. Stay warm and enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Stavkirke - but not in Norway

 

The third day up on the Door Peninsula was a gray one, and I mean a real gray one with no sun at all. That didn’t stop us to take an early ferry to Washington Island in Lake Michigan and explore this charming area. In this part of the country live many people with a Scandinavian heritage and therefor it was no surprise for us to find a Stavkirke (stave church) on the island. Almost all original stave churches are found in Norway and this one is a replica of one in Borgund, Norway. I have seen many of the Norwegian Stavkirkes during my frequent travels to Norway and the architecture is always awe-inspiring. The church belongs to the Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church on Washington Island and their present stone church is just across the road.

With no quality light present and the high contrast between the snow and the dark parts of the church I decided to bracket five different exposures and merge the images in NIK HDR Efex Pro. I know, it doesn’t substitute good light but the result is better than any of the single shots under these circumstances.

The two photos of the interior were made with an off-camera flash light that was directed into the ceiling. Joan assisted me with the flash light so I had both hands to hold the camera steady at 1/15 s. After a couple test shots I liked the results and didn’t even bother to use the HDR method.