July Osprey - 2016

July is a great time for photographing Osprey in Maryland.  The chicks are getting big, and still in the nests, not yet fledged.  They are also eating a ton of fish so the adults need to be active to keep up with the demand for food.

In years past I have let other things grab my time and attention and I have missed out on shooting the osprey chicks.

But this year I took a day off of work, and I also took a weekend day and went to 2 specific nests near St. Michaels Maryland to shoot the birds.  There are so many nests in Maryland, but I liked these two because they are near but not too near to land, and they each had 3 chicks this year.

At the first nest I watched as one particular bird worked out, flapping away, gaining wing strength.



What really caught my eye was how the adult was perched slightly higher than the chicks, and was surveying the area but also keeping a close eye on the chicks too.



The other nest I shot at had the 3 chicks, and they spent more time being fed.  The male osprey was nearby and delivered 3 fish within about an hour while I was there for about 3 hours.  It was super hot, above 90/95 degrees.

While shooting from a nearby marina I drank 4 bottles of water to just keep up with the heat and sweat.

The above photos are new posts to flickr.  The below images I have shared already, here's the male at the second nest checking me out while carrying a fish, and then coming in for a landing at the nest.





I really like how crowded the nest seemed and how they were all huddled together so closely.  They were also very eager to eat, and the female (adult) went right for the fish and then repositioned herself to feed the chicks.  The male was more tentative.

It is not that often that I have seen and photographed chicks and both adults in a nest.  Usually the male will stay away or fly away quickly.  This male was similarly edgy but delivered 3 fish, and stayed in the nest longer than I expected.

 

Part of the reason could be the distance of the nest from the shore.  It was not that close - I used a 600mm and crop body (D500) to shoot them, and with a 1.4 teleconverter for some images.  In addition, when the male came by and seemed to do a couple fly-bys checking out the nest and me, but not landing, I backed up slightly, until he landed on the nest.  At one point I also used a cheap wireless camera trigger - where I set up the camera on the nest, turned off auto-focus, and then walked away to see if the birds' behavior would change.

During this time the male caught the fish and then would land on a nearby channel marker and eat some of the fish and wait.  The male, and female actually while the male was hunting, took to the air to ward off other osprey that intruded on their territory.

Each day was about a 4 hour drive round trip, and probably around 4-6 hours shooting. 

 The osprey should be coming back in two and a half to three months.  It will be fun to see them again.

-Jon
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July Osprey - 2016

Sunrise at Hemingways near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge March 2016

The first time I ever went to Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, many years ago, I had the pleasure of witnessing the sunrise while crossing the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. I say pleasure because I had not planned it right and didn't know how far I had to drive (no smart phone at the time, no google maps, and no proper prior planning) and while I was less than half way there I got to see the sunrise and realized I had blew it, and would be more than an hour "late" for sunrise...

Pretty much every visit since, over 50 easily in the last 9 or 10 years I've made it to Blackwater before sunrise, sometimes 45 minutes before... It is around a 100 miles to drive for me, and can take nearly 2 hours in the early morning. And it is totally worth it. Here are a couple sunrises from Blackwater that were awesome/epic/wow'd me, etc... Any many more here.




And finally this sunrise, from my second visit when I did actually make it in time for sunrise... ( Taken on December 16, 2006)


In March 2016 I think the weather wasn't supposed to be great and I slept in and then decided anyway to go east, and instead of getting up at 4am I got up at 5:30am or something. As I was driving I saw the amazing sunrise and these strange clouds and it was something to see. So for the first time, I stopped on the East side of the Bay Bridge at sunrise and went to the marina there.
Previously I'd shot the Snowy Owl that was there in the evening, while coming back from the Eastern Shore:


All that lead up to show off these two images I've shared so far from this spot... I shot a bunch, walked on the docks a bit, shot looking east, looking west, and took a few hundred photos. Then I continued east and hit a couple other spots without going to Blackwater.
Empty Docks


Sunrise @ Chesapeake Bay Bridge


Finally, here's a 'contact sheet' from the images I processed and rated from this day in March 2016. I've only posted the 2 above so far. There might be another couple to post from the sunrise timeframe... Later in the day the images were not unique, though it was fun to see the osprey early in the season the ducks as well.



If you're wondering about how I rate images, here it is:
1= come back and find this image and process it later.
2=used for an automated image/hdr creation, not editing by itself for single export
3=any edited image that is not rated higher
4=hdr images (TIF's then processed and exported), or regular images that are a "4". So just because an HDR is a 4 doesn't mean it is an image I really like.
5=highest rating, any image that I REALLY like...

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/
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Sunrise at Hemingways near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge March 2016

Keep Exploring & More Vertical

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/

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Keep Exploring & More Vertical

Osprey Perch GVP #13

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-

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Osprey Perch GVP #13

MD Osprey - GVP #6

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-

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MD Osprey - GVP #6

Going Vertical #5

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--

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Going Vertical #5

Going Vertical #2

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/

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Going Vertical #2

Blackwater - Bald Eagles Spring 2010 pt2

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/

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Blackwater - Bald Eagles Spring 2010 pt2

Blackwater Refuge - Bald Eagles Spring 2010

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-

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Blackwater Refuge - Bald Eagles Spring 2010

Great Falls National Park Spring 2010

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.




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Great Falls National Park Spring 2010

Flowers and Colors - Get out, Cross-train

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-

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Flowers and Colors - Get out, Cross-train

MD Osprey

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.

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

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Nikographer.com / Jon
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MD Osprey