Seven Mile Bridge Bobcat 2015

Seven Mile Bridge Bobcat delivers again in 2015…

…and was quite active today, forcing me to trudge through deep snow to keep up with him as he made his way up and down the opposite river bank. He went after a muskrat 10 minutes before we arrived, splashing into the Madison River. I arrived to see him preening his wet coat, only to be attacked by a coyote, which tree-ed the cat. Then saw him stare down some golden eyes (who saw him and changed their direction), and finally multiple successes in the mousing effort. The warmer temperatures this year made for sharper photography, because there wasn’t as much steam coming off the river to soften the image, but this “heatwave” made things a lot warmer when post-holing.

Yellowstone National Park, Madison River #7milebridgebobcat #bobcat #yellowstone

2015-01-28

Bear 410 Weight Gains

Carefully look at the bear captured in these two photos. Would you believe it is the same bear?

Many people immediately recognize the photos of grizzly bears catching salmon leaping mid-air as the fish make their way to spawn up river. Most of these photos are taken in July at Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park in Alaska. But what those famous photos taken in July fail to convey is the impact all that salmon eating can have on an individual bear’s appearance over that season. These animals undergo a substantial transformation of their body’s form factor.

The top and bottom photos contain the same bear, at two different times of the year, but separated by only 7 weeks time. Allow me to introduce you to Bear 410, an old sow at 26 years old, and a top fisher at Brooks Falls. Her nickname is “Four-Ton”, and she was one of the only bears in 2014 that I saw successfully fishing the lip, the premier spot atop the falls. In fact, while I was observing in July, none of the larger male bears were able to forcefully displace her from this spot. And she was far more proficient at catching salmon than the alpha male(s) below the falls in the jacuzzi.

These photos highlight a bear’s innate ability to eat …and gain a lot of mass in a short amount of time. I hope to see Bear 410 back in Katmai this July for what will be her 27th year in the Brooks River…

2014-11-242015-05-29

Yosemite, November 2014

Quick break from the Churchill processing to upload some photos from the group camping trip to Yosemite! Photos featured here are taken from Taft Point and Glacier Point.

2014-10-242015-05-29

October Lunar Eclipse

2014 Hunter’s Moon eclipse.

Shooting from my apartment’s parking lot, I went outside a little before 03:00 to see the already full moon already partially eclipsed. I quickly set up my gear, and began to shoot.

I know I have said before, but I’ll say it again: the moon is bright. It is the second brightest object in the sky, behind only the sun. Even a sliver of a crescent moon is significantly brighter than the the sky’s third most luminous object, Venus. When photographing a regular full moon, the dark sky that surrounds it can be deceiving to camera and observer. This makes it more of a challenge to properly expose. In most cases, you need a fast shutter, and will need to under expose significantly to capture the details in the moon’s face (if not shooting in manual mode). The opposite is true for a lunar eclipse. The strategy to use here is the technique used for shooting the Milky Way on moonless nights.

In my research to understand the relative brightness of a lunar eclipse, I learned about the Danjon Scale. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danjon_scale

Set-up:

My initial set-up consisted of the following:

– 1D4 – bad ISO performance compared to 6D and 1DX, but has advantage of 1.3 APS-H crop sensor for additional “reach. This turned out to be a bad choice because good ISO capability is helpful to capture the dim moon.

– 600mm f/4 II + 2x III extender = 1200mm, but with the 1.3 crop on 1D4, this combination would be equivalent of a 1680mm lens on 35mm. This would help fill the frame nicely!

– Gitzo 3 series tripod with RRS Panning head and 15 lbs weight tied to the hook. This is a critical step to stabilize the support. With 1680mm of equivalent optics, the slightest vibration wrecks havoc on any image.

After using this set-up, I quickly realized that I needed more light. The f/8 (with 2x teleconverter) just wasn’t fast enough. I removed the extender and opened the 600mm to f/4. Then lost some optical reach by switching bodies to the 6D. This would give me cleaner high ISO performance and some more resolution (20MP vs 16MP) for cropping. I tooks some shots with these settings, before taking a few clicks with the 1.4x extender.

2014-10-012015-05-29

Elk Rut: Action in Jasper

The Elk

I arrived to Jasper at 9:30 the next morning, found a campsite in Whistlers, and met up with Joey and Sarah in the afternoon…and began to find some elk….

Out of all the days in Jasper, Sunday 9/21 was the most productive on all accounts. I saw and photographed my first “real” rutting action at the Lagoon at sunrise. Then at sunset, we were on a different bull along in the Athabasca River, near the Jasper Fairmont. Out in the flood zone, we were in the middle of it all, 3 or 4 competing satellite bulls bugled in various directions, near and far, agitating the alpha with the harem. He didn’t get lucky down by the river, but the light and action there was phenomenal. However, after calling it quits, as we walked back to our cars, we came upon this bull getting lucky with a cow on the lawn of the Jasper Fairmont Lodge. Two matings in one day, I was beginning to feel spoiled!

I can honestly say that photographing these hormonal elk may be equally as dangerous as bear photography. The fact that they are deer may lull you into a false sense of security. Its true that elk doesn’t have the teeth and claws to maul, but they are well equipped to rake and stomp. Joey’s advice on the matter was to always have an exit strategy when going in close, never leave yourself exposed.

This was sage advice. These hormonal beasts were fickle and prone to irrational spurts of sudden aggression. At one point while viewing a bull and his harem, the bull casually got closer to a group of us. We reacted immediately by increasing the space. On both sides of the bull’s path were stone piles, about 4m high with stones the size of basketballs. On my side, two of us scurried up one of the piles, while the man across the path scrambled up the other one. As the bull slowly passed us by, he suddenly charged at the other man, who fortunately still had room to scramble even higher.

In terms of photography, the conditions in the morning were better for moody shots with backlit smokey bugle vapor puffs. The evenings were better for dramatic and rich light, but no smoke breath. It was also much colder in the morning, around the freezing point, while the afternoons were still hot from the day’s heat.

People

Each wildlife trip has its own unique way bringing a variety of people together, and Jasper was no different. Wildlife is unpredictable, and it is the people involved that distinguish a good trip from a great one. As is often the case, wildlife photo trips are made special by the beautiful locale, wildlife and people that are there. When you have good people to chat and connect with during the lulls in action, I find the overall productivity will increase. And the people who participate in the Jasper Elk Rut may have the strongest sense of community that I have yet experienced. The crowd was a nice blend of full-time and retired professionals and semi-pros, skills ranging from beginner to expert, and and non-photographers alike. The collective knowledge of this group was impressive. Many were veterans of the Jasper elk rut, people who understood elk. Many of my most inquisitive questions were not only entertained, but graciously answered….which is not something that normally happens!

2014-09-302015-05-29

Elk Rut: Arrival in the Rockies

Elk Rut 2014: Jasper National Park

Setting the scene…

The blue of the Canadian Rockies... — The blue of the Canadian Rockies…

The Canadian Rockies, a magnificent place to visit any time of the year, rarely disappoints those who visit. For my most recent trip, I was fortunate to experience the jewel of the North American Rocky Mountains during the autumn elk rut. For most of the year, elk keep to themselves and live relatively benign, and quiet lives. Not so during the elk rut. Bull elk dash back and forth, vocalizing and clashing violently with other bulls and careless photographers; defending harem and territory….

Snow Striped Peaks, a signature of the Canadian Rockies

Their bugles bounce off the nearby peaks and aretes in an attempt to intimidate and impress. In turn, impressed cows will present themselves to the crazed bull for mating. Yellow larch and aspen trees and turquoise glacial silt add a splash of vibrancy to the landscape with snow striped mountains.

Getting there

I landed in Calgary at around midnight Friday night/Saturday morning, hopped into my rental car and headed west for what would be a long weekend in the Canadian Rockies. Following the Trans-Canada Highway, I reached the Banff entrance gate in just over an hour. Another hour beyond the park boundary was Lake Louise. With no time to waste, I didn’t stop. I had night photography on my mind, and needed to find a spot to do some shooting. At Lake Louise the Trans-Canada Highway intersects Alberta Highway-93, also known as The Icefields Parkway.

Looking north, Vega and traces of a distant aurora, or airglow, difficult to know for sure

Following this road north I made my way to Peyto Lake, and took a stab at doing night photography on the moonless, but clear night. After a full day at work, plane ride to Calgary, and 3 hour drive into the rockies, I wasn’t feeling particularly ambitious for a night photo session. Plus I was here for the elk, so I took it relatively easy this first night, only shooting for 90 minutes. At Peyto Lake, there was a hint of the Northern Lights to the north and some clouds moving through the sky. At 04:00 I broke down my gear and sought out a quiet parking lot to take a nap in, which I came upon a few miles down the road. I would cover the final two hours of the Icefields Parkway drive to Jasper the next morning…

2014-09-192015-05-29

Elk Rut: Jasper, Alberta

I will be spending a long weekend in Jasper National Park during the elk rut and looking for late season grizzly bears. Extremely excited to be back in the Canadian Rockies, Jasper is a jewel in crown of North America.

Gear

In terms of gear I am going heavy:

Canon 1D-X
Canon 1D-IV
Canon 6D

600mm f/4 IS II
300mm f/2.8 IS
70-200mm f/2.8 IS II
24-105mm f/4
24mm f/1.4 II
17-40mm f/4

2x Extender III
1.4 Extender III
25 Extension Tube
12 Extension Tube

2 intervalometers
SureFire G2 Nitrolon Torch

6 LP-E4N Batteries
6 LP-E6 Batteries

And the amazing thing is that all of this and more fits into my Think Tank Airport Accelerator bag.

2014-09-162015-05-29

Kenai Fjords Panorama

I had been shooting several multi-exposure panoramic shots and when we reach the center of this fjord inlet, the captain was polite enough to do a 360 degree rotation. While this view is not a 360 degree panorama, it is about 220 degree.

This is a 32 frame panorama stitched together in CS6 with dimensions 22841 x 6455.

2014-09-152015-05-29

Alaska: Kenai Fjords NP

Part 1 Kenai Fjords + Seward

The September Alaska photo expedition began in Anchorage where my parents, who were on their way back from a week in Denali, picked me up. The time here was spent hiking, hunting for wildlife, and taking a boat ride to view Fjords from the sea.

Day 1- Anchorage to Whittier, Portage Glacier hike
Day 2- Seward, Exit Glacier hike. Kenai Fjords National Park
Day 3- Seward, tour of Northwestern glacier and fjord. Kenai Fjords National Park

The definite highlights of this portion of the trip was the Exit Glacier hike to the Harding Icefield in Kenai Fjord National Park. This is a beautiful, but relatively strenuous, 8-9 mile dayhike with a 3000 foot elevation change. However, the rewards for this trek are plenty. Wildlife dotted the hillsides, and the view of the Harding Icefield is spectacular. Ice stretching to the horizon as far as you can see, with mountain peaks poking through.

The next day was a Kenai Fjord boat tour. 9 hours in length, it leaves Resurrection Bay and hugs the coastline all the way down to Northwestern Fjord/Glacier. The views afforded from a seaside vantage point were spectacular. This is one place that is best experienced from the water (unless you are an expert glacier traverser). The only way to improve on this boat experience is to go by kayak, gliding silently between the icebergs and camp on some isolated beach. Wildlife was also abundant. Wildlife photography from a boat is typically never easy, and when you are using a fixed 600mm lens with 1.4x extender, the challenges are increased even further. But despite this, I was able to get get some decent bird, seal, sea lion, and orca photos. However, my mom was able to capture a couple orca breaches! Very jealous of that!

The Seward area is tucked into a bay surrounded by seaside mountains, therefore there isn’t much sunrise or sunset light getting the ground, save for the highest peaks. But each night I was take walks and use this period of gentle light to search for eagles in the surrounding areas. I was even able to use the fiery sunset colors with some eagle “headshots”.