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.

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.

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

A Gathering of Bears at Charter Oak Camera Club

I will be presenting my program “A Gathering of Bears” to the Charter Oak Camera Club at their  meeting to be held on September 28th at 7:30 p.m. The program  will be held at the Elmwool Community Church Carter located at26 Newington Rd. (Rt.173)  in West Hartford.

A Really Big Guy at McNeil River

More information about the “A Gathering of Bears” program and on visiting McNeil River is available at John Fast Photography

Little Activity

On Thursday I took a quick check of some area bird photography locations before the Memorial Day crowds begin to show up. First stop was Old Black Point which has been my favorite location for photographing osprey. As I reported in an earlier post, the nest that I have photographed for many years is still empty and obviously will not be used this year. There are several other possible nests that look promising but I will have to seek permission from private land owners to get any sort of  access.

I traveled further along Rt 156 to Rocky Neck Sate Park. There was not a lot of activity, but a feeding egret under good lighting prompted me to set up my equipment. Of course as soon as I got all set, the egret hop-scotched to a more distant location. There were several small shore birds (aka unidentified)  feeding in the shallows so I decided to capture a few images.

Shorebird (AKA Unidentified)

If anyone can provide an identity, it would be appreciated. I enjoyed watching the distant egret fishing and was treated to an overflight of ibis. I did capture an image but they took me so much by surprise that I  didn’t open up my aperture to compensate for the flight shot, so the images are a disappointment. A short while later a yellow legs (greater or lesser I am not sure) glided into the area and began his search for food.  Nothing spectacular, but any day watching and photographing is a great day!

Yellow Legs (greater or lesser?)

The ospreys are back, sort of

I finally got a break in my teaching action and drove out to Old Black Point to check on how the osprey pair I have photographerd for the last four years was doing. I was very disappointed to find the nest empty this year. Other osprey nests are alrady actiuve, so my favorite pair may not be returning, or are very late. Hopefully it is the latter.

Egret Cruising

I spent only about 45 mintues watching several other nests when this handsome egret cruised by.  For the momnet, that satisfied by photographic urges. I will try to get back to Old Black Point again this weekend. Hopefully my ospreys will have returned.

Super Telephoto Techniques

Canon 600mm f/4.0 IS

My first results with the Canon 600mm lens were a large disappointment not due to the lens but due to my lack of experience with the super  telephoto class of lens. With a little research I discovered that much of what  I thought I knew about obtaining sharp images was no longer appropriate.

Training Flights

Most wildlife photographers are not fortunate enough to earn their living by pursuing their passion, but that doesn’t mean they are not just as serious about making the most of an opportunity when it arises. The quandary we face is how to maintain the intimate familiarity with our camera equipment that wildlife photography demands when we can’t devote full time to the pursuit.

In my opinion there is little photography more demanding of equipment and the photographer’s familiarity with it than bird photography, particularly birds in flight. Like many endeavors, practice is key. Here in Southeastern Connecticut we are fortunate to have an abundance of osprey. These beautiful birds provide me with my training flights.

I currently shoot with a Canon 1D MarkIII coupled through a 1.4X multiplier to a 600mm f/4.0 lens. All this mounted on a Wimberly head. See my earlier post on the advantages of the Wimberly. Not only have I become familiar with my equipment while practicing on the ospreys, I have also learned, from hours of observation, how to improve my chances of  capturing images .

Large birds like the osprey behave much like aircraft when taking off and landing.

Osprey Landing Into the Wind With Dinner

 If the prevailing wind is in your face, you will have many opportunities for images like the one below. While great practice with your equipment, it hardly makes a satisfying image.

Besides observing the wind direction paying close attention to the the birds behavior can also bring dividends. While watching nesting pairs of osprey I have learned to pay careful attention to the bird in the nest.

Arriving With Dinner

Long before I am aware of the approaching mate, the behavior of  the bird signals its pending arrival. The added warning  gives me the just the time I need to prepare for the incoming landing. I take advantage of the pre-set focus capability of my 600mm lens to quickly prepare the camera for the birds arrival.

Pulling the Trigger

Confrontation Over Fishing Rights

I have had the great fortune of two separate visits to McNeil River Game Sanctuary in Alaska to photograph the brown bears. Both of those visits were in the era before digital photography had come of age. Besides the cost of the trip, there were severe weight restrictions for each passenger on the DeHaviland Otter that flew us to the camp site. All camping equipment and food as well as photographic equipment had to be brought in for the week-long visit and the state recommended carrying an additional week’s supply of food in case the plane could not return on schedule to pick us up.

While film weight was not a big factor, the cost of film and the fact that any resupply was at best 100 air miles away from camp certainly was a concern.  I don’t recall how many rolls of chrome film I brought with me on each of the trips, but I do remember anguishing over how many of each emulsion type and ISO rating to include.

When I actually got to shooting, I was always faced with decisons on which film to load and then the more daunting prospect of having to cut back on my shooting when I realized that half way through the vistit I had chewed up more than two thirds of my film. This made pulling the trigger a difficult decision and I had to begin passing up great shots in the hopes that something better was yet to come.

I See You Says One Cub at McNeil River

I would welcome an opportuntiy to visit McNeil River again with my digital equipment.  Just think of some of the great advantages the digital era has brought. Instead of carrying multiple film types, I can now dial in an appropriate ISO for the situation at hand .  As my flash card fills with images, I can delete the “losers” and make more room for “keepers”.  As the cards  further fill up, I can transfer the images to a portable storage device and reuse  the cards.

The digital world has indeed freed me from the anquish associated with tough decisions when faced with limited supplies of film and once-in-a-lifetime photographic opportunities like those at McNeil River. That being said, for photographers like me that have only recently weaned away from film, pulling the trigger still presents challenges, but that is yet another tale.

Backyard Safari

Downy Woodpecker Canon 1D Mark III, f/8.0@ 1/60th ISO1250 600mm with 2x Extender

Northern Cardinal Canon !DMark III f/5.6 @1/200th ISO640 Canon 6000m with 1.4 Extender

Sparrow Canon1D Mark III f/5.6 @1/250th ISO 640 Canon 600mm with 1.4 Extender with fill flash

Today in southeastern Connecticut began with an ice storm that coated the trees, cars and ground. Shortly after my first cup of coffee the power went out and remained out for the next seven hours. The ongoing storm made my backyard feeders very active with cardinals, jays and woodpeckers among others.

With the heat off in the house  and all necessary chores on hold because of the lack of power, I decided to occupy my time with a little backyard bird photography. It was sleeting pretty hard and I remained inside aiming my lens through the kitchen window.

Eastern Cardinal Canon 1D MarkIII f/5.6 @ 1/200th Canon 600mm with 1.4 Extender using fill flash

While the weather was hardly safari -like I thought the icing on the branches provided an interesting additon to some rather ordinary birds.

Blue Jay Canon 1D MarkIII f/8.0 @ 1/160th Canon 600mm lens with 2X extender using fill flash