Nature and Wildlife Photography

Not in a rush anymore

2011-09-21T21:36:00.005-04:00

For quite a while I was in a rush. A panic, motivated, rush, to see, shoot, get, photograph, share. I'm not anymore. It took about 4-5 years of that before it really changed.

So, what was previously a daily task of posting an image, something hopefully grabbing, something cool, is now a weekly, or monthly, or who knows task. I really no longer feel a drive to share. I feel a drive to try to take good images. But not to share, not to 'feed the machine' or keep 'posting to flickr daily'.

I don't know that I am shooting any less. Maybe slightly here or there, but I'm still trying to get out and could be shooting 100's a day, nearly a couple thousand over a weekend when I am at it.

The photo in this post is a foliage shot from Vermont taken a couple years ago. I did not post anything from this trip prior to today.

One of the things I've hoped to do is to shoot during an event, a season, and then share just prior to it when it happens again, say a year or two later. This is now one of those things, I waited about 23 months to finally post some foliage images.

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Osprey update June 30, 2011

2011-06-30T21:18:00.007-04:00

I haven't been to visit "my" nest in a couple weeks. Last I checked the 3 chicks were doing well.

(6/19/2011)

I visited tonight and was met with a sad sight. One of the 3 osprey died, and is still in the nest.

(6/30/2011)

The chick in the background was really bothered by the situation, just looking at its sibling that wouldn't move any more. And it bothered me too.

I couldn't tell what the cause was for sure until I got home and reviewed the images closely, but I had a suspicion. I thought maybe a hook from a snagged fishing line had managed to be eaten by the osprey. But it appears that the osprey chick got tangled in the line and died from that.

There wasn't much to do, but I reported it to someone that can hopefully get a visit from someone that can remove the dead bird.

And to be expected, mom was still mom, and yipped a couple times. And dad came by with a fish, circled a few times, and then delivered a fish. And then mom fed the (2) chicks.

Life goes on.

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Have Fun - Flickr

2011-06-10T20:36:00.004-04:00

Every few days or weeks I notice that someone has favorited one of my flickr multi-image posts, and often especially this Red-Tailed Hawk set of posts.

There was someone on flickr, and it hit facebook too, where ppl turned posted individual images in to posting collages or multi-tile images one post at a time....

I first saw it on flickr, but soon realized ppl were doing something similar on facebook to create sets that when viewed as thumbnails created a single image.

Whatever you do with your images, have fun. Post. Print. Sell. Share. Donate. Take images and do something with them - and have fun.

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Maine Osprey 2011

2011-06-01T20:43:00.010-04:00

My brother has been getting in to photography a lot lately and found an awesome spot for Osprey in Maine. There's a river and a run of fish going on now, and well, the river's pretty narrow and there's lots of fish and osprey. It's an awesome spot.

A half hour's walk through the woods and then there it is.

Continued...

In a few days I've gone a few times and spent quite a few hours there. There are all show with a 500mm handheld and cropped some...

The spot is setup pretty nicely, by late morning the light is working its way to the side of the river and behind the spot to shoot from.

While there my brother and I were both initially put off because of some hikers and people fishing there along the river. But after a while, I realized that by this not being an untraveled spot the osprey are actually more accustomed to people being around.

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

All I get is butt shots!

2011-04-09T21:08:00.006-04:00

Ok, so, I haven't posted in months. I ran in to someone today and they said "All I get is butt shots!"

I think I might be able to help, and this seemed a like a good topic to tackle.

It just so happens that while browsing past images this one struck me. I had already done the edit, and tonight framed it and added a logo.

So, first thing is - sometimes a butt shot is ok and cool.

But if what is happening is that every time you see a bird it flies away, then yeah, that's a problem.

Birds will do what they are doing until they want to do something else. If you are not there they will do their own thing. If you are there, you can either watch and see what they'd do on their own, or you can influence things and then see their reaction. The trick really is to be observant, and to tell when your presence is affecting things.

With some observation, you can start to guess at what might or might not cause the flight-response.

I've even used that simple premise as a way to get CLOSER to birds. Here's how - if I see a bird, I'm watching, and I see someone else on a trajectory towards me and the bird, I will back off. Give the bird lots of room, so I am no longer a part of the equation. Then I (sometimes, and sometimes succeeding) have tried to predict what the person approaching might do, and what the bird might react by doing. Then I've moved and sat or positioned myself in a non-threatening position, and waited. It doesn't always work out, but some times it does.

Butts shouldn't always be seen as a bad thing.

But if that's all you get to see you need to rethink your approach and try to think like the bird a little.

If you are approaching to the point that the bird always flies away, then, you need to not approach so close and learn to read the birds better. Some birds don't like friends and will always fly away (like a kingfisher) but others will tolerate you if you do it right.

Other things you can do to limit your impact when out looking for birds are:

turn off cell phone

travel alone

put the sun at YOUR back

secure your car keys so they make no sound

secure your camera gear so it makes no sound

wear camo or colors that don't jump out (contrast-wise) while out shooting

Good luck,
-Jon

Original content posted at natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Cape May - Skimmers and Light

2010-11-23T14:01:00.004-05:00

From http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Cape May is a hot spot for bird watching during fall migration. The way the state tapers off to the cape/point of New Jersey acts like a funnel where birds follow the land south and end up there, running out of coast/land and then momentarily stuck to think it over.

According to the local bird watchers who are in the know, approximately 80% of the birds that pass through the cape are immature/juvenile birds. The main reason being it is easier to migrate south 100% over land, avoiding the Delaware Bay and the water crossing. Adults know enough to take the easier inland route, while the first year birds don't. These young ones can cross but they have to stop and think about it, and then muster up the courage to make the trip over the open water.

In 2009 I made a couple trips to Cape May and this year I did 6 or 7 trips (multiple days each trip). The migrating hawks and falcons, and little birds / song birds (passerines) are most people's favorites. And they are mine too, except for the black skimmers, they are so fun to watch, and offer such great chances.

Last year I shot the skimmers a lot at sunrise and sunset and this year I did the same. Trying to get the flock and some nice light together is what makes them extra special. The skimmers might sit on the beach most of the day doing next to nothing, but around sunrise and sunset they are full of action.

As the fall season passes most of the early skimmers to leave are mature ones. By November the flock of black skimmers in Cape May is mainly juvenile birds.

Birds of Prey
This year I finally got to experience what the big big push of birds is like - seeing hawks and falcons on the frequency of seconds, not minutes or hours. Seriously. All this year it was just a couple of the days I was there, and one especially, when the action was just crazy.

The best days I had were a day or two after a storm passed through, with the backside of the weather creating winds out of the ~west which groups up the migrating birds along the coast. Perfect.

Next year I am going to visit lots again, and I will try to focus more on the migrating birds of pray. It is (too) easy to split time between them and the skimmers. Most of my visits this year were in October, and next year I am going to go a bit more earlier.

--50--

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Chincoteague NWR, Fall 2010

2010-11-11T19:05:00.004-05:00

From: http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

A couple weeks ago I had my most productive visit to Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia.

The thing that set the visit apart was the morning encounters I had with some herons and egrets.

Color and good light makes normal things special, and great things extra special.

I've taken lots of heron and egret photos but really just about none when there was such magical light. Two things combined - the sun was rising behind me a bit, and there was a touch of fall foliage in front of me. The two combined to bathe these birds in light and color.

Shooting at Chincoteague can be a little tough, mostly because lots of people go there, and they are often tourist types that see someone or some thing and stop and all get out at once. On the day I got these shots that happened a couple times and I left and came back hoping the birds that all flew away would come back - and it sort of worked.

While there I also saw the roughly 1000 snow geese, and a few skimmers, hawks, falcons and some shovelers and other ducks...

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Hide and Seek - Cape May NJ

2010-11-03T21:29:00.003-04:00

From http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

My plan to hide a bit and have hawks or falcons land near my at the beach in Cape May worked.

I managed to get a handful of shots of this kestrel eating a dragonfly.

And this Video:

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Bodies, Glass, and Making Images

2010-10-28T19:40:00.003-04:00

I have very few hobbies, and in the past 5 years photography has gone from something I do with a point and shoot every awkward once and a while, to something I eat, sleep and breath probably more than most folks.

Averaged over 5+ years I shoot about 200 images a day - I haven't updated that stat in the past 6 or 8 months, but it has to be consistent and around 200 still. In 5 years I've past a few hundred thousands shots and hundreds of outings. It is that persistence and repetition that makes more and more things second nature.

Gear
In 5 years I've now bought 5 bodies (d70s, d200, Fuji S5, D300 and D300s) and even more lenses but nothing huge until 2 years ago I got the 200-400mm f/4 VR lens.

The 200-400mm lens is pretty sweet and I've meant to do a review / write up, but Thom (ByThom) has one that is way more detailed than I could make and he's right on. Very good lens, struggle with converters and is weak at long range optically.

But with that and all of my other gear, I've always managed to take images with whatever I have that I like, that keep me going, motivated to learn and keep trying.

This is with a D70s and 70-300 G lens, with one off camera flash, through glass at the zoo.

With lots of time and work, and gear, I broke down and got a 500mm f/4 lens. It should be a big leap gear wise / optically over the 200-400mm. I plan to hand hold it often - and have been actually working out in an effort to hand hold the 200-400mm longer and with less strain, and the 500 is just a pound or so heavier. (If I end up carrying both around at the same time I might just need a formal Gym Membership).

Skimmers at Sunrise - Fuji S5 w/ 200-400mm f/4 vr:

Always want more, and don't blame the gear - every setup is capable of producing amazing images be it a Holga or a Hasselblad.

Probably one of the biggest things I've focused on in the past 12 or 13 months is learning to see and understand light, sunrise and sunset, and how that is key to images that aren't "Normal" or "Average". The good light is not at mid-day when it might be easiest to head out for some shooting.... Sunrise or bust.

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Not just clicks but photos

2010-10-26T19:34:00.004-04:00

From: http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nature and Wildlife Photography is a strange thing in a way. It takes so much trial and error, repetition, exploration, and discovery to move forward and learn and see things. Then capturing meaningful images is another thing, and doing it in a way that others will also appreciate the nature/wildlife of it, that too takes time.

Luck is certainly one way to make that all happen. Luck is a major part of things, you can't usually wake up and know that wildlife will do something, and you can capture it, with any certainty. It just doesn't play out that way. But if you get lucky, many things click and can lead to images.

Planning, research, and making circumstances that embrace luck is another thing though. Being ready to be lucky will make for much more *good* luck.

Since there's no film to buy, and with dSLRs you can click-click and see what you've got, and move on... You have to pursue things with a passion, try and try, and get what you get, and try to learn and just be more prepared next time. And take risks, not standing on a cliff's edge, but trying something new, a new location or new technique, etc.

With time - I've learned to really look forward to each new season in the mid-atlantic area. There's always something new just around the corner and as Fall is only a month on, the future always seems to hold something worth looking forward to, something to plan for, strategize for, and hopefully make great new images as a result of the process.

-J

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Play the Seasons and Learn

2010-10-13T20:38:00.011-04:00

From http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

You can't fight it, you have to go with the flow. Let the salmon go up river to their death, struggling to survive, but as a photographer - learn the seasons, research the places, scout them, make friends, make visits, and over time get to know places and what works best.

I guess in a nut shell that's what I've been doing for a few years or more. Traveling mostly a hundred miles this way or that way, and when it works well either learning about a location or getting some good and new images - and on the really good days both. A day with learning but no stand out images, that's still got to be counted as a success.

Cape May New Jersey is sort of my new favorite place. Last year I went a couple times, but this year I am even more in to it.

Having gone to spots here and there at Cape May and tried sunrise or sunset at a few spots I now have more info and more local knowledge. The folks that live nearby, or visit lots, they know what's up - and it can largely be a matter of asking, and also trial and error.

The hawk landed on that fence post - I was just 20 feet away, and when I moved the camera over and started to shoot he saw me and flew off a moment later. That brief encounter, what it really highlighted for me was - hawks will do anything and land and then scan the area - IF they aren't spooked off to begin with. I was there already, but when I moved and focused on him, THAT bother him.

So, that was a couple weekends ago. What happened a few minutes later was a group of ~15 birders came up to the spot near me, and walked up and started looking around. Needless to say, no more hawks landed on the fence.

A week later I was back and it was like ground-hog-day, but I had just a little more info. I was at a similar spot along the dune and the hawks were all over the place, and migrating, and flying mostly south.

What I tried differently was to not be in a spot so often traveled by people. It was still pretty close to the beach, at a dunes spot, and basically equally good for hawks.

Here's the spot I picked and how I setup with some cover. Having shot a few places where I just made the seemingly minor choice of picking some cover to try to blend in with, it really made a difference.

The thing about shooting raptors flying by close and fast though is that shooting from a tripod - that's not so good. I couldn't move around and adjust fast enough. I wound up hand holding most of the time. I'd rest the camera and lens on the tripod, and then when something was approaching I'd hand hold the camera and get ready...

What actually happened next THREE TIMES though was I was too hidden, I blended in too much for my own good. Last year I got a camo coat, and hat, and have wrapped my lens in camo too. So, THREE times at this *other* spot a hawk landed on the fence post, so close that by the time I reached for the camera and began to adjust and move to just begin to PREPARE to take a shot, the hawk was so spooked by my new found presence that it took off before I even came CLOSE to getting a shot. Three times. Once the hawk was just on right of that tall grass perched on the fence maybe 4 feet from me and the camera.

Sigh.

So, I tried to learn from that, expect things, and plan and move around differently... It didn't quite work out, but I think if I had done what I did later during the earlier encounters, it could have worked. So, for me, I learned and will try new things next time.

-

One of the great things about this time of year and Cape May also is that there are so many knowledgeable and friendly people there. In just a few visits this year, I really learned a bunch already. I will still basically say much of the bird IDs I tell people are "guesses" because I know I have so much more to learn, but, with hundreds of raptors passing by, often per hour, I kind of feel like I know more every day of every visit I'm there.

Taking time to blend in, dress right, move slowly, and predict things is something I've picked up more in the past 2 years I'd say. It's like being a hunter... The input influences the output. If you don't know what you're doing the best you can hope for is being lucky. But there more you know, the more you can predict, the more you can steer chance in your own favor.......

Find spots and go with the seasons, learn the lay of the land, patterns, and NEVER be afraid to get info from a local or fellow visitor.

-Jon

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Cape May - Skimmer Sunrise - Shot Details

2010-09-26T16:40:00.003-04:00

From http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/
I took this one a little after sunrise when the sun hid behind some clouds for a moment.

Shooting at sunrise (or sunset) really makes for a much better starting point for nice images. The low angle and shadows or side lighting can't be beat. And the warmth of it, and orange light is way better than any mid day light might be.

The bulk of the editing done on this shot were two things. First I cloned out a person that was along the shore and distracted from the light and birds. The eye just wanted to go to it. The second thing I did was to clone out the birds that were partial and along the top edge of the shots. They too seemed to be distracting. There were about 4 or 5 of the bird parts, and the parts you could see weren't enough to make an entire bird out of...

I recently commented that editing (and cloning, etc) for content was something I didn't like or do much. In the case of this image I was ok with it. I don't consider myself a purist on things like this. What ever seems to work or what my eye wants is what I go with. But as a rule I guess, I don't shoot and then edit with a mindset of "hmmm, I wonder which parts I should clone out?" That's not how I shoot/edit.

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Chip! Chip Phillips!

2010-09-23T20:12:00.005-04:00

This guy rocks. I don't know who he is yet, just found his flickr stream, but he's top notch and has some amazing photos. I couldn't help but blog a few and spread the word.

This photo is a master piece in my humble opinion. It has light, depth, levels, the eye is just overloaded with wonderful things to view and ponder and enjoy!

If there ever was a photographer that I noticed, and was like wow, and thought for a moment....

This guy is about LIGHT.

I kind of want to shoot at sunrise and sunset or not at all after seeing these images.

Check out his flickr site and be amazed like I have been so far. I can't wait to explore some more.

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Birds Fly South

2010-09-17T19:05:00.005-04:00

http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

It's that time of year. It has to be. In just 2 days I saw 2 hawks flying overhead while I was driving. And not in the place or area I'd expect them, just in residential areas right off 2 lane roads.

Hawk mountain had a 1,000+ Broadwinged Hawk day yesterday, Cape May had a 100+ American Kestral/hr day after a storm this week. I even saw 5 ducks at my local little pond for the first time in ages. There's been a kingfisher and a green heron there, but no ducks until this week.

I even have seen a handful of flotillas of Canada Geese flying generally southish.

If you are looking for volume of subjects, variety like no other time, this is it. Tons of birds are flying south right now.

I wouldn't consider it snow goose time until late November, and December.

Right now it's raptors, hawks, falcons, eagles, owls, and little birdies like warblers, sparrows, all those kinds of birds and hundreds more!

Sunrise isn't so early anymore,
and sunset isn't so late.
It's not hot out.
It's not cold out.

Do you like to complain? There's nothing to complain about now.

I'm going shooting!

nice shot

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Chincoteague NWR, VA pt2

2010-09-12T15:21:00.006-04:00

From http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

What's neat about shooting at Chincoteague is getting to see some new behavior.

On a previous trip I was watching the herons and egrets and noticed how the gulls group up with them. The gulls don't seem to bother the herons and egrets much but they do key off of them - some times stealing their catch. What was interesting to watch though was how the gulls imitate the snowy egrets. The egrets will use their feet to stir up the bottom and get critters to reveal themselves. I saw a gull using its feet in the same way, it had to have learned it from the herons and egrets.

Shooting across from the visitors center out near the beach is surprisingly good. I would have thought the traffic or other visitors might detract, but it worked well.

I have this low LL Bean chair, it sits about 4 inches off the ground and makes for a nice seat to use and stay low, and off the sometimes wet/muddy ground.

One thing that I try to avoid is shooting from head high, tripod high, for no reason. Often I will collapse the legs on my tripod to the shortest height and then sit down, or I will extend the legs just slightly and kneel or crouch. I've only gone in to a full horizontal shooting stance a few times, but getting that low makes a difference. The two main things are the angle is more intimate, being closer to the subject, and the other thing it does is makes me less imposing - so I am not towering over a 1 feet subject standing 6 feet tall. Staying low can make a big difference like this. A couple of trips about at Chincoteague I slid closer to a group of herons and got within 20 or 25 feet of them. THey knew I was there but over time I slowly got closer and didn't trigger their fear and they stayed put, hunting, unbothered. When I was done shooting and stood up - every bird flew away. Many came back as I walked away, but that just shows the contrast of standing vs. sitting and the way birds might respond.

This Redish Egret had just caught and ate a crab - and then proceeded to stick its head underwater so it could slowly look for the other bits (legs and claws). It was neat to see and the undisturbed water made for some nice reflections...

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Chincoteague NWR, VA

2010-09-10T20:53:00.005-04:00

From http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

I've now been something like 5 or 6 times to Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia.

It is a pretty cool refuge - with pools and areas protected from the coast, as well as the beach right up on the Atlantic Ocean. In the summer it is a hotspot for beach goers and folks looking for wildlife too.

Compared to Blackwater NWR the mix of animals if very different in the summer. Blackwater has lots of eagles and osprey, and some herons. Chincoteague has the ponies (!) and a couple eagles and a few osprey, but most of what I saw were herons and egrets of many varieties. Things like Little Blue Herons, ~~Redish Egrets~~, Snowy Egrets and Cattle Egrets are in good numbers, and of those many I've never seen at Blackwater. Something about being right along the coast makes Chincoteague have more and different birds I think.

While I've seen a handful of Black Skimmers there, I heard that over on the "NASA beach" there's like a billion. Which I would guess translates in to actually thousands, but I don't know. From what the person said it is only accessible by NASA employees. :/

In August I got some shots of the Cattle Egrets working from the backs of the Ponies! It was pretty darn cool to see. I need to review the images again and post one to flickr, they're ok but so far I wasn't super jazzed about any one image based on composition, details, behavior, etc. But here's a preview where an Egret is jumping off the back of the pony and heading to the ground to catch something. The egrets hunt for the critters that the ponies reveal as they walk around.

I'm still learning the refuge and the ins and outs, and what works best and when - both time of day and time of year.

One of the challenges is that it is pretty crowded, so it is tough to have a quiet and controlled encounter. The Wildlife Drive is open to foot and bike traffic all day, and then also car traffic after 3pm. The wildlife drive has proven cool, but I don't think I've gotten ANY of my favorite shots from there, except for a few skimmer shots. Most of what I like has been taken along the road to the beach or adjacent to the beach itself.

I'm sure the wildlife drive is better in Fall with more migratory birds there, and less people traffic. Many people I've spoken to talk about visiting in Fall and NOT summer. I like to explore and come up with those rules myself - so I visited a few times this summer, and did ok, but now hope to do even better in Fall...

-Jon

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

A Photo Edit - Black and White Red Fox

2010-09-09T19:49:00.008-04:00

From http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

I've meant to do more posts like this one. A quick take on the edit techniques used to process an image. Doing this for a straightforward image with little edits doesn't offer much. But for many images that I make there's a decent distance between what the camera captured, and how I've interpreted it, edited it, and then produced the final image.

Here's a composite with the final image on top. The bottom two images are from the raw file and are the basic images, reset to defaults in Lightroom and then color (default) and grayscale.

One of the main problems with the source image was it wasn't that sharp. It was the sharpest of the bunch from the encounter, but at 1/30th of a second at f/4, and a mix of handheld and resting on my car window/beanbag - it was hard to get a sharp shot.

color/default-raw

The sharpest part is his nose, and the DoF falls off pretty quickly. As a straight color image his eyes and attention are gripping but the image itself isn't refined enough in my opinion. The above is overly flat due to no processing, but shows signs of animal behavior and intent and that'x what drew me to the photo/moment.

Default/Grayscale

Switching to grayscale removes color and distraction, and elements that might make the mind wander. Color is a strong element on its own but for this image I really wanted to narrow the scope of it to just the fox. Converting to black and white, even though I have black and white on the brain lately, was probably a very justified move.

OK - so that's the setup. That's what I had to work with. I had seen the fox and due to the low light was shooting at pretty slow shutter speeds and wide open. My personal preference is to shoot wide open at ISO 400 and SLOW shutter speeds and let the cards fall where they may on sharpness. I don't always stick to this rule, but I try to avoid shooting at any ISO above 400. There's something about my D300 and D300s that ISO500 or beyond, just make me concerned regarding noise.

Anyway... I've been reading a book. I got it probably a year ago and just picked it up again. The book is Vincent Versace's "Welcome to Oz". In it he describes using Photoshop to turn a source image in to an artistic vision, an interpretation, something where the source file is just the starting point.

I highly recommend everyone listen to this podcast with Vinny (as I hear he's called).

Some of the concepts he talks about are how the eye moves through an image - light to dark, high contrast to low contrast, etc, etc..... Things that make sense but not what you might be concerned with when processing an image where you are really trying to (for me anyway) showcase a subject (often an animal) and show to others what you see.

So - here's the final black and white edit. This was done in Lightroom, and I used the adjustment brush a few times with different levels of lightening and darkening.

A few key edits I did were to darken the image and edges, and brighten the eyes and his nose. I also darkened the original bright spot on tht http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/e right. Having done that edit, I removed some noise in PS with D-fine, and added my logo.

It's fine to want to get it all right in camera and I shoot for that too. Heck I shot jpg for like 3 years! Now that I shoot RAW and manual mode I strive for getting the source file as good as possible. However there's often much more to an image than that.

Let me know what you think. I'm not looking to stir up the purist's who'd capture it in camera and do NO edits ever... What do folks think about editing images to enhance and convey, and make an image become an artist photo?

-Jon

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Always be shooting and creating

2010-09-09T07:16:00.004-04:00

From http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

While I will occasionally take a short break from either shooting or posting, I generally like to always be active and shooting and harvesting images.

This past long weekend I was very active and drove 600 miles plus, and visited 6 different places including 3 refuges, the DC Zoo, Rennfest and Susquehanna River.

I think I must have taken more than 3 or 4 thousand images. Given that amount of shooting it becomes a lot easier to have stuff to work with and find what looks best, what worked well, and process and post something.

Part of what keeps me motivated is a desire to always have something new to post and share.

This time of year, in between summer and fall - I am trying to hit as many spots / places as possible to check in with locations and see where they are during the changing seasons. In past years I'd try to make it to a couple locations very frequently and now I am trying to cast a wider net. Going some place super frequently has its benefits as far as learning the location and specifics. But now I am doing more than that, and often will also do over night trips to extend my reach - for example like visiting Chincoteague NWR.

I can't wait for fall to kick in to full gear.

-50-

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Black and White Photography

2010-09-03T19:12:00.004-04:00

From - http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Black and white photography is nice right, but color is so much better! Well, hmmm.

These days we all shoot color. There's no "film" in the digital world anymore, and they don't make "black and white cameras" - so that's just how it is. Color.

But really, black and white can be even stronger than color. In a way it is like the power of still over motion pictures. Movies convey more info, but a still image is less and therefore more refined, the data is more concentrated on the message or specific moment, or mood captured.

I am new to thinking in black and white. I did shoot black and white film in school and did the development myself, but that was forever ago.

A handful of times I've found B&W images or digital conversions to be the way to go. Often it is for Gorillas or Giant Pandas at the zoo.

A week ago I was listening to a podcast or something and I decided to make a change to my camera, to how I shoot and maybe how I see.

On my D300s I enabled monochromatic mode, while set to RAW+JPG. This has a couple of nice benefits. Shooting RAW still allows for everything I've been used to - full color images, RAW processing, etc. But it also makes the back of the camera images all visible in black and white. And it saves a copy of the black and white iamge as a JPG.

I think I'm going to leave it like this for a while. Maybe even try to turn it in to a project. The going vertical project from a number of months ago was fun and helped kick me in a different direction, and helped me to think and see just a little differently. I shoot both ways, but restricted my posting for about 50 shots in a row to vertical only.

The effects of trying to see and shoot in black and white might be even more beneficial. Good color can make an ok image better, but if it were better to begin with the color might set it over the top. Black and white. I'm hoping it raises my composition skills, and gives me a better eye.

We'll see. Stay tuned.

-Jon

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Gear Tune Up - Success

2010-09-02T18:45:00.010-04:00

From http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

I should have done it sooner - I knew both my main cameras were acting up a little and had focus problems. Over the last few years I have sent in every camera I've owned except the Fuji S5 (D200 with different guts/sensor)- probably because I don't have a lot of wear on it.

My D300s is a year old (I think) and was doing ok but then started to focus hunt and then stop - and had trouble being "Accurate". Having had trouble in the past, I tried the same lens on my D300 and had somewhat better luck (but a different problem). So I began to use my D300 for action / birds in flight. I sent in the D300s to be tuned, cleaned, and calibrated - and they did just that and it works much better now. Nikon service fixed it for free, doing the work under warranty.

The D300s was still functional but didn't perform well. So I found myself juggling bodies for action and then video - because the D300s does video and the D300 doesn't. That finally got old, and with the summer wrapping up, and fall just around the corner I got the D300s fixed. It has about 48,000 shots on it now.

Now the D300.

This camera has been in for service now 3 times. It has over 120,000 shots on it and I've used it for around 3 years. The first time I sent it in was for the same type of focus trouble that the D300s had - hunting, bad performance, and giving up trying to focus without having gained focus. The second time was when a sensor for the mirror went bad - the mirror would bounce during the shutter/exposure, and would then stay UP, not down. The camera was a couple years old and I think I had to pay for the repair. But when I got it back the focus points didn't line up with the actual focus.

It was strange, if you selected the center focus point it would often appear to be ok, but in fact it was getting focus from just to the left and down about a sensor's width and height over. There were two very specific hints that something was very wrong with the camera when I got it back. The screen cover for the back of the camera was cracked.

Then about 2 weeks later I noticed that the hotshoe wouldn't accept a flash - it was bent a bit and the flash didn't fit. It was then I knew the camera had been dropped. I didn't drop it, and I doubt HIGHLY that Nikon Service would drop it and wrap it up and send it back. So, since it was boxed and in bubble wrap, the only way it could have happened during the repair process - was if the store I sent it back via had done it. They must have got the camera back, and during the unboxing processes dropped it, it bounced, cracked the screen, bent the hot shoe, and what took the most time to discover - WHACKED the focus alignments/calibration.

I won't name the store, but they've got a history of being jerks in my local community - and they won't be getting any of my business any more.

So, when I sent it in asking for cleaning and adjustments, and calibration to fix focus, and the misaligned focus points, nearly a year later, I expected Nikon Service to charge me. But THEY are good. Unlike the store that broke stuff and pretended nothing happened - Nikon Service just fixed it under the old repair warranty. Now that's nice, not to have to complain, or beg, or pay for it to be made right.

I shot this with the repaired D300s - it's at 400mm and 1/160th of a second.

One big thing to consider is that focus is a fickle thing - and it impacts how VR performs. VR uses focus as part of its math (from what I've heard) - so having a poorly performing focus system may make VR less effective. Before I had the camera recently repaired getting a good infocus, sharp shot like the above was very hard. They all seemed to just be off a little.

I don't know if it will be very noticeable in this osprey photo taken with the broken camera months ago - because it is one of the better ones, but the focus is just behind the head, more towards the body. What I found, probably the hardest case for a camera to focus well in, is that for birds in flight, where the distance is changing, ie toward the camera, a poorly performing camera will not do well. I think it lags behind, and might seem to be "back-focus" but it is more likely "lag-focus" where the camera is just behind in its calculations, and can't get it right / or perfect, and the movement makes it visible.

This spring and summer I literally took thousands of birds in flight shots that left me wanting more, better focus, sharper detail... Having been out shooting now just a couple weeks with the repaired D300s - I found it much better at doing a good job. And even in the hardest cases - like seeing a flying bird and wipping up the camera/lens and trying to get focus before it vanishes from view - it did ok, fast, and accurately. The repaired D300s even did ok on far off moving birds in FOG! Fog is rough, and it did ok.

----

~4 years ago I broke my D70s with about 45,000 shots on it - breaking the shutter! Nikon fixed it for free. Since then the card reader/writer died, and it randomly takes a shot and turns the card in to jibberish and writes random stuff to it. I haven't had it fixed, but I still have it. The electronic shutter (aka strobist hackable) makes it worth it - some day I will pursue getting that repaired.

~1 year ago I had my D200 refurbished - cleaned, tuned, adjusted, and had the rubber-grip replaced so it looked like new! And they only charged me around ~240 if I recall correctly. That camera had around 160,000 shots on it at the time.

I am pretty ready for fall now. The D300 will be back in my hands probably in a week. All I need to get tuned up is my 80-400mm which probably needs gears replaced because I have really beaten it up over the years and it doesn't focus well, and no where near as cleanly as a new 80-400mm (I've borrowed a friends).

The Take Away - get your gear (mainly body) tuned, cleaned, and focus-adjusted every year if you shoot a lot, and every couple years if you shoot some. And if you think your camera isn't performing, focus, metering, etc, properly, SEND IT IN right away.

Sending stuff to Nikon now - I use UPS and insure for the replacement cost, and Nikon Service in Melville NY is very fair and does a great job.

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Play, Let Go, Have Fun

2010-08-18T19:33:00.008-04:00

I made it to the County Fair last night. The festive nature got me in the mood to let go a little. Sure I brought a tripod and a camera and a few lenses, and filters, and a cable release and...

But after a while, a few hundred shots, and a lap around the area having seen and shot everything at least once - I started to play.

A few of the things this involved were - hand holding long exposures, taking shots were the horizon was not level on purpose, and then really tossing it all aside and zooming the lens during the exposure, spinning the camera during the exposure, and even doing both of those plus trying to pan on moving rides/subjects.

Landscape and Wildlife Photography - shooting, the gear, the techniques involved, it can all be so technical. Do this to improve that, try this to avoid that, make sure this or that is sharp, this is out of focus, etc, etc.

It was nice to for a brief while play around and see what the results were later. In around 4 hours I took just under a thousand shots. It was around shot 500 that I began to play more and more.

--

I got to the fair about 45 minutes before sunset and it worked out perfectly. I was able to check everything out with some day light, shoot the sunset and rides w/ lights and then shooting everything in the night sky/dark.

It was fun.

I started the night bracketing shots 3 or 5 clicks per, then changed to shooting 2 shot brackets of 0ev and +1ev, in aperture mode. This helped by adjusting the exposure to the changing light as I went along, and by changing the amount of time the shutter was open without having to think about it too much. I adjusted the base EV to tweak the exposures a little, but still let the camera meter things. Most shots were taken with the Nikon 18-200mm VR and with the Vari-ND filter.

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Don't just take the perfect shots

2010-08-04T21:52:00.008-04:00

From http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

One thing that I've learned is that you have to take tons and tons of photos.

It takes time to experiment, review, learn. Repetition is a big thing.

I like to have photos that cover the in between times, not just the moments that appear to be "the perfect shots". They help glue together the day for me when reviewing the images I got. They also help me to keep an open mind - and potentially shoot anything.

I shot some photos showing the parking lot here, the signage, and the water tower - a few days ago.

Tonight when I was reviewing the image I realized that there was a peregrine falcon hiding on the tower! While I didn't get anything great of him, I did get him. And I will know for future reference.

Shoot anything and everything.

Peregrine's like high perches and there was lots of other birds in the area. Birds were traveling to the bay side to catch fish, and then flying back to the ocean side. I bet the peregrine could pick off a skimmer or tern in about 20 seconds or less and be done hunting...

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

MD Osprey Chick 2010

2010-07-26T19:28:00.005-04:00

From http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

One of the 3 Osprey chicks from the nest in Maryland.

With this blog post I'm going to show how I edit and crop for effect. Here's the original photo with no cropping and just my base Lightroom import settings. These Lightroom settings include - saturation, whitebalance, and defringe edge correction. I have a preset for the settings I like to use as my own defaults for import. It took me a little while to come up with them, nothing too special, I just got tired of doing the same settings every time. Once these defaults are applied I often tweak them more.

The nest is distracting and the twig on the right meant I needed to crop tight. If I had a longer lens I would have shot tighter...

Levels adjusted to white out the background and contrast added to make the bird's tones stronger.

The feathers around the chicks neck were also sharpened using Unsharp Mask in Photoshop. Generally I do a couple minutes in Lightroom, and then a couple minutes to reduce the image for posting and add the final adjustments like sharpening in Photoshop.

--50--

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Don't use the focus limiter feature of long lenses

2010-07-21T19:04:00.003-04:00

From http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

There was a time that I always used the limiter. Now pretty much never.

This guy wouldn't let me approach close at all. If I tried to walk towards him he'd fly away at 50 feet! After that happening twice, the next time I saw him at more than 50 feet, I laid down and waited for him to come to me and he did. The above is at about 40 feet. He got to inside of 10.

One of the reasons I now do not use the focus limiter at all on my telephoto lenses is that shots of far away stuff is easy, and I want close stuff. When the close stuff presents itself I do not want to be fumbling over a limiter switch. It makes the lens hunt more, or spend more time hunting through the range of focus - but it is one of the things I've changed in my approach to focus in the last year. I'd much rather miss the far away stuff than the close stuff.

With birds close often happens in just a few wing beats. For the above I was prone and trying to balance the lens, not show myself to the heron, and keep shooting as he kept getting closer and closer...

There's nothing much more frustrating then hoping and trying for close encounters and then having the camera or lens get in the way of taking those close photos...

FB / twitter

--50--

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Observe and be Judgmental

2010-07-20T19:58:00.009-04:00

From - http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

I think to be a successful nature/wildlife photographer you have to be judgmental! What do I mean by that? Well here goes...

To make animal photos that are more than snapshots, more than an "oh look, click!" type of photo it takes skill in observation. It takes time to see and think like the subject. To make predictions and try to either put yourself in the right spot at the right time or to let something play out the way you would like.

In my recent shooting of the osprey nest here in Maryland I've noticed a few things, and tried a few things, and had pretty good luck.

read more...

The first time I visited this nest, was a couple or more months ago when the female was on eggs, so no chicks yet. What I noticed was the nest was super close to land. Having seen a nest or two that was too close for the bird's comfort I was excited and a bit cautious. I decided to wait to come back. And by the time I came back again 2 of the 3 chicks were fledged.

When I got there a walked up near the nest, and got the usual yips from the chicks and more from the mom. After a minute she calmed down, and I also backed off a bit. After that and a little time it almost became hard to get a reaction from them. I didn't want to them to fly off the nest or anything, it was just odd that they didn't care so much, even if I was pretty close.

It was then that I knew they were used to people being in the area and while aware of it all, they could deal with it well. Later visits I'd get close, back off, other people would come by or a boat or a plane and the additional activity might make them fly.

Judging the circumstances and their behavior - on more than one occasion I backed away from the nest and sat down, or generally looked away did my thing to let them watch and come back to the nest, and not be bothered by my presence. This tactic worked.

If you've watch an osprey nest you are probably aware that the adults are big and can take care of themselves well, be it a crow or an eagle, or another osprey that is a threat. But they can also be skittish and fly away from the nest if bothered or not come back if a person is too close.

I've watched that series "In to the lions den" and I think a lot can be learned from it. The guys approach is to be super observant and to build awareness of animal behavior. Then to take that knowledge and try to build trust with the animals so you can come to a common ground where you just are there, and they don't get bothered by his presence. In the show he used this technique to go from roaring lions at 150 yards, to laying down on the ground unprotected at around 15 feet from the pride!

While I'm not him, and these aren't lions, observing osprey and trying to make all kinds of judgments as to their thoughts and your actions has led to some great chances at photographs.

This particular location is odd and great in that the birds are close and NOT bothered by people that much. They've become habituated to people being in the area. And the calmness of the adults has carried over to the chicks. This weekend the 3rd chick fledged (or had just done so the day before). Using past experience I'd say that birds which aren't comfortable - that can fly away - will fly away if bothered. This weekend the birds didn't fly away due to me being there at all I think. I even got as close as the shore would allow, and got the occasional stare but not much else.

Then came the male. I hadn't seen him all that much. In the week or so of observation I'd been wanting to see all 5 birds (2 adults and 3 chicks). When the male visited late in the day, he flew by and buzzed the nest and fly off. Having seen this same skittishness in the male from a different nest I watched last year, I backed off and waited and within a few minutes he came back and delivered a fish.

Last year when I saw this skittishness I tried to avoid taking shots after that first fly by on the nest. Holding off worked sometimes but he was still skittish. And this testing it out on my part was difficult at times because I wasn't the only photographer there. The other guys did try it too and it seemed to help but the birds were uneasy and with multiple people it is a hard thing to control and gain insight from. Imagine if that Lion guy was trying to get to be friends with a lion pride and was doing it while part of a group of 3 people!?@

This weekend when the male flew by I took the initial shots of him flying, backed off/away and he came back. Then he went and caught more fish and I repeated the same thing but moved off quicker and he came back quicker too.

The point of this is to be observant, be in the moment, watch for signs of discomfort in subjects and possible causes which you might control - like movement, distance from subject, noise you're making, etc. Animals will give signs of their comfort or lack there of, and often will do it before they are ready to fly away.

Watching nests can be pretty easy as a photographer, and pretty stressful on the birds if you get too close or don't watch for the signs and respond to them. It is a common things for birds to abandon eggs or even young chicks if they're bothered. When approached properly though getting to see the variety of behavior and interactions between adults and offspring can be very rewarding.

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As a photographer I like to be thoughtful and question my own actions. I also like to watch others and then wonder to myself if I'd do it the same way or differently given the chance. To get close and get close photos takes more than a long lens. It takes time to observe and learn, and time to experiment and to try again and again.

This spring I spent more than a couple days hunting around for the new perfect spot to try to shoot osprey. I had two in mind and my fall back spot turned in to the better one. In a couple evenings and a couple afternoons I shot around 60GBs of stuff (osprey and a couple green herons). I'm going to try to go back and get more of the adults and especially the chicks fishing. I've seen 1 or 2 of the chicks hunting and been surprised how clumsy they are, but how well they do too.

Make plans! Summer will be wrapping up before you know it and Fall migration will be upon us. What will you do to see better things, take better photos and make this Fall your best? I'm going to visit some new spots, as well as some spots that were new to me last year.

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Gear - multiple bodies

2010-07-10T20:51:00.007-04:00

From http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/
I try not to write about gear too much. Gear should work, not be the focus of major thought or discussion, and be the tools used to do something - take images.

There's a funny reply to the comment "wow great photo, what kind of camera do you have?" - something like "would you ask Shakespeare what of kind of pen he had?" The tools play a part, but they don't do the thing, they don't automate the making of great images.

Time and effort is best spent focusing on learning about subjects, locations, photographic techniques. Time should be spent researching, appreciating the work of others, and trying to grow as a photographer.

All that said, I just read a very good review by Thom on the 200-400mm VR lens. And then just a day later I read the very brief (too brief in my mind to really count for a review) of the new 200-400mm VR2 lens by Trey.

read more...

I agree with pretty much everything Thom said about the lens in his review. Great lens, and have issues, and struggles at 400mm for long distance shooting, and struggles even more with converters. But close up to medium distances it is great. Thom also noted much of the time he used the lens he used different bodies, as new ones became available, and very often got varying results.

Having Multiple Bodies
There are multiple benefits to having more than one Digital SLR. The most obvious of which is that you can be out shooting and have two lenses mounted and ready to go. One might have a short zoom, and the other a long telephoto. Like I said, that's the most obvious of reasons to have 2 cameras.

Assuming the cameras are from the same manufacturers (same lens mount), and might share the same batteries (like many Nikons) - there's the benefit of swappable batteries, multiple chargers, similarities in menu systems and controls, etc.

A second body is also great as a backup. Most of the time you can only shoot with one camera at a time, so, you only really NEED one camera, which makes the second camera often best thought of as a standby in case the first camera breaks, fails, dies, etc. I've bought 5 digital SLRs and more than a couple times I've had to send one in to be repaired. Actually, I never send the D70s in to be fixed. It has trouble writing to the memory card, and some times writes jibberish. The D200, D300 both went in for focus issues, and the D300 more than once. The D300 actually also had a sensor die that detects the state of the mirror (it would stick UP).

In reading Thom's review, and remembering some of the problems I've had with gear, it reminded how good it can be to have a second body. Focus performance can be a very frustrating thing to investigate. Thom said that for his 200-400mm lens the major thing regarding focus was the body, not the lens. I agree.

Last year I wondered and worried about my D300 and 200-400mm VR and the focus or lack of focus performance I was getting. As part of that I wound up going back to shoot with my old D200 and was shocked to discover that the D200 was working better for fast focus tracking.

I sent the D300 in to be "fixed" and they tuned it, cleaned it, and also set everything to the opposite of how I had it (release priority, small jpg, 9-point, blah blah).

Recently I've been using my D300s and have had some strange focus problems. With the 200-400mm I've had it hunt briefly for focus, and then give up. I scratched my head for a while, and then tried the D300 and the problem went away, it was working properly. Most likely for my issues with focus it is my gear and it is that I let my gear get dirty and I push my expectations to where I should probably get a pro level body like a D3...

So, my post was motivated by this discovery, and I finally got to the point. Having more than one camera to use allows for an entirely different set of tests you can try to see if it is you, or the lens, or the camera, or the conditions you're shooting in, or maybe nothing is wrong and everything is behaving as best as can be expected. With one camera and a problem, you might never be able to figure it out, because you have no other camera body to make a comparison to.

Focus problems with a pro-sumer level dSLR is a very common thing. I've had questions and some times actual focus problems with all my gear - as early as with the D70s and Tamron 18-200mm. Back then it was me, and my novice ways. I didn't understand focus, auto-focus, and it works be "Seeing" contrast. Try focusing on the sky or a brightly lit white wall without features - there no contrast and the camera will hunt and find nothing. Auto-focus works by seeing a change in brightness levels (contrast) and adjusting the focus until there is a sharp or distinct transition (my un-technical description). Cameras use two type of focus sensor, straight-line sensors and 2 perpendicular straight-line sensors grouped together as one.

That's auto-focus 101. When things start to get complicated is for moving subjects, placement in the frame, the direction of the movement, the speed of the movement, and the settings and horsepower of the camera itself. Trying to figure those things out and what works best and when isn't easy.

Being able to rule out a faulty or dirty or mis-configured or mishandled camera and lens is a huge thing. Not everyone will push their gear to the limits. I don't travel to Alaska or Africa, or other exotic places, but I do seem to push things.

Birds in flight or sports are probably a couple of the most demanding focus situations to shoot in. And birds are probably harder since they are small and can move in all directions while for most sports the subjects remain on or close to the ground.

If you are upgrading to a newer camera, keep the old one. If you have a good camera now, consider buying another lesser one, used, and keep it around as second to shoot with or test things out when you run in to problems.

5 years ago I felt I really spend a lot and was done buying gear when I bought my first dSLR, a D70s and a single lens. That was 2005, now it is 2010 and I shoot with 3 bodies often taking 2 out on a day. The Fuji S5 is great for high dynamic range shooting and makes a nice landscape camera. For everything else I use either a D300 or D300s, and usually it's the D300s since I can switch to video.

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Time to take photos is now!

2010-07-08T19:29:00.004-04:00

From http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Sure it is hot, sure there are lots of bugs. But these are some of the longest days of the year. And sunrise and sunset are some of the best things to go looking for.

Super long days like these make it easier to go shooting on a work day.

Sunrise is before 6am and sunset is after 8pm. Unless you work 14 hours a day, there's a good chance you can find the time, even during the week, to get out and shoot!

This time of year isn't my favorite, I like the cooler days, the days when sunset is 7pm or sunrise is 7am... It's easier to drive to a sunrise that's a hundred miles away. But it makes closer shooting on a weekday possible.

Early morning might give a chance to avoid the heat, and late in the day evening thunderstorms can make for more dramatic scenes...

Find time to shoot now or you might never...

--50--

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

DC Fireworks July 4th 2010

2010-07-05T14:57:00.013-04:00

From http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Yesterday was the 4th of July and I made my second serious attempt to shoot the DC fireworks.

Like any major event downtown or nearby Washington DC it takes the right mindset and a plan to avoid unplanned pitfalls or something which might make the night a bust. For the 4th of July the things to plan for are the spot to shoot from, transportation to and from there, and having the right gear and supplies to make it somewhat comfortable.

I was leaning towards trying to shoot from near the Iwo Jima Memorial and did just that. I started surveying the area, road closures, access to various places around 1PM - a full 8 hours before the fireworks. I parked in a grassy area setup by the park police near the entrance to Arlington National Cemetery when heading north on the George Washington Parkway. By 2:30 or so I had walked to the Iwo Jima Memorial and picked a spot in the shade to wait and finalize my plans from. By around 7PM the area started to get fairly busy and I picked my final spot - where I took this shot looking back up the hill from.

For supplies I packed a Gatorade, 4 frozen waters, a soda and some trail-mix.

read more...

For gear I packed my D300 and D300s, 80-400mmVR and 18-200mmVR and my two tripods. I also had a cable release and stereo microphone. Last fall I got a VariND, a variable Neutral Density filter and I brought that, and a circular polarizer too. I also brought a bag chair, and a couple of camera bags to carry the stuff in. In all I probably had like 30 pounds of stuff, maybe more.

I posted this one last night right after I got home. It might be the best of the night I got.

What Worked Well
The gear I picked was enough. Lol, I brought a ton, but I did leave another camera home (Fuji S5) and a video camera. Since I knew I'd be walking a lot and heading back to my car in the dark, I didn't bring my 200-400mm. It is a great somewhat fast lens but is huge and weighs a lot. The 80-400mm worked better because I had a ND filter for it, and could shoot long exposures without having to stop down to f/18 or more and go past the sharp range of the lens (and avoid highlighting dust spots on my sensor).

Part way in to shooting I had to adjust my exposures a bit and remembered something from a podcast I had just listened to regarding low ISO. Nikon makes the ISOs below 200 low-1, 2 and 3. The reason these are low is that below ISO 200 the camera doesn't perform as well, possibly with more noise than at ISO 200. So I adjusted my ISO up to ISO 200.

The VariND on the 80-400mm lens also worked well. I wound up using it to adjust my exposure once I was setup and rolling. I chimped some shots, and increased the ND a bit.

While reviewing last year's images I realized I was not zoomed in nearly enough. This year I made sure to try to get tighter shots, more full frame. Part of my thinking was that fireworks are set off all over the country, but the thing that makes seeing them in Washington DC so special is the surroundings / the monuments, the Capital Building, etc. I did way better than last year, but it wasn't until almost the end that I zoomed in on the 80-400 past around 250 or 300mm.

What Didn't Work Well
Operating two cameras led to many more shots than what I could have done with just one camera. However I think I did two things wrong. I had the tripods very close and touching eachother, or at least the stuff I had hanging from the tripods (to add weight) were touching. This led to shooting with one camera and adjust the other and moving that first camera a bit. I have some images that show movement in the camera.

I shot in manual focus on both cameras. This speeds things up, prevents focusing on close trees and makes for consistency. However, I didn't pay close enough attention on the 18-200mm and D300s and a large group of early shots are out of focus, focused closer than what I wanted.

Shooting two cameras at the same time isn't something I've ever done like this, so all in all I did ok.

What I Might Try Differently Next Year
Shooting from near the Iwo Jima Memorial was pretty cool. I got the shots I wanted and had planned for. Getting all 3 Washington icons in tight formation was what I'd seen in my minds eye.

Next year I might see about shooting from downtown DC or somewhere else. I've seen some shots from behind the Capital building looking west that were very good, and made the Capital build the major "dc" element...

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

DC Fireworks Photography and Tips

2010-06-30T22:02:00.019-04:00

From http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

I've had the upcoming fireworks on the brain. I've been thinking about how last year went, what I might try this year, and what I should do to make the most of it.

read more

When last year was approaching I was kicking myself because all my decent DC fireworks shots (very few or none) were posted and used already. So I knew I'd probably take tons in 2009 and have at least one to use that was fresh and different to lead in to this year's 4th of July Celebration in the Nation's Capital.

Flickr Description:

Last year (above) was the first year I took the 4th fireworks in DC seriously and set out on a mission to photograph the event.

I went super early and made an entire day of it. This year I want to do something similar but better and different. I liked the view from the VA side of the river, but a review of images from a minute ago and nothing is tight enough, way too much empty space and everything had to be cropped.

What worked was the monuments - to set the location and day in to context.

This year I'm trying to come up with a new plan. I might go over to the DC side, but I don't want to be so close that I can't get at least one monument. I am also thinking about going up towards the Iwo Jima Memorial.

Are folks as psyched as me for the 4th and taking photos?

There are lots of guides and tips out there - briefly: use a tripod, mirror delay, cable release, 2 or 3 second shutter speed, take photos continuously (it ends very quickly), manual focus, ~f/8 for some DoF and if you're in the DC area you probably should get to the spot at least a few hours early, probably more.

Any one have a good spot to recommend? Maybe something high up like a rooftop or somewhere else unique? (if it is a secret, email me)

Here are a few more detailed tips in case you're in need of a little help. It took me a couple of tries to get the right approach and get the shots I got last year.

Fireworks Photography Tips

#1 Find the right spot - The spot you shoot from is key and fundamental to all the rest. In DC getting one or more landmarks is a must. The fireworks are launched from the east side of the reflecting pool, and that area is off limits. I walked around there last year during the day, and late in the afternoon they lock down the fireworks area and neighboring land. A spot that is not too close is good so you can get a good complete shot. However I've also seen some shots from between the Washington Monument and the Capital and they were night, tight, and well done too. Rooftops are a nice shooting location too, I've not done it, but I've seen some nice results.

#2 Use a Tripod - Exposure times should be something like 1 to 2 or 3 seconds so you cannot try to handhold the camera. The tripod should be solid, and if you have a backpack with stuff in it, hang it off the hook in between the legs for extra weight and stability.

#3 Timer, Mirror delay, Cable Release - All of these things will help minimize camera shake and blur. In 2009 I used all 3 things and they helped but also took up considerable precious time. The fireworks take forever to get started, but once they do, it seems like it last a few minutes and is over. Use a 2 or 3 second timer, mirror delay if you have it, and shoot as close to continuously as you can. In 2009 I ONLY took around 150 shots and wished I had gotten more.

#4 Turn OFF in Camera Noise Reduction - Leaving it on will double the time the camera spends on EACH photo, effectively cutting the number of long exposures you can capture in half. So turn off IN-CAMERA-NOISE-REDUCTION! If you only plan to shoot a few shots, keep it on, but see tip #3 if you want to get lots of shots - keep it off.

#5 Get to the spot early - One of my first years trying to shoot the fireworks I made my final approach around 2 hours before dark and I was late, entire areas were full and unavailable to even attempt to park at or shoot from. Use Metro is possible.

#6 Exposure Plan - You need a plan for how you are going to get the right exposure. I didn't my first time and tried to "freeze the action!" Yeah, that doesn't work. What makes the fireworks so cool is a long exposure where the light streaks and blurs and makes huge patterns. So that means you need a longer exposure than you might plan for if you didn't have a plan. A 2 second exposure at ISO 400 and f/5.6 is a very long time if you have anything that's even remotely bright (like fireworks). I'd say with those settings you'd get an over-exposed frame. I shoot in manual mode. This helps to produce consistent results. But it still take some experimenting to find the right values. This shot from last year was adjusted from the RAW but here's the exif
Exposure 1.6 seconds
Aperture f/7.1
Focal Length 48 mm
ISO Speed 100

#7 Shoot in RAW - I used to shoot in JPG, or JPG+RAW and mostly used the JPGs. That was a couple years ago. Now I shoot only RAW. The main thing that changed was I discovered Photoshop Lightroom. Lightroom makes working with RAW files so much easier. And by that I mean easier to get better results than decently exposured JPG in camera. For night photography and fireworks photography RAW probably makes even more of a difference. Getting a couple stops of exposure to adjust in the RAW file lets you shoot and make little mistakes and overcome them. I don't go out planning to shoot mistakes. Fireworks happen so fast, go off some times one at a time, 2 or 3 or 4 at a time and there's just no time to meter for a 3 second exposure that isn't visible before you start exposing the sensor/film. If you aren't the type to work with RAW now, than do yourself a favor and shoot both at the same time, and use what you're comfortable with now, but give yourself options later when you get better at editing the camera's files.

#8 Use a black card to block the lens - One trick to get crazy shots of fireworks is to take multiple sets of launched fireworks and combine them in to one exposure. This can be done a few ways, but the old-school way, ie from film days, is to keep the camera's shutter open for an extended period of time and only let the light in when the fireworks are exploding. To do this block the lens during the in between time with a black card or something that won't let any light in.

#9 Check the Histogram - The histogram can be pretty helpful with fireworks. I'd recommend shooting RAW and trying to get just a touch of the histogram up on the right side, ie clipping just a little. Most of the pixels though should be dark and recorded in middle or left side of the histogram... Note some camera display histograms that are really one color, not full RGB histograms, or maybe they're an average. So be a little careful making all the exposure calculations based on the histogram. Chimp the images too. One more note or word of caution on that - since by now it is dark out and your eyes have adjusted, the camera screen will seem really bright, and I've mistakenly underexposed in situations like this. One more way to get the right in field exposure would be to use the highlight warning feature available on many cameras where the blownout highlights blink bright white on the back of the camera...

#10 Fill the Frame - Far away firework are just that, far away. Shoot with a telephoto lens if you have one and zoom in on the action. Usually you can't get close to the fireworks, so I think this is a valid tip. If you are close, be careful and shoot with a wider angle...

#11 Mode other than Manual - Since not everyone shoots in manual mode, here's another way to try setting up the camera. Pick Aperture mode, select f/8, ISO 200, and -1.0 EV (exposure compensation). Shutter speeds will vary and the -1EV will compensate for the night time vs. bright fireworks. You don't want the camera to turn the night scene in to a day time looking exposure. -1 may be ok, try it and adjust from there.

#12 Shoot from a hill or get a front row spot - Once the action starts you don't want someone walking in front of you so get a front row spot, or shoot from a hill, not necessarily the top but along the hill.

#13 Plan for the Wind! - Wind is a very good thing to have on a night with fireworks. It will help to clear the smoke from the sky. However one way this can backfire is if you are down wind from the fireworks, the smoke will be streaming right towards you and block your view. There's not a lot to do once this happens, it is kind of a bust in my opinion. A related tip is don't shoot from too far away - atmospheric things can get in your way like haze or heat. Perfect conditions would be late afternoon showers and cold air in the evening.

That's it for this year and planning - unless I think of a new one before it is too late. Good luck and don't forget the tripod or the camera/lens mounting plate!

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

banned from explorer - sort of

2010-06-27T22:27:00.003-04:00

I post this on my other blog - reposting here:
http://nikographer.blogspot.com/2010/06/banned-from-flickrs-explorer-well.html

Banned from Flickr's Explorer

Well, almost banned you might say. I've had just one image pop in to Explorer since the one I had on 2/23/2010. I wondered what it was when I didn't get anything in for a few days, then weeks, then months.

I posted something here after googling it about the ban and wondering why(?).

No body but someone on the inside would know for sure, so this is just from pure observation of stats and then guessing as to why or how...

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Nesting Birds and Photographs

2010-06-27T18:20:00.009-04:00

From: http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/2010/06/nesting-birds-and-photographs.html

I consider myself fairly new to wildlife photography - having just been doing it for around 4 years as of 2010. In that time I've gone from knowing very little to now knowing some, with lots more to learn.

One way to I've learned is by observation and trial and error. It's fairly straightforward to understand that if you approach an animal and it backs away, it thought you got too close for comfort. That sounds so simple, because it is.

But as an eager photographer it is also easy to constantly want to get closer. The trick is to be observant and also patient.

read more

While at Cape May recently I was shooting along the beach. On the beach there, they've roped off some area with simple line and some short posts to act as a human barrier. There's nothing to hide behind, and nothing to stop you from going over or under it beside honor and a desire to do no harm.

One time I approached the line a couple months ago and saw an oystercatcher. It moved back a bit, and that was much like what I'd seen them do before. They don't like being eyed, and will often not just fly away, but back away from you just enough until they're comfortable again.

That visit was before they were on eggs I think. This last visit they already had chicks, this pair had 3 chicks total. It was hot and one adult was covering up the chicks, protecting them from the heat and whatever predators might be lurking.

I approached the rope line and could tell that I'd have better luck if I backed off and gave them some of the space on my side of the rope.

To setup I had my tripod very low, just a foot or two high, and I had my back to the ocean so the sun was roughly over my shoulders. Then I crouched and waited, and tried to remain low and not threatening. After some time one of the adults went looking for food and when it came back a chick went to eat the catch. The first couple of times I wasn't in the right spot. But by the third time or so, I had moved a bit, predicted where the two might meet next time, and I got lucky.

The chick came on my side of the rope to meet the adult and walked right past me.

It was just a year ago that I'd seen Oystercatcher photos from Maryland on flickr I think, and scratch my head as to why I'd never seen them. After some research and hunting and then a few travels to spots that were largely new to me I got to see them in action.

It was at Chincoteague NWR, VA that I saw them mating a couple months ago.

Getting to see new animals, and see their behaviors - be that hunting, or mating, or raising a chick or 3, that's what I really like.

Subject, Behavior, Light, Location... and uniqueness

My advice to anyone photographing nesting birds is to be careful, and don't flush a bird off the nest. Your brief presence can cause the bird to abandon eggs or a chick, for real. It could happen in just a minute or two. And with chicks, be mindful to not get in the adults way, and watch for the signs from them. If they could speak they'd tell you what's on their mind, and quite often their actions will be doing just that...

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Delivering The Morning News

2010-06-17T21:28:00.006-04:00

From http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/2010/06/delivering-morning-news.html

Casco Bay, Maine - just after sunrise.

I'm sort of never satisfied anymore. I want to see and do new things as much as possible, and record new images to me, and maybe new to other folks too.

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I went out on the commuter/sunrise ferry out of Portland Maine with my brother recently and saw the bins of bundled newspapers and then wondered if they'd deliver them as the commuters were picked up. Then I realized on the way out maybe they'd just toss them to the closer docks, and I prepared for that and got lucky and recorded the toss here. (the ferry never stopped for this part, just slowed a bit to make for an accurate delivery.)

In the past 10 or 12 years I've probably visited Maine 40-plus times and in that period I've never done this trip. Just once I've done a Whale-watching trip - we saw 3 whales. This ferry ride was interesting. There are a handful of folks that take the ride out to the islands that early, to go there to work. Most of the riders on the ferry however were people leaving the islands (maybe 5 or 6 stops) and heading to the mainland, to go to work.

My brother and I grew up as boaters and on the water regularly. It was fun to be out again, together, enjoying the sunrise and the rock-and-roll and the swell, the ocean swell, finding its way in to the bay and rocking the ferry a bit.

Looking back now I think it was the time spent as kids on the water that helps me to appreciate nature and wildlife so much now. The slow pace of sailing, enjoying, and relaxing, is something that was a regular and common thing - and photography now helps me to enjoy again.

Me in 1977!

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

MD Osprey - 2010 my nest update

2010-06-16T20:32:00.004-04:00

From: http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/2010/06/md-osprey-2010-my-nest-update.html/

I think "my" nest has failed.

From a couple months ago, right after I started my going vertical project and held off posting any horizontal or square images...

Since then the female was on eggs consistently, and then suddenly no one was on the nest at all. That was about a month ago.

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Someone else checked and didn't see an adult actively seeming to tend to eggs or chicks. I've been again in the past week, and the same appears to be true. However a couple of locals said yes, there are chicks... So, I basically think the nest failed, but I'm holding on to a 1% chance that maybe the locals are right. To my eyes the adults were not behaving like they had any eggs or chicks anymore. No feeding, no protecting of chicks, just not on the nest. But they were in the area, and prior to my direct approach I saw them on and off the nest, but not tending to anything.

While watching the "empty nest" I did see some twigs and branches move a bit, but nothing I could say confirms there's a chick or chicks in there out of sight. :(

Here are a few other shots from the same day as the above.

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

GVP #51 - Great Blue Heron at Blackwater Refuge

2010-06-02T07:12:00.005-04:00

From http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/2010/06/gvp-51-great-blue-heron-at-blackwater.html.

This Great Blue Heron at Blackwater Refuge caught this big fish, and was cooperative and let me watch him at work.

This guy was located along the Wildlife Drive at the start of the 3rd/last section. There is a spot where water drains out of the embankment area there, and heron will wait patiently for fish to come through it. This morning I drove up to the spot, hoping a bird would be there.
-click for more-

To pull off an encounter like this at Blackwater the trick is to move slowly and NOT get out of the car. The heron was aware of my presence for sure, and I just managed to stay on the side of not bothering him. I watched for about 20 minutes right at sunrise. Earlier he caught a much smaller fish and gulped it down quickly. Then a short time later he got this large fish. He brought it to land and tried to kill it by poking at it while it was on the rocks. That process took more than 5 minutes. Then it spent another couple of minutes getting the fish in to position to attempt to swallow it. All the while I took lots of images, and made every attempt to not get excited or move too quickly - and scare him away. It worked out pretty well and the heron was comfortable enough to work on his meal right in front of me from start to end. The above photo was towards that end, and he seemed to almost face me show off his prize, it was cool.

Here is a photo from right after the catch where the fish was still kicking. The slow shutter speed shows some of the fight - since the sun was not over the horizon and trees enough to provide proper lighting.

I go to Blackwater Refuge often, and almost every visit begins around sunrise for me. I've never been disappointed with a visit, and would recommend an early-in-the-day visit to all...

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Maybe more than the photos

2010-05-29T21:34:00.015-04:00

From: http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/2010/05/maybe-more-than-photos.html

Having taken a lot of images where the reward is the image itself, a nice shot, and not much else I've thought about trying to do some good. I've toyed with the idea of helping out at a rehab center, or volunteering here or there. But, I know that's not my calling, at least not right now.

My passion is taking photos. It gets me up at 3am, it makes me drive hundreds of miles. Over the last few years I've had requests for images sent to me via flickr. They have fallen in to three main categories:
#1) for profit groups that want free images.
#2) for profit groups that want images but have a few bucks to spend. And finally
#3) non-profit groups that want images for free and are working on a good causes, be it conservation, preservation, or something like that. Helping animals, the environment, habitat restoration or preservation...
-click for more-

Of those 3 types of requests I ignore #1 requests. #2 requests I've only pursued a few, usually it is not worth the hassle to me, I'd rather be shooting, editing, etc. One in particular I put in a bunch of hours working on it and it didn't pan out, so I felt like I had wasted time. #3 requests are my favorite. I can do what I like (take photos) and provide them for free to a good cause so they can do their thing. I've given images to the Fish and Wild Service, National Parks Service, The Nature Conservancy, a singing zoo act / guy, a group trying to study the impact of something or other in Greenbelt Maryland... And probably a bunch of others that slip my mind.

Today I went out shooting with a couple of people that help with rehabilitating raptors. Linda and Kurt are good folks that care and put in the time doing the work with the animals. Today was a day where their hard work, and the work of others, paid off. They released 6 birds back in to the wild.

My part today was to watch and learn, and to take photos.

They released 3 Red-Shouldered Hawk, 2 Red-Tailed Hawks, and 1 Broad-Winged Hawk. It was pretty cool.

Here are some shots. I plan to give them to the folks involved so they can promote their work, and get support, funding, etc. I guess what I realized in regards to their work (before and again today) is that I'm a photographer - that's what I do... I've wanted to help with the birds, rehabing or volunteering. It is just not what I am motivated to do. And probably not what I am good at. So,, I'm going to spend my time becoming a better photographer, and as I find the way to - helping good causes.

If you are like me, but not a photographer, and not someone that can volunteer with the raptors - there's one thing you can do to make a difference. While driving don't litter. Don't toss any type of food items from your car. Many if not most injured raptors are struck by cars. The way I've heard it recounted to me - prey animals feed on these items, and raptors lock in on the prey (squirells, etc) and will fly to catch them with no regard for the cars or trucks on the roads. So, don't toss any food type items from your car.

Even a banana peel.

Updated
Here's a Broad-Winged Hawk being released also...

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Keep Exploring & More Vertical

2010-05-27T22:01:00.013-04:00

GVP #40 to #48 - From http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/2010/05/keep-exploring-more-vertical.html

A couple weeks ago I went to the Air Show at Andrews Air Force Base. This was my 5th year going, and I'm starting to get my fill of it all. The highlights of past years have been the F-15 which is awesome and so fast when they kick on the afterburners. The F-22 Raptor is amazing too. It can basically defy normal laws of physics, and hover, flip, flop, slide, go backwards, sort of crazy.

-click for more-

The part that has gotten pretty old this time is the crowds. My basic routine for the past few years is to be on one of the very first buses from Fedex field so I can get a front row spot near the middle. Doing it this way makes it a very long day but there's not a better place to shoot from really. With no one in front of you, you can have an unblocked view of just about all of the show. They have restrictions on what you can bring to the base/show, but you're allowed to bring a chair, a tripod, and whatever camera gear you might want to carry (but bag sizes are limited to 1 cubic foot). The problem is that even if things go smooth it is a stressful day. Carrying around a couple cameras, a few lenses, a chair, a tripod, and being out in the hot sun on the tarmac takes a toll. Add to this the fact that the crowds are usually around 100,000 people, and being up front makes your space a target. Every one that was home sleeping at 7am now wants to stand in front of you. So it turns in to a defensive struggle to not get ousted from the front row, or just stepped on and bullied.

The other thing that I found some this year is that it is somewhat hard to get unique photos when you and 99,999 other folks are there too. I guess it is not impossible, but it is hard. My vertical project helped a little to keep me trying new stuff, but, more and more I want to keep advancing my photography and being where lots of other people are shooting isn't part of the plan.

Maybe next year I will take a different approach to it to keep it fresh - like sleeping in, or not bringing a big lens and tripod or chair, etc. Doing it completely the opposite way, and shooting the static display stuff more, or maybe the people of the air show.

(I realize that I am posting this to my nature&wildlife photography blog, but to me all photography is part of the same continuum - the learning, exploring, and processes involved.)

The sad news of the zoo's lions loosing their new born cub was a real downer. But the work involved in the zoo's effort to build a lion pride has been going on for around 5 years! The fact that they have a male, 2 females, they've settle in to the zoo well, and now are a pride of 3 - and there's been mating and a single birth (this recent one) is a success. And this setback is temporary, and I am still hopeful and proud of the hard work the zoo has done to come this far.

And now on to some WILDLIFE! Last year I went to Cape May New Jersey for the first few times ever. I stayed over night both times, and had a real blast. During Fall Cape May is a major hot spot for migratory birds. I saw hawks, and a variety of other birds but the Black Skimmers were my absolute favorites.

In October (2009) there had to have been 500 birds (black skimmers) along the beach - in just one or two groups. By November (2009) the group was down to roughly 50, and of those only a handful for adults. For reference as to how much I enjoyed watching and shooting them - I probably spent 50% of my time just with them on the beach, and maybe took 3000 shots. The hawks, raptors, etc which motivated me to go in the first place weren't my favorites or even a big highlight. Just this one image stands out - and the close encounter I had with a Cooper's that flew by me at around a distance of 5 feet and plunged in to a bush to try to catch a meal.

This weekend I went again but didn't find any Skimmers. There were some on the other side of the Delaware Bay in DE. The highlight of this trip was probably the Piping Plovers and Laughing Gulls. Much like the Skimmers, the Laughing Gulls are pretty common but they have some character and aren't too skittish.

I was keeping Cape May a "secret". Lol. The thing is that people do follow where I go, and I wanted to keep the spot to myself. But in actuality the spot is probably the most famous and known birding spots of all the east coast north of Florida. I realized this (obvious fact) and also that I should be able to get my unique images regardless of who knows I shoot there. I am still going to try to keep my smaller spots off of my publicly shared spots (just going to share the images themselves) - but a spot like CM, it's like Blackwater or Bombay Hook - the locations are very well known already.

Later in the weekend I checked in on one of the osprey nests I visit, and the female appeared to be sleeping when I got there. She woke up when some other birds chirped to alert the neighborhood to my approach. But she didn't fly off the nest, and just watched me for a few. There's gotta be chicks already or maybe by this weekend. I didn't see any feeding last weekend, and have high hopes for this nest this year.

I've been shooting video on and off, trying to keep at that. Here's a short clip of the osprey from above, sitting on the nest and yelling to the skies!

Those are some of my recent travels. My goal of late is to see and shoot differently as much as possible. The vertical thing has opened some doors. Going to new places like Cape May, and oh yeah, I took the ferry there this time. That was interesting.

Other ways I changed it up this year was in February when I took a day trip to Assateague State Park. That's around a 150 mile trip ONE WAY! I got there within 10 minutes of sunrise! I shot there for a few hours and had some fun/success. I went to Blackwater Refuge also that day. And to show just how crazy/motivated I can be - I went to Great Falls for sunset too - all in the same day. Was about a 15 hour day door to door. And I got some great shots. And because that day was so good at Blackwater, I went again the next day and probably got my best / most different Snow Goose shots to date. That weekend I drove around 500+ miles and "worked at it" around 25 hours.

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Be Thoughtful - GVP #39

2010-05-23T19:20:00.008-04:00

From http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/2010/05/be-thoughtful.html

I like to think I am a weekend warrior that would make a weekday warrior proud.

--

When I go out shooting I try my hardest to have real, natural, genuine encounters. I try my best to do this without disturbing others' encounters, and without bothering nature itself.

This weekend I was out and shooting along the coast of New Jersey. Lots of birders were out, you know the type, out for the experience, to see stuff, share spottings, and maybe take a photo. That's a relative of the way I shoot, but not a match really. Usually I like to shoot alone, find and record things on my own, and then share the results of those times.
-click for more-

While on the beach I saw someone checking something out via a scope, I looked - but didn't see the prize. So, I chatted briefly with that group as I was wandering around, and they pointed out the piping plover. I chatted some more, and to myself acknowledged how much they seemed to buy in to the upside of birding - seeing, sharing, and being out in it all - having a good time.

I moved on a bit, wandered some more down the beach trying to follow but not follow the oyster-catcher and the photographer following them. I wanted to get some shots myself, but didn't want to creep up on either of them and make it end. I'd rather miss my own shots than influence the bird and make it fly away / be uncomfortable and leave. So, I put my head down a bit, and walked by- and then sat down on the beach and hoped that the two of them, the bird, the photographer, would wind up coming to me. It has worked before, but not this day.

On my way back up the beach, someone was watching the plover, and looked up and wanted to share the info / bird with me. Again, that sort of contrasts a bit with how I have learned to operate lately. If I see something, some endangered, something that's skittish, I will very often tend to hide the fact that I see it when other folks approach.

Maybe it is a touch of selfishness. Maybe it is a desire to not ruin the experience / moment / encounter. Maybe it is the result of a few encounters / sharing moments gone wrong. I don't know. But these birders just seemed to be open minded and defaulted to sharing info and encounters.

It makes me question some of why I think the way I do.

I know I can be wrong, and have been over the years. I don't think that just because someone's a birder that they are thoughtful in a superior way or walk the path without possibly doing harm - but, it seems quite the contrast to where I'm at right now.

Here's the PLOVER:

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

GVP Round-Up - #33 to #38

2010-05-20T08:12:00.005-04:00

From http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/2010/05/gvp-round-up-33-to-38.html

While at Chincoteague NWR in Virginia I saw a number of Oystercatchers, and this pair mated for a few moments north of Tom's Cove. I wish the laughing gull wasn't in the way, but what can you do.

-click for more-

This Great Blue Heron is a vertical of a similar one I'd posted already. Sunrise at Blackwater is basically a lock for something cool, something photogenic, and something that says 'wild' or 'the bay'...

Here's another of the Robin Chick(s) which were still blind and ready to be fed.

This week I heard the awesome news that Naba gave birth to a Lion Cub! I was looking back on some old images and was surprised at just how long Luke and the 2 female lions have been at the zoo. Luke was in January 2007 I think, and the girls were here in December 2006. There was the talk of getting the 3 new cats for a while, and it seemed like one thing or another was delaying it. Now so much time has passed in a flash. Regular zoo goers were hoping to have them all out together "as a pride" for literally years. Then this year it all came together. The cats were introduced, and grouped up and then Luke mated with one of them and now a Cub! I hear that Luke has also now mated with Shera, the other female, too. So! Who knows there could be ANOTHER cub or two on the way.

Finally here's a Red Fox from Bombay Hook in 2009 pouncing in to the grass trying to catch something.

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

GVP Catch-Up - #24 to #32

2010-05-15T21:00:00.005-04:00

From http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/2010/05/gvp-catch-up-24-to-32.html

I took a little break from posting my GVP shots on the blog, and this is my chance to catch up.

Here are the first few:

Shooting birds where they are low in the frame, and water or sky fill the background, I think that works quite well for a vertical.

-click for more-

GVP #26 was one of those that stands out. I've been to Great Falls a ton and a half of times and seeing something special, the light, the subject, trying for something (slow shutter) and having it all come together - I love that.

--

I dug the next one up from a few months ago. I did indeed shoot it vertically to start, around sunrise - the heron was on the ice and the light was just *so*....

Finally there's GVP #32 and the Air Show today at Andrews Air Force Base. With some weeks of vertical on the brain I shot more than ever vertical, and this setup was an obvious one (helicopter and troops being extracted via the rope). It was slightly strained to try to shoot the planes vertically - but it did work a number of times. The Heritage flight would have probably work best on the pass I didn't go vertical, and it did work ok on the pass that I did go vertical.... Lol. The Blue Angels went by all stacked up for a couple passes and that worked fairly well vertically.

One of the things that shooting vertically adds is that it removes the lost pixels from just cropping vertically from a horizontal shot. Some things just are vertical. It makes basic sense to match up the pixels and orientation to the subject.

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Great Horned Owls - GVP 22, 23

2010-05-05T22:23:00.009-04:00

From http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/2010/05/great-horned-owls-gvp-22-23.html

I have a new outlook on life and photography. Trying to manage people, contacts, friends and share "secret" info is too hard.

-click for more-

Secrets are a commodity. Secrets are things no one can really keep. You tell me your golden nuggets and I will tell you mine, right? When I first got in to photography I wondered why it was hard to find detailed and exact information on nesting locations. But there's good reason, thoughtful people want to protect the animals and nests in question.

It is hard enough to be careful all by yourself. Then add the internet and if you broadcast (post publicly) the info there's no way to know who is reading it and what they might do. It is reasonable to assume people won't be outright destructive, but it is not really that reasonable to assume a stranger will know how to best act to do as little as possible to not impact a nest, egg(s), or chicks.

Three or 4 years ago I didn't know what I didn't know. I was just starting out, and I was hungry to find and see things and take photos.

Since then I've learned a lot, seen things, had my own little impacts and wondered how I could have done this or that better. And people have proven to not be able to keep a secret themselves, and I've seen people I would have judged worthy act in ways that don't seem right to me these days. (For example flushing a bird on purpose, to get a 'flight shot', seems rude and uninformed, and is not helpful to wildlife.)

One of the hard parts of this position I now find myself in is that I've learned so much from other photographers, and the internet in general. Open sharing has enabled a lot of this for me, to find things, pursue things, etc.

The way I balance it now is that I share the location info for places that are well known, and publicized by me already, but I might not sharing the info in real time. That's not to say I will risk a spot, a nest, to conform to this. Most widely known spots don't have easily accessible eagle/owl/osprey nests.

For places I've not shared the location info before I maintain that, and I do my best to not draw attention to things like Owl nests. And when someone else shares secret location info on nesting birds with me I don't share it even when someone asks directly.

There's a lot of hard work that goes in to doing the right thing. "Just" wanting to get images of something is not an indication of anything but raw desire. And knowing someone first hand, having met in person (not just on the internet) provides some much needed context and insight in to who someone is...

All that said, I feel lucky to have been trusted with a spot a couple years ago. I added it to my list, and have gone a couple dozen times. I now have a real appreciation for the wildlife I want to photograph, more so that was possible when I started out.

I waited to post this Owlet. It has only recently fledged and made it past the 'perch close to the nest phase'. On a recent visit it saw me coming and took off after a minute or two. That's a success in my eyes - from egg to fledged and ready to move along as needed to keep safe. And now I can post these images confident that I did my part to appreciate and not hinder these owls' chances at success.

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Going Vertical #19 #20 #21

2010-05-04T07:54:00.016-04:00

From http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/2010/05/going-vertical-19-20-21.html

This one was cropped from a horizontal shot. I liked the V and how the osprey filled the frame once cropped. This is the female osprey and I'm guessing there should be chicks in a couple weeks. I was watching an episode of "Life" I think and they mentioned that Osprey chicks need as much as 8 fish a day! That's a lot of fish to catch, especially if there's 2 or 3 or 4 chicks to feed EVERY DAY!
-click for more-

This sunrise photo is not cropped and the sun and reflection worked well with the vertical format. There was a lot of luck involved in getting this photo. I woke up a little late, just 30 minutes before sunrise. I showered, got dressed, had breakfast and loaded my camera gear in the car, AND drove in to the refuge all in that 30 minutes. Then within a few more minutes I was driving along that first straightaway and saw the sun and the elk... Their even spacing and slow pace gave me 2 or 3 minutes to shoot.

In years past I've only been to Chincoteague during the Fall, and I've only been there on 2 trips (which both included nearby overnight stays and repeat visits). Going in Spring was exciting to me. I was hoping that I'd see new stuff, new species, and it worked out well.

I've never seen an oystercatcher before. Other new species I saw included: Cattle Egret, Piping Plover, Clapper Rail, and some other yet identified sandpiper (I think).

The weather along the coast was a bit uncooperative after the elk sunrise. The cloud cover moved in and it got gray and seemed like it was going to rain soon. That last a few hours. I thought about giving up and moving on, but luckily I hung around and the weather improved.

I took almost 3,000 shots in 2 days. This vertical project kept me thinking about framing and shooting vertically. Again I shot more vertical than ever before. It's got me being more purposeful in my shooting, taking less for granted, and taking more control.

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

GVP #16, #17, #18

2010-04-30T21:46:00.004-04:00

From http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/2010/04/gvp-16-17-18.html

Continuing on my Vertical project here are 3 more photos. I've managed to post nearly 20 now, without too much trouble.

I might just be able to keep this up for a while.

Magazines are vertical right? Covers are vertical, right? Hmmmm. I want to grow past the guiding hand that flickr is. I wonder how far this will go, how long I can keep shoot for and posting just vertical images?

It looks like some fox kits have started to show themselves at Bombay Hook Refuge. And quite a variety of birds are now at the refuge.

A week ago at Blackwater Refuge quite a few yellow legs were there. I also spotted a couple of great egrets.

May starts tomorrow. Here are my "most interesting shots tagged with May". I am planning to make new plans. :D

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

GBH and MD Osprey - GVP #14 #15

2010-04-29T08:32:00.003-04:00

From http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/2010/04/gbh-and-md-osprey-gvp-14-15.html

10 days in and about 15 vertical shots posted so far...

I've been shooting vertically more for sure. Yesterday I went to shoot some birds and actually tried some in flight shots vertically! It was weird and a little awkward, but it was good.

Vertical flight shots worked best for the part of their flight where they'd bank in front of me to the left or right.

Focus
Keeping the manual focus ring locked down seems to avoid the problem where the camera stops trying to auto-focus if it moves.

Last night I experimented with intentionally setting the focus fine tune to -6. Very often I've shot an osprey for example and gotten the wings in focus and the head (which is slightly closer to the camera) is not in focus. The test seemed to work, and I will try again with something like -10 or -12. Flight shots with the subject closing in on the camera seem to be when this problem happens most.

I hedged my bet and shot with that setting for only a portion of my time out. The results seem to indicate it helped. My only fear for this is I will forget I had it set and then shoot something not moving and my focus will all be off slightly.

-50-

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Osprey Perch GVP #13

2010-04-28T08:20:00.004-04:00

posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/2010/04/osprey-perch-gvp-13.html

It's pretty cool how adaptable osprey are. They can nest on power poles, man made nest platforms, channel markers, in actual trees some times. Although in the Maryland area osprey don't seem to nest in trees all that much.

One of my favorite odd locations for an osprey nest is this one on Route 50:

Preched Osprey - vertical shot for my GVP project.

One of my other favorite osprey platforms is near Reagan National Airport. Over there osprey use the channel markers as nest platforms, and then add all kinds of materials to build the nest. Here the monument in the background (and plane) provides the clue(s) for where it is located.

I've been searching all over the place for new spots and found quite a few. There are so many places that they nest - be it on private property, in refuges, above ball fields or even just in a parking lot on a light pole. Not all are accessible, still others are awkwardly located and not very photogenic. I managed to find a pretty good one recently and don't want to jinx myself so I am holding off on even going until there are chicks, which should be in about a month. A second spot is equally as good and I posted something the other day from that spot (but not the nest yet).

-50-

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

3 Blind Robin Chicks GVP #12

2010-04-27T23:30:00.002-04:00

From http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/2010/04/3-blind-robin-chicks-gvp-12.html

Hey, On The Right, I'm Ready!

3 Blind Robin Chicks aka GVP #12.

Pure nature.

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Talons - GVP #11

2010-04-27T08:15:00.006-04:00

From http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/2010/04/talons-gvp-11.html

I was going to wait some more before posting some osprey shots but then later decided to post them anyway.

The unique composition caught my eye and the talons being in focus with the head was less so drew my eyes back to the talons.

This was GVP #6, and is from another spot.

Some of my recent GVP posts were mainly results of cropping. The top photo here was horizontal, but the bird was at the top edge of the frame. I'd have probably of liked it before but then rejected it for posting. The vertical crop brought it back for me.

-50-

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

GVP 8, 9 and 10 - and focus plan

2010-04-26T21:12:00.005-04:00

From http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/2010/04/gvp-8-9-and-10-and-focus-plan.html

I've been on flickr now for so long I've been shooting and posting with it mind. Too much on my mind.

This Vertical project is one attempt to break that habit. Explorer doesn't "like" vertical shots, and I don't as much, and laptops, contacts, screens, all favor horizontal images.

Whatever.

Another thing I have gotten in to the habit of it posting one a day mostly. So tonight I decided to post 3 shots, all vertical.

Yesterday it was vertical video.

---

On a more technical note, I learned something about hand holding my 200-400mm.

My main pet peeve with the 200-400mm f/4 lens is that the manual override of focus cannot be turned off. Gripping the lens near the front very very often caused the focus ring to turn and then that causes the camera to stop trying to focus.

I thought about using some gaffer tape to lock down that ring. But tape on that lens, just didn't seem like the right thing to do. This weekend I had the idea to slide my neopreme camo back a bit to cover the edge of the focusing ring, to prevent it from moving at all. It seemed to work!

Two other things I've changed up to improve my focus tracking of moving birds is to use the focus button on the back of the camera. The general way is to focus with the shutter button or back button on a moving subject and then just keep the rear-focus button depressed all the time. Take shots, wait, continue to track, take more shots - doing it this way keeps the camera working on focus the entire time because the focus button on the back of the camera is still pressed...

The other thing I finally did and think I may just stick to is I've turned OFF the focus limiter. I've gotten better at getting close to birds, or hiding better, and I don't want to miss those closer chances. With the limiter on I've had the occasional very close fly-by not be shootable because the lens wasn't allowed to focus so close.

The focus limit trade off - allow the lens to focus faster for a far away subject and miss close shots. OR take far away shots after a little lag / hunting, but NOT being locked out of the chance to focus close - which on the 200-400mm is about 6 feet (minimum).

The other day I was out shooting in two spots and had an eagle (both times) spot me late and make a hard turn and bank away. I was hiding and dressed in some camo, but not in a blind at the time.

-50-

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Great Falls National Park - GVP #7

2010-04-25T20:43:00.006-04:00

From http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/2010/04/great-falls-national-park-gvp-7.html

Great Falls National Park (GVP - Vertical Video )

I've been experimenting, and playing, and decided a couple weeks back to try shooting video vertically... The above is the result, rotated to achieve the proper orientation.

It may or may not be a "success" but I think it put all the pixels to use to get the flow of the river as I intended to. The idea for this project is helping me experiment. I mean, who is gonna shoot video vertically?!

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

MD Osprey - GVP #6

2010-04-24T20:08:00.005-04:00

From http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/2010/04/md-osprey-gvp-6.html

I'm not doing much Osprey shooting this year yet, but I found this one (bird) and shot it vertically so, it works for my project.

I've got a new osprey spot waiting in the wings so to speak that I should start to post from in about a month, it's gonna rock!

-50-

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Going Vertical #5

2010-04-23T23:02:00.004-04:00

From http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/2010/04/going-vertical-5.html

Vertical.

Posting vertical shots has been something I've avoided, plainly.

Shooting, I'd sometimes think to do it, and still fewer times I'd respond and shoot vertically.

This little project has turned a thing that would be a reason to not, in to a reason to.

--50--

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Going Vertical #4

2010-04-23T00:03:00.004-04:00

From http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

From the Maryland side of the park along the bridge path to the main-overlook...

Go Vertical!

It shouldn't be such a chore to think and shoot vertical, but most of the time it is for me. It seems natural to shoot horizontally.

-50-

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Going Vertical #3

2010-04-22T08:49:00.005-04:00

From http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/2010/04/going-vertical-3.html

I'm just up to my 3rd GVP post...

This is a boardwalk at a nearby spot. The other end of the boardwalk has an elevated blind for watching wildlife from.

I hope this Going Vertical Project frees me to shoot vertical more as well as actually posting vertical images. My flickr account has probably 1% (or less) vertical shots, while I might have shot 5% (or less) vertical...

-50-

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Going Vertical #2

2010-04-21T19:43:00.005-04:00

at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/2010/04/going-vertical-2.html

I've decided my project is going to be to shoot and post vertical shots for a good while.

Flickr really like horizontal images, or square images. Vertical images are not as popular, although I did recently come across someone's flickr stream that was almost completely vertically composed images.

Flickr's Explorer is almost always non-vertical shots, the non-vertical shots just work better for computer screens and the site's layout.

At a recent photoclub meeting the presenter had many panoramic shots taken with a panoramic camera. Most times you'd think of a pano you'd think horizontal, right? Well this person also had some vertical panos, like 1 foot wide by 6 feet tall. It's such an odd thing that it struck me. He's a pro and said that they sell well the tall narrow shots because they can fit in to place where wall space is very limited. And wow, yeah, that makes such great sense.

I'm going to try a few vertical panos if the subject looks right for it.

Here's another vertical shot, that I posted a while back, a rare thing...

-50-

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Planning for a project, something to shoot for

2010-04-20T22:48:00.006-04:00

From: http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

I've been trying to come up with a project. Something I can work on for a while, something to influence my plans and my approach to shooting for a long period of time.

My current approach is to shoot as much as possible. But that is not a long term plan, just a good measure of energy or making time for shooting.

I came up with 2 ideas for projects:
1) 365 project for shooting at a location - for instance shooting at great falls national park every day for a year. Hmm, yeah, that means I couldn't travel at all and miss a day. So, kind of tough to do. Then I got to thinking maybe I could just try to over time shoot and get a good/meaningful image each day of the year, over many year, and over time hitting each day of the year (ie all 365 days of the year). That I might be able to do. I need to figure out what days at Great Falls are already covered and then try to fill in the gaps...

2) I had the title for the project for a while, it's "Going Vertical". I shoot almost all the time horizontally so this would be a way to motivate me to think a little differently and try to compose vertically. For a couple weeks I've tried this, and taken more verticals than I would have done otherwise.

With those as my thoughts for a project, I am going to work on the "Going Vertical" project and shoot and post many vertical shots for a while.

Here's my first vertical post.

I hope to shoot and not just CROP to vertical, I want to actually SHOOT vertically btw...

-Jon

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Blackwater - Bald Eagles Spring 2010 pt2

2010-04-15T22:10:00.005-04:00

From http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/2010/04/blackwater-bald-eagles-spring-2010-pt2.html

I posted this earlier today and now decided to post a bunch more shots from this time a couple weeks ago...

Bald Eagles at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge.

2 Adults.

2 Juveniles.

http://blackwater-national-wildlife-refuge.blogspot.com/

-50-

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Blackwater Refuge - Bald Eagles Spring 2010

2010-04-15T08:29:00.007-04:00

From http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/2010/04/blackwater-refuge-bald-eagles-spring.html

A couple weeks ago while I was at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge I found a patch of marsh with around 5 eagles in it, and some ducks and RWBBs too.

They seemed to be feasting on some fish as well as what might have been a goose. The goose looked snow goose sized and white - if it was a snow goose it had to be a weak one that didn't leave with the other ones during the northward migration because I think those geese left weeks if not a month or more ago.

The group of eagles seem to be pretty friendly to each other, but did swoop in a few times to compete over some of the food. The birds in flight here - the young eagle had a fish and was trying to maintain control of it, but dropped it mid-flight, and the adult caught it mid-flight and kept it ;) I love seeing those mid-air transfers.

Blackwater should be fun this year - but I am not looking forward to the summer bug. Hopefully my blind will help keep them away from me. (The above were shot from my car, btw.)

-50-

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

CS5 and the iPad - I don't care

2010-04-14T20:05:00.003-04:00

From http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/2010/04/cs5-and-ipad-i-dont-care.html

People, bloggers, photographer, technology enthusiast are all going bonkers for the iPad and the upcoming release of Photoshop CS5.

Personally neither item gets me excited.

CS5 - I'd rather get excited over taking photos, not editing them. OOhh, Ahhh, content aware fill - really, are photographers like ME getting excited? Less than 1 percent of my images are digitally altered for content. I adjust levels, sharpness, crop, but I don't rip and replace content from my images. Maybe just maybe stitching panoramas where there are data gaps, but I'm not sure if it is that needed of a feature for me.

iPad - I have an iPod Touch already. I really enjoy it for podcast, and having some images in my pocket at the ready to share. It's my 2nd iPod - I had a gen3(?) video ipod which was nice too. So I have 2 desktops, 2 laptops, 2 ipods, and that's just my personal stuff (I have 2 work desktops and a laptop there too). If the iPad had a camera, gps, a memory card reader (flash, and SD) I'd be more interested.

I think a cable that connects the average video ipod to a tv or pc monitor is much more interesting, and I have one of those.

Locations, subjects, taking images - that excites me.

-50-

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Great Falls National Park Spring 2010

2010-04-13T08:16:00.006-04:00

From http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/2010/04/great-falls-national-park-spring-2010.html.

The River's water levels are coming down, and the herons are fishing in the main falls some. Over the last week I saw Great Blue Herons flying around with nesting material, as well as competing for spots to fish from.

There's a rookery up river that is pretty active, and an eagle's nest too. The eagle appear to now have a chick. I didn't follow the exact dates, but the chick might be 2 weeks old now.

I forgot and now remembered some of why I like Great Falls so much. The herons and water are such great attractions, and not having to drive a hundred miles (bombay hook refuge, blackwater refuge) is a nice change of pace.

While there I also saw a couple bluebirds, as well as many vultures (turkey and black). There was also a Red-Tailed Hawk with some crows dogging it on more than one occasion over the main falls.

I highly recommend folks visit Great Falls National Park. Bring a tripod and a short and long lenses.

-50-

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Getting unfamiliar with a location

2010-04-10T19:38:00.008-04:00

From http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/2010/04/getting-unfamiliar-with-location.html

I had this idea for working locations, and how to break from past routines.

In general we as humans try to do things in the fewest steps, with the least effort, while maximizing results. Sweeping statement, but I find it to be true related to some of the aspects of my approach to wildlife photography.

fewest steps
I go to place that have worked, and when I try new places if it doesn't work I put more effort in to the places that have worked. For the sake of observation, we all take in the smallest amount of visual queues to refresh our image of a place or scene - most of it is actually perceived from memory! That's why you might have never noticed a new store on a well traveled path, or something similar. And why it doesn't take all day to drive to work, because the path is known, and it is why driving somewhere the first time seem laborious, and 'risky' or 'uncharted', and well, requires more effort.

That last part also relates to how we will commonly take time to look where someone else is actively looking. Why waste time finding something or just trying to find something, when it is possible someone else has already found an interesting item... When I'm out shooting I now actively take in to account that people might stop and see me and change my encounter.

I also actively try to not just roll up on someone and influence their encounter if possible. A week or two ago I was at blackwater refuge and drove past someone I knew and another person too, just to let them have a peaceful solo sunrise, while I moved on to find my own spot. That worked out great because I found this heron and watched him hunt for 20 minutes straight, and we both had a good time ;)

least effort
The downside to using the least effort is that major areas go completely unexplored, and routines lead to (in my opinion) lesser results. One example would be wear patterns on a carpet in (say) my apartment. The carpet a foot to the right or left is just as walkable and usable but habits form and areas go under used and other get overused. Least effort causes wear to form in the direct paths from one spot to another.

For wildlife photography, to bring those points back to being meaningful to my blog and this post, it is easy to form habits and wear patterns and wind up missing possibly huge areas worthy of exploring.

At blackwater refuge I realized that there are a few trails that I have in one case NEVER walked, and in another case only ever walked for 5 minutes on one occasion. Chances are if I explored those areas I'd find owls, foxes, song/small birds, delmarva fox squirrels, and who knows what else. But I've not put the effort in and they are like the unworn sections of carpet in my apt.

One of my newer goals is to not just go where other folks are going, and seeing what is mostly plainly findable, but to search more and see what hides around the corner from the easy to find.

At blackwater this winter I tried a spot I've driven past many times, and setup one a couple occasions and got this eagle fishing shot and also one of an eagle perched close by. It was very easy to drive on by, and hard(er) to stop and risk it, but it paid off - I didn't have anything quite like these - encounter or image wise from blackwater...

I can think of a couple of trails at Bombay Hook refuge that I've also either never hiked or never given more than a brief survey.

In summary, while I think it is very good to get to know a location, and form habits that lead to success, the opposite is also true. Treating a location like it is brand new and giving time to each spot or area in search of something is worth pursuing too. Using this approach can add new life to a spot that seems well known and lacking *new*.

p.s. for reference I've been to blackwater around idk 50 times in 4 years, and bombay hook 25 times in 3 years...

-50-

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Canon Hacks, Someone please hack my Nikon!

2010-04-09T22:54:00.004-04:00

From http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/2010/04/canon-hacks-someone-please-hack-my.html

http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/25/hack-provides-liveview-canon-eos-dslrs-with-video-recording/

What you have to do:
1.) Download the flle: valexvir.narod.ru/
2.) Extract it
3.) Plug in your camera with the USB to your computer, turn the camera on.
4.) Run the .exe - That's it.
5.) Press WRITE on the software to record a video

Still not your 5D Mark II because your camera has to stay connected to a laptop in order to record video and there's no audio.

*edit* I don't imagine using this method to shoot anything substantial because it's not practical or 1080p HD

--

Discovered because Andy posted this:

and this

The main things I'd want are:
-better control over bracketing - ie like my d70s had, 3 shot brackets with 2 stops per shot (d200, d300, d300s only do 1 stop increments only, even if it does more shots)
-shutter speed control for video recording (d300s)
-

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Red Fox with Tundra Swan

2010-04-09T09:32:00.004-04:00

From http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/2010/04/red-fox-with-tundra-swan.html

This Red Fox was working mightily to drag this Swan (I think) back to his den. It was pretty huge and the fox struggled, and took a break to catch its breath more than once.

I suspect that the fox either did the kill earlier and went back to fetch it when I found him, or he stumbled upon the bird and claimed it for himself.

Bombay Hook is very well know for Foxes, there's a lot of them there and due to human feedings (a crime) they are not fearful and usually don't run away from people/photographers. On more than one occassion I've felt that a fox was coming too close and had to get them to back off a little.

-50-

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Possum, Oh Possum (video)

2010-04-08T22:43:00.000-04:00

I made this a number of months back, and meant to redo it, but never got around to it, so I finally decided to just post it.

Previously I posted just this one image of the Opossum/Possum...

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Flowers and Colors - Get out, Cross-train

2010-04-07T22:00:00.013-04:00

From http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

I've written about some local spots before, and here's another one.

Nature and wildlife photography takes many trips, lots of attempts and visits to locations. While there are good habits, and techniques, much of it is chance and luck. So, I've found some of the best ways to get good images is to find spots that are not too far of a drive (maybe 30 minutes away or less) and then go often.

With days that are longer than 12 hours, I like to take time to go some where either before or after work. If I get off of work at 5 or 6, and sunset is at 7:30 or 8:30, that's a good amount of time to shoot if it is close by.

I live north of DC and that means Great Falls is close, and there are just a ton of parks, gardens that are good candidates for working.

Even though I like to shoot mostly wildlife and landscapes, I have been getting in the habit of going to a local garden (brookside). They have many varieties of flowers. Just a couple weeks ago almost nothing was in bloom when I went, but I got some decent pansy shots and posted this one.

For me it becomes an exercise in color, composition, and trying to really see more or better, and control things. With wildlife that's harder to try and practice. With landscapes it is somewhat doable, but you cannot control color or light much (sun, time of day, weather conditions - not too controllable) except for getting out a ton and picking the right DAYS...

But with flowers it is straightforward. In a way I would consider flower photography cross-training for me. It is a related but different skillset that I hope to learn from and apply to other areas of photography.

Tonight I stopped by the gardens for less than an hour, and took/made some images. While there I also saw a bunch of american robins, and a pair of red-winged blackbirds. On previous trips I've seen a kingfisher, and baltimore oriole, geese and ducks. One of these days I'm going to get some good wildlife photos here. It might turn in to my next find like the heron from last year. Who knows. And because the gardens are managed and well maintained there should be a good variety and turn over in the flowers/subjects, which means colors.

On a technical note, I've been shooting the flowers mostly with my 80-400mm, and a close up lens, and with extension tube(s) off of a tripod. No flash, and no reflector (yet), and I've not brought a spray bottle of water either...

And color should not be underrated a photographic element of its own.

-50-

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

GBH w/ big fish at Blackwater Refuge

2010-04-07T08:30:00.003-04:00

From http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Great Blue Heron with a big fish.

(1/60th, f/4, 400mm, ISO 400)

There's a spot at Blackwater Refuge where herons often hunt. Approaching herons at the refuge is a fairly straight forward thing - stay in your car and don't move too fast, and you won't spook them. I shot the above from my car, and managed to shoot the heron for around 20 minutes. He caught a few fish, smaller ones earlier, and then finally caught this big one. It took him more than 5 minutes to eat it.

I shot these at some pretty slow shutter speeds, and hand held (resting on hand and window's edge). I like the motion, but it is tough to get a lot of keepers. These were shot at around sunrise, and the heron was in a shaded spot. As the light gradually increased I did up the shutter speed but still only a little. Adding the movement, while still not *blurry* I think adds to it nicely.

For sunrise and lower light situations I'm going to continue to work with the slower shutter speeds. I'd have preferred to be on a tripod, but that would have scared off the heron...

BTW, Congrats to Pat Ulrich on the denfenders.org contest.

-50-

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

MD Osprey

2010-04-04T21:09:00.008-04:00

From: http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

An Osprey shot from today.

I've been watching some osprey this year, but it's different. I don't care to watch the nest from last year the same way. Watching and appreciating birds, while positioning one's self near their nest - sort of seems weak. No matter the effort, my presence will at least ruffle their feathers.

And with other photographers coming too, it just makes things too much to manage as an individual photographer. So I have and will go some, but for the most part I'm going to just visit and shoot at that nest occasionally, and try to find more spots too.

Today, I immediately broke from my past habits and took a walk through the woods and saw a Great Horned Owl fly across my path and head in to the woods fly at about 2 feet off the ground. I didn't get any photos of 'em, but, it was like a reward of my trying more new/different and moving away from the "watch the nest" style of shooting.

The drama at the nest is that there appears to be a couple or more different females courting either THE male or just plain competing with the locals over the platform... IDK. If I had a bird's brain maybe I'd know. Lol.

-50-

Here are a few from last year at The Nest...:

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Golden Eagle Photos and Videos

2010-04-04T17:28:00.006-04:00

From: http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Seeing a Golden Eagle is a pretty rare thing for me. When I first started to see bald eagles I would mistake juvenile balds for goldens, but nowadays I am pretty familiar with the differences in their markings.

The eagle count at Blackwater Refuge this year had 7. I got this golden eagle there a little over a year ago.

Golden eagles are basically huge, and can prey on things that are also surprisingly large. Check out this short clip of a deer falling prey:

And see this image from a nest with a feast of foxes (some with radio collars):

Here's a much longer video, that is almost too crazy to believe, but I think it is real and just shows how powerful the golden eagle is.

-50-

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Great Falls National Park

2010-04-01T18:30:00.002-04:00

From: http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Great Falls National Park is one of my favorite places to visit.

There are many photographic reasons to visit, the Falls, weather changes, seasonal changes and foliage, various types of light where both sunrise and sunset can make for excellent photographic chances.

I live and work about a half hours drive from both the Maryland and the Virginia sides. I first went to the Maryland side around 60 times before making my first visit to the Virginia side.

The Maryland side has the C&O canal and tow path. The main falls is about a 15 minute walk from the parking lot. There's just one overlook platform, but the path to it has a number of bridges and photo spots.

The Virginia side has 3 overlooks and all are closer to the parking lots.

Now that I've had a chance to visit both sides for various times of the day I prefer the MD side for morning or mid day visits. For sunset I prefer the VA side. I've also done the reverse and had good luck, so it is best to try both and see what works for you.

I mix things up, and in February shot sunrise from the VA side, and sunset from the MD side:

Here's a flickr slideshow of all images (not just mine) on flickr tagged with "great falls national park" sorted by interestingness...

-50-

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Chasing Light - Plan, Update, Fail...

2010-03-31T19:52:00.004-04:00

From: http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

The below image is a good example of how the sun can peek through a narrow opening. Sometimes clouds have a well defined edge. The below is from a Sunrise at Bombay Hook Refuge in Delaware. At the time I took it I realized that the amazing light was only going to last for the brief period of time while the light painted the underside of the clouds and the land.

Another time this setup played out was at Portland Head Light in Maine. The good light and photo oppertunities all took place pre-sunrise. The light was sneaking over the horizon and hitting the underside of the morning clouds. This day by the time the sun had actually risen, it was over. Once the clouds got in the way there was nothing special to see or photograph.

With those two days as the setup...

The last two night here in Maryland we had cloudy and rainy forecasts. I went to Great Falls Monday evening, and nothing special materialized. I was hoping for some breaks in the clouds, some magical light. My visit lasted an hour or so, and I took maybe a hundred or two images. It was a decent trip, but no photo gold that night.

Then Tuesday morning as I left for work I already knew the evening weather forecast was for 60% chance of rain. In the morning the skies looked pretty mixed, and rethought if I wanted to visit Great Falls, and still decided not to. By late afternoon however I saw that the cloud cover had a pretty well defined edge on the west side. The potential for the sun lighting the clouds from underneath during the sunset existed. So I left work, got my camera, and went to Great Falls. During this visit it rained a little and was just pure gray. There was absolutely nothing special to see. And I couldn't see any cloud-edge from the river's edge.

I left.

Then from the DC beltway, about 10 minutes later - at sunset, it HAPPENED! The sun peeked through, and there was about 2 or 3 minutes of MAGIC LIGHT!

I'm not sure what the lesson is, because it was my flexible nature that made me change my plans not to go in to plans to go. And then based on observations of the current conditions I gave up. Exactly what I hoped would happen did, but I out thought it and I left. Fail. Lol. I guess the lesson I will hope to learn is that when planning sunset shooting, I will be sure to stay until the actual time of sunset, because it can be hard to judge that final few minutes.

What bugs me is that the two examples above, the photos, are the precise same thing except during sunrise. They were both awesome, and lasted just a few minutes. Had I driven a hundred miles to shoot sunset (or sunrise) I would not have given up so easily. For me Great Falls is about a half hour drive.

Here's a nice sunset from the VA side that was taken a couple years ago.

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Planning, Setup, and Seeing it come together

2010-03-29T22:05:00.005-04:00

From: http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

I've been contemplating this blog a little, my photography and why I post here at all. I think it is not to try to brag or show off but to share and in the process learn some things myself.

Last week I was listening to some new found podcast material (at lensflare35.com) and someone noted Arty Morris and his put the wind and light at your back to get flight shots of incoming birds. That rang true for me and the luck I had with the Snow Geese at Blackwater. The wind was just like they described, at my back, however for me the light was to the side and somewhat behind the birds, but they did come in to land in to the wind. I had setup in that area and saw it work, and then spent a couple hours as they came and went a few times.

Sometimes I ask myself what makes a better photographer than me better than me? In my heart of hearts I know it is a million things, many of which are un-measureable, or repeatable. Setting up for wildlife is a guessing game, a game of chance, but being able to see and predict things makes for better odds.

On this particular day at Assateague Island I had the wind in my face and the sun at my back. Not quite Arty's perfect setup, but it worked. Here's a diagram of it:

I spotted quite a few harriers this day using this setup to glide without much effort...

At the time I was shooting I picked up on the wind and shrubs and what the birds were doing. They will follow a path of least effort for hunting if possible. The shrubs created an updraft and a free ride/lift.

Looking back now I could have easily worked the area more. I shot from my car, drove up and down this section a few times and then moved on. I play the odds and try lots of different approaches.

Had I not had luck later shooting somewhere else (Blackwater Refuge) I might have kicked myself for driving away from this good setup. But as it turned out I got my best ever Harrier shots a few hours later. The snow cover on the ground and clear skies made for a magic up and down light, and it was where I was setup for the Snow Geese. The Harrier just circled overhead a few times. Here's one of the resulting images:

Because of how much luck plays a part in Wildlife Photography I like to take risks, try things, and often get very mixed results. And that's to be expected, and that's the beautiful part of it. When things come together, when nature shares its magic it fills the tanks and makes me want to risk it again another day, and try something that's never worked, or been tried.

This day was a perfect example of that gamble. I drove on a day trip to Assateague Island (never done that before) and I ALSO went to Blackwater, and I had some great luck at both spots.

--
One of the things I will try to do with my blog is describe more of the circumstances and process involved in making the successful images. On a podcast I was listening to recently someone said they hit a wall in writing text to accompany their images, until the editor/publisher said 'speak to the images'. I'm going to try to do that more than in the past.

-50-

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Bald Eagle with a Fish

2010-03-25T23:08:00.002-04:00

From: http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Here's an eagle photo from last December taken along the Susquehanna River in Maryland. Hundreds of bald eagles migrate to the river each Fall, it's such a sight to see.

These are also from Susquehanna River, which is located north of Baltimore.

Check out that crop/croup!

I recently ran in to someone who said they planned to travel to Alaska to photograph eagles. While I too have that plan I suspected they'd not been aware of the massive return of eagle numbers that are present in Maryland - so I suggest they visit Blackwater Refuge, and also the Susquehanna River both of which are in Maryland...

-Jon

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Light, Color and Gesture

2010-03-22T22:02:00.006-04:00

From: http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Spring is HERE! Winter be gone. That was a ton of snow we got here in the Mid-Atlantic and I'm ready for the grass to grow, flowers to bloom and birds to migrate back and start their breeding.

And I'm ready to make some new images. Not the images I've made before, and not the images that many around me are making either.

To reach that goal I need to some how look past my old ways, and trying to repeat my past images or just improve on them incrementally. I think I've written something close to that before, here and here.

This past weekend I went shooting and used my camo blind. It worked fairly well, but the spot I went to once again had other people in the area. So, me being hidden while others are within earshot and not trying to hide didn't work. I got images, and some were fine, but besides some details about some individual birds at a nest, there's nothing all that new which I captured. Using the blind put me on the right path to success, but I just needed some more luck, or different plans.

What I took away from the day there was hiding is good, but I need to hide from the people too (again). To accomplish my goals of hiding I need to pick better times and better spots. And I also just ordered a bit more camo from llbean.com to use to better concele my spot. And I need to also make something to dampen the sound of my camera's shutter.

I have a bunch of foam packing material, the stuff hard drives are cushioned with, that I am going to cut up and make a camera wrap type things out of. When I get that done I will post something.

For the purpose of this post, Light Color & Gesture means to not just grab shots, flight shots on blue sky where the only goal is exposure and freezing the action. It's a fine goal but shooting good subjects and capturing sharp images is not enough any more...

Happy Shootin'

-50-

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

lensflare35.com and Greg Downing

2010-03-22T20:10:00.006-04:00

From: http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

I just found this site lensflare35.com and it has an associated podcast. The first thing I watched was a video of Tony Sweet's images and his commentary. He's a fine photographer, but his style doesn't hit me in the gut if you know what I mean. His HDR and texture stuff isn't the kind of work I strive to achieve. I do like how he uses color and his foliage photos, reflected in water often, are very nice.

Then I clicked around and found an interview/video of Greg Downing's work. Greg's photos are more to my liking and style... He's in to nature, birds, etc.

Interview with nature bird photographer Greg Downing

Greg's site is here:

Greg is also the publisher of naturescapes.net
-50-

-Jon

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Red Foxes at Bombay Hook NWR, DE

2010-03-10T19:00:00.004-05:00

Winter at Bombay Hook is usually a pretty solid bet when it comes to trying to see Red Foxes. I made it there a few times this Winter, and all but one visit I saw Red Foxes.

I'd guess within a month some of the female foxes will give birth to Fox Kits! And then within another handful of weeks kits should start to show themselves, coming out of the dens for the first times.

By early May there were kits a couple years ago, and these looks sort of big, so maybe they're 5 weeks old.

These kits were smaller, and maybe 3 or so weeks old (from Blackwater Refuge):

For some more info on Bombay Hook Refuge see this blogger site I setup... http://bombay-hook-national-wildlife-refuge.blogspot.com/.

--50--

And here is the rest of it.
-Jon

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Joe Rossbach's Photography and Videos

2010-03-09T20:02:00.006-05:00

Joe is a local professional photographer that I'd say focuses on nature and landscape photography. He's been at it for 5 years full time, and has been a commercial and sports photographer for another 10 before that, if I recall correctly.

I've now seen him speak a couple times and he's good. I'd say all his success is well deserved and I am a fan of his work. He's got a great eye for composition, light and color.

Here's a video of some of his highlights from 2009 - check it out, some great work.

If you travel over to his web site you should check out his tips page which has a bunch of videos and guides, etc. It is always interesting to be able to watch some else use Lightroom or Photoshop. I picked up a few MAJOR things that I will try to add to my tool belt just by watching some basic stuff. You only know what you know, and these kinds of tutorial videos while they might seem a bit boring, can yield an entirely new method for photo editing.

The thing I picked up was from the image blending video and was the channel masking technique. A coworker has shown something like that to me probably 8 or 9 or more years ago, and it was ***zoom*** right over my head. I'd forgotten it the moment he did it and the 8 other steps he was showing me in PS 5.5 I think.

I will readily concede that I didn't invent my camera, my car or my computer. So, learning from how others have used these items can help me do the same, grow, and make the best of it all in my pursuit of photography...

I enjoy supporting local working professional photographers. When he spoke yesterday, I made sure to pick up a book he had for sale.

(Originally posted by Jon @ http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/)
--50--

-Jon

The Adventure of it all

2010-03-06T21:56:00.006-05:00

I put in a 14 and 1/2 hour day today, roughly, for my door to door travels.

The days are longer than the shortest, but it is still a long way from Summer and the longest days. By 4:15 am or so I was on the road, and I made it about 140 miles to Assateague Island within just a few minutes of sunrise.

The past 6 months has been a bit interesting for me related to travel and photography. Some of my favorite photos have been the result of hard work but with a very random component. All the Black Skimmer stuff was the result of some risk taking and random chance.

Today I found (what I think was a group of 300+ Dunlin) on Maryland's Eastern Shore.

I don't normally even try for compositions like that! A little reading and exposure to different thinking can go a long way I suppose. Traveling around, I didn't even spot them, I got to where they were and it all just sort of happened.

What's weird in a way is that I went to like 5 places today, all different, each with some resulting images, but I just liked this - it seemed to touch a chord in me. It's different.

--50--

-Jon

Planning for March, Spring and Beyond

2010-03-02T23:32:00.005-05:00

It is almost that time again, time for seasonal change and time for planning to see new thing, approach things with a fresh eye, and take new images.

There are going to still be some Snow Geese at blackwater and sunrise is getting earlier, so it is getting slightly 'harder' to make a sunrise... But then DST is going to kick in too soon.

March will bring the return, long overdue if you ask me, of some warmer weather and people and new chances for unique or different images... Walking around downtown along the mall and monuments was new to me once. I'd only really made it down there for snow or the cherry blossoms.

The above are from March, and the below are from April... Birds will be returning from their long Fall/Winter trips. Time to build nests, or maybe just freshen them up...

And with the Osprey back at Blackwater Refuge, the Bald Eagles will be ready to wait, and steal the fish of said Osprey...

What I plan to do in pursuit of new:
-- Go to new places, or places in months/seasons not done by me before. I've started by visiting Assateague Island a couple weekends ago.
-- Use a blind to hide from wildlife, disturb it less, and get even closer/natural photos
-- Think different, be open to new approaches or spots, take risk and not *just* do what's worked in the past.
-- Improve my long-lens-technique so I get sharper photos. Try with a converter on my 200-400mm some, but not *too* much.
-- Find more new *local* spots. Many of my local or closer spots, well there aren't that many. I have a few, and most of my so called spots are refuges that are 80-100 miles away. I plan to continue to poke around and look for good close spots. This is often fruitless work, effort with little or no reward. But it is still worth it. Last year I found a spot, after 10's of visits that proved to be a gold mine for Heron photos....

I may end up with a big new toy, but I keep going back and worth on that one. Until then I have more than enough gear to get good photos. I'm still kicking myself for that D300s I got - I now have a fully functioning Fuji S5, Nikon D200, D300 and D300s... The D300s has opened up new video opportunities, and I've gotten a few things I like... but I swore I'd wait for a next generation to upgrade again, a full next gen not just mod adding video...

This blog is to help me work through ideas, share that effort, and maybe help someone else in the process. One thing I've learned in the last few years - there is no easy answer to any of this. It is just too complicated. Seeing one photographer, reading one book, signing up for one newsletter, going on one photo trip, buying one new piece of camera gear - they may and should all HELP, but they will never provide 'the answer' or be a magic bullet. For what I like to do and shoot, it is all about being thoughtful, experimenting, putting in boat loads of effort, and seeing what works and course correcting along the way.

The fuel to all that is seeing new things, capturing new images, and sharing it in some form with some one - I mostly use flickr for the sharing part but have other means as well (photo clubs, in person, friends, at work, etc).

--50--

-Jon

Mr. HDR - Trey Ratcliff GoogleTalk Video

2010-02-26T20:33:00.002-05:00

Trey is one awesome photographer. His blog is here: http://www.stuckincustoms.com/.

Authors@Google Talk is now Online

I was very excited and honored to speak at Google for their Authors@Google program. The people I met there were cool, interesting, and genuinely into in HDR Photography. The team there recorded the whole presentation and have recently put it online — so now you all can see.

-Jon

Birds - 1, 2, 3, Many!

2010-02-25T20:34:00.005-05:00

My recent presentation had a section of images devoted to flocks of birds. I spoke to how shooting those initial images of larger numbers of birds (100's, 1000's at once) is easy. You can get walls of Snow Geese in flight, or all on the water or ice. Or maybe 100's of Red-Winged Black Birds (and grackles, brown-headed cowbirds, etc)...

This past weekend I was lucky enough to see 10,000+ snow geese. I shot them during mid-day Saturday and again on Sunday from sunrise to mid-day.

With that many birds, it seemed logic to try to isolate them, shoot them one, two, even three at a time....

One

Two

Three

So, trying to shoot huge numbers of birds I wound up focusing on a few at a time on some occasions.

I DID also shoot the larger flocks as well, and I think I got some new to me images like this one with some depth created by the different sizes the snow geese appear in the image as... There's a real foreground and background as a result.

To get these images, different ones, took me thinking a little differently. The spot I shot from didn't line up all that perfectly. The light was coming from the back and side of the birds as they approached. But that made it unique and better / different than my previous Snow Goose shots/days.

Sometimes trying to control things, trying to follow certain rules, leads to non-unique images. Moving beyond that is a worth while effort.

That reminds me of Bombay Hook and the snow geese there. Shooting right as you arrive at sunrise from the T in the road just past the visitors center, the sun can be right behind any flying birds in Raymond Pool. And in the past I've stopped there briefly, but never setup and tried to shoot from there for more than a minute or two. Given the above shots and experience at blackwater I will try to recall this, and not try to work from a script, or move to the 'good spots' without thinking it through a little more.

The lesson I took from last weekend was to have good habits, work hard, get up at 3 or 4am, drive 100+ miles (I went to Assateague Island on a day trip AND went to Blackwater Refuge the SAME Day) - but to also be flexible, try new things, spend time (I spent around 2 hours at this spot), and also go with what is working or has worked! I went back Sunday too, after Saturday afternoon had worked at Blackwater...

I took this funny shot of a pony at Assateague Saturday morning.

--50--

-Jon

Tips and Observations for Nature & Wildlife Photography

2010-02-18T19:48:00.014-05:00

I was asked to speak at a camera club in Maryland recently, and accepted because while I am not a Pro Photographer, I aspire to be one one day and thought of it sort of like training for the big leagues... About 35 people attended and as far as I could tell no one left or fell asleep - so it was a success! My presentation last about 2 hours... With nearly each image I told something regarding the subject or location or both, and elements that went in to the photograph/shooting.

I showed about 120 images in 6 categories and made these collages as intros in to the image groupings (a few photos not in the collages made it in too - almost all images were ones I'd posted to flickr previously):

FLASH

FLOCKS

HUNTING & EATING

MATES & MATING

MOTION & MOVEMENT

And finally LANDSCAPES

I made a handout with the below info. I've actually spoken at another camera club already as a presenter and not just a member, and had organized the talk around locations and showed images from each place (about a dozen spots). This time I chose a more themed or subject based organization.

1) Learn photo basics (f/stops, shutter speed, ISO, etc) and your gear. period.
a. Practice on captive animals or inanimate objects
2) Learn to observe wildlife, see. Focus on behavior, predicting things.
  a. Practice at the zoo – even captive animals can reveal nuggets as to wildlife observation
3) Learn locations, start locally, expand travel distance.
4) Learn to do basic location/site discovery on visit #1
5) Build an informed plan for visit #2 ->
6) Execute on that plan, adapt, be flexible, but still plan and try to use the planning to your advantage.
7) Grow sphere of observation, your photographic world, start close to home, grow travel radius
8) Form good habits for shooting
  a. Prep gear day before (batteries, clean, pack bag for location/plan)
  b. Turn off the cell phone, or put it on vibrate.
  c. Place car keys IN pocket.
  d. While an iPod or radio can help pass the time, it can distract from proper observation
  e. Dress for the weather – but keep options open (bring or have extra clothes ready – shoes, sox, hat, gloves, scarf)
  f. Pack food and water, even for half day trips.
  g. Gas up the car the day before
  h. Use GPS or printed map for first trips to new locations
  i. Always have extra batteries and memory cards. Forgetting that one and only CF card can be a big problem, especially if you don’t realize until after you’ve driven 100 miles. Take the 2 minutes to verify before leaving the house that the camera bag has a camera, battery, memory card, etc.
9) Form habits and plans and patterns for locations
  a. Go where the light is best first, animals have patterns and habits, try things that have worked before
  b. When scanning a given road with good light on one side, and poor light on the other – focus on the side with good light – simple but not worth checking the poor side of the road since photos are all about light.
  c. Be patient, setup and focus attention where the light is best.
10) Go beyond those plans when you start to feel like you are “check-listing” things and not doing "new"
11) Aim for the new, take risks, avoid shooting in crowds, (shoot alone)
12) Always look to get inspired, find photographers that are producing great work and come up with something to try to advance your own work - and not *just* gear.
  a. Gear helps - instead pursue locations, subjects and images (not gear).
  b. Learning subjects’ habits and behaviors can help you get closer than any gear
13) Go shooting alone; or if in a group plan to split up at some point. Don't all line up on a subject or spot and click in unison - or if you do don't expect to get something all that unique. Shooting alone also has the added benefit of putting you in sole control of your interaction with nature/wildlife. The inputs may be directly linked to the outcomes. It is easier to realize a jingle of a set of keys will disturb a bird when you're alone. If your are paired up you may be talking and never see the bird or it might leave before you have a chance to spot it.
14) Try to shoot early or late in the day – golden hour and all, flat / noon-time images are easy to get and lack appeal – an hour at sunrise can yield much better results than 4 hours during mid day.
15) Always keep trying – Luck can yield the occasional great image (think golf swing and a single good ball), but it takes practice and tons of things go in to making good images consistently or at least somewhat regularly.
  a. Get something from every day – and learn to be ok with that not always being a great image. Some days the reward is a new location gets found, a revelation about a subject, or a seemingly minor thing that advances the next trip
16) Last but not least – when you’re wondering what to do, questioning everything and anything, just go out shooting. Unhappy with file management? Go shooting. Unhappy with making prints? Go shooting. Wish you could process a RAW file better? Go shooting. Don’t get caught up in the OTHER STUFF, shoot first, and worry about the rest last.

Qualities of a good image – things I shoot for, use to select images once shot, etc:
  • Is the light good, unique?
  • Are the lines compelling, is the composition good?
  • For Animals does the image show?
    o Behavior
    o Hunting
    o Eating
    o Mating
    o Resting / Sleeping
    o A uniquely close view
    o Animal’s habitat
  • Is the image clean? A twig or the slightest distracting thing in the background can make the difference between ok and great
  • Spend a good amount of time reviewing previous shoots, and give days and weeks for images to age and see if they still hold the same meaning as when first shot – that will help you pick the images that others will respond too since they were not there.

Sign up for news letters:
http://BirdsAsArt.com , http://josephrossbach.com/, http://nikhilbahl.com/

Listen to Podcasts:
This Week in Photography (TWiP), This Week in Media (TWiM), Martin Bailey Photography, The Candid Frame, LightSource Studio Photography, Tips from the Top Floor, Chase Jarvis Photography, Moose Peterson, Nature Stories Podcast, Photofocus.

Find an online community to participate in, I recommend Flickr. Other people I know frequent fredmiranda.com, pbase.com and photo.net. I think flickr has a good mix of photo and social elements to make it a better choice.

Photo Stats: In 4 ½ years I’ve taken about 300,000 images and have shot on about 1000+ location-days @ usually one location per day (sometimes 2 a day, rarely 3 or 4 in a single day).

My gear (working items only): D200, D300, D300s, Fuji S5, Nikkor 200-400mm f/4, Tamron 18-200mm, 80-400mm f4.5-5.6, Tokina 12-24mm f/4, 35mm f/1.8, 50mm f/1.8, 2 x SB-800’s, Gitzo Basalt (GT2941), FEISOL Tripod CT-3472LV, Whimberly Gimble Head, Naturescapes Kwik Camo Blind, Quad-core AMD 8GB RAM, ~8TB internal and ~3TB external (backups) disk space running Windows 7 x64.

Two recommended photographers:
Gaëtan - http://www.flickr.com/photos/lesec/
Hennie - http://www.flickr.com/photos/hvhe1/

(and stealing a page from the candid frame podcast I recommended TWO fellow photographers that happen to both be from flickr.com...)

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-Jon.

Great Blue Heron Video

2010-01-22T10:53:00.004-05:00

I just figured out why previous videos weren't filling the frame when I did the edit (adding images auto selected 4:3 aspect ratio even when video was 16:9, and then when the two were mixed neither filled the frame.).... Edit done in Windows Movie Maker, captured with D300s.

I tried to change the aspect ratio on an existing Movie Maker project's images and it hung the app. So, the below video is a re-do on a movie I was trying to make. It actually took me a few tries to make a project from scratch that behaved correctly, in the end I made a new project, changed the image aspect ratio without any files or clips added, saved that, then closed MM and opened my project fresh and it worked.

One of the things mentioned in a recent This Week in Photography podcast episode was when shooting video not to pan around and chase the action like you might for still images. But instead setup the video camera and let the action happen inside the frame.

For this footage that's just what I'd done, setup the camera and let stuff happen without moving around.

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-Jon

Free Tools: Calendering for Wildlife Dates

2010-01-06T20:39:00.007-05:00

There are a few free tools that I use some times:
Overdisk
Bulk Rename Utility
Picasa
Gmail
Dropbox!

The one that I just started to use today/tonight for increased awareness and productivity is Google Calendar. I stated to enter past successes and dates for things like Osprey spottings, fox kit spottings, etc. I will be adding tons of new things as time goes on, and as I see new things.

The key thing to this tool for future years is how I am adding the past events. I'm adding them as yearly-recurring events with reminders days in advance. This will automatically email me of up coming dates when things worked in previous years! And it's free!

I've been shooting wildlife with a passion for maybe 3 or 4 years. Learning from past experience is a must, and as more time passes and more experience is amassed a tool like this is a great addition.

I highly recommend that you add a tool or system like this to your own research and shooting habits. Don't ask me for my info, that's the part you need to keep track of from your own travels. I only go to a very small patch of this globe we all live on, and I want to share the sights I find and see and track (not the specific details of my planning or shooting locations on that level). Your goal, if you're reading this blog for insight and help and guidance to do your own nature and wildlife photography work, should be to find your own slice of wildlife to watch, observe and learn from and share with others...

Google calendars and tracking events as yearly recurring events can be a great way to aid in that.

I'm already looking forward to - Ospreys and Chicks, Fox and Kits, etc.

I've also added dates for Black-Crowned Night Herons returning, and will be adding many other migratory species and the locations they've shown up in and when... The in-advance reminders should be a real help, and I recommend you give that a go too...

Happy Shootin'
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-Jon

Some 2009 Favorite Images of Mine

2010-01-06T19:18:00.003-05:00

I already posted a year in review flickr post a few days ago:

A couple of those that stand out follow.

This one for the flock, ocean and rocks - I just like the composition, the image itself didn't jump out at me during initial reviews, but it has stuck with me since I found it a month or more later in my further reviews.

This stands out even though for purposed of this blog it is captive and I usually only post *wild* or *non-captive* shots here. I began to work more on blur shots and had a camera die this day and within a couple days of taking this image the 3 brothers were sent from the zoo and just one cheetah remains there right now so no more trying for stuff like this.

In 2009 I embraced the different and new, and did things I would have previously avoided. This is shot from the VA side of Great Falls down below at Fisherman's eddy. Kate talked me in to adventuring down there, and while the short climb was dicey it wasn't really that bad and I've done it many times since.

The first time I got a Baltimore Oriole and it wasn't a tiny spec was in 2009 and the color in the background helped make this a memorial image for me.

This image and the process I used to capture it taught me to line up not just the horizon to perfectly horizontal but also the elements in the foreground. Too many times I've shot similar things but the foreground bothered me and I considered the images failures. Here the parallel lines work, and the lack of distracting angled foreground help.

Finally it is this image that reminds me of how fun it was to get to watch and get to know a little, this osprey pair. They successfully raised 3 chicks and I saw chick 3 fledge... This year I plan even more things for osprey (stay tuned), so I can better get more personal and intimate images with the least bother to the birds...

Happy Shootin'

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-Jon

Quick Sunrise @ Bombay Hook NWR, DE

2010-01-05T08:06:00.002-05:00

The sunrise this morning came and went pretty fast.

With a think cover of clouds and just a thin band on the horizon where the sun could peak through, the light was great, full of color, but it only lasted for a few minutes.

I would normally see this part of the scene (below) and keep on going without shooting it. But even more so now, I stop and think, and look a little harder and reconsider just moving on. Light alone can be a strong element, and on a day like this one it was over quite quickly.

The light really did go away moments later, but the clouds broke up some an hour or something after sunrise so the trip wasn't just for those few minutes at sunrise.

For landscapes that short window of sunrise and sunset light is a must... It is a big part of what makes getting up at 4am and driving 100 miles worth it for me.

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-Jon

Cold Weather Photography Tips

2010-01-04T23:09:00.003-05:00

This has been a very cold winter so far, and it is not about to let up right away.

Weather is a very compelling element when it comes to photographs. Where I shoot it is a common thing to get bright or cloudy days, without a lot of wind. Rainy days are often not very good for shooting outdoors, although I've found a good shot on occasions.

When it is cold, it can be good for frozen things, snow, animals behaving differently, etc. Skipping days like that, cold and frozen, can mean skipping a lot of chances for new things.

My brief list of tips for shooting on cold days are:
1) allow time for gear to get cold when traveling outbound.
2) allow time for gear to slowly get warm again once you're home (keep in bag, and closed).
3) dress in lots of layers, wool socks and liner socks. Don't wear tight shoes.
4) hats, gloves, scarves, FLEECE!
5) extra batteries
6) eat

In past years I've let the cold get to me. Now I wear wool/smart socks and also liner socks, and my shoes normally are loose fitting. I wear fleece long-johns, which are about 500% warmer than cotton ones. And I dress in lots of layers, none of which are super thick or warm, but when combined they add up, and allow for tweaking and adjusting when conditions or locations change.

I bundle up and use my car as a wind jam often.

This weekend I went out and with the wind-chill it was about minus-1! But I wasn't cold. Conditions weren't exactly 'friendly' but it didn't stop me or make me wish I had stayed home, because I was prepared.

One thing I may have learned the hard way, is that when going in and out of a warm building - leave the camera gear outside in the cold. I did that, went in with it, a bunch of times while in Maine on a past trip and it may have lead to some damage to my camera.

When I'm heading to a place like Bombay Hook and it is below freezing I keep the heat lot, use my heated seats mostly, and roll down the windows for the last 20 miles or so - so things get cold. And in reverse I let the car warm up slowly, and once home, I keep things wrapped up except for removing a memory card or two...

Fair weather photography is easy, tougher weather shooting will build character and you'll get some unique images...

Happy Shootin'

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-Jon

work work work

2010-01-03T20:00:00.003-05:00

This weekend was cold and very windy. Temps in the 20's and 30's, and winds as strong as 25-35 miles per hour.

I decided to stay fairly close to home, but did get out each day despite the weather. I wasn't expecting to see all that much. If I had traveled to the Eastern Shore of Maryland or Delaware (100 miles each way, 2 hr drive each way) the wind and cold would have meant that everything would have been hunkered down. And the water would be frozen or choppy at best.

What I hoped to get lucky and see was an owl. Maybe a Great Horned Owl or Barred. But that wasn't in the cards. Here's some of what I did see:

Hermit Thrush(maybe)

Possum

American Robin

Red-Tailed Hawk

I'm glad I got out. I never know what I might find or see, or photograph. I do however know if I stayed home I would have seen nothing... Work work work, getting out and making an effort, that's the most fundamental thing I do to get good photos. I go out shooting all the time.

If the above are not 'big successes' as far as images themselves, here are a couple of recent ones that I would call successes.

A Red-Fox at Bombay Hook NWR with a meal:

And a Delmarva Fox Squirrel does the closest thing to posing for me:

The reward for today's trip is getting out and trying, and the sights I did see, but also the trip will help in my searches for new spots in future seasons. As with 'my heron' finding a good spot that's close to home is really welcome, and lets me shoot before or after work, and make more frequent trips to a spot. Where I went today I spotted a few potential Osprey Platforms, and they were as close as 'my osprey' - but not as far of a drive. Now that would be cool.

(this is a great time of year to search for new spots to work in Spring...)

Happy Shootin'
-Jon

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Planning for January 2010

2009-12-29T17:35:00.002-05:00

One thing I've been doing more of this year is reflecting and planning. It can help, and point to things that worked, and has helped me to try new things.

What I look to do in my planning thought process is to:
reflect on past successes
plan for new locations or approaches

A month or two ago I got around to tagging all my images with month tags. Here's my tag for Jan (or January) sorted by interestingness...

A bunch of those are from the Zoo - like the pandas, lions, tigers...

But what matters to me and my wildlife trips are the mating foxes, and foxes in the snow and ice, which were at Bombay Hook NWR in Delaware.

Wildlife at the zoo (ie non-captive animals, visiting to catch a meal) included hawks:

And finally a couple of photos from Blackwater NWR in Maryland:

The wintering white pelicans were an oddity that happened for a few years in a row, and I have seen one there this year, but just one. It is possible the flock of 20 or so are around but I've missed them. In recent years brown pelicans have been captured and rehabed due to winter exposure to the cold, where they had frost bite and damaged their feet (if I recall correctly).

Ok, so mating foxes at BBH. Eagles and white pelicans (if lucky) at Blackwater. And wild hawks at the DC Zoo.

This year (2009) in January I embraced the weather on a number of days. I drove 100 mile to BBH to try to see the foxes mating again, in the snow this time, but struck out. I saw foxes but no mating - the foxes included the momma fox, and both kits I think:

Odds are I will go to Bombay Hook and Blackwater Refuges again. They've worked well in January. When I go somewhere like these places I ALWAYS GET THERE BY SUNRISE, OR BEFORE!. To show up around noon and spend an hour or two there is to waste the trip. Seriously. Sunrise or sunset will have the best light, and I seem to catch the action then when the animals wake up and do stuff, or when they catch their last meal of the day. Usually I'm there in the morning.

The 'get there by sunrise rule' works even better in the summer when it gets hot. The animals don't like the heat either, and will perform their hunting tasks early if possible.

What to plan that's new....

Well I just started to shoot from a blind and I will try that for the first time in January. Given the right setup, that can yield some closer than normal encounters. But as I noted in my blog post, I need to hide from people too, not just the animals.

Last January I found a new spot or two, including my Osprey spot - it's a low traffic area and fairly unknown. I'm going to continue to research and search for new spots to me, which haven't been discovered the way so many spots I go to have been.

While I'm not sharing some of my new spots, I will share this. What I'm looking for are places within a couple hour drive or 100 miles. Places that are public, allow for access via car, and have wildlife like eagles, osprey, foxes, owls, geese, ducks, etc.

I made public so many places that I go to that it is not a rare thing for someone to ask me while out shooting somewhere "are you Jon?"... Seriously, and it has happened in some strange and unexpected places - like hunkered down in the grass at Centennial lake a couple years ago while shooting this. I have to wonder how many people that roughly look like me and shoot nikon get asked "are you Jon?"... Lol. It's happened at the zoo a number of times, at the dam, and I think even at Great Falls.

Anyway, with people watching and following like that, it's hard to go places and share the locations and expect to be left alone and see the wildlife in such a way that doesn't bother the wildlife. I'm not saying I don't like people saying hi, I do, I find that to be great, like my images are reaching people and maybe getting them out. But, to see unbothered wildlife takes a calm and solemn approach, one that has to be done solo.

Maybe that will be one of my plans for 2010 - to only go shooting alone. That's how I do mostly shoot, but I often feel like I *should* go shooting with friends... I don't think that works, so I'm going to make an effort to even more so shoot alone.

And after January, there's February and Eagles at Blackwater will be doing their courtship and I can try to get a good version of their cartwheeeling as compared to this one:

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-Jon