Imaging the Natural World

The Endangered Piping Plover

This past week I had a wonderful opportunity to photograph one of America’s endangered species, the piping plover A representative of the State o Connecticut DEP escorted me to the location of the remaining single plover chick of the 18 that had been born this year. The chick was only one week old but was already ranging up and down the Harkness State Park  beach.

As we crossed the signs advising the public of the vulnerability of the birds and de-marking the “Do Not Enter” area I asked Denise if she found that the public generally respected the signs. Sadly, she informed me that it is not the case. Many of this years chicks were eaten by dogs allowed to run free on the beach.

As we approached the nesting area Denise suggested listening for the warning cheeps of the plovers to let us know we were nearing their habitat. As many of you already know, the plovers are very hard to see as their coloring blends in so well with the beach surroundings. Denise spotted the chick first as it scampered towards the water’s edge.

One Week Old Piping Plover

I was fortunate enough to get several useful images of the chick in the hour we spent watching it. Mom and dad also presented themselves for photo ops

Adult Piping Plover- Harkness State Park

These very small birds live a very vulnerable life especially during the nesting season. We all really need to respect the attempts to preserve their specie by not encroaching on nesting areas or letting dogs run loose in them.

Classes Starting

It’s that time of year again and my series of 10 two hour classes covering digital photography will begin on Wednesday.  See the side bar of upcoming events for details of each of the classes being offered at the Granite Street Gallery in New London.

The new format of two hour classes each built around a distinct portion of digital imaging is proving popular. It allows those interested to choose just the classes that they feel will benefit them. Making half the classes available on Wednesday evening and the other half on Saturday mornings and then interchanging the topics for the next season’s schedule also allows students to fit classes to their personal routines.

Notes from the classes are made available to students on Acrobat.com after each class.

Baxter Park Revisited

I promised to add more images from this fall’s adventure to Baxter Stake Park to photograph the moose. As I mentioned in the last installment, the morning of the 8th was pretty dismal at Sandy Stream Pond . No moose were sighted. But as always, the pond lends itself to some nice early morning photography.

Early Morning at Sandy Stream Pond

After several hours at Sandy Stream we spent much of the rest of the day checking out Stump Pond and traveling the Golden Road in search of moose. Instead of moose, I contented myself with photographing the foliage which was near its peak.

Fall Reflections

The morning of the 9th was to prove to be much more productive. Again we hiked the short path to Sandy Stream Pond before daybreak. The emerging sunrise allowed another capture of the pond, this one processed from 7 RAW images using high dynamic range (HDR) processing

Sandy Stream Pond Rendered in HDR

Not only were we rewarded with a very placid lake -side scene, but a bull moose too!

Our first bull moose sighting this fall

The next and final installment from this years trip will provide a gallery of images.

Napatree Point Boogie Boarder

Napatree Point near Watch Hill, RI beckoned on an unusually warm November afternoon.  Shortly after I  crossed the sand dunes to gain access to the ocean side of the point two teens showed up with their boogie boards.  They were having a great time despite taking many spills in what must have been very cold water. As the sun was setting I caught this image.

Boogie Boarder at Napatree Point

Pacific Street Gallery Opening Reception

The Pacific Street Art Gallery presents the Pacific Street Artists Guild annual exhibit – featuring paintings, drawings, prints, jewelry, notecards and more, all created by the members of PSAG.

Participating Artists: Jan Dahl, Sophia Dineralter, Kathy Doyle, John Fast, Bruce Griffin, Claudia Kenyon, Charlie MacDonald, Lynda McLaughlin, Dermot McNamara, Rose Partridge, Barbara Place, Ann Samul, Cindy Samul and Rose Young

"Retired Long Ago"

The image is printed on canvas as a full sized shutter and displayed as a gallery wrap.

Images from Evans Movie Ranch

Images from the photo shoot sponsored by Canon at the Evans Movie Ranch located near Sante Fe.

Albuquerque & Santa Fe

I attended a Canon arranged trip to Albuquerque and Santa Fe this past week. A group of us flew in on Tuesday and enjoyed a welcome dinner at our hotel in Albuquerque. We were all issued the new Canon 7D digital camera  and were able to choose from a wide variety of Canon lenses and accessories for our use for the next several days. I brought many of my own lenses with me so chose the 400mm DO optic. We spent the remainder of the evening being trained on the Canon 7D’s many functions. There will be much more on the camera and my impressions using it in a future post.

On Wednesday morning we were given briefings on the Canon Pixma desktop printers. Following lunch we were bussed to the Evans Movie Ranch in Santa Fe for an afternoon of shooting with the equipment. At the ranch we had access to all the buildings and Canon had arranged for several models in full western cowboy(girl) gear.

Evans Movie Ranch Desperado

On Thursday morning we received briefings on the Canon ipf professional ink jet printers and spent the remainder of the day printing images on the Pixma and ipf 24 inch printers.

That evening we were treated to a wonderful farewell dinner at the El Pinto restaurant.  There we were entertained by the operations director with a discussion of tequilas and a tequila tasting.  He also detailed the restaurant’s development and their extensive chile growing and processing.

Friday was the scheduled fly-out date but I arranged for an extra day’s stay in Albuquerque’s  old town district.

Old Town Albuquerque Shops

Back from Baxter State Park

Ardie and I returned from our visit to Baxter State Park on Saturday. We began the 8 hour drive to the park on Wednesday at about 6:30 in the morning. After checking in at the park entrance and arranging for a drive-up lean-to for our first two nights, we headed directly to Stump Pond to check out the moose scene. It rained heavily for most of our drive to Baxter and was raining at Stump Pond when we pulled in. We did see one lone cow in the middle of the pond but between heavy rain and poor light, we didn’t even pull out our camera gear.

We turned around and headed back down the six miles of the Tote Road to pick up the road to the Roaring Brook camp site where we had lean-to #4. On arriving, we were advised that there was a bear that had a habit of entering the camp ground and to keep all foods locked in the car. After an early dinner we turned in in anticipation of  a  hike to Sandy Stream Pond before dawn.

Fall Foliage at Baxter's Sandy Stream Pond

We awoke on Thursday  to a very cool and extremely windy morning. At first we were encouraged by the light of a very bright moon, but the clear sky quickly gave way to a heavy overcast and very flat lighting. After about 5 hours of waiting we finally gave up on any moose visiting the pond. There was a break or two in the weather and I enjoyed turning my lens onto the foliage which was about at its peak.
After leaving Sandy Stream Pond, we revisited Stump Pond and then rode along the Golden Road checking out moose hot spots from other years. There were no moose to be seen. Fall foliage was plentiful and I satisfied my urge to press the shutter release by capturing more fall images.

Baxter State Park Foliage

All-in-all Thursday was a disappointing day. After all, I was there to photograph moose. Friday is another story but I will have to continue that after my return from New Mexico next week.

Baxter Moose

I will be heading to Baxter State Park in northern Maine on Tuesday. This annual trip is to photograph the moose during the rut which normally occurs between mid-September and Mid- October. A good friend and fellow nature photographer will be accompanying me on the 7-1/2 hour trip. We have  a lean-to reservation at the Roaring Brook campground which puts us within a short walk of  Sandy Stream Pond pictured below.

Baxter's Sandy Stream Pond at Sunrise

We will be spending several days in hopes of photographing the magnificent bull moose that often visit the pond and can be found in many locations in the park.

Baxter State Park Bull Moose

I will be posting a description of our 2009 trip along with some images upon our retrun

Granite Street Course Schedule Changes

Due to unexpected travel during the month of October, I had to revise my course schedules at the Granite Street Gallery. Not all courses were affected but please check the new schedule carefully. You should have been contacted by the gallery regarding the changes.