Plus or minus?

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

With the relatively warm temperatures chances are dwindling that we will see a lot of action by the Bald Eagles at the dams along the Mississippi River. Most of them migrate north as soon the ice disappears. I can tell you, there is no ice on the big river at the moment anywhere near here. But who knows, winter can still strike back with mighty cold weather…

Bald Eagles are a great subject to learn and experiment about exposure settings. In any case, you don't really want to blow out the white parts of its head. It is also nice to have some detail in the dark feathers. Obtaining a good balance is not always easy but you have to make your choices about what works best for your style of photography. I like to expose for the highlights and usually dial in exposure compensation between -0.5EV and -1.5EV. I know photographers who dial in positive exposure compensation and there is nothing wrong with that. I just prefer the darker, richer colors and in most situations I can live with the fact that the shadows may not have as much detail as desirable. I just don't like overexposed backgrounds.

Nature clicks #79 - In flight, with texture

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

On my way back home from Illinois today I stopped again at Mississippi dam #14 and joined the group of photographers there for an hour. Everybody was eagerly awaiting some Bald Eagles to show up. Burt and his friends had thrown some fish into the water in order to attract the eagles. I made quiet a few clicks but didn't really like my results today. Instead I show you another image from last Sunday. The Ring-billed Gulls were competing with the eagles about the fish and gulls are a great subject to practice long lens shooting technique. I like this photo for several reasons. First, I do not have too many pictures of a gull in full flight. This one will be a good addition to my Iowa-Wildlife-Gallery. I also like the background of this shot. Usually I prefer a subtle background that lets the animal stand out, but here I really like the texture of the bold reflections on the water. I believe it adds dynamic to the image without totally distracting from the bird.

Taking an advice made all the difference

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

I was on my way to Springfield, Illinois today and stopped at the place where I photographed Tundra Swans last Sunday for the first time (see my post from last Monday). None of them was there anymore this afternoon and I was glad that I used the chance to see them last Sunday. I wondered if they moved further north because of the warm weather we have here again.

Here is another photo I made last weekend. This school of juveniles and adults approached the shore just after I parked my "mobile blind" beside the road. A little later another car stopped behind me. The driver made the mistake to get out of his car for taking some pictures but all what he got was butt shots. The swans didn't tolerate his appearance and turned away form the shore of the Mississippi immediately. I was glad I made my clicks already before his arrival. I'm still thankful to Burt, the photographer from Le Claire, who gave me the tip about the swans. He also told me to stay in the car. Great advice, thanks Burt!

Nature clicks #78 - Bald Eagle, a wing beat later

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

If you follow my blog regularly, you may have asked, did the eagle Andreas showed here a couple days ago really catch the fish? A friend of mine sent me this question. Yes it did! I processed another photo today, just taken one wing beat after the first one. For my taste there was still a little too much water in the frame and that's why I cropped the second one slightly more. You can't do that if the eyes of the bird are blurred, it will amplify the message that the image is not sharp. I did not have to worry about this here, the sharpness sits on the eyes and the bill. The rest of the bird reflects the dynamic of the scene. Depth of field was less than eight inches with the settings I had in camera, and of course, there is some motion blur.

More to come from last Sunday's trip to Le Claire…

Nature clicks #77 - Tundra Swans

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

As hinted yesterday already there was more excitement than just the Bald Eagles at the Mississippi River. I finally met Burt Gearhart, a photographer from Le Claire I have been in contact with by email since a while. Burt kept me posted about the eagle activities at lock & dam #14. Yesterday he gave me a tip where to find Tundra Swans along the river. About 3PM the eagles refused to catch more fish and were just sitting in the trees. I decided to scout the location Burt told me about and left the dam. I found the place at the river immediately, and yes, there was a whole school of Tundra Swans near the shore. Adults and juvenile swans were present, but also Canada Geese and some ducks. If you want to see me excited, this was the moment to meet me. ;-) In addition it was probably the best time of the day to go there because the whole scene was covered in warm afternoon light. I followed Burt's advice and stayed in the car while taking shots. Despite the fact that the Tundra Swan is the most common swan in North America, I have not seen them before here in Eastern Iowa. They are easy to identify because of the yellow spot most of them have on the base of their black bills. They are smaller than the Trumpeter Swans  I have watched many times before. There may have been some Trumpeter Swans among them but I wasn't sure about it. Not all Tundra Swans have the yellow spot. Thank you Burt for giving me this tip, it made my day!

I will show some more images tomorrow. A major update on my Macbook keeps my resources busy at the moment.

Nature clicks #76 - Bald Eagles at Mississippi dam #14

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

I finally made it to Mississippi lock and dam #14 in Le Claire, Iowa today. Light and weather conditions were as good as yesterday. There were not as many birds as at dam #12 on Saturday but the location is so much better because of the unobstructed view and the eagles are usually much closer.

This is my favorite photo from today. You can't see the fish the Bald Eagle just caught but I like the dynamic of this hunting scene and the spray of the water behind the eagle. There was more than just the Bald Eagles today but this will be another post hopefully tomorrow.

Bald Eagles - first trial of the season

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

What's wrong with this picture? It shows all the symptoms of a heavily cropped image, lacks detail and sharpness. Period! Great light this afternoon, temperatures were not too cold, with other words excellent conditions to go out shooting Bald Eagles. To make a long story short, I left home too late this afternoon for going down the river to dam #14. I wasted time by stopping at dam #11 in Dubuque. No eagles there, except for one high up in the trees. I arrived at dam #12 in Bellevue, Iowa around 3PM. The dilemma at this dam is that a high wire fence obstructs the view to the area below the dam, where the Bald Eagles usually hunt for fish. Another photographer, Tracy form Chicago, invited me to join her on top of a picnic table near the fence, that obviously other frustrated photographers had already moved there. This was a very nice gesture of her and I enjoyed the conversation about nature photography while we were both shooting burst after burst in order to capture a good image of the eagles. Worked out  well for bypassing the fence but during the next hour (still wonderful light!) none of the eagles came even close to really fill the frame. There were a couple fishing boats below the dam on our side of the Mississippi River and I wonder, if this made the eagles prefer the opposite side. Even if I wasn't really pleased about my results today, it was good practice to handhold the heavy lens and not much beats being outside on a perfect winter day anyway...

Nature clicks #75 - Northern Cardinal

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

I have written here before about "having a plan" or "setting goals" for your photography. I still believe it is important to do that if someone wants to see improvements from a technical as well from the artistic point of view. My friend Dave Updegraff, who is like me an amateur photographer here in the Dubuque area, was looking some time ago for new goals and decided to focus on photographing old barns out in the countryside. I follow his blog and can tell that his approach to the subject became better and better any time he publishes new barn photos.

I try to do the same with my wildlife photography. I have this gallery about wildlife in Iowa at pbase.com. (Click HERE for a glimpse). One of my goals is to replace images from the early days of my digital photography with photos that are taken from a closer distance, and of course, that are technically and artistically better than my first shot of a particular animal.

I was very proud about my first photo of a Northern Cardinal, taken 2007 from quite a bit away, and finally cropped to death in post. Even if I don't want to look at the old picture anymore for many reasons, mainly image quality, but making the photo was as much fun as last week during the snow storm. For the first time I got a picture of a male cardinal that fills the frame. Little steps, and some take time, but the better image makes me feeling good again…

Nature clicks #74 - Dark-eyed Junco, late arrival

Nikon D300s, Sigma 50-500mm / f4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM @ 420 mm (630 mm FX), 1/60s, f/6.3, -1.5 EV, ISO 100

I went to Indianapolis, Indiana today and had actually planned to try the Bald Eagles at Mississippi dam #14 down in Le Claire, Iowa. I was hoping to show some eagle pictures in today's post but winter weather conditions, fog, and gray sky didn't allow any photo that would have made sense. Nevertheless, I stopped briefly at the dam and at least saw a Bald Eagle high up in the trees beside the parking lot.

Instead, here is another image from shooting two days ago in the snow storm. The Dark-eyed Junco is not easy to photograph in low light. It's one of the birds hard to focus on, because there is hardly any contrast between the eye and it's head. They are always moving and quite often gone before focus is obtained. This one isn't even exactly sharp but I like the bird's pose on this branch. The Juncos are usually here during the winter in big numbers. This season was a little different. They just came down south together with the arrival of the first snow, probably due to the warm temperatures we had here in December and early January. No eagle, but still a nice looking bird. I hope you enjoy.

Nature clicks #73 - Mourning Dove withstands the winter

Nikon D300s, Sigma 50-500mm / f4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM @ 420 mm (630 mm FX), 1/45s, f/6.3, -1.5 EV, ISO 100

We are back to "normal" here in Iowa. Yesterday it has snowed all day long and we have plenty of the white stuff in the woods here. As much as I hate driving in these weather conditions, I love the doors it opens for photography. The snow on the ground is one of the best light sources for wildlife photography. Despite a complete overcast of the sky the reflection of the light from the snow makes for great light conditions. There are no shadows to deal with and in this matter the dove got wonderful light from underneath.

It is tempting to crank the ISO settings of the camera up but the price is paid in post, where you have to deal with noise. I tried to push my limits (I think, there is nothing really to loose when you are at home and can shoot around the house). I set the camera to ISO 100 and just tried to get the best out of it. My Sigma 50-500 is one of the older models that doesn't have vibration reduction but shooting from a tripod probably doesn't make that much of a difference anyway.

The Mourning Dove here belongs to a flock that is hanging around our house all winter long so far. I believe they are beautiful birds and for me it is just mind-boggling that the law in Iowa does allow to shoot them (for the first time in my blog I really mean shooting with a gun and not with a camera!!). We always have one or two couples here that raise their young but I have never had such great light to make a picture of one of them. The snow pouring down tells the story about survival in winter for all birds. More to come…