Jan

31

Murderous Moths

Shot of the Month  Posted by / 1 comments

Shot of the Month – January 2017

Short-eared Owl, Washington State (2213)

As you may recall from an earlier post, I am a BIG fan of owls so it is an exciting day when I get to add a new owl species to my portfolio.  Let me introduce the Short-eared Owl (SEO), as captured here in this lovely winter scene that I found about an hour north of Seattle.  Upon moving to Washington State I learned that Short-eared Owls (SEOs) winter over in my new state to escape the cold of northern Canada.  Accordingly, I have been spending many a chilly weekend out looking for these aerial acrobats.

Owls can be very hard to photograph as they are usually most active at night.  SEOs are one of the easier owls to view, relatively speaking, in that they often hunt during the day.  Bless them.

The Short-eared Owl prefers open terrain and can be found in prairies, coastal grasslands, meadows, savannas, tundra, marshes, and other low-vegetation habitats.

These owls specialize in hunting voles and other rodents.  The owl usually flies just a few feet off the ground as it scans for a meal — its flight can be highly erraticShort-eared owl, Washington State (1396)
and undulating.  As it listens and looks for prey it may suddenly bank to one side or another, or slam on its air brakes to drop to the ground feet first to grab its victim.  Sometimes it will hover over a spot as it waits for an opportunity to pounce.

Short-eared owl, Washington State (8547)

Imagine a large moth flying over a field and you will have a sense of its herky-jerky flying style.  As a photographer, I can tell you that trying to capture an image of an SEO in flight is one of the most difficult types of photography I have tried to do.  I will be tracking it, tracking it, just about ready to release the shutter, and then, poof, the bird vanishes from the viewfinder.  This happens A LOT.

Short-eared owl, Washington State (1625)On a typical day, I will arrive at sunrise and take up a position in the field.  And then I wait.  As the sun rises, and the voles and mice become more active, the SEOs suddenly appear from the ether.  I have seen as many as seven SEOs working a large field at the same time.  The owls crisscross their way over the terrain in sortie after sortie as they look for prey.  It is an amazing scene to behold though it must be a rather terrifying experience if you are a vole.

Short-eared owl, Washington State (9030)

Bad day for the vole…

The airspace above these fields will soon fall quiet as the owls begin to migrate back north for mating season which starts in March.  I imagine that spring can’t come soon enough for the voles — a few months respite from the constant onslaught from those malevolent, murderous moths.

 

 

Until next month…

 

Nikon D4S, Nikon 600mm f/4, 1/1600 s, ISO 1600, +0.5 EV

Jan

07

10 for 16

Today's Shot  Posted by / 5 comments

2016 was a year of transition — we moved across the country from Vermont to Seattle, Washington and we (Nicky and I) both took on new jobs.  Between moving and career transition I did not have as much time for photography.  We did manage to make two trips to Yellowstone NP (once in the Fall, and once in the Winter) while most other photographic forays were weekend trips exploring our new state.  Four of my favorite images were shot in Washington while the other six images were shot in Yellowstone.  Click on image below to see it bigger (highly recommended).

The Top Ten for 2016:

#1  Bobcat

Bobcat, Hoh Rain Forest (4655)One of my earliest forays in Washington State allowed me to see my first bobcat in the wild and produced this amazing view in the Hoh Rainforest.  You can read the full story behind getting the shot here.

 

 

 

 

 

#2  Marmot

Marmot, Mt. Rainier, Olympic NP (0823)During the summer we visited Mt. Rainier several weekends in a row to try and capture the summer wildflowers at their peak.  I didn’t have much luck on that front though I did get this nice shot of a marmot.  And in my defense, there are 4 types of wild flowers in this scene!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

#3  Great Gray Owl

Great Gray Owl, Yellowstone NP (0550)I spent three magical hours alone with this Great Gray Owl in a forest in Yellowstone NP.  Wow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

#4   Bighorn Sheep

Bighorn Sheep, Yellowstone NP (5387)On the fall trip to Yellowstone I had my first sighting of a male Bighorn Sheep.  Our guide said that this may have been the biggest ram he had ever seen during his 35 years as a guide.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

#5 Yellowstone Landscape

Landscape, Yellowstone NP (3684)A nice sunset in Yellowstone captured using the HDR technique.  If HDR is jibberish to you, learn more here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

#6  Robin

American Robin, Washington State (1346)I have to admit that I never imagined that an image of a robin would make my top-of-the-year list, but I really like this scene of a robin in a holly tree.  Not bad for backyard photography.

 

 

 

 

 

#7  Short-eared Owl

Short-eared Owl, Washington State (2213)I never had much luck in finding Short-eared Owls (SEOs) on the east coast. Turns out that many owls winter over in Washington state.   You now know how my winters will be spent…..This shot of an SEO taking off in the snow is my favorite capture so far.

 

 

 

 

#8  Coyote

Coyote, Yellowstone NP (3244)Our winter trip to Yellowstone provided my first opportunity at a decent image of a coyote.

 

 

 

 

 

 

#9  Bison

American Bison, Yellowstone NP (5584)The star attraction of our winter trip to Yellowstone was the bison.  I loved the abstract nature of this shot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

#10  Pronghorn in a snow storm

Pronghorn, Yellowstone NP (3659)Probably my favorite shot from our winter trip to Yellowstone.  One day one, five minutes from the gate at the end of the day as were leaving the park we found this herd of Pronghorn caught in a sudden flurry of snow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wishing you a great 2017!

Dec

31

Just Chill’n…

Shot of the Month  Posted by / 2 comments

Shot of the Month – December 2016

American Bison, Yellowstone NP (5773)One look at this image and most of us shudder with cold in sympathy for this poor beast.  Some might even clamor — “Help that poor animal, he must be freezing to death.”  I am a real wimp when it comes to the cold and I normally walk around the house wearing multiple layers and a fleece — I seem to always be cold.  So, upon seeing this bison in Yellowstone NP, standing in deep snow and generally covered in the white stuff, I felt quite despondent for him.

Well, dear friends, the nature science folks tell us that we can all relax.  Bison have evolved over millions of years to deal with this type of weather.  Our human concepts of what is cold simply don’t really apply in the bison world.  When I photographed this bison I was standing in waist-deep snow and it was about 16° Fahrenheit.  There was also a gusty wind that would swirl about causing mini blizzards every few minutes such that I would lose sight of this massive beast for a few seconds at a time.  In Yellowstone, a temperature of 16° F is considered “moderate” — almost balmy conditions considering that temperatures can easily drop down to -30° F and beyond.

I have been told by park officials that bison don’t feel the cold until it reaches about -40° F.  Nope, not a typo.  In the winter a bison will grow a coat of woolly underfur with coarse guard hairs that protects them from the elements.  This rich coat has 8 times the number of hair follicles compared to cattle.  The fur is thickest on the bison’s head, on the front of their body and on their forelegs. When the wind blows us humans will often turn our backs to the wind to avoid the worst of it.  Bison have no need for such contortions; given their full fur defense they are quite content to face directly into the onslaught.  The bison swings its massive head into the snow to clear the way so that it can eat the grass that lies beneath — the body is so well insulated that the snow does not melt as you can see in this photo.

So, now you know, the next time you see what looks like a poor, freezing bison, you can rest assured that he is most likely doing just fine and is rather, just chillin.

Until next month….michael

🙂

 

 

Nikon D4S, Nikon 600mm, 1.4 x TC  (effective 850mm), f/9, 1/640 s, +1 EV, ISO 500

Nov

30

Disappearing Pika

Shot of the Month  Posted by / 1 comments

Shot of the Month – November 2016

Pika, Yellowstone NP (6242)

For someone who doesn’t believe in climate change then karma would dictate that said person be reincarnated as a Pika.  But before we get to the hot topic at hand, what the heck is a Pika you might ask.  I think Pika is an acronym for Probably the most Incredibly Kute Animal.  Though, I might be wrong on that.

The Pika is an incredibly cuddly and cute fur ball found amongst the highest mountain ecosystems around the world.  “Fur ball” is pretty accurate as a Pika’s body is quite round and she doesn’t have a tail.  There are about 30 species of Pika in the world (mainly Asia, North America, and parts of Eastern Europe) with one species found in the United States.  The American Pika can be found in Colorado, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, California, and New Mexico.  The fine lass (could be a chap, I have no way of knowing) above was photographed in Yellowstone NP.

The Pika is well adapted to surviving in alpine mountain ecosystems which are typically windswept, treeless, and frigid.  The alpine zone only represents about 5 percent of the planet’s surface and thanks to climate change, this habitat is disappearing fast.  As the mountain tops warm the vegetation changes, the snowpack melts and new predators and pests move in.  Most mountain habitats in the Western US have warmed by at least 1 degree F in the last hundred years.  In the next hundred years, the temperatures are expected to rise by another 4.5 to 14 degrees.

Pikas literally cannot take the heat.  Expose a Pika to temperatures above 78 degrees and she will die within six hours.  Yes, really.

In Oregon and Nevada Pikas have disappeared from 1/3 of their previously known habitat.  Since the early 1900’s the Pika has disappeared from 8 of the 25 U.S. mountain ranges where they previously lived.  Pikas keep climbing higher but once they reach the top of the mountains, they can’t go any higher to escape the deadly heat.

Expect to see the Pika on the Endangered Species list soon.  And given current trends, the Pika may become the first known species in the US to go extinct from climate change.

 

As they say, karma is a b****.

 

Until next month….m

 

Nikon D4S, Nikon 600mm w 1.4x TC (@ 850mm), 1/750s, f/5.6, ISO 720

Oct

31

Shades of Gray

Shot of the Month  Posted by / 2 comments

Shot of the Month – October 2016

Spider Web, Vermont (0374)

 

Last month’s image was a cacophony of color amongst the trees.  This month’s image captures the quiet stillness of shades of gray by the waters edge.  I love how the image transitions from pure white in the upper left corner through shades of gray to deep black in the lower right corner of the image. On this sunless morning in Vermont the lake was quiet and there was no wildlife to be found.  While drifting along in my kayak, with not much to do, I came upon this spider’s web and decided to experiment and see what I could come up with.  While shooting this image my main focus was on trying to capture the glistening dew drops on the spider’s lair.  I paddled around and around trying every position imaginable until I found the angle that worked best.  The image was shot with a point-and-shoot camera (Canon G1X).

Converting the photo to black and white was rather easy given that there was virtually no color to be found in the scene.  Other than the two corners, most of the image is filled with shades of gray.

Turns out that creating gray can be a rather complicated affair. In the art world painters create different shades of gray by mixing black and white paint in different proportions.  Want a darker gray?  Add more black.  Lighter gray?  Add more white.  You get the idea.  A mixture of just black and white creates a “neutral gray.”  Add a bit of yellow, orange or red and you can add a warm cast and create a “warm gray.” Add a bit of green, blue, or violet and you can get a “cool gray.”

In the world of print the CMYK color model is used — cyan, magenta, yellow, and black.  All colors are made from a combination of these four colors.  To make gray you add equal amounts of cyan, magenta and yellow.

TV and computer screens use a RGB color model – red, green and blue.  Red, green and blue light at full intensity on the black screen makes white; by lowering the intensity one can create shades of gray.

On this particular day mother nature made graduations of gray by blocking out the sun with a heavy shroud of fog with a dab of dew thrown in for good measure.

 

 

I have to say, I am a big fan of her work……

 

Until next month…

 

Canon Powershot G1 X, @ 17.2 mm, f/5.6, 1/60 s, ISO 200,