Category Archives: Wildlife Photography

More Pennsylvania Elk

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Yesterday I shared the story of how my son, James, and I encounter a cow elk and were able to photograph it close up.

Today I am posting three more photos of this cow. Yesterday’s photos included much of the vegetation that the cow was actually eating. These photos today try to focus on the cow and highlight her without much distraction. Wildlife photography is difficult for many reasons: long, fast glass is needed and it’s expensive, animals are difficult to find and often don’t stay still very long, the best times for wildlife photography is at sunrise and sunset when light is low, and it is often hard to separate the subject from its camouflaged background. This last difficulty is my subject today.

How does the wildlife photographer separate the wild subject from its background? What tools in our camera can we use to assist in this endeavor?

Wide open f-stops are probably one of my most favorite tools to help accomplish this goal. Shooting wide open blurs the background and allows the viewer’s eye to focus completely on the subject. Large f-stops like f/2.8 are extremely helpful. Yes, they are expensive, but I find them irreplaceable in my wildlife photography. Another tool is the placement of the subject. We all know that backgrounds can literally ruin a photograph. So working with a clean background is very helpful. Setting the subject against a clear blue sky is golden! Or how about using the contrast of goldenrod or queen anne’s lace in a field to place your subject? Of course we do not literally place our subjects, but paying attention to the background can make a subject stand out loud and proud!

What tools do you use to separate your wildlife subjects from their habitat?

Recent Trip to Elk County, PA

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Last week my son, James, and I ventured to our favorite spot–Elk County, Pennsylvania. Oh, I know this doesn’t have the romantic sound like Yellowstone, Big Sur, or The Everglades have, but it is the home of a herd of elk here in Pennsylvania and we have a little camp that we like to frequent up on Winslow Hill. We thoroughly enjoy viewing, observing, and photographing the wildlife–especially the elk! I’ve been going to Elk County, PA for over 20 years now and we just cannot seem to get enough! Fortunately for me, James shares this passion with me!

So last week we spent three days there and we had a blast!

On one of our “elk runs,” where we drive to the spots which seem to hold elk, James spotted a cow right alongside the road. I could not see it at first because the guard rail blocked my view. I stopped so James could snap a few quick photos while no other vehicles were coming down the road and I scanned the road ahead for a place to pull off. Stopping on the main thoroughfares and blocking traffic is a nuisance, in bad taste, drives the locals absolutely nuts, and is illegal. Still, some elk observers get so excited about seeing the elk that they simply forget some of the basic rules of elk-viewing etiquette. I quickly found a place to safely pull completely off the road and then we walked back toward the cow with our cameras. James was out ahead of me and once he got closer to the cow I immediately saw that she was accepting of his presence. She was busy eating grass and only looked up once to see who was there and then just went back to eating. We spent approximately 20 minutes photographing this cow elk and she never once showed any sign of alarm or fear of us. We photographed to our heart’s content and she made a most excellent model!

Eventually another car came by and parked safely on the opposite side of the road to get a closer view and capture a few photographs, too. Again, the cow took a glance at her new neighbors and simply went back to feeding in the grass. Photographers and clicking cameras were simply no big deal to her! As the sun continued to get lower in the August sky, she slowly fed away from us. We captured some nice, close photos and were blessed to spend quality time with such a beautiful mammal. Her summer coat shone brightly in the early evening light and all was well in her world and in ours. Nature and wildlife are incredible!

Can you begin to see why James and I enjoy Elk County, Pennsylvania so much? Here are two photos I captured that evening with my old, backup camera the Nikon D70. The old boy still works and captures some half-way decent images. I cannot think of any better way to spend a summer evening!

No Photos but Wow, What an Evening in the Field!

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My son, James, and I recently purchased a portable blind at Cabelas. The main reason for the purchase is so I can photograph the birds here in my backyard. I inadvertently left the blind up in the mountains on a previous trip, so we decided to put it to use this past Wednesday evening. We practiced setting it up and packing it up while we ate supper around the campfire. It is not a fancy blind but it seats two comfortably. So off we went to give it a try. We assembled the blind and weren’t in it very long when James said, “There’s some elk.” Sure enough, there were four cows over on a distant field and then we spotted a bigger herd of elk just to the right of these first four. There were 40 elk in all! We also had deer come to within 50 yards of our blind. It was a very productive field test and we had a great father/son evening on the mountain!

We did see some elk this week. The highlight was Thursday morning when we saw an 8×8 bull–the biggest bull we’ve seen so far this year. Unlike our previous trip, we did manage to see more bulls, for which we were thankful. Their velvet is coming off and the bulls look uncomfortable with strings of velvet hanging all over their antlers and down in their eyes!

I will post some photos of our trip this coming week, but I think I jinxed myself. My most recent blog entry was about preparation. Well, I guess I jinxed myself because I got to camp with James on Monday around midnight only to realize I forgot my D300! I’ll bet Moose Peterson never did this! Thankfully, I did have my backup body–my old D70 and James let me borrow one of his lenses. I will post some of my photos in upcoming blog posts, but James definitely got much better photos than I did this trip! I guess I was just so excited for this trip that I overlooked grabbing and packing my camera bag into my truck. I even had it on my packing list! I can think of several words to describe what an idiot I am, but none of them are printable!

Now I really can’t wait to get back to the mountains of Elk County!!!

Whitetail Bucks and High ISOs

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Today I have more whitetail photographs, this time two bucks. Again, I was looking for the Pennsylvania elk and while searching for them came across these two nice, healthy bucks. One was a spike and the other a 6-point. The conditions for photography were far less than ideal: hazy, overcast, and downright lousy light in the mid-morning. This required a very ISO, 1600 to be exact.

I currently shoot with a Nikon D300. Previously, I used a Nikon D70. The differences in the two are amazing. One of the features that was greatly improved is the quality of photographs with higher ISO settings. I hear the D3 is even exponentially much better yet! In the meantime, I have to settle for the D300 and how it works in the higher ISO settings. I still prefer to stay at ISO 200, but sometimes this just isn’t possible. I get decent results even up to ISO 800 but get worried after that. My daughter acts in some school and local community musicals where the stage light sometimes requires an ISO as high as 2500! I do not like going that high, but with the D300 I still can get some useable photographs.

The results in wildlife photography are far different, however. Tack-sharp focus and no noise are required for quality wildlife photographs. We can never be too picky in trying to get the absolute best quality photographs. I will do much of anything with these photographs I am posting today but am showing them for the purposes of supporting my thoughts on this discussion of higher ISO settings.

These photographs were taken with an ISO setting of 1600. I did some minor post-processing in Adobe Lightroom 3.0. However, I did not use any noise reduction in Lightroom. I tried using it, but I personally think it sacrifices some sharpness, which is critical to me. Perhaps I am doing something wrong, but I just didn’t like the results using the noise reduction on these images. So what you see, as far as handling the higher ISO is right from the camera.

Here they are. Let me know what you think. Do you use higher ISOs with any success? Do you use noise reduction in post-processing? Are you satisfied with the results? What are the standards you use in your photography?

Whitetail Fawns – What a Sight!

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Last week while photographing the elk of Pennsylvania, my son and I also saw lots of whitetail deer. In fact, I do not remember ever in my life seeing so many fawns in two days time! We saw 18 fawns in two days. Incredible!

It never ceases to amaze me what we see in the wild. We usually do see the elk. I can’t remember a time when we were last skunked–meaning we didn’t any elk whatsoever. Sometimes when you go out to shoot some specific animal, you don’t see that specific animal but are blessed with sightings and photographic opportunities with other animals. Staying patient certainly has its benefits!

We were out to photograph the elk of PA and we did see elk again, but we also came across these whitetail deer. So I thought I would post these photos today. Whitetail deer in Pennsylvania are very difficult to photograph. I have goals to get better photos in the future, but at least I have a decent start with these incredible animals. I love spending time in the wild because you just never know what you might see and get to photograph!

 

 

Join Us on the Next Pennsylvania Elk Photography Experience!

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How would you like to photograph an elk as he bugles into the brisk air or stands face-to-face with another competing bull in a showdown during the fall rut?

Our Fall Elk Rut photo workshop provides opportunities like these and more! Fall brings not only a change in colors, but also the Fall Rut for the elk. We are privileged to have elk here in Pennsylvania and my colleague, Dick McCreight, and I like nothing more than sharing this experience with others as we photograph the elk during this breath-taking season. It will be memorable!

The 3-day workshop actually begins on Monday evening and concludes on Thursday. We pack a lot of quality time into photographing the elk, sharing photo instruction and tips, and leading three different photo workshops in the evenings.

Includes 3 workshops:
1 – Setting up & using your camera for wildlife photography
2 – How to use Lightroom to manage and edit your photographs easily
3 – Techniques for Better Wildlife Photography & a History of the PA Elk Herd

Dick is incredibly knowledgeable with Lightroom and will show you how to quickly and easily manage your photo library and also how to edit your photos after a shoot. You will learn ways to photograph the elk at different times of the day and in different situations, how to set up your camera for wildlife photography, and more about this unique elk herd of Pennsylvania in these 3 workshops. We keep the group small so we have quality time together. It is sure to be a rewarding and unforgettable experience, which is why we titled our photo workshop: the “Pennsylvania Elk Photography Experience.”

The cost is $595 for the trip and includes lodging and meals. You can find more detailed information on our website. Join us for this exciting adventure as we photograph the PA elk together!

Here are just a few photographs we captured on previous trips:

 

 

 

There’s No Place Like the Mountains!

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My good friend and hunting buddy, Randy Greenly, teases me that sometimes I sound like a broken record. You see, if I said it once, I’ve said it hundreds of times: “There’s no place like the mountains!”

I believe this to be absolutely true, too. Last week my son, James, and I were able to get away for two days to our special place in the mountains of Elk County. We left immediately after his baseball practice on Thursday evening because we wanted to stop at Cabelas in Hamburg, PA before they closed. We got there 15 minutes before closing. The greeter who met us at the door even asked, “You do know you only have 15 minutes, right?” Yeah, 15 minutes isn’t much time at all for two outdoor enthusiasts to spend in a store like Cabelas! But we got what we wanted and were on our way to the mountains.

James and I both enjoy seeing the majestic elk of Pennsylvania and photographing them. We learn more and more about them all the time, too! The bull elk are currently in velvet, which means that their antlers are encased in a blood-rich covering that provides antler growth. Soon they will rub this away to get ready for the fall rut, which is my absolute most favorite time of the year to be in the outdoors with the elk. Hearing a bugling bull elk and watching two bulls stand each other off in a field are just of the impressive sightings I’ve experienced in the fall. It is awesome and there is nothing like it!

The weather last week was not very good, nor was it conducive to photography early in the morning or late in the day. The cloud cover and rain shortened the shooting time for us photographers, so I did not capture as many quality photos as normal. I do hope some of the following photographs do share my sentiment–that there is no place like the mountains!

 

 

Merkle Turtles

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Merkle Wildlife Sanctuary in Maryland was a very fortunate find for me. I came upon it when I was searching for something to do while my wife and daughter went to Six Flags. The internet search located this spot quickly and I was pleased to see it was less than 30 minutes away from the amusement park. I would much rather amuse myself in nature any day of the week rather than be forced to endure an amusement park! My wife, knowing this and being the sensitive, loving wife she is, suggested that I find something to do while they enjoyed the park.

I looked over the Merkle website, which was helpful, but I still wasn’t exactly sure what I might find there. I knew taking my bike seemed to be the prudent thing to do since the “Critical Area Driving Tour” was only open to cars on Sundays. Taking the mountain bike was indeed helpful and I saw wildlife immediately! This place is awesome!

Today I am posting some photos of the turtles I saw at the sanctuary. There were a lot of turtles to be seen but they were a little shy. They were mostly sunning themselves on the logs when I came upon them. Being patient was imperative and eventually some of the turtles accepted my presence if I didn’t move much.

As you can see in the one photograph below, some of the turtles have some green algae on their shells. This makes them more difficult to spot because they are well camouflaged with this accessory. I also saw several turtles in the river but they were farther away and stayed in the water. One of the photos below shows the head of one of these turtles.

The Merkle Wildlife Sanctuary was a great location to visit. The trails are well maintained and there is plenty of wildlife to see. I will definitely be going back there again!

Butterflies

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A butterfly. A beautiful butterfly. You see it floating along in all its majestic beauty. Doesn’t it look beautiful? Now, just try to photograph it!

Have you ever tried to photograph a butterfly? If you have, I’d like to know what worked for you? I was photographing osprey last week when some butterflies came along and grabbed my attention. I was waiting for the mother osprey to go out on another fishing expedition, so turning my attention elsewhere was not a problem. I thought, gee, there’s a butterfly, that should make a good photograph. Little did I realize how difficult this was going to be for me!

Butterflies are small and don’t sit still for very long. They float around from one spot to the next and focusing on them is a real challenge. I knew that chasing a butterfly is counterproductive and decided to simply stay in my position and let the butterflies come closer to me. This worked fairly well if I remained patient, but focusing still was not easy. I had many more out of focus photos than keepers. Are there any secrets or tricks to the trade when photographing butterflies?

Here are a few photos of my attempt at butterfly photography. I am not really completely happy with any of them. They are an attempt, which is a good thing, but now I have a strong desire to try this kind of wildlife photography again!

My First River Otter

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Last week I was photographing an Osprey family and having the time of my life!

Those who know me well will contend that I am not the most patient person in the universe. As a matter of fact, some say that I am rather impatient and a few will even say I am the most impatient person they ever met! Okay, so I can be a little impatient at times–I confess. However, put an animal in front of my camera and me  and I can patiently photograph the animal for a very, very long time–all day in fact.

So, there I was, patiently photographing this osprey family, when I saw movement in the water below me. At first I assumed it was another turtle because I spotted several of them before this. This was not a turtle. I immediately saw it was brown and furry and it was a river otter. Fortunately, I was quick to point the camera on my tripod in the river otter’s direction and snapped a few photos. It was over just as quickly as it began. I photographed my very first river otter!

My fear was that I made a mistake during this small window of photographic opportunity. Was the otter fully in focus? Did I get the exposure correct before I clicked the shutter release? Even by looking at the LCD panel on the back of camera was not very helpful in answering these questions because the sunlight was so bright. I just had to wait to see the images later on my computer screen.

These three photos answer the questions I asked myself and are the first three photographs of river otter  in my widening wildlife photography gallery.