Nikon D700 | Tamron 200 - 500 mm lens | ISO 200 1/1600 sec @ f6.3

Good Day.  Thanks for stopping by.  These are a couple of images from my Sunday shoot at Green Island.  I had just arrived at the parking spot and was getting my cameras set up for the shoot when I noticed two Canadian Geese flying straight at me.

So I grabbed my D700 and started shooting as fast as I could.  I have no idea where the focus point was (obviously) as the goose above is pretty soft (and it’s a pretty lame shot to boot.)  I have to post something to prove I was there 🙂

Nikon D700 | Tamron 200 - 500 mm lens | ISO 200 1/1600 sec @ f6.3

I told you yesterday I shot around 430 images (most of which have long been deleted from my hard drive.)  That is a record for me.  I received an e-mail from my friend Andreas (who is a gifted photographer / both creatively and technically.)   Apparently he was at Green Island as well on Sunday.  He told me that he shot around 1250 images.  WOW. If I know him there will be some super images of Eagles and other winged creatures.

We’re discussing the possibility of doing a shoot together sometime later in the Spring at a lake he likes to visit.  He’s been following some Trumpeter Swans who make their Summer home there.

Nikon D700 | Tamron 200 - 500 mm lens | ISO 200 1/1600 sec @ f6.3

My friend Becki Kenton and I still have to get our Galena shoot in sometime.  We were going last December but there was a snow storm the day we planned to go so we opted to play it safe.  So lots of opportunities to shoot in the coming months.  Can’t wait.

Oh I almost forgot.  Scott Kelby’s Worldwide Photo Walk will be held around the first week in October this year.  He received a lot of requests to change the date because of the “difficult shooting conditions” of mid-Summer.  More details about that coming later.  Have a great Tuesday and be careful.

Nikon D700 | Tamron 200-500 mm lens | ISO 200 1/500 sec @f6.3

I made the trek to Green Island yesterday to try to capture some decent images of Eagles.  I came back with two very stark realizations.  One I’m not any good at nature photography.  Reasons include but are not limited to; poor camera holding skills, inadequate equipment, lack patience, and a complete lack of understanding about wildlife habits.

The second realization was that I’m not in very good physical condition and tracking down wildlife is hard work.  😦  Well actually I knew about the physical condition before going.  The hard work I wasn’t sure about.  It looks so easy on TV.

The Nikon D700 preformed perfectly.  It has such a high burst rate slightly slower than the D3 but fast enough to capture action.  I have 9 images of the birds above and you can barely detect any wing change.  The image below was the 10th image in the series.

The Tamron 200-500 mm lens, well it is what it is.  I knew when I bought it that it would not perform to my complete satisfaction.  It is hard to auto focus and combine that with my hand holding skills, which  are terrible and that is a formula for lots and lots of throw away images.  I’m all over the place with a long lens.  I used a mono-pod yesterday (big disappointment in it as well.)   It helped on still shots but when in flight I just really sucked it up.

The part that screws into the lens just coming undone and falling off.  I almost dropped my camera a couple of times.  I said potty words.  Why did I buy the Tamron if it is so bad.  Well it’s not really that bad, the Nikon lenses are so much better but substantially more $$$$. Used correctly the Tamron can produce satisfactory results.  If it were mounted on a tripod.

Nikon D700 | Tamron 200-500 mm lens | ISO 200 1/500 sec @f6.3

Not understanding the habits and nature of wildlife prevented me from getting some of the shots that would have made the trip memorable.  There is a fine line between close and too close from an Eagle’s perspective.  I got the South end of a North bound Eagle in more images than you can imagine.

I shot 432 images yesterday.  First time I have ever filled up a card.  (I reformat my card after every shoot.)  After the first cull I was down to 135.  I haven’t had the heart to do round two yet.  😦

It was fun but it would have been more fun if Jeanne could have been with me.  She was praying for me at church.  Yes I do have some Eagle images but I’ll show them later in the week.  Maybe.

Thanks for stopping by.  Be careful.

Nikon D300S | Tamron 18-270 mm lens | ISO 200 1/250 sec @f10

It was that kind of day wasn’t it.  I had such grandiose plans yesterday but gray skies, freezing drizzle and Mr. Sleepy hitting me on the head a lot I gave up my ambitions for a day of rest and relaxation.

Above my friend Gary Saelens (I posted back in August or September about him taking me on the first flight after he received his pilot’s license.)   Gary is a great guy and one of my favorite people.  This is his plane and he is topping off the tank at the Monticello Airport.

Nikon D300S | Tamron 18-270 mm lens | ISO 200 1/250 sec @f10

He decided he wanted to fly so he took lessons, studied intensely, and passed the test.  Then brought this plane from his instructor.  It’s a great looking craft and Gary has received enormous enjoyment from having it.  We had a meeting in Monticello so he flew from Freeport, IL.

Nikon D300S | Tamron 18-270 mm lens | ISO 200 1/250 sec @f10

This image was so bad.  I had the f stop too high, the gray conditions and my lousy panning technique the plane was really out of focus.  So I took some creative license to it and got an acceptable image.  Well okay no I didn’t be I spent an hour messing with Photoshop, which ain’t all bad.

I was checking out my friend Andreas’ blog this morning and he has an on going project of shooting “shop signs.”  You know those hand-made signs over businesses .  Well that gave me an idea that I’m going to pursue.    I’m not sure why but I just really enjoy shooting barns (I’m sure you hadn’t noticed.)  So now I’m going to make it a project to shoot as many different barns as I can over the coming year.  Should be fun.  Thanks Andreas.

Thanks for stopping by.  Be careful out there.

Nikon D700 | Nikon 24-70 mm Lens | ISO 200 1/250 @ f6.3

A short post today because as usual I’m running late.  I finally got the windmill.  While it’s not the exact shot I was looking for (darn sun) it is close so I thought I would share it this morning.

Nikon D700 | Nikon 24-70 mm Lens | ISO 200 1/800 @ f7.1

Additionally before getting to the windmill I was driving down this country road and saw a huge hawk sitting high in a tree.  I pulled off the road and walked a hell of a long way.  Just as I got within a decent range with my telephoto lens he/she took off.  Flying in the opposite direction so no chance for a shot.

On the way back to the car I shot this image.  I have no idea what I was trying to say but it kind of appealed to me this morning.

Have a great day and be careful.

Nikon D300S | Tamron 24 - 270 mm lens | ISO 200 1/250 sec @f10

It had been 5 days since I held a camera in my hand.  I was having withdrawals.  Between putting in some long hours at work and the weather not cooperating I just hadn’t taken any shots of anything.

I left the office this evening at 5:20 pm and my original plan was to be good, come home and get on the treadmill.  But I was seduced by the setting sun and so I started thinking grain bins, silos, or barns.

I was driving hard and probably a little too fast looking for something to use as a backdrop.  The sun was sinking fast and I knew in a few minutes I was going to lose it.  I thought I had one more hilltop to go but it turned out that road actually went down in a valley so I was going to lose the race again.

Sunset in March

But I came to a side road and decided on the spur of the moment to take it. I went 400 feet and saw these trees off on the horizon.  The sun was already down but it was casting a bright orange light.  So I fired off 8 shots and it was over.

The first image of this post is actually the last one I took and you can see it is the prettier of the two as far as rich colors are concerned.

The second image in the post was as soon as I jumped out of the car and the light was very bright and yellow.  Anyway it felt good to shoot again even if it was only 8 images.  I hope you like them.  Have a great day and be careful.

Thanks for stopping by.

Nikon D300S | Nikon 70-30 mm lens | ISO 200 1/1000 sec @ f8

The above image is the community of Bellevue, Iowa from our photo shoot there last Fall.  I’m going back in time to that shoot because my spectacular sunset that I was going to show you today “got away.” More about that in a moment.

This image was taken from Bellevue State Park over looking the town of Bellevue.  Becki and I both agree that we need to go back to this park as there are just a lot of great places to shoot.

Nikon D300S | Nikon 70-300 mm lens | ISO 200 1/60 sec @ f8

We kept crossing paths with this young group of people.  I’m assuming this young couple are married and they have come to the park with their young son to have some family images made.  I did not get a chance to talk with the couple.  I did talk to the photographer (she’s a Cannon shooter but I was friendly anyway.)

She said she is a student in college majoring in photography.  They were shooting all over the part in a variety settings and back drops.  I liked the color combination they were wearing and some of the areas where they were shooting made for some great backgrounds.  Gave me some ideas.

Nikon D300S | Nikon 70-300 mm lens | ISO 200 1/1000 sec @ f8

We had stopped at the over-look to shoot some images of the river when this couple came by.  They gave their point & shoot camera to Becki and asked her to take their pictures.  As they were posing for her it reminded me of an ad you would see in a life style magazine of  a family picture.  So I did what any photographer would do, I took the shot.  I kind of like it.

Now about the one that got away.  I was driving home last night and it was a very pretty sky with bright sunshine.  As I turned by the airport on Skyline Road I noticed the sun was starting to get that orange glow to it.  Not only that it seemed to be getting bigger.

I knew if I hurried I could get to a place on Sundown Road where there is a windmill alongside the road and it would offer a nice image against that orange sun.  The more I drove the more orange the sun got and it was just getting huge.

Finally I turned on Sundown Road and as I got with in an 1/8 of a mile from the windmill the sun ducked behind a layer of clouds that were rising from the horizon, which I hadn’t been able to see. I was left with nothing and not even enough light to make a decent image of the windmill.  😦  As James Bond would say, “Perhaps another time.”

Thanks for stopping by.  Be careful out there.