Don't be too quick to call it a day.

There have been many evenings that we were reluctant to call it a day and hike back to the car. Usually the reasoning was that we witnessed so many awesome things that it was difficult to accept that the day was over. If you never witnessed the eerie sound of a big bull bugling, breaking the silence of a dark night, you probably wouldn't understand. Now picture this in stereo as you stand in near darkness listening to two bulls challenging each other with their loud vocalizations. It's a sound that is very hard to forget and so alluring. The evening this photo was taken we had photographed some awesome rut action and held our position on the outskirts of the herd until the dimming light was making photography pretty much impossible. We began to head out but paused to admire the last light of the day as it dipped below the horizon. As we watched the last beautiful band of color we noticed a large bull off to our left. We stood motionless hoping he would position himself so as to be backlit by this beautiful glowing sunset. It was just the slightest band of glowing light and would only last but a few moments. Our patience paid off and we captured some amazing images. What a perfect end to an incredible day.

Winter on Winslow

Winter on Winslow Hill can be hit and miss in regard to seeing elk.  While in years past we have seen large herds in the winter but more often than not there are small groups and usually cows and calves.   I do recall a couple years ago in February way back in the Saddle area witnessing an incredible stampede with 200 plus elk.  I did video that stampede and to this day it still entertains me when I watch it.

Just a week ago we visited Winslow Hill with high expectations of seeing some of the big remaining bulls that survived the 2012 Elk Hunt.  By the way, I use the term (Hunt) loosely and with tongue in cheek.  We had to work very hard to see anything at all and when we did they were cows and calves as there were no bulls to be found.  As we photographed these cows and calves we were once again reminded that it doesn't have to be a mighty bull to make a good subject.  We were also reminded that the lack of beautiful blue sky and gorgeous background shouldn't stop a photographer from pressing the shutter.  A stark lackluster background and gray sky can still lend itself to a decent image.  Gently falling snowflakes can be that last ingredient needed to capture a nice picture that you almost passed up.  Sometimes what is present within the viewfinder is much more desirable than what you viewed with your normal vision.

Possibly next years Christmas Card



 

Always keeping a weary eye for danger



 

Life moves on in the dead of winter

Fall Migration 2012

I would suppose our calendar looks a bit different than the calendar belonging to, well let's use the term, a normal person.  While a normal persons calendar would highlight things like St Patricks Day, Halloween, Easter, Christmas and the like, ours would be slightly different and have odd dates and time periods marked.  Important times on our calendar would be things like elk sheds, calves drop, new growth, start of the rut and last but not least, duck migration.  Other dates might be fawns, velvet shedding and turkey poults.  This is only to name a few.  Strange maybe, but it's what we do.

 

The duck migration is something that we really look forward to.  While the fall migration is very cool, our favorite is the spring migration.  During the migration time period there's opportunities to photograph some awesome species of quackers.  While most people think going to a movie is entertainment, our source of entertainment involves going from one body of water to another searching for ducks.  Each year we set different goals for ourselves and challenge ourselves to get photographs of certain ducks.  Our subject this year again would be the Hooded Merganser.  Last year we had limited success getting good images so it was our hope that this year would yield better shots.

 

This year we located a spot that was absolutely loaded with Hoodies.  To make it even sweeter there were large numbers of males as well as the females.  Typically the male ducks are much more vibrant and colorful than the females.  This is especially true with the Hooded Mergansers.

 

We are pleased to say that the fall migration was kind to us and we got some pretty good pics.  Yes, we will continue to try for better images but for the most part we were pleased.  Not only did we get some cooperation from the Hoodies but we also got some nice pics of other cool ducks such as Ruddy Ducks and Buffleheads.  

 

Here's just a few shots from our many hours chasing ducks and freezing our butts off.

 These are the elusive Hooded Mergansers.  The males have the white crest on the sides of their heads.  The females are rather dull in comparison.  You will notice that the male on the right is sporting just a small crest while the other male is sporting a more expanded crest.  In the pictures below you will see the males with the white crest fully expanded. This is done to impress the females.  It is quite impressive when the crest is fully fanned out.

This male has the crest fully fanned out.

 

These images were taken late afternoon just as the sun was bidding another day farewell.

 

 

 While not vibrantly colored, these Ruddy Ducks are still quite cool quackers!

 This Mallard didn't seem to want it's picture taken.

 

 This might be one of the exceptions to the rule that the male is always a cooler looking duck.  We think that the female Bufflehead is more awesome looking that the male, hands down.

 Love the water droplets as well as the way the tail feathers seem to be suspended on the waters surface.  The blue sky was reflecting beautifully on the water this day.

 



Photography For All Seasons

Don't put that camera away just because it's cold out!  I felt this statement just needed to be made because so many folks only take their camera for a walk when the weather is fair or when the leaves are colorful.  I've heard it said many times that winter is like watching a black and white movie.  There's tons of reasons and excuses for keeping the camera cooped up when the weather turns fowl.  One of the reasons might simply be that people don't like going out in the cold or that they think the camera can't be exposed to the cold or as I said at the start that there is no color during winter.  Well, all of these statements would be wrong!  Dress for the conditions and get out there and enjoy every season, and yes that also means winter.  The camera equipment can take the cold so that shouldn't be an excuse.  While I won't go into it here, there are a few precautions you can take to make the temperature changes tolerable for your camera.  So let's not make that an excuse!  In regard to winter being blah and having no color, that couldn't be further from the truth.  Here's a few pictures that were taken over the last couple weeks and I believe you will see there's definitely some color.  Now get outside and enjoy!

 

Okay, so I couldn't resist a bit of Photoshopping on this image!

Did you happen to notice any color in these pictures?

The Art of Nature

Typically when I make an entry into my Blog there is a story connected to it and along with images I bore the visitors with paragraph after paragraph of my ramblings.  This entry will break that trend but don't get too excited because it won't be a pattern that I'll be adhering to very long.  In fact it may just be for this entry.  The images below were all taken during a recent camping trip.  There's no order, no theme and best of all no boring story, just pictures.  Enjoy!