Spring project

 

It is the time of the year when plans for photography projects in spring or summer have to be shaped and research for specific locations or critters needs to be done. It is hard to believe that is already six and a half years ago that we have been the last time in the Badlands, South Dakota. This landscape has already fascinated me long before I came to the United States. It played a role in books I was reading as a young boy. I read a lot about the Lakota, their nomadic life on the prairie, about hunting bison, and the fights between the Indians and the white men.

One of my spring projects is to spend an extended weekend in Badlands National Park and do nothing but wildlife and landscape photography. We stopped in the Badlands twice before on our way to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons but it was never enough time to explore the area in detail.

A first step of the planning was to look at my images from 2005 and 2007. In 2005 I was still shooting film (Nikon N2020) but also had a small Minolta point and shoot digital camera with me. Oh boy, little did I know about how to make a halfway decent image at that time! The photos I show here are from 2007, made with a new Nikon D200. It was about the time when I discovered that nature photography was really what I wanted to do.

The Badlands in South Dakota have a lot of wildlife to offer. We have seen bison, mule deer, prairie dogs, bighorn sheep, and pronghorns. The pictures of the Black-tailed Prairie Dogs you see here were made with a Nikon 80-400mm lens that I had borrowed from a friend of mine. It was my first experience with a focal length longer than 300 mm. One of the reasons I like to go in spring this time (we always have been there during fall season so far) is that I hope to see a lot more wildflowers and the grass a little more lush than it was after the dry summers. As more I dive into this project as more I get excited. If I can squeeze it in my work schedule you will be the first to read about it here in the blog. :-)

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 #138 - Brown Creeper

 

One of my winter projects this season is to get a frame filling image of the Brown Creeper. I'm trying hard but I'm not there yet. For a long time I thought this little bird was only here during migration but this is the first winter we see it repeatedly. They are fast and always keep a safe distance. At least I got some sharper photos now than in December when I introduced the bird in the blog here. Will keep trying again...

Nature clicks #136 - American Tree Sparrow

 

The landing of the Cassville Ferry near Millville, Iowa was another spot along the Mississippi where we went to watch Bald Eagles this weekend. While observing the action on the river I noticed a pair of American Tree Sparrows landing in a bush not far from where my tripod legs were put into the sand. They were not afraid about my presence and landed finally on a piece of driftwood right beside me. That was an easy click. Enough time to compose and focus, no crop, and very little time to finalize the image in the computer. It doesn't get much easier than this.

Showing me the tongue

 

I drove half way across Iowa today to meet with a customer and was surprised how little snow was on the ground in the central part of the state. Here in the woods along the Mississippi we still have plenty of snow to make life difficult for many animals that live here during the winter. The White-tailed Deer have a hard time to find enough food and they come right up to the homes here in our neighborhood.

Unfortunately this happens mostly in the dusk, after 4PM, when the light is not very flattering, but I try it anyway to make a click or two. I do not have "the shot" yet. I'm happy if an image is sharp, despite long exposure times. Nevertheless, it does not satisfy me if the background has flaws, like in these pictures where a tree grows out of the head of the deer. The doe seems to tell me with her tongue, Na-na-na-na-na-na....(like the gesture with the middle finger sticking up in the air...), but hey, one of these days I hope to get sharpness and background right!

That giant reflector

 

It was really cold here during the last couple days but we got this giant reflector out again, called snow. This is ideal for bird photography or any critter. The sun light bounces off the snow and gives that extra little bit of light from underneath that makes a huge difference most of the time for your image.

Woodpeckers in the queue

 

The winter came back with full force to Eastern Iowa. We had about ten inches of snow and as a result I have never seen so many birds around our feeders as today. Between work duties and snow shoveling I made a few clicks through the glass door of the balcony. This doesn't take a lot of efforts because the camera is always mounted on a tripod and ready for action.

This little Downy Woodpecker was waiting in line to get to one of the suet feeders where obviously one of its siblings took its time feeding. There is an order at these feeders that is clearly dictated by size and strength. First come the Red-bellied Woodpeckers. Nobody would mess with their long and sharp beak. Next in line are the Hairy Woodpeckers. They look very similar to the Downys but they are bigger and have a longer beak as well. Finally the members of the big family of Downy Woodpeckers compete against each other. We have at least six of them here (2012 was a good year for their reproduction) and they all need to eat a lot in this kind of weather.

It is rare that the woodpeckers share a feeder but we have very cold temperatures coming in the next few hours and their metabolism is probably much higher than usual. I know, feeder images are not the gems of wildlife photography. But hey, I don't try to win a contest here, I just tell today's story about the Iowa winter here in the woods... ;-)

Through the glass

 

I looked at my oldest pictures of a White-breasted Nuthatch that I made in 2007 today. I was happy about them at that time, even if the bird was not more than a gray dot hanging on a bird feeder. It was still my first year of serious digital photography and I believed that wildlife photography was the result of just being there and good luck. More than five years later I know that it is all about biological knowledge, good preparation for a shot, sometimes endless patience, and yes, still a little bit of luck.

The cold temperatures we got here in Iowa at the moment draw a lot of birds to the house because we provide food and water for them. A heated bird bath is necessary and many birds we have here during the winter use it frequently for drinking. I also built some perches for the birds to rest on before they approach the water and feeders. This is not just a benefit to the birds but also part of my preparation for bird photography in any weather.

At the moment it is too cold to leave the doors or windows open for an extended period of time but who says we can't make the click through a clean window? All images I show you today were made through the glass of a door and with just natural light. A nice side effect is that you don't have to deal with fogging of the lens or camera and you also have no problems with heat shimmer from warm air that escapes the house. Am I getting lazy and want to stay home all the time? No, I don't think so, but this set up and preparation allows me to do some bird photography even if my time budget is very limited because I need to get some other things done in my home office and can't go anywhere. If you like to have success you still need to move very carefully and slowly behind the window. A wrong or fast move may spook our feathered friends away for some time and you have to start all over again.

Nature clicks #136 - Ring billed Gull

 

I went "on patrol" today to many of my favorite shooting spots along the Mississippi River. Green Island IA, Sabula IA, Savannah IL, and finally to lock and dam #14 near LeClaire, Iowa. It was way to warm for this time of the year (11ºC = 52ºF) and my suspicion got completely confirmed. There were very few Bald Eagles present at the places that are usually a 100% bet. Two dozen photographers were lined up at lock #14 with their million dollar gear but not a single eagle was sitting in the trees. It was after 3PM when I arrived at the scene and the low sun delivered "killer light" (I borrow this term by famous photographer Moose Peterson. I have not found a better English word that describes a warm and crispy light, that gives photographs almost a 3rd dimension, better than this ;-)  ). I talked briefly to another photographer from Ohio and I bet it was disappointing for him and his friends to make an eight hour drive to Iowa and not getting the shots they were hoping for.

I didn't want to stand around with the camera and do nothing and part of today's goals was to test my Sigma 50-500 a little more after it came back from repair. I saw only one eagle within shooting range today at lock #14 but there were plenty of Ring-billed Gulls flying around. All pictures were made handhold. I had many keepers and was very pleased how the lens delivered today. It is supposed to get very, very cold here in the next few days. The Mississippi will freeze over again and hopefully the Bald Eagles will be back again.

Tail up!

 

Butt shots are rude, this is a general rule that applies in wildlife photography too. But as always in life there are exceptions from the rule. I have quite a few pictures of White-tailed Deer on my hard drive but what I didn't have until now is the shot of a White-tailed Deer with its signature element, its white tail, up in the air.

Last weekend, deep in the woods of Northern Wisconsin, a group of deer came very close to the cabin of my buddy Bryan. I stayed close to a corner of the building in order to blend in and the deer, only a few yards away, didn't seem to mind my presence for some time. Finally something spooked them and they ran away. Usually that would have bothered me but this time I just pressed the shutter and let the camera rattle with six frames per second. It was already after 4PM, the light was worse than just mediocre, and the autofocus was at its limits. I know there is room for improvement but the motion blur tells the story about a deer on the run. To be honest, I like the second image the best despite its flaws because of its story telling. Got back into the warmth of the cabin with a big smile on my face...