Dec

31

Freeze Frame

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Shot of the Month – December 2023

Short-eared Owl, Washington State (0124)

I have talked in the past about how getting a great shot often requires a chain of miracles…for wildlife photography that list of miracles can include:

  1. Just finding the ^%%# animal!!
  2. Getting close enough to said animal
  3. Great light
  4. Great behavior
  5. Correct camera settings for the given scene

This stunning image of a Short-eared Owl (SEO) is proof that miracles, plural, can happen every so often.

#1 Finding the ^%%# animal!!

SEOs often migrate into Washington State each winter from the Arctic.  They love to hunt for mice and voles in the flat farmland found in parts of the state.  So there are known locations where one can find these owls.   So you’re telling me there’s a chance…? (Any Dumb and Dumber fans out there?)

2.  Getting close enough to said animal

The owls don’t take much notice of us humans but they often hunt in fields that are too far away.  If you are patient, they will usually, eventually, hunt in a field near you before moving on.  On some days they do.  On some days, they don’t.  Long lenses are still often needed to “get close enough.”

3.  Great light 

4.  Great behavior

Good light in the Pacific Northwest in the winter is in SHORT supply.  Most days are grey and filled with rain.  I specifically traveled to the site on this day as a bit of sun was in the forecast.

In the LAST hour of this day, the sun was painting the field in GLORIOUS light (Miracle #3).  And then, a SEO flew close to my location and began to hunt!!  (Miracle #4).

I began to tremble with excitement – it was all coming together.

5.  Correct camera settings for the given scene

Fortunately, I have enough practice with SEOs to know that their white faces will easily become overexposed in direct light.  I underexposed my shots by 1.33 EV (That is A LOT!)  And I knew how insanely fast these birds fly so I increased my shutter speed to 1/3200 sec to stop the action and avoid blurry images.

Time to get to work…

The owl was hunting in a field that faced the sun.  The lighting was therefore stunning but also, incredibly harsh.  The shadows and intensity of the light would change dramatically depending on the angle of the bird relative to the sun.  Given how fast she was flying by me the lighting changed every fraction of a second.  And with the sun so low in the sky the glare blinded my left eye (my shooting eye) as I looked into the viewfinder.  The bird flew multiple sorties – doing small loops up and down the field.  As she arrived to my far right I would start shooting until she arrived to my far left, where, at this point, I was now looking directly into the sun – leaving me partially blinded for a few seconds.

Shooting into the sun…

Short-eared Owl, Washington State (0046)

The SEO would bank right, fly back up the field, eventually bank right again and the shooting would begin anew.  We did this for close to an hour as tears ran down my face from the stress on my eyes.

Another fly-by…

Short-eared Owl, Washington State (9596)

Having the owl relatively “close” allowed the possibility of getting an image.  But given how fast they fly, and how erratic their flight is, it was almost impossible to keep them in the viewfinder with a 600 mm lens.  The angle of view on this lens is 2 degrees, offering a very tiny view of the world.  I would often track the bird and then she would just vanish as she banked sharply to dive toward prey.  With my 12-pound camera/lens combo on a tripod, I was jumping around like I was shooting a Gatling gun as I spun from one side to the other to try and keep focus on this juking, banking, diving, chaotic bird.  Ever seen the crazy flight pattern of a butterfly or a moth?  Yeah, like that but much, much faster.

I realize that is a lot of photo techno-babble to non-photographers, but in short, photographing these little flying rockets, in this extreme light, at close quarters, is tough.

Ten years ago it would have been almost impossible to get this shot.  The camera technology was just not there yet.  But with each year the equipment gets better and allows for images like this, even from amateurs like me.

What is most shocking to me, is the absolute clarity and sharpness of the image.  A true MIRACLE given how fast she was moving – in this one instance, I managed to pan at just the right speed to match the speed of the bird.  You can see every little feather on her face and beak.

And the lighting….on those eyes….the drama.  The rim of light on the wings! Mwah (Chef’s kiss)!

Here is the first image, re-cropped to show more of the scene.  Mother Nature at her finest…

Short-eared Owl, Washington State (0124)

I love how photography allows us to capture and hold on to these moments that would otherwise be lost in the blink of an eye.

 

Until next month…..m

 

Nikon Z9, Nikon 600 mm, f/4, 1/3200 sec, ISO 640, EV -1.333

 

Nov

30

One in the Corner

Shot of the Month  Posted by / 0 comments

Shot of the Month – November 2023

Northern Hawk Owl, Vermont (8078)

What can I say, some days you just gotta mix it up a little….

In this unorthodox composition we have a Northern Hawk Owl peering up from the corner.  This image makes me smile each time I see it — hopefully it brought a grin to your face also.

In a previous post (Center of Attention) I talked about the “rules” of composition.  Well, let’s call them guidelines.  Suggestions perhaps.  And I usually do follow the recommended “rule of thirds” for most of my images.

But not always:

Atlantic Puffin, Maine (9252)

In the first image I like how the owl seems to be peering in, as if engaging me – “Hellllooo, Mr. photographer.  Are you looking for meeee?”

In the second image it seems that I caught this Atlantic Puffin as he was just on his way out.  Makes me ponder, “Where is he going”?  This second image is really breaking the rules as you normally want your subject to be looking into the image — with the owl we at least have the subject making eye contact with us.

But with the puffin, he is looking out, looking outside of the space of the image.  This creates all that negative space behind him which is normally verboten.  But given the space is a deep black, it creates a powerful contrast to the dramatic lighting and coloring of the puffin.  I think it works and the emptiness actually has a presence that is compelling for the image.  What is going on back there?  Why did he leave it behind?

It’s also recommended to not cut off part of your subject…

Bald Eagle, Washington State (9566)

I would like to say that I made an artistic decision here to purposely cut off the Bald Eagle’s wing but in this case I was just having a hard time keeping up with the eagle as he suddenly slowed down to begin banking back in the opposite direction from where he was flying.  But when editing the image I leaned into my mistake and cropped the image even more to create a compelling image.  Our eye is drawn to the upper edge of the photo where the wing leaves the image.  From there our eye will tend to naturally follow the wing down until BAM, a close-up view of that stunningly beautiful and menacing face.  That beak is terrifying.

Bottom line, try different approaches and find the angle or view that works for the situation at hand.  As a famous artist once said:

 

“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.”

― Pablo Picasso

 

Until next month….michael

 

 

 

Nikon D200, Nikon 200-400mm (@360mm), f/4, 1/2000 sec, ISO 400, +1.0 EV

Oct

31

White-fronted Bee-eater

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Shot of the Month – October 2023

White-fronted Bee-eater, Kruger National Park (5150)

This month a dash of color provided by the White-fronted Bee-eater (WFBE).  I photographed this fellow in Kruger National Park in South Africa.

Bee-eaters (BEs) are a colorful family of birds with most having a predominance of green feathers highlighted or accented with of broad range of other hues depending on the species.   These other colors can include red, white, cinnamon, rose, black, yellow, brown, gold, turquoise, olive, purple, grey, orchre and many others.

Our WFBE fits this mold in that his upper parts are green while he has a distinctive white forehead and bright red patch on his throat with cinnamon underparts.  And like most bee-eaters the WFBE has a black mask across his eyes. The naming of bee-eaters, if not very imaginative, often indicates the color highlights for a given species.  A few examples to give you a sense: Red-throated BE, Blue-headed BE, Black-headed BE, Red-bearded BE, Purple-bearded BE, Blue-cheeked BE, Cinnamon Chested BE, White-fronted BE, Rosy BE, Little Green BE.  A few others are named based on their location: Australian BE, European BE, and Somali BE.

WFBEs can be found across most of sub-Saharan Africa including South Africa, Angola, Botswana, Burundi, DR Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

All bee-eaters forgo building nests but rather dig holes in the side of cliffs or river banks.   To create the nest the birds dig a long tunnel with an oval chamber at the end for the eggs.

Most bee-eaters are gregarious and often hang out together in large colonies.  WFBE take this to the next level and their social structures are often described as some of the most complex found in the avian world.  First, they gather in large colonies that can contain 100 individuals (or about 50 burrows).  When conditions are good these colonies can reach 200 birds at a site.  The colony is made up of socially monogamous, extended family groups with overlapping generations known as “clans.”  The clans are usually made up of two to three related breeding pairs.

Non-breeding individuals, typically male offspring from previous years, become helpers to relatives and assist to raise their brood.   A nest may have 1 to 5 helpers though only about half of the nests in the colony get this support.  These helpers may contribute to digging the roosting or nesting chamber, to allofeeding the female, and incubating and feeding the young.

This intricate, and multi-layered social and support system significantly improves the likelihood that the chicks will survive to adulthood.

 

The White-fronted Bee-eater – a colorful, gregarious bird that really takes the saying  “Birds of a feather flock together” to heart with great success.

 

Until next month….michael

 

See more beautiful bee-eaters in my previous posts:

Hey Carmine (Carmine Bee-eater)

One (or three) for the Road (Blue-cheeked Bee-eater)

A Dandy Little Flyer (Little Bee-eater)

 

 

Sources

Bee-eater (Wikipedia)

Bee-eater (San Diego Zoo)

White-fronted bee-eater (Wikipedia)

White-fronted bee-eater (Animalia)

 

 

Nikon D500, Nikon 200-400 mm (@400mm), f/4, 1/640 sec, ISO 500

Sep

30

The Waiting Game

Shot of the Month  Posted by / 1 comments

Shot of the Month – September 2023

Moose, Grand Teton National Park (1600)

If you dig moose, get yourself over to the Grand Teton National Park (GTNP).  The moose are not hunted in this park so these massive beasts are very relaxed and have no fear of humans.  And from they day they are born they see humans nearby who are fishing, hiking, doing photography, etc. so they really take no notice to us two legged creatures.  Park rules require maintaining at least 25 yards distance with the animal – but given how massive these guys are, that is plenty close enough to get wonderful images with typical wildlife photography equipment.  When in the field I hike with a range finder so I can always verify my distance to a subject.

I mention all this as the image above was captured in the GTNP after spending 2 full days with this magnificent bull moose during the fall rut in 2019.  To get this shot I am lying on my back in a “sit up” position.  The low angle allows the bull to tower over me and provides a great view of those fall colors in the trees above.

When we found this bull he had already spent several days courting a cow moose.  He was waiting for her to go into estrus.

The lovely couple, playing the waiting game:

Moose, Grand Teton National Park (3048)

This bull moose was one of the largest in the park (top three, easily) and he definitely caught all the cows’ attention.

At one point during day 2 we had two females vying for this rock star!!  Usually the male has to do all the work to prove his worthiness, so seeing this “counterintuitive” behavior was a first for me.  In the image below the male had just scraped a shallow pit and urinated into it.  He then lay down in the pit and rolled around in the depression to cover himself in his scent.  As you can see, the females cannot resist it…

Moose, Grand Teton National Park (2692)

Alas, three is a crowd and eventually the bull and the first cow chased the interloper away.

The waiting continued….she went…he followed:

Moose, Grand Teton National Park (0456)

All this waiting can get tiring, especially when carrying a 50 pound set of antlers.  Time for a rest:

Moose, Grand Teton National Park (0596)

Any time that the cow would urinate the bull would test the air for pheromones to see if the she had gone into estrus yet.

The Flehmen Response to test the air:

Moose, Grand Teton National Park (3225)

A few hours later….another test:

Moose, Grand Teton National Park (3817)

And then, just like that, it was over.  The bull did a flehmen response, apparently still testing negative, and then he just started walking…

Moose, Grand Teton National Park (4833)

I guess he decided that he was tired of waiting and would try his luck elsewhere.  It is amazing how much ground those long legs can cover.  He wasn’t even running, just a determined walk.  And within 15 minutes he had disappeared over the horizon…I tried to run out in front to get some images, but there was no way that I could keep up.

I’m OUT…
Moose, Grand Teton National Park (4835)

The wonders of wildlife photography.  We spent hours and hours with this moose.  Although we had long periods of no action it was still fascinating to see the behavior and interactions that few ever have the luck to witness.  Hours…..and then short frenzies of photography when there was action.  And then just like, over.

 

It was a heck of ride while it lasted……until next month

 

 

Related posts you may enjoy:

Love is in the Air (learn more about the Flehmen response)

More moose images:

Big Realization

Pull Back

Spin Cycle

 

 

 

Nikon D4S, Sigma 150-600 mm (@550mm), 1/80 sec, f/6.3, ISO 450

Aug

31

Foxy

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Shot of the Month – August 2023

Red Fox, Washington State (5502)

This month a lovely fox kit bathed in glorious afternoon light.  Foxes are always cute but the warm glow in this shot really takes the image to the next level.

We found this den on the edge of a federal park in Washington State.  In previous years visitors could enter the park and observe the dens at a distance of 75 feet or more.  Access to the park has been restricted in the last couple of years.  Ironically that lack of humans near the dens seems to have emboldened bald eagles who reportedly killed most of the fox kits last year before they could reach adulthood.

During my visit I saw a bald eagle swoop in twice to try and steal a rabbit carcass that an adult fox had just given its kit.  Luckily the young foxes were big enough at this time of year to be less at risk for predation by the raptor.

In the two images below I managed to capture one of the attacks by the bald eagle.  The fox kit had seen the approaching raptor and was running for the entrance to the den with the carcass.

Run!!!

Bald Eagle Attack, Washington State (6660)

So close!!

Bald Eagle Attack, Washington State (6661)

The kit managed to duck underground just in time.  When the parents were present they were always diligent and would bravely leap up at the bald eagle as it approached.

It is interesting to consider that the foxes may have established their den near the dirt road on the edge of the park to use the nearby humans to discourage the eagle attacks.Rabbit, Washington State (98024)

Red foxes mate in the winter and the pups are born 7-8 weeks later.  Both parents take care of the kits and each go off hunting to bring back food for the young.  Foxes raise their pups in a den which has been abandoned by another animal – in this case it was most likely a former rabbit den.   Amazingly, there were rabbits in holes just a few feet from the foxes’ den!  Talk about keeping your enemy close!

The cubs remain at the family den for about 5 weeks before going off on their own near the end of the summer.

The kits spend most of their time underground when the parents are not present though as the pups get older they will explore the surrounding areas more and more on their own.  In my image above I captured the young fox out exploring his world while he waited for his parents to return.

Like foxes?  Check out these posts for more images and fox tales…

Red? Fox

Foxy Mama

Kit Kaos

Crazy like a Kumiho

 

 

Until next month….m

 

 

 

 

 

Nikon D5,  Sigma 150-600 mm Contemporary (@480mm), 1/1000 sec, f/8, ISO 1250