Fall colors, simple clicks

The fall colors have already passed their peak since a couple weeks here in Eastern Iowa. Most leaves are on the ground or dried up and don't look as pretty anymore. However, a few trees still hold on to their colors and the nice weather last weekend held still plenty of opportunities to make a few clicks.  

The Mines of Spain is a nice recreation area just south of Dubuque, Iowa. It contains 1380 acres of wooded and prairie land, wetlands, and creeks. From its bluffs you have a wonderful view over the Mississippi River. The prairie is already bare of any significant colors but this solitary tree with its colorful leaves stood out and made us aware of the transition from autumn to winter.

The second image is from yesterday's walk with our little dog. The setting sun stroke this, what I believe is an American Elm and made its yellow leaves stand out. I hope you enjoy!

Love those mornings....

 

You may ask, do you use your camera at all at the moment? It's true, I haven't posted any real actual pictures recently, but believe me, I always have my eyes open for a good click, even if work duties take most of my attention at the moment. It is my favorite time of the year for shooting things just around the house. Beside fall colors nothing can beat a misty morning after a rain front came through. I love when the rays of the raising sun backlit the wet leaves of the wild vine that grows on our balcony. Nothing for winning a photo contest, but hey..., I like it and I have fun just shooting simple things sometimes.... ;-)

Playing with water

 

We had a good amount of much needed rain this weekend. I used the time for several photography related projects (see my post from yesterday) and finally thought it is a good time to post some "water pictures" from our recent trip to the Rocky Mountains.

The first shot was taken above the Copeland Falls in the Southeast corner of the National Park. I made quite a few clicks, knowing that each picture would look differently by using a variety of different exposures from 1/20 to 1 second . The creek was in the shade of trees and the absence of bold colors made me process the image in B&W. It was the pattern, created by air bubbles in the flowing water and revealed by the long exposure, that I was after and 0.7s at f/16 created a desirable result for me. As always, NIK Silver Efex Pro2 is my software of choice for processing a B&W image.

The second image was taken after a hike higher up to Ouzel Falls. Despite a heavy overcast and even some rain sprinkles some light was left and revealed the colors of the surrounding rocks. I liked this one better than a B&W version I made and I want to share with you.

I wish all of you a great week.

New Portfolio, now HTML

 

I'm sure you know the feeling when you have postponed something for a long time and after you got it done finally you get into a great state of mind. That's how I feel today. It bothered me since quite some time that my photography portfolio could not be opened on an iPhone or iPad, because the portfolio was created with flash galleries and those don't work on Apple's devices.

Beside updating my portfolio and creating a new design I made finally the switch to html-galleries which will work on Apple's mobile devices as well.

Please feel free to have a look at my new LANDSCAPE and WILDLIFE portfolio by clicking on the tab PHOTOGRAPHY PORTFOLIO on the left side bar. I hope you enjoy! :-)

Felt like three seasons

 

Before the first snow hits the ground here in the Midwest and before you are all tired of seeing images of fall colors I like to post another photo of the colorful aspens in the Rocky Mountains. There were plenty of opportunities but not every image works the same way. It was the pattern of the trees that made me choose this one over others.

Just a little bit higher in elevation at Guanella Pass the rain that we got the night before coated the mountain peaks with a thin layer of snow. This was a month ago and it felt like three seasons were present at the same time. The temperature felt still like summer, the leaves told the story of autumn, and the snow, of course, gave a taste for the upcoming winter.

Nature clicks #126 - Northern Harrier

 

I got all excited when this Northern Harrier landed in a broken pine tree at Timber Creek Campground on the Westside of Rocky Mountain National Park. We had already an eventful day behind us, had just declared "beer time", and enjoyed the warm evening sun in our camping chairs. The camera was still mounted on my tripod because an elk herd had just entered the campground and I was hoping for a good shot of the big bull elk that tried to keep his harem together.

I moved slowly step by step towards the harrier any time the bird turned its head away from me. I believe it is a female and she let me come pretty close. The picture is slightly cropped to keep some ugly branches out of the frame. I had to dial in -2 EV exposure compensation in order not to blow out the feathers on her breast completely.

It was a nice way to wrap up a wonderful day and a valid reason to interrupt "beer time", don't you think?... ;-)

Aspen glow

 

These two photos were made during a little hike around Bear Lake in the evening. The lake is at an altitude of 9,475 feet but can easily be reached by car or one of the shuttle buses, provided for the visitors in order to limit traffic in Rocky Mountain National Park. The sun was already behind the surrounding mountains but the aspens had a glow that was hard to resist. The beauty of aspens in the fall is stunning and I looked for patterns on the mountain slopes and in the lake. I hope you enjoy.

Nature clicks #125 - Dusky Grouse (?)

 

It is not easy to identify a grouse and I'm not 100 percent sure if I'm correct in this matter. According to iBird PRO, a terrific app that I use for bird identification, the Dusky Grouse and the Sooty Grouse were considered to be the same species, called the Blue Grouse. In 2006 the American Ornithologist's Union split them based on DNA evidence. Beside iBird PRO I use several books to identify my bird encounters. However, this time I'm not really sure and if you have a different opinion I like to hear from you and would appreciate any professional advice.

This photo took a lot of efforts to get the shot. This female grouse was not very shy but wandered constantly around between rocks and trees laying on the ground. The light was low and I had to dial in ISO400 in order to get a shutter speed of 1/60s. The D300s was handhold and I tried to stabilize the lens by leaning against a tree. I got several sharp images but my choice to publish this photo was based on the background. The Dusky Grouse rested briefly on a rock in front of some other boulders and no twig or dead branch disturbed the scene...

Great light in the rain

 

Just a short post today. I like to go back to the only really rainy day we had in Rocky Mountain National Park. The fast moving clouds obstructed quite often any view over the mountains but we also had exciting moments with great light as I tried to catch in this image. Moments like this can be very short and after finding a safe spot to park the car somewhere above 11,000 feet on the Trail Ridge Road, there was just enough time to get out and make a few clicks. Seconds later the sun beams were gone again.

Nature clicks #124 - American Pika

 

A few day ago I mentioned that I was actually waiting for another critter while shooting some pictures of the Yellow-bellied Marmot. So here it is. The American Pika is one of my favorite animals. They live on steep, boulder-covered hillsides at elevations between 8,000 and 13,500 feet (2400m - 4100m). The pika is one of the animals that has no way to go if the effects of global warming continue. Their numbers are already on a systematic decline in many mountain ranges of the American West. If you like to read about why this is a matter of fact click HERE for a link to an article on the website of the National Wildlife Federation that explains it very good or click HERE for a video on the National Geographic website.

First I saw them a couple years ago in the Mount Rainier area in Washington and fell immediately in love with this animal. My pictures of this first encounter , hmmm, just sucked, and so this time the American Pika was at the top of my shooting list for our trip to the Rocky Mountain National Park. They were in process to harvest grass, sedges, and thistles for the winter, which they carry in their mouth, and they can move very fast between the rocks, making it a big challenge to capture a sharp image. Before you can see them you may hear their very vocal call that the pikas use to communicate and to warn each other. It helps to find them between the rocks and boulders on a mountain slope.

This photo was actually made along a relative busy trail. We went there again another day but didn't see a single pika. Wild animals have their own agenda and we are the intruders in their world. Patience and a careful approach is the only fair way to get the shot. It wasn't my last picture of a pika during this trip, but this is reserved for another post...