Grand Light

Grand Light.

 

No 2 sunrises are the same in the Tetons. Clouds are different, haze is different, the light just seems different. I think that first light hitting the Grand is similar to fireworks on the 4th of July, or the ball dropping at midnight on New Year’s Eve. When the light just touches the peak of Grand Teton that hope I have for great things each day begins. My thought is always, “this is a great day, I have seen sunrise on the Grand”. It changed my life 44 years ago when I saw it for the first time, it reinforces that belief each and every time. If you never seen it, you should! If you want to join me for a sunrise on the Grand, we do workshops there! We have one in May 2019, and another in January 2020! Shameless advertising is needed every once in a while. http://www.natureinfocusworkshops.com/

 

Tamron SP 24-70mm f2.8 Di VC USD G2 lens on a Nikon D-850, Manual Exposure mode, f8, ISO 64, 1/25th of a second, Sirui SR 3204 tripod and K40x ballhead, processed in Lightroom Classic CC. #WithMyTamron, #TamronUSA, #TamronLensesUSA, #TamronImageMaster, #Tamron2470g2, #SiruiUSA, #SiruiProfessional, #BearWoodsPhotography, #NatureInFocusPhotographyWorkshops

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An Icon

An Icon.

 

I am finally home in Bear Woods for more than 12 hours and it feels great. It has been a month of travel so far to some great events and projects. I still have many, many, many images from the trip to Wyoming to process. One of my favorite places will always be TA Moulton’s Barn on Mormon Row. This image was from the day we hiked out on a morning the forecast was for clear skies. Instead we were welcome with snow and near whiteout conditions. By the time we photographed TA Moulton’s Barn, the snow was coming down nicely, by the time we made it back to the car, it was total whiteout and you couldn’t see 50 feet. That is the beauty of the Tetons in winter, the weather can change rapidly but it did clear up an hour later. We have announced our 2020 workshop already and look forward to next year’s visit.

 

Tamron SP 24-70mm f2.8 Di VC USD G2 lens on a Nikon D-850, Manual Exposure mode, f8, ISO 64, shutter speed of 1/10th of a second, Sirui SR 3204 tripod and K40x ballhead, processed in Lightroom Classic CC. #WithMyTamron, #TamronUSA, #TamronLensesUSA, #TamronImageMaster, #Tamron2470g2, #BearWoodsPhotography, #NatureInFocusPhotographyWorkshops, #SiruiUSA, #SiruiProfessional

Folly Beach Pier

Folly Beach Pier.

 

I have been in Charleston for a project for the past few days, wrapping up this morning with a presentation on Bird Photography to the Tamron Tech Team. Yesterday though I was able to get out to the Folly Beach Pier for a sunrise. It was a beautiful morning as you can see! The tidal pools offered some great opportunities to capture some nice reflections and being here in the winter keeps the number of footprints down in the sand. I look forward to being back in Bear Woods for a little while before heading off to the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival for an event.

 

Tamron 17-35mm Di OSD lens on a Canon 5D iii, Manual Exposure mode, f8, ISO 200, shutter speed of 1/30th of a second, lens at 17mm, handheld, processed in Lightroom Classic CC. #WithMyTamron, #TamronUSA, #TamronLensesUSA, #TamronImageMaster, #Tamron1735, #BearWoodsPhotography

The Rut

The Rut.

 

During the time we were out in Jackson, we had some free time and we decided to let folks have a morning off. We took the time to go out to the National Elk Refuge and see the Bighorn Sheep. We had told the group that in addition to the galleries downtown it was worth a quick drive to the Refuge. We saw most if not all of them out there. At first there weren’t many sheep down low, but as the females moved down, the males followed. One female was trying to attract rutting males, and it worked very well. You can see how these two guys were “sampling” the air for her scent by curling their lips up and smelling. I didn’t get to see any head butting, but this behavior was pretty interesting as well. One thing about visiting the Refuge is to make sure you keep the sheep away from the vehicles and don’t let them lick the salts off of the cars. It can make them sick, but if given a chance, they will do it. At one point we watched as a family drove up to a group of sheep and the adults had the children through food out to the sheep. If I could have gotten a photo of this irresponsible behavior of the people I would have sent it in to the Refuge staff, that could quickly end badly for the sheep if permitted to continue.

 

Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 lens on a Nikon D-500, Manual Exposure mode, f8, ISO 400, shutter speed of 1/1000th of a second, handheld utilizing the Vibration Compensation feature of the lens, processed in Lightroom Classic CC. #WithMyTamron, #TamronUSA, #TamronLensesUSA, #TamronImageMaster, #Tamron150600g2, #BearWoodsPhotography, #NatureInFocusPhotographyWorkshops

River

River.

 

River is a 6 year old American Bald Eagle at the Teton Raptor Center in Wilson, WY. She was also the “headliner” for our educational program with the TRC. It is hard to put into words how beautiful a bird she is, but if I had to use one word… magnificent! She is so striking and to be so close to see the detail on her was incredible. I know that is a lot of words to describe her, but I could go on and on. She is at the Center because she is a victim of water pollution and can not fly, and therefore could not survive in the wild. She will live and be well cared for serving as an educational bird. I know our group learned a lot about the Bald Eagle from the incredible staff at the TRC.

 

Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 lens on a Nikon D-850, Manual Exposure mode, f8, ISO 640, shutter speed of 1/1250th of a second, Sirui P326 monopod, processed in Lightroom Classic CC. #WithMyTamron, #TamronUSA, #TamronLensesUSA, #TamronImageMaster, #Tamron150600g2, #BearWoodsPhotography, #NatureInFocusPhotographyWorkshops

Sandhill Crane Pair

Sandhill Crane pair.

 

I was over in Decatur, Alabama for the Festival of the Cranes held annually at Wheeler NWR over the weekend. I did a couple of presentations and a few photo walks. It is always a very informative and fun festival and look forward to future events there. On my drive in yesterday morning I went to see if I could find the foxes again where I had seen them the previous day, it would seem I am becoming obsessed with foxes. On the drive in many, probably 200, Sandhill Cranes were flying into some fields along the road. After I went to the end of the road, where I did see the foxes again, but they were too far away, I drove back slowly by the Cranes. I parked in a parking lot beside the road and waited as a group approached. The light was nice and the birds were foraging, which made for perfect images to capture detail and behavior. I love seeing the contrast in the eyes and red on the head of these beautiful birds. On a side note, I did get to see and photograph a Whooping Crane. It resembles a photograph of Bigfoot with slightly more detail, but it was good just to see one of these rare beauties.

 

Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 lens on a Nikon D-500, Manual Exposure mode, f8, ISO 450, shutter speed of 1/250th of a second, handheld utilizing the Vibration Compensation feature of the lens, processed in Lightroom Classic CC. #WithMyTamron, #TamronUSA, #TamronLensesUSA, #TamronImageMaster, #Tamron150600g2, #BearWoodsPhotography

The Elusive Red Fox

The Elusive Red Fox.

 

So this is more of a funny story to me, and the folks who were with us in the Tetons will know as well. During our workshop and trip, we searched for red fox to photograph. We chased down every lead we heard of while there, all to no prevail. When I got home late Thursday night, really Friday morning at 1 am, I did laundry then packed for the Festival of the Cranes at Wheeler NWR in Decatur, AL. I did my presentation and a photo walk before it started to rain. On my way back to the hotel, I decided to check an area where the Whooping Cranes have been seen. When I got to the end of the road, I turned around and was driving out when I spotted two cats in the road. It took me a second or two to process that the cats were really foxes. My camera was in the back of the car(I broke my own rule) so I parked went back to get it and when I did I looked up and noticed one of the foxes checking me out. I literally had time to raise the camera and get 5 frames off before it disappeared into the woods. Thank goodness the D-500 can handle noise because I was set up for birds in flight! So after nearly 9 days in Wyoming hoping for a fox image, I got it…in Alabama…

 

Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 lens on a Nikon D-500, Manual Exposure mode, f8, ISO 14,400, shutter speed of 1/500th of a second, handheld utilizing the Vibration Compensation feature of the lens, processed in Lightroom Classic CC. #WithMyTamron, #TamronUSA, #TamronLensesUSA, #TamronImageMaster, #Tamron150600g2, #BearWoodsPhotography