When I show an image to people today I often get the question “Is that Photoshopped?”. I used to give a yes or no answer. After attending a talk by a very good professional photographer, with his permission I now give a different answer. It is exactly the way I saw it. Some days you…
Coming home from Thanksgiving at Jonna’s mothers in Central Oregon I decided to take the back road to get around the Redmond traffic and do a little deer hunting. I armed myself with my trusty 100-400mm L zoom lens on the 5D Mk II and let my wife do the driving.
I don’t think there has been a time that I have been across that road and not seen deer but most often they are over in the alfalfa fields which does not make for a real natural setting even though it is the natural place for them to be. If they aren’t in the fields they are on the other side of the road in the juniper and sage brush. While much harder to spot, it makes a much nicer image.
This is a mix of bucks and does. It is mating season over there and the bucks that are getting lucky have their does herded together. There are some pretty nasty fights between the bucks and you can see in the full size image one of the bucks in these images has blood on an antler and another is missing an eye. You won’t see it in any of the images in this post. They can get very aggressive and can get just as rough as a biker bar on a Saturday night.
Some days you just can’t pass up a deal. On the other hand if you are running out of wall space sometimes you should pass up a deal. I ordered two more 16 X 20 gallery wraps this morning. When they get here I’ll get out and hound some of the local businesses and galleries…
On Saturday Jonna and I attended the Fall 2011 meeting of the Nature Photographers Of The Pacific Northwest. I know their VP from the local photo club I belong to, EPS. Bob needed some help and Jonna worked the check in desk for print competition and I judged in the Digital Wildlife category. I’m guessing…
I took my first play day in quite a while on October 27th and made a run up the South Fork of the McKenzie river in search of Autumn colors.
The Oregon Cascades are not like the North East as far as having a lot of red in the fall colors. Out here is is mostly shades of yellow with some splashes of red thrown in from the vine maple, even then you will only see that in areas with a lot of sun. Most of the hardwoods in the woods will give you a range of yellows from brilliant to dull but with the background of evergreens and vivid green shades of moss, all of the yellows stand out. Anyway, here is a little Cascades color for you.
Have you ever gotten to the end of the road and not wanted to turn around and go back? That is the way it was yesterday. The sounds of the Jays and squirrels, the intoxicating smell of a mixed species forest with fir, hemlock and cedar and the little details of nature all around you….
I will try and get a set from this shoot over the weekend.
I found what appears to be the brain of some congressman laying on the ground up in the woods. Mind and body being separate things for them may account for some of their ideas. Actually it’s a cauliflower mushroom and some berry leafs.
Here in the Pacific Northwest fall is in all ahead mode. In talking to some fellow photographers it looks like this weekend is going to be the prime shooting weekend. The frost is starting an night so the days are numbered before Fall does fall and the color ends up on the ground. Down here…
Hi all,
Just a quick reminder to all of you in this hot weather. If you are someone who cares about wildlife, don’t forget to care about urban wildlife. It is hot out there. Most of you have all of the water you want to drink. Do a friend a favor and put out some water for the birds in your yard. They get plenty warm and overheated too and they don’t have an air conditioned house or office.
An old pie pan or any shallow dish that shape will work. A few inches deep is good enough. If you see a rock laying around to make an island in the dish for the smaller birds, all the better. Put it where you can see it and get in on the fun. If you have hummingbirds you need running water like a small fountain. Even a table top model set on a small table near a feeder will draw them in. In this case it was a Black-capped Chickadee that found the fountain.
Stay cool and water the birds. They will eats some bugs for you.
