Bad luck, but only for Daddy-long-legs. He crossed the way of the female Wolf Spider during a photo session. It took the Wolf Spider only a few minutes to take care of business. Since it was already pitch-dark I used a LED head lamp as focusing aid. The Nikon SB600 flash light and the head lamp in one hand, the D200 in the other one. The camera was set to commander mode and the SB600 was triggered by the internal flash of the D200.
After being away for a few weeks I was really excited to see what is new with the Trumpeter Swans (see my earlier posts here). I found the couple resting near a patch of reeds in the center of the lake. The other single swan was not there anymore. Maybe it tried to find a mate somewhere else. I was waiting patiently for a long time before one of the swans finally started to beat its wings. What a wonderful moment and definitely worth to wait for.
I didn't really plan to be on Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake in Utah last Thursday. It was just a spontaneous decision to drive up there from Salt Lake City in the late afternoon, after I was done with my work chores in town. I wanted to get an impression of the lake, with nothing particular in mind. The map made me believing this would be the right place for my intend. Since I hadn't read anything about the island before I was surprised to see Pronghorns, Bison, Meadowlarks, and many other birds.
I didn't know the name of this bird until I came back home to Iowa and looked it up in the field guide. It is a Chukar, a bird we don't find in the Midwest. What I saw immediately was, that it was a perfect setting with the bird sitting on the rock and the snow covered mountains in the background. The sun was already very low, minutes away from disappearing behind the crest, but just right for this picture.
Don't take me wrong. I like to be prepared when I go out shooting. I believe in good preparation. That includes having the right gear on site and learning something about the location ahead of time, especially if it is a new one. Sometimes it just doesn't work out this way. And that's when things hit you by surprise. Good ones and bad ones. I guess this time things were in my favor. The weather was perfect and I had the right lens already mounted to the camera. Too short for some of the wildlife I saw, but just right for this image and the brief moment the Chukar was posing for me.
What a surprise and joy! I went back again to see how the Trumpeter Swan is doing, which I was writing about in my previous posts. I found a new situation. There were three swans on the lake today. Two were obviously in love with each other and didn't separate the whole afternoon. From time to time their resonated honking notes sounded very loud across the water. Suddenly they were flying to a remote part of the lake and started chasing another swan back into a bay. Afterwards they came back where I had my camera in position, and they continued feeding.
I hiked to the other side of the lake, where the light was anyway better for photography. The single swan was swimming in a bay, out of sight from the couple. He didn't feed during the whole time, but to my delight did spread his wings. More to come!
I went back to the place where I saw a Trumpeter Swan a couple weeks ago (see my earlier post Nature clicks #2). The beautiful swan was still there, sitting on a nesting site, and had buried the head under its wing. Not the best pose for a nice shot. I was watching it for some time. It is tempting to get closer but the priority is not to disturb the animal at all. The light was much better than the first time and I was afraid the sun would set before I could take a picture, other than that of a sleeping swan. But I was lucky. While I had briefly put my attention to some red-winged blackbirds, the Trumpeter Swan suddenly lifted its head. There was my chance, click, click, click, click… Minutes later the sun disappeared behind a ridge and the shadows were creeping into the valley.
The story of restoration of the Trumpeter Swan in Iowa seems to be a successful one. The link to the Iowa DNR Wildlife site about this restoration project is obviously a little outdated, but it bears some interesting information. It is so nice to see these big birds returning to Iowa's wetlands.
I was driving on a gravel road through a small side valley of the Mississippi river near Bellevue, Iowa, when I saw this Trumpeter swan in a pond beside the road. The bird plunged its head and neck under the water most of the time in search for food. There was only a brief moment in between each time when I had a chance to make the click. The light was a little harsh. Well, I clicked anyway. Don't regret it...
I've gone to the Mississippi River Lock and Dam #11 in Dubuque, Iowa many times in search of Bald Eagles. This winter season I never saw more than two at the same time. In previous years I sometimes counted close to 100 of these majestic birds. The river does not freeze over below the dams during the winter, and the Bald Eagles come usually in large numbers from the north to hunt for fish. A ranger told me that they are much further south this year.
Last Saturday I drove down to Le Claire, Iowa to check out dam #14. While here in Dubuque the river was still frozen for the most part, 90 miles (145 km) south the Mississippi was cleared from ice. And yes, there were Bald Eagles sitting in the trees near the lock and dam. Other photographers had already lined up their gear and were waiting for action on the river.
It was the first attempt to shoot birds in flight with my relatively new Sigma 50-500 / f4-6.3 APO DG lens. Also known as the "BIGMA", this lens is heavy and I started out shooting from the tripod with a ballhead mounted on top. My lens does not have image stabilization (although SIGMA has just announced a new version which includes this feature). That's why I thought working with the tripod support would give me better results. I take most of my images with a tripod anyway, but in this case it did not really work for me. I always had the feeling that I could not follow the movement of the eagles fast enough. Most of the other guys that used their tripods had their long lenses attached to a gimbal head instead of a ballhead and that seemed to work for them. I currently don't own a gimbal head, so I took the camera off the tripod and started shooting handheld. I tried to practice proper panning technique, as I had learned from a video clip that famous wildlife photographer Moose Peterson has on his website (check out the link in the sidebar). My results are still far from being perfect yet, but I got more worthwhile photos after changing to handheld shooting.
It was such a thrill to watch the Bald Eagles. I went back to dam #14 with my wife, Joan, on Sunday and the light was even better than the day before. More practice, more keepers, another great experience.
We had snow on the ground since early December 2009 here in eastern Iowa. The White-tailed deer are hungry and come quite often out of the forest and search for food. Most nights there is not enough light available to get a decent shot of these beautiful animals. I have tried it many times but never retained any real keeper.
A few days ago I was surprised when a group of five deer showed up earlier, shortly after the noon hour. The sun was obscured by only a few clouds, which made for good light. I carefully moved into position, lifted the cover of my hiding-place, which was in this case….. just my bedroom window ;-)…, and started shooting.
With the comfort of warm feet and not having to dress for the outdoors I was able to take the pictures I was waiting for. Was it only luck? I don't think so. The camera and the Sigma 50-500 were mounted on the tripod and ready for action. The battery was charged and an empty flash card was inserted. In other words, I was prepared for this moment. Watching the deer many times before, I knew the day would come when the light would be sufficient for the long lens. I also knew that there would not be much time to prepare when the moment was right. Preparation, and yes, a little bit of luck, too.
