REFLECTIONS AT LOW TIDE

Reflections at low tide in Rockaway Beach, Oregon

On our first day traveling along the coast of Oregon we scouted and explored the northern part and finally unpacked our luggage in Rockaway Beach, a small but somehow charming community. During a short walk at low tide on the beach we finally saw the sun and lots of color replaced the gray that made most of the day. What a photo can’t transmit is the smell of the ocean, but I hope you get the idea that we had a marvelous time. Fresh cod and other seafood, combined with a local India Pale Ale, are hard to beat for a dinner that followed this walk on the beach… 😊

Nikon Z6II, Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S,   @ 40 mm, 1/400 s, f/10, ISO 200

MEMORABLE MOMENT

Double rainbow above North Portland Harbor, Columbia River between Washington and Oregon

There is no better way to start a spring vacation at the coast of Oregon than with a photo of a double rainbow and some killer light on the house boats across the Columbia River in Portland, OR. We were eating dinner and enjoyed a good West Coast beer in the restaurant of our hotel last night when this act of nature unfolded, just outside of the window. We dropped fork and knife immediately and ran out onto the hotel terrace with the camera in hand. Other people saw obviously the potential for a good shot with their cell phones and followed us shortly after, and even our waitress stepped outside and enjoyed the play of light.

The warm colors of the houses in the setting sun on Tomahawk Island in the Columbia River would have been a great subject by themselves, but the two rainbows after a mostly rainy gray day made it a memorable moment… More to come, so please stay tuned.

HOW MUCH POST PROCESSING?

Buildings right to left: partly only Marina City (architect: Bertrand Goldberg), IBM Building (architect: Mies Van der Rohe), Trump International Hotel & Tower

Tonight I gave a little presentation at the meeting of the Dubuque Camera Club about how I process most of my wildlife photos. Beside necessary adjustments, like noise reduction, RAW sharpening, spot removal, or maybe sometimes some cropping, only small tweaks are applied to get the best out of the RAW file. I don’t change much at all on the wildlife. If the picture is not sharp or totally wrong exposed, the photo lands in the trash can or will never be published if I want to keep it for documentary reasons in the picture library.

A lot more efforts can go into a photo like this shot from last week in downtown Chicago. The photo was made through the glass of the hotel window (we were only on the 9th floor but you can’t open these windows) and it took some efforts to overcome all the challenges. From the distortion of the glass and the dust on the window, to the perspective that you can’t really change much while shooting from a hotel room, I may use all the great tools of Adobe Lightroom or Adobe Camera RAW to end up with a usable image.

”Transform” was used to correct perspective problems created by the lens, ”Dehaze” for eliminating the effect of a not so clean window, and other adjustments to enhance contrast or color contrast. The limits are only set by your own vision for the final image.

LESS IS MORE…

I can’t deny that I love architecture that is comprised by the use of glass and steel. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, a German-American architect and pioneer of modern architecture has created several iconic buildings in Chicago after his emigration from the Nazi regime in Germany to the United States. I do not know who designed this modern apartment complex in downtown Chicago, but the design was maybe influenced by Mies van der Rohe’s architectural mission and principles. I loved what I saw when I had the building in the viewfinder of my camera and in particular the reflections of the clouds on the glass surfaces and the contrasty appearance overall. I admit, it was a ”shot from the hip” while walking from the hotel to a favorite dinner restaurant yesterday evening. There was a lot of blue in the frame, from the sky and bounced back from the glass surfaces. Mies van der Rohe is often associated with the fondness of the aphorism "less is more” (source: Wikipedia), and that’s what I remembered when I decided to render the image in B&W. It just reflects my own vision of modern architecture photography.

I know, some friends and followers of my blog asked, what’s going on, where are your latest photos about nature at spring time? Well, the duties of my regular job keep me very busy at the moment and a home improvement project took the rest of the time during the last couple weeks. Some new things will come soon, so please stay tuned…

PORT WASHINGTON BREAKWATER LIGHTHOUSE, FIRST TRY

Port Washington Breakwater Lighthouse, Lake Michigan, Wisconsin

During business trips in the eastern part of Wisconsin I always enjoy a stop somewhere along the shore of Lake Michigan and especially if there is a lighthouse nearby. Port Washington Breakwater Lighthouse has been long on my radar but this week was the first time I was able to visit it. While heading east I started worrying long before I even saw the lake, due to the fact that I didn’t see a single cloud in the sky. Just a blue sky seems always a bit boring and it takes some thoughts to find a way to overcome what the ”beautiful” weather may present.

Walking on a pier didn’t leave many choices about getting lower or higher above the sea level. Putting the horizon line and the lighthouse on the left in places that go along with the ”rule of thirds” was a way to start this composition intent. So, now what? I saw a few gulls flying around over the entrance to the marina of Port Washington and waited until two of them filled the spot above the pier on the left and right. The birds don’t become the subject of this photo but the triangle between the two lighthouse points and the gulls make the eye go around in the photo. It’s definitely a picture that wants me to come back again during the hour before sunset and maybe we can see then a little more drama in the frame…

GREAT LIGHT FOR QUICK SHOT WITH MANUAL FOCUS

Despite a busy life at the moment I try to take a few minutes for photography whenever I can. Spring is early this year and reveals beautiful things in nature and all what it takes is to have an eye on the light. I think it is important to have a vision for what would make a good subject already ahead of time, but wait until the light finally makes the difference between just a documentary shot and a photo that may please our senses.

I made this picture with my old macro lens, the SIGMA 150 f/2.8G. I haven’t used this piece of glass since quite a while, although the sharpness of this lens has always impressed. Since eye sight is not getting better with age I rely most of the time on the autofocus system of my NIKON Z6II camera. Older lenses that do not have their own autofocus motor, like the SIGMA 150, can only be used in manual focus mode on Nikon’s mirrorless cameras. The sharpness and rendering of this lens is still great but it takes a little bit longer, especially in an awkward position while lying on the ground. Sure, we can employ a low tripod for this kind of a shot. We can do focus stacking and all kinds of macro-voodoo these days, but I’m always afraid the great light is gone before the camera is even mounted on the tripod…😉

SWANS, SWANS, AND MORE SWANS

Migrating Tundra Swans, Mississippi Valley, Green Island, Iowa

I wasn’t able to count all the swans I found yesterday at Blakes Lake in the Green Island Wetlands. I think it’s safe to say there were at least 400, but probably more, feeding in the shallow waters of the lake. Heat shimmer above the water surface made it kinda difficult to  see details of the birds in the viewfinder of the camera. While standing on the dyke there were quite a few more swans moving in and this was the chance to make a few clicks from a shorter distance. It wasn’t until I had a closer look at the birds on the screen of my computer that I realized that there were quite a few Tundra Swans among the Trumpeter Swans, which latter I had seen during the last few weeks already. This also explained the considerable increase in numbers of swans present on the lake.

While the Trumpeter Swans may stay here in eastern Iowa during the winter, the Tundra Swans spent the winter at the Mid-Atlantic coast. They are back now and on the way to their breeding grounds in the arctic region of Canada and Alaska. Trumpeter Swans are slightly bigger but this is not always a safe indicator for identification. It is the yellow spot that adult Tundra Swans show at the base of their bill that leaves no doubt about what species we see.

The yellow spot is at least very good visible in the full size photo of these two Tundra Swans flying overhead. The size reduced picture you see here in the blog makes it a little more difficult to see this important feature.

QUICK LENS CHANGE

Sunset at the Green Island Wetlands , Mississippi Valley, Iowa

My ambitions to get some good results with wildlife in front of the camera were not rewarded today. This is not unusual for this time of the year and I don’t get too much frustrated. Yes, I saw a couple Sandhill Cranes, some hawks, eagles, lots of geese, and finally large numbers of Red-winged Blackbirds have started to claim their territories in the Green Island Wetlands. I made the usual documentary shots for myself, but nothing was close enough for a serious try to make a photo that stands out.

While waiting and hoping for something to happen I had an eye on the western horizon, where, what I call, a ”dirty sunset” unfolded. Suddenly the clouds started loosing their ”muddy” appearance and I saw the chance for a photo. A quick lens change from the Sigma 150-600 S to the Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S and dialing in a different white balance setting in camera to a warmer tone was all what it took to work with another subject, this time the light and clouds above the horizon.

Nikon Z6II, Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S,   @ 32 mm, 1/640s, f/8, ISO 400

WAITING FOR SPRING

Black-capped Chickadee

It is the time of the year when we start to hear the ”fee-bee” calls of the Black-capped Chickadees more frequently. The snow bells are out in the front yard and also a couple small crocus flowers. While driving to town this morning I saw a pair of Sandhill Cranes flying across the road. All sure signs that spring is right around the corner or at least not far away anymore.

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S

ANOTHER CHANCE WITHOUT WIRE

American Kestrel, Green Island Wetlands, Iowa

More than once I have complained about that the kestrels mostly perch on utility wires along the road, which isn’t my preferred location for a wildlife shot. Well, the solution seems to be to drive along roads that do not have power lines next to them. Not easy to find here in Iowa! This female American Kestrel used the dead trees at the edge of a marsh for her hunting efforts. During the summer these small falcons often eat insects, like grasshoppers. Since this is not an available option right now, they are on the outlook for small mammals and birds.

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S

NATURE CLICKS #570 - TRUMPETER SWANS

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S

This afternoon we saw at least 40-50 white dots, far away and deep in the wetlands at Green Island and assumed that a large congregation of Trumpeter Swans was there. This all got confirmed during the hour before sunset when family after family crossed the marches and lakes and flew towards the setting sun. We don’t know where they spend the night but it was nice to watch groups between two and eight swans flying towards us and overhead. Since it is such a big bird it’s not so difficult to track them in flight and practice panning technique with the long lens on camera.

BALD EAGLES IN ABUNDANCE AND AN EARLY RETURN

Bald Eagle, Mississippi Valley, Green Island Wetlands, Iowa

Yesterday I received a message from a friend that the water was open down at the Sabula - Savannah bridge that crosses the Mississippi River and both sides of the road that leads to the bridge were filled with eagles. As wildlife photographers we have to take the opportunities when they occur and as the ice on the river disappears, many eagles quickly move upstream. I went down south this morning and the first chance came already while driving slowly through the Green Island Wetlands. There is a big solitary cottonwood tree next to one of the dikes and this adult Bald Eagle just posed nicely against a blue sky and the unavoidable clutter of small branches. This tree has served many times as a perch for eagles and other raptors over the years but it is in bad shape and might be gone sometime soon. I moved with the camera so the white head of the bird was in front of one of the bigger branches.

Bald Eagle, Mississippi River, Sabula-Savannah Bridge, Iowa side

Down near the Sabula - Savannah Bridge were still dozens of Bald Eagles. The downside is you can’t stop and park your car along the road that connects the Sabula island with the actual bridge, except for a small pull-out right at the bridge. I was lucky, one eagle had perched within the reach of my lens and this time against a clean background. Later I had some other opportunities but this was my favorite shot.

Sandhill Crane among Trumpeter Swans, Green Island Wetlands, Iowa, February 11, 2024

Hours later, on my way back home, I made another round through the Green Island Wetlands and had an interesting discovery. The ice where nine Trumpeter Swans rested earlier had melted and they were foraging in the shallow water of a flooded field. Among them was a solitary Sandhill Crane, searching for food as well. It moved with the swans and seemed to take advantage of whatever was stirred up while they swam slowly across the water.

At home I checked my digital photo library, going back to 2007, and can confirm, February 11th is the earliest I ever saw a Sandhill Crane here in eastern Iowa. Seeing them in March is not uncommon but this early was my first time. Other birders may have made a different experience and I like to hear from you about your observations in this area.

NATURE CLICKS #569 - AMERICAN KESTREL

American Kestrel, Green Island Wetlands, Mississippi Valley, Iowa

Here is another image from last weekend’s visit to the Green Island Wetlands. I was already pretty happy since I just had photographed the Rough-legged Hawk I showed in my last blog post. A few minutes later, on my way out on the muddy road, this American Kestrel just landed on a branch in front of me. With a slight turn of the car and the window down I was able to make a few clicks of this small falcon. I have written about in the blog before, the American Kestrel perches nine times out of ten on a utility wire between the poles. The bird gave me less than a minute and half of the time it looked away from me. Having the kestrel sitting actually on a tree branch is much harder to get and with the warm light of the setting sun, this is definitely a keeper.

NOT ”SKUNKED” AGAIN

Rough-legged Hawk, Green Island Wetlands, Mississippi Valley, Iowa

I have been at Green Island, the wetlands down south in the Mississippi Valley, the third time in a row during the last weekends and after getting ”skunked” twice, I came finally back with some photos on the memory card today. I know that a number of local fellow photographers and birders follow my blog and I like to report about the sightings first today.

While I was even further south in Sabula, Iowa my hopes to get some Bald Eagles in front of the lens did not came true. There was still too much ice on most parts of the Mississippi River and the eagles had no reason to be there due to the lack of open water.

At the Green Island Wetlands I found to my surprise 100+ migrating Greater White-fronted Geese. Among them was one single Snow Goose and a school of seven Trumpeter Swans had joined the party as well. This was all too far away for a decent photo, but I enjoyed watching the birds through the binoculars. The picture below is from 2019.

New photo opportunities came during the hour before sunset. While driving through the mud on the west side of the wetlands this Rough-legged Hawk seemed to take advantage of my presence. It let me come really close with the car, took off and flew to the next tree ahead. This repeated several times. Maybe the bird was hoping my movement would startle other birds or rodents along the muddy road. There was only one stop that would allow a shot without any obstruction. Of course, I took my chance!

Rough-legged Hawks breed in the tundra and taiga of North America and Eurasia. They migrate to the Central US for the winter. An area with marshes and fields, like the Green Island Wetlands and with rodent prey present, is their preferred habitat. More to come…

Migrating Greater White-fronted Geese, photo from 2019

FUN IN THE SETTING SUN

Downy Woodpecker, Little Maquoketa Valley, Iowa

The sun came out finally this afternoon, reason enough to spent the hour before sunset behind the camera with the SIGMA 150-600 S attached. With the much warmer weather the birds seemed to visit the feeders less frequently and some patience was required at times. Most of the snow has melted away but in our front yard was still plenty enough to bounce the light upwards. With the sun sitting low above the ridge, the natural light had a nice quality and I didn’t employ a speed light for better color control this time.

Before the woodpeckers approach a suet feeder they carefully check the surrounding area from a nearby tree or shrub. This is the moment I’m mostly waiting for. Just fun in the setting sun…