Next Year

Next Year.

 

I saw several opportunities like this during our time in Wyoming, simple compositions that tell a story. I used a long lens to isolate the grass seed head against the snow to tell the story. This seed head could be a meal for a bird, deer or bison, or it could remain as is and eventually the seed falls to the ground and the snow melts helping it to germinate in spring. All the options end the same, the seed becomes grass for next year, continuing the life cycle not only for it, but for the animals that depend on the nutrients from it. You can look at it as isolation or as an invitation. Seeing the seeds sticking out of the snow can indicate to wildlife there is more below the surface of the snow. Nature always knows what it is doing.

 

Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 lens on a Nikon D-500, Manual Exposure mode, f8, ISO 450, shutter speed of 1/320th of a second, handheld utilizing the Vibration Compensation feature of the lens, processed in Lightroom Classic CC. #WithMyTamron, #TamronUSA, #TamronLensesUSA, #TamronImageMaster, #Tamron150600g2, #BearWoodsPhotography, #NatureInFocusPhotographyWorkshops

“Fluff”

“Fluff”

 

If you ever visit the Berry Eagle’s nest, you will hear the folks watching talking about “fluff.” Fluff is dried grass, hay or straw that the Eagles will gather either from the ground around the nest or fly over to one of the pastures with cows and take some of the good stuff. Berry College is the world’s largest campus at 27,000 acres and has cattle on the campus as well. They put hay out and the Eagles will take it too. It helps to keep the nest dry and insulate the eggs and eventually the young Eagles. Here is Mom flying to the nest with a big chunk of fluff last week.

 

Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 lens on a Canon 7Dii, Manual Exposure mode, f8, ISO 400, shutter speed 1/1000th of a second, Vibration Compensation active in Mode 2, Sirui N3204X tripod and PH20 gimbal head, Lightroom CC. #WithMyTamron, #TamronImageMasters, #SiruiUSA, #SiruiPro

“Fluff”

“Fluff”

 

I refer to the word “fluff” when I talk about materials for Eagles nest and how they gather it and I photograph them carrying it to the nest. Fluff is simply grasses or hay that the birds will gather off of the ground. It acts as a base to soften and insulate the nest, especially when there are eggs or young eagles. It also acts as a place where the eagles will store food for the chicks as a quick source of food if needed. I was able to get a few images of Ma Berry while she gathered some fluff for the nest yesterday.

 

On a different note, we got rain last night, this morning and are expecting more today and tonight. We often take water and rain for granted in our lives and living in extreme drought conditions for several months, I can only imagine what it is like for those who live years in this condition, seeing puddles of water in the driveway and in the yard are great. It will hopefully filter down and add water to our well, which is our source of drinking water up here in the mountains. Hopefully it will help to fight or extinguish some or all of the wildfires up here. The worst right now that has the most potential for doing catastrophic damage is raging in the Great Smoky Mountains and Gatlinburg. I have seen stories that much of historic Gatlinburg has burned already. I have spent many, many a day photographing in that area and I have many fond memories of the area. Please keep the folks and animals up there in your thoughts and prayers, they need a lot of rain right now.

 

Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 lens on a Canon 7Dii, Aperture Priority, f6.3, +.7 stops of exposure compensation, ISO 1600, shutter speed of 1/160th of a second, handheld utilizing the Vibration Compensation feature of the lens, processed in Lightroom CC. #WithMyTamron, #TamronImageMasters

Sunshine + Grass + Golden Retriever = Pure Joy

I usually don’t do two posts in a day but I have been laughing so hard at the photos of Lily I did yesterday in the yard.  She was a total puppy playing in the freshly mowed grass with a little sunshine hitting her.  These images demonstrate why everyone needs to have a Golden Retriever or two in their lives.  They are pure joy.

Dogs and dew covered grass…

Enjoying the cool mornings and dew covered grass.  I really like the cooler temperatures in fall, but I know my girls like them just as much if not more.  Those fur coats welcome the cool mornings especially.  They enjoy rolling around in the grass in the sunshine but it was funny watching them roll around and get wet in the dew as well.  They act like puppies when they get their paws wet!  There is just something great about a dew covered dog!
This is Lily taking a break from rolling in the grass.  I used the Fuji X-E1 with the Zeiss 85mm f1.4 lens Nikon mount via the Novoflex adapter, Aperture Priority, f1.4, -.7 stops of exposure compensation, ISO 200, resulting in a shutter speed of 1/1000th of a second, processed using LR5.

Rain drops…so many rain drops…

Take advantage of all the rain! In many parts of the world and country they are not experiencing the amount of rain we are having in Bear Woods and the rest of the southeastern US for that matter. It is a great time to get out with the camera and experiment with rain drops. Try to do those single rain drop images I have been posting with something a foot or so behind the drop to give that cool center of focus to the image. Find blades of grass and isolate a single drop. This image is about simplicity again. A single drop contrasted by the single lines of the blade of grass. I used just enough depth of field to “suggest” to the viewer the repetition of the pattern in the grass. So get the camera out, dust it off, put it on the tripod and go find some rain drops. Practice, practice, practice!
Tamron SP 180mm f3.5 Di Macro on the Fuji X-E1 via the Novoflex adapter, Aperture Priority, f5.6, -.7 stops exposure compensation, ISO 400 resulting in a shutter speed of 1/25th of a second, Vanguard Alta Pro tripod and BBH-200 head.

The Hairstreak Butterfly

The Hairstreak Butterfly.  These guys are tiny!  They pretty much spend most of their times in the grass it seems.  It was pretty windy so I had to push the ISO way up to capture the butterfly without movement.  It seems that the wind is more of a problem for me as a macro photographer than the rain!
Tamron SP 180mm f3.5 Macro lens on an OMD EM-5 via the Lensbaby Tilt Transformer, Aperture Priority, f16, ISO 1600, +0 stops exposure compensation, resulting in a shutter speed of 1/25th of a second, Vanguard Alta Pro tripod and BBH-200 head.