Nature clicks #5

Nikon D200, Sigma 150mm/F2.8

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.

From architecture to wedding

Nikon D200, Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 35/f2 ZF

Since I have lived in the US, my job has taken me several times to Salt Lake City in Utah, but I never found the time to see the Mormon temple or the famous Tabernacle. Last week I went to SLC again and was able to shear off some time after work was done. I learned a lot and met some very nice people there.

I was walking around, searching for interesting perspectives, when a freshly married couple got in position for their three (3!) wedding photographers. They did their thing, with the happy couple in front of the temple. I took a different position, more to the side. I liked the vertical lines from the buildings and the couple, which continued onto the water. The spectacular clouds gave the scene a dramatic look on hopefully the best day of their life together. I came to take pictures of the architecture or street life and ended up with wedding pictures. Wasn't a bad thing… ;-)

Nature clicks #4

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!

Nature clicks #3

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.

Nikon D200, Sigma 50-500 / f4-6.3

Simulating film

Nikon D200, Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 35/F2 ZF

Today we took a little Easter walk along the Mississippi in Dubuque, Iowa. Besides having a nice view over the river, its bridges, and the city itself, there is a good opportunity to look at some artwork. The City of Dubuque has a temporary art exhibit, Art on the River, located along the RiverWalk and in the Port of Dubuque.

One piece that particularly caught our attention is 'City mouse' by Texan artist Andrew Arvanetes. It is a big sculpture, made out of stainless steel, and according to the artist's statement it derived from recollections of a child's wind-up toy.

We had a grey and cloudy sky today and so I went for a detail shot, having B&W already in mind. I like how the patina on the stainless steel surface and the soft shadows  of the sculpture's elements turned out. The 35/f2 gave the picture a nice bokeh for the background. However, I thought the image was still too close to "digital reality". I always start processing my RAW files in Adobe Lightroom. The new beta version 3.2. now has a feature that allows you to simulate film grain. I gave it a trial for the final touch and I like the outcome very much. Should do more in Black & White…