Author Archives: bobshank

Pennsylvania Elk Photography Experience #7 – Fall Rut

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The last week of September greeted us with spectacular fall-like weather. The temperature was cool and the elk were clearly in the heat of the annual rut. The breeding season for the Pennsylvania can run from mid-September through mid-October. The last week of September is generally near the peak of the action and we were there, ready with our cameras and lenses to capture the action!

The first day was the only clear day. The clouds and rain took over but this did not hinder the elk action at all. It was a very active week and we saw plenty of elk to photograph. Several fights broke out as the bulls were vying for dominance among the cows. I absolutely love this time of year and the fall rut is always filled with action and many photographic opportunities! There is no better time to be in elk country in my humble opinion, and I prefer to be no where else at this time of year!

This was our seventh Pennsylvania Elk Photography Experience. John arrived on Monday evening and we started with a basic wildlife photo workshop. This is always a good start so we can dial in our camera settings to more adequately and more easily capture the beauty of these elk. The next morning started with a real early breakfast and out to find the elk just as light was beginning to make its headway into the day. Elk, like most mammals, are most active at dawn and dusk, so we always are out in the mountains at these times. The light tends to be best at these times of day as well. Many times the activity slows down sometime between 9am and 11am. So we break for lunch and a short rest before heading back out of the early evening opportunities. I just cannot get enough time with these amazing animals! They are fascinating!

The Pennsylvania Elk Photography Experience has several goals we have in mind for all participants:

  • Provide an exciting experience with the Pennsylvania elk
  • Teach basic and advanced photography techniques to capture the action of the wildlife
  • Create breath-taking wildlife photographs that capture the essence of this experience
  • Learn from each other
  • Have fun

This fall trip was exceptional in terms of the rutting and elk action. I think it is fair to say that we accomplished all five goals on this trip.

I can’t wait to be back in elk country again!

The Bugles of Fall

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If you ever heard a bull elk bugle in the fall, then these photographs will hopefully illustrate these exciting sounds! The bugle of an eager bull in the rut is an undistinguishable and sometimes ear-piercing sound. Some people drive many miles just to hear this musical sound of the fall in elk country.

A bull will bugle for several reasons. First, he will try to show dominance and intimidate competing bulls for the cows that are ready to be bred. Bulls will answer each other even from hills some distance away just to be heard and remind other bulls that there is already a big bull to contend with on this hill. These competing bugles can be quite a chorus! A second reason a bull will bugle is out of sheer frustration. A bull will follow a cow, hoping for her to be ready, but then be sadly disappointed. As the cow moves away, the bull will bugle in frustration.

Bugles can be heard any time of day or night. It can be pretty cool, and even a little eerie, to be out on a full moon night and these shrilling sounds! Careful observation and close listening skills can reveal the variety and unique bugles of different bulls. Some are deeper and some are more high-pitched. Still other bugles can be long and drawn out, while others are more short-lived and concise. Each one has an important message!

Bugles and bulls come in all sorts and sizes. The next time you are out in elk country, listen carefully and listen hard. These unique sounds are sure to bring a smile to your face and perhaps a bit of warmth to your heart. The sound of the bugle indicates the bulls are healthy and active. They have one thing on their mind during the fall season and they are making their presence known–all with the shrilling sound of their bugle!

PV Baseball Champions!!!

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The Pleasant Valley Baseball team traveled to Sports at the Beach, near Rehoboth, Delaware to play in the Seaside Storm Tournament on September 22-23.

Saturday was a gorgeous day for baseball. The sun was shining brightly and this September day felt more like one of the dog days of summer.

PV lost the first game in a close battle  that went extra innings, but won the second game to position themselves in seventh place in the Championship bracket.

The first game on Sunday was a nail-biter. Superb pitching from Howie Stevens and an incredible defensive double-play by James Shank and Travis Van Houten proved to be the difference in a 1-0 game!

The team kept rolling and every player contributed to the cause as the second game on Sunday was declared a victory to place PV in the Championship game!

The Championship game wasn’t even close as the PV Bears won the game in four innings as they captured the championship! Way to go PV Bears Baseball team! You all worked hard and came out champions!

View more photographs here.

Photo Walk Announced!

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The Scott Kelby Worldwide Photo Walk is scheduled for October 13. You can join us in Stoudsburg for an evening of night photography as we walk around Stoudsburg trying to get that perfect shot with our cameras.

You do not need a fancy camera, but if you have one that’s cool. Some creative photos can be captured even with cell phones these days! So bring your favorite camera and join us for a fun night of photography! Bring a friend and enjoy the time together.

We will meet in Ann Street Park, which is located at 550 Ann Street, Stoudsburg, PA 18360. The Photo Walk will begin promptly at 7pm and conclude at 9pm. Those who want to hang around and share our photos and experiences will be invited to a restaurant to be announced closer to the date.

Click here for more details and to sign up for the Photo Walk.

Ball State Field Hockey

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Ball State University traveled to the Lehigh Valley to take on Lehigh University. The game started with Ball State getting out to an early 2-0 lead. Lehigh University struck back, tied up the game, and then went ahead 3-0. The women of Ball State rallied late to the tie the game and send it into sudden death overtime. The Cardinals kept the pressure on the Lehigh end of the field and connected on a corner penalty shot to secure the victory in overtime!

I was even lucky enough to capture the winning goal!

Here are some photos of the exciting game. The full game gallery can be viewed here.

 

 

Football Scrimmage – Elizabethtown vs. Palmyra

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Are you ready for some football? Well, the E-town Bears sure are!

 

This past Saturday they strapped on the equipment, traveled to Palmyra High School, and put their game out on the field. From the opening snap on offense to the last play on defense the Bears looked good! In fact, they looked real good!

 

Hike to Stafford Beach

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Prior to my arrival to Cumberland Island for the Phi Phi Sunrise Boat tour, I was not sure how long my hike in was going to be to get to my campsite. The way it works on this National Seashore is entirely dependent on the exact order of the phone calls. I called pretty late in the game to make my reservations and was worried because back country campsites cannot be reserved until you arrive on the island. The nearest back country campsite is 3.5 miles from the Ranger Station, but the farthest site is 10.6 miles!  So I held my breath and hoped for the best!

I arrived at the second dock on the island where the primary Ranger Station is located. All back country guests are required to attend a short informational meeting where some precautions are laid out and safety information is provided. This requirement was helpful to me since I had never been on the island before and didn’t know exactly what to expect. Fortunately, I have a lot of back country experience, so some of the information was redundant and routine to me as well. But information is always a good thing and I was glad to be at this mandatory informational meeting. We also heard that the mosquitoes were really bad. I took a mental note of this, but had no idea how true this would turn out to be! It was also here where we received our campsite assignments. I was still holding my breath when I heard the ranger say that the Stafford Beach campsite was available, so I only had to hike 3.5 miles to my destination! Whew! With my 55-pound pack, this was a relief to hear!

I left the Ranger Station to locate the trail head for the Parallel Trail, which parallels a dirt road on the island and is a more quiet and serene route–well, usually. On this particular day the mosquitoes were swarming like mad! I no sooner found the trail head when I was bit on the lip by either a mosquito or spider. I am not exactly sure but my lip immediately started to swell! I continued hiking the trail fighting the swarming mosquitoes and feeling the overwhelming humidity on this hot summer day. I kept checking my lip, which continued to swell at a somewhat alarming rate. Eventually the swelling leveled off and I was relieved to know that this minor annoyance was going to be just fine.

Arriving at the campsite was a relief of sorts but the mosquitoes continued to swarm all around me! Have you ever experienced this? I mean I’ve been around mosquitoes a lot before and I seem to be a magnet of sorts for them. I guess they like the taste of my blood! But this was unlike anything I saw or experienced ever before. When I saw “swarm” I mean it! There was simply no relief and it was a constant fight trying to perform any task. Setting up a tent is a routine procedure and one I’ve done many, many times in the past. The mosquitoes made it a little more challenging this time and I even spotted a tick as soon as I had the tent erected. Life in the outdoors if full of adventure!

I didn’t think of it at the time, but I ‘m pretty sure I could have captured some amazing mosquito photographs if I just tried. But their constant swarming and biting were more than enough to remember them! I will never forget this mosquito encounter! It was so bad that I actually thought about returning the next morning to the Ranger Station and cutting my trip short. I was glad, however, that I stuck it out because I ended up having a good experience overall and was able to capture the bobcat photographs!

 

Cumberland Island Bobcat

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One morning while on Cumberland Island, a beautiful barrier island off the coast of Georgia, I was heading out to the beach and was greeted by several horses. I will share  more about that encounter at a later time. I situated myself in the sand beside a tree. Several horses came out in plain view and after they moved on I thought, “Let’s stay here and see if anything else comes into this opening.” Sure enough another horse came out just minutes later. I photographed this horse and he meandered over the sand dune and out of sight. I sat tight, waiting to see if anything else would come out of the opening. Sure enough, not even two minutes later I saw this bobcat!

And what a beautiful bobcat it was! Just look at it! Now I’ve been in the outdoors enough to see bobcats in the past, but never when I had my camera ready for the action. Bobcats are very weary and leery creatures. They do sneak around often at dawn and dusk but want nothing to do with humans or any other potential threats. It is indeed a rare sight to even see a bobcat, let alone be fortunate enough to photograph one!

As you can see, this bobcat carefully checked its surroundings before coming completely out into the clearing. It didn’t stay in the area long either. It was a very fortuitous experience for which I was extremely thankful! My only worries were, was the light enough and did have the bobcat in focus? It all looked decent in my camera’s LCD screen, but I wouldn’t know for sure until I got home several days later. The suspense was killing me but gladly the results were fairly good and I am very happy to share these photos of a special encounter with you. Spend some time outdoors and you never know what might happen! Isn’t wildlife photography great?!

Cumberland Island Ferry Ride

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The 45-minute Ferry Ride to Cumberland Island is relaxing and filled with sights! There’s just something about being on the water!

The Cumberland Queen is the name and ferrying passengers is the game. No cars, no bikes, no pets; just passengers.

Here is a neighboring dock we passed just after launch off.

The tidal marsh ebbs and flows each day to the rhythm of the tides. Sometimes, when the tide is high, it is hard to see where the land ends and the water begins. This phenomenon created some artistic photographs and here is one of my favorites.

1st Day at Kings Bay, Georgia

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Our first day at the Naval Submarine Base on Kings Bay, Georgia was fun. We only had a chance to see a few sights, but we are already having a blast!

We began by devouring a scrumptious seafood dinner at Lang’s Marina Restaurant in Saint Mary’s. James opted for the Captain’s Platter and I had the Seafood combo, consisting of Flounder and Scrimp. It was delicious!

James is very much looking forward to his submarine training, which commences tomorrow at 17:00.