Lakeside Captures

 After getting the boat launched Wednesday morning I took a moment to look around spotting this Great Blue Heron standing in the muck at the water's edge.  Slowly moving the boat closer I maneuvered for an good lighting angle to take advantage of the early morning sun as it began to burn through the fog.

Spotting another Heron later I again motored in closer and was surprised to see a feeding pair of immature wood ducks as they rounded the point.  After a few minutes the ducks and heron came into alignment allowing me to capture all in one photograph.

 The heavy dew glistens like jewels on the grass.  One duck looks for its next morsel as the other stretches is wings.

Plucking a blade of grass

And demonstrating the "Duck Step"

The pair were oblivious to me sitting nearly motionless in the shallow water with the boat rammed against a couple of stumps.  Wood ducks at this location are normally very wary but with the bright sun at my back they didn't seem to notice me until they had moved some distance away.

Fishing was slow as expected.  The Heron and Wood Ducks were "The Catch of the Day"

Whatisit

What is it? 

One hint; it's all natural.

Whitetails, Just being Whitetails

A doe nuzzles her little family in the cool of the morning.

The morning was nearly cloudless promising strong harsh light once the sun had crested the horizon but before sunrise the soft diffused light was simply perfect to photograph this tender moment of whitetail interaction.

Also shot before sunrise, the fawn curiously and hesitantly approaches the big buck.  Soon it was bounding off returning to its mother's protection but not before it had a sniff of the bucks impressive antlers.

A doe and her twins take time out for a short nursing session.  Still photography cannot capture the frantic suckling of the rapidly growing fawns.

Nursing sessions are short, seldom lasting more than a minute or two, and usually end with the mother walking away.  This hungry fawn is trying to get the last drop as mom abruptly ends the nursing.

With my background rooted in consumptive hunting I am drawn to pursuing bucks and particularly adult bucks carrying impressive headgear.  However as time goes by I find myself looking more and more for opportunities to capture whitetail interaction.  Fawns with their attractive spotted coats and a heaping helping of curiosity are great subjects as they interact with other deer and explore their environment.

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Hummingbird Photos: How its Done

Yesterday I posted photos of female/immature Ruby-throated Hummingbirds with the promise of following with a post of how it's done.  Photographing a hummer at a flower brings with it the problem of how to get the birds coming to the one flower where you are set up.  Trying to chase these little speedsters around while they go from flower to flower would be a futile effort.

The setup began with a red Canna Lily placed in a mason jar set in a well lighted location.  Hummers are attracted more so to red than to any other color.

Spritzing the flowers with sugar water added to the photographic appeal of the flowers and made the flowers irresistible to the tiny birds.  Occasional spritzing throughout the shoot kept the flowers fresh and inviting. 

After giving the hummers a couple of hours to find my single flower it was time to set up and begin shooting.  Using the Canon 60D and 100-400mm lens at nearly minimum focus distance gave an acceptable image size.  All photos were shot at ISO 500 and F5.6 in order to achieve a shutter speed of between 1/1500 to 1/3000.  Even at 1/3000 the shutter was not fast enough to completely stop the rapid wing beats.

Below are more shots of these incredibly agile little birds.  Enjoy! 

Hummer Heaven

Yesterday while doing chores around the house I noticed a Ruby-throated Hummingbird feeding at a Day Lilly.  The sighting reminded me that I did not have any good hummingbird photos in my archives that really pleased me.  Since I had the majority of the afternoon free I decided to attempt to remedy my image deficit.

Good Hummingbird images taken at a well placed feeder are certainly nothing to be sneezed at but with my goal of capturing wildlife in a natural setting I had no choice but to attempt to capture the hummers feeding on flowers.

The following images are a few of the better shots from the afternoon's photo shoot.  

Note the hummers clear tongue extended into the flower

In a later post I will give the details on the setup that produced these outstanding results but for now enjoy the tiny but magnificent acrobat of the sky, the Ruby-throated  Hummingbird.

Boys will be Boys

Although it is summer and the rut is still some months away bucks will occasionally show mild signs of aggression toward one another.  In this instance the smaller 10pt to the left seemed to take exception to the approach of the 8pt.

The 10pt drops his head in a threatening move while the 8pt seems to disregard his antics.

With a toss of his head the larger 8pt makes it clear that he isn't interested in a friendly sparring match.  Buck seldom sparr while their antlers are covered in velvet however as the velvet begins to dry by months end sparring will become more common.    

As the minor dispute ended both bucks relaxed looking in opposite directions.

Our National Parks have much to offer and are treasures to be passed on for generations to come.  One of the treasures of the National Park system is the availability of wildlife that is allowed to live out their lives relatively unmolested.  Only in places like this can the general public observe wildlife interaction on a regular basis instead of observing wildlife reacting to human intrusion.

A Shenandoah Pair

Except during the rut mature whitetail bucks typically form loose knit bachelor groups.  This was the situation we found ourselves in with our early morning SNP whitetail encounter.  As the morning progressed the group grew to seven mature bucks before they began retiring to the woodland shortly after sun rise. 

In heavily hunted areas where bucks are killed before reaching maturity (2.5-3.5 years of age) bachelor groups are seldom seen.  This was the case in our region of Pennsylvania before antler restrictions were instituted nearly ten years ago.   Shenandoah National Park is an excellent place to observe this behaviour as not only are the deer acclimated to human presence but with no hunting allowed the bucks can reach maturity and even survive into old age. 

 Bucks affectionately nuzzling

One of my goals when photographing wildlife is to capture interaction between animals.  Too often people think of animals such as deer as just being a bundle of protein and instinct.  Close observation during time afield quickly disproves such notions as one observes the animals expressing emotions much like those of our own.

This pair of bucks may very well square off in combat during the rut but for now the affection between the two is unmistakable.

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Velvet & Fur: SNP Morning

With previous plans to visit Shenandoah National Park stymied by my illness Willard and I were finally able to hit the road during this mornings.  Arriving at Big Meadows a few minutes before photographic light we began searching the meadows with binos hoping to locate a bachelor group of bucks.  Unsuccessful at out first stop we moved to the south end of the meadow were we located two nice bucks feeding along the ridge.  Soon more bucks began appearing from the woods and in short order we were in photographic heaven; surrounded by seven adult bucks of varying sizes in great morning light.

I will be posting more of these bucks in coming posts but for today's post I chose a shot of the buck carrying the most unusual antlers.

As the sun warmed the landscape the bucks headed for cover.  Retuning towards the car I was looking at where I was placing my feet when Willard hissed "look there!"  Setting the camera down using the tripod as a monopod I snapped my first ever photograph of a coyote.

Getting a shot at a coyote was certainly an adrenalin rush but the background left a lot to be desired.  We watched as the coyote trotted up the asphalt road out of sight, never giving a worthwhile photo. 

Driving in the direction the coyote had gone we soon relocated it far out into the meadow where it was being worked by three photographers.  Not wanting to be left out we grabbed out equipment and casually approached in a manner so as not the alarm the animal.

The coyote had found food to its liking and was busy feeding; totally unconcerned by the now group of five photographers photographing its every move.  It soon became apparent that all of the photographers present knew how to work acclimated wildlife properly as no one made any quick furtive moves, no one pressed the animal, or made a direct approach as they moved to close the distance or get a better lighting angle.

Coyote sniffing the wind

What was the coyote feeding on?  Blueberries!  Although the whitetails feeding in the meadow were alarmed by its presence the coyote exhibited absolutely no interest in them.  Instead it spent over one half an hour feeding on blueberries and only occasionally pausing to lift its head momentarily checking its surroundings.  It was during these head lifts that shutters all around me could be heard burst firing at a frantic pace as all of the photographers tried to capture that one special moment when the beautiful wild animal would look its absolute best.

I will be sharing more of this amazingly productive morning in upcoming post.

Wildlife Memories

One morning while I was suffering from the raging fever of Lyme disease I sat on our front porch just trying to get through the day.  Mourning Doves, Catbirds, Mocking Birds, Cardinals, and Chipping Sparrows were busy flitting about the windbreak.  Since I also suffer from the photo-bug I slowly made my way inside and retrieved the camera.  Once settled back into my chair this little Chipping Sparrow posed prettily in the early morning sun making for a memorable photograph; the only good memory from that miserable week. 

With the whitetail fawns now spending much of their time with their mothers they are easily seen during early morning and late evening hours.  I loved the attentive expression on this fawns face as it paused one morning before sunrise to check on the whereabouts of mom.  For me wildlife photography is about memories.  Memories that are preserved in my minds eye and digitally as well.

Mid Summer Morning

The full brunt of the mid-summer heat bakes the countryside but in the cool of the morning landscapes can be beautifully lit before the ground fog has completely burned away.

Taking a short drive around our local area just after dawn the sun rays falling across a lush field of corn begged for someone to photograph its transient beauty.  Shooting the scene bracketed +- 2 stops gave me the raw material to combine the images in Photoshop HDR pro producing this the final result.

Health update:  The antibiotic regimen prescribed by my doctor seems to be working with all apparent symptoms of the Lyme disease now gone.  With my strength and endurance back to near normal levels my only concern is that the treatment will completely eradicate Lyme from my system.  I am hopeful that I will not develop any of the chronic problems associated with the disease in the future but only time will tell.