Nature clicks #83 - Red-tailed Hawk

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

On my way back from a customer of mine I stopped at several places along the Mississippi and looked for photo opportunities. I found Bald Eagles and Tundra Swans again but because of a strong gray overcast in the afternoon I wasn't so happy with the image quality. The light sucked and so did the colors.

There is only one exception today and this is because it is a "first one" for me. I never had a chance before to capture a picture of a Red-tailed Hawk, despite the fact it is the most common buteo in North America. I saw the bird while driving down a gravel road towards the Green Island Wetlands. It took me four stops before I succeded. The background isn't ideal but I was happy that the hawk was at least not obstructed by a branch and I like the pose of the bird. I know there is room for improvement, but hey, it is my first Red-tailed Hawk… :-)

The moment before the catch (or not...)

Before the catch

I'm still analyzing my photos from last weekend at the Mississippi River. The probably most exciting moment to capture an image is when an eagle makes the attempt to lift a fish out of the water. You may think with their incredible large and sharp talons they will never fail but actually that happens quite often. Especially the not fully matured eagles, like this one here, have a higher dropping rate. The good thing is that the photographers get a second chance to make their clicks when the eagle approaches its prey.

Nature clicks #82 - Another good day for Bald Eagles

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

It was another wonderful day at the Mississippi River today. The temperatures were not nearly as low as yesterday and that made the shooting even more fun. The Bald Eagles hunted for the fish again and we had many opportunities to fill our memory cards. I focused today on handholding the camera with the long lens. Of course not the whole time, there is a reason that the Sigma 50-500 is called the "BIGMA"… ;-) I had more keepers than yesterday but have still too many pics out of focus. I really like to know how the other guys with their faster f/2.8 or f/4 lenses perform. I will probably post a few more pictures in the next days, so please stay tuned and have a great week!

Nature clicks #81 - Great day for Bald Eagle photography

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

Let me say that first. It was a great day at lock & dam #14 down in Le Claire, Iowa today. The light doesn't get much better for eagle photography. It was cold, but still manageable. Burt and his friends  had plenty of fish to throw in the river (thank you guys!), and the eagles followed their invitation. Many other photographers had lined up to use this opportunity for eagle photography in good light. I always enjoy meeting other photographers that love nature like I do. There is always interesting conversation and the best part that I recognized is that the experienced photographers are really helpful to anybody who is new to wildlife photography.

I have been an active runner and bicycle rider for most of my life. I have always trained hard  and know exactly the feeling after a break in the process of training. Everything seemed to be harder and more difficult after not running for two weeks for whatever reason. This is how I felt today. I haven't done any wildlife photography since two weeks and during the first 500 shots today I felt very clumsy. I had a hard time to obtain focus. I could blame the cold temperatures or low battery level that seemed to slow down focus speed, but I know this is just in my mind. It is the lack of exercising every day that makes the difference. Many shots ended up in the trash can today but I'm always happy if I come back with one photo that is different or slightly better than anything before.

I like this photo because of the gorgeous light on the feathers against a flawless blue sky. As much as I hate blue sky without clouds for my landscape photography, I don't think it's a bad background for an eagle in flight.

When the night comes

When the night comes..
Snowy Egret, Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, California

I'm still in process to review my whole photo library. I put that on my To-Do-List for this winter. It takes time, can be very boring sometimes, but I really hope the process of analyzing, sorting out, and evaluating my photos will help me to become a better photographer. The best part of this "winter task" is the fact that I discover some photos in my library that have the potential for more than being just documentary shots.

This one of a Snowy Egret, getting ready for the night among hundreds of, what I believe are Willets,  is one of the images I have rediscovered. It is the type of environmental portrait of a critter that I enjoy and where I try go with my wildlife photography. The photo was made in the Bolsa Chica Ecological Preserve at the Pacific coast just minutes before sunset.

Lightroom 4.0 Beta - I'm already hooked...

Clouds
Nikon D300s, Sigma 150mm / f2.8 APO EX DG HSM

As many photographers these days who rely on Adobe's Lightroom software for all or some of their post processing I have downloaded their Beta-version of LR 4. It is out for trial and testing since a few weeks. If you are not familiar with this software but you would like to give it a trial, this is your chance now. The Beta-version is free but will expire March 31, 2012. It is expected that then the final version will replace the Beta-version. You can find it on the Adobe website.

I have used Lightroom since version 1.4 and I still think it is great. I use other software and plug-ins for my workflow as well (like Adobe Photoshop CS4 and most of the NIK plug-ins), but every post process of an image starts in LR. With every new version released this product became better every time. Critical things, like noise reduction and pre-sharpening of a RAW file, have seen big improvements over time. If I work with an image for a second time that may have been processed before some time ago (five years in digital photography are a very long time!!), I usually start from scratch and use the latest RAW converter and rendering engine that comes with Lightroom. Having a much better understanding about the post process now, plus better software leads always to a better result. Well, almost always, an image that is not sharp from the very beginning will still not result in a tack sharp photo. And I have plenty of them… ;-)

Beside many other new features Lightroom 4.0 Beta has some changes in the develop module. Some sliders are now differently named and  seem to have a much more subtle response. I used this photo of some actually pretty dull looking clouds over our neighborhood to try out different settings. I ended up with this contrastive look. It is not just one slider, it is a carefully chosen combination of several settings that boosts the contrast and luminosity in this picture. Give Lightroom 4.0 Beta a trial, you may get addicted… ;-)

Nature clicks #80 - Great light, easy click

Cedar trunk

I did an inspection of our timber behind the house today in the afternoon. The snow is rapidly melting, the Black-capped Chickadees started their mating calls, and it felt a little like spring. If you are a frequent reader of my blog you know that I always look out for special light situations. The sun got diffused by a few clouds and the trees around but suddenly I saw a spot at one of our Red Cedars that got hit by a sun beam. It boosted the colors of the wood and revealed the texture of this wounded tree trunk. I was glad to have the camera with me, the clicks had to be made fast. Finishing was done in NIK Color Efex Pro 4. I love what this software does for my photography.

Nothing spectacular today, just made me feel good… :-) Have a nice Sunday!

Plus or minus?

Bald Eagle in flight
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

Ring-billed Gull
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.