Stories Behind the 10s – I’m Watching You

From the Photographer: Dave Klein

This image of a Double-Crested Cormorant was made on the Anhinga Trail in Everglades NP in January, 2015.  Here, like in much of Florida, the birds are quite tame and accepting of human presence and simply go about their lives.  This bird had just finished preening and tucked its head into its back feathers to relax and take in the late afternoon sun.  The sun was breaking through some trees and cast a beam, lighting up a portion of its face and emerald eye, yet keeping the surrounding feathers soft and dark.

 

Of interest,  in the last 5 years I have used three camera systems: Nikon, Canon and now, Sony. Nikon was my system for about 20 years. This image is from one of the last birding trips I made shooting Nikon before a switch to Canon until December, 2019.  Each system has its pluses and minuses but all can create great images.

 

Technical Data : Nikon D600 + Nikon 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6 lens, 400 mm, f/8, 1/800 sec., ISO 800, -.33 exposure compensation, handheld.

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Salon Acceptances – April 2021

Our April Salon was  held as a virtual salon due to the restrictions placed on us for Covid19

Here are the Salon acceptances for April 2021  – Congratulations to you all – your images will be moved forward for judging in the end of year competition. The year end images will be showcased and the competition results will be announced at the May meeting.

We are looking forward to seeing you once again when we emerge into safer environment.

Paul Kammen	Mother Great Horned Owl	8
Mike Sweet	Blue-gray Tanager	8
Deanne Probst	Quail Love Pair	8
Mariann Cyr	Kelp Goose	10
Jeanette Mayo	Gadwall Drake	8
Dennis Randall	Observant Eastern Towhee	8
Barry Mullin	Feeding Junior	8
Joe Fierst	Egret Lifting Off	9
Rick Graves	Tree and Sunrise	8
Roslynn Long	Overachieving Great Blue Heron	9
John Pennoyer	Blazing Star sunrise	9
Dave Perez	Rustic Camouflage	8
Alan Schulz	Emperor Family	8
Don Specht	Hooded Merganser with Sunfish	8
Deanne Probst	House Finch on Branch	8
Sandy Swanson	Migration’s End	8
Mariann Cyr	Falkland Thrush in the Grass	9
Dennis Randall	Adult and Juvenile Sandhill Cranes	8
Joe Fierst	Sandhill Crane Turning Egg	9
Dave Klein	I’m Watching You	10
Roslynn Long	Canada Jay Portrait	8
Don Specht	Yellow Warblers Feeding Nestlings	9

Stories Behind the 10s – Green Jay

 

From the Photographer: Mike Sweet;

While traveling along the Gulf Coast of South Texas this Winter, I visited wildlife areas including Aransas National Wildlife Refuge.  During the first of two days visiting the Refuge, I watched nearly a dozen Green Jays moving through a woody thicket which also contained an old, wooden photo-blind.  Early on the second day, I entered the photo-blind before other visitors arrived to ramble among the intertwined foot trails of the area.  As the sun’s position changed, so did the dappled light while the Jays moved among dense branches.  Several times a Jay briefly settled on a nearby, sunlit perch and I was fortunate to capture it during one of those moments.

Location Aransas National Widlife Refuge, Texas

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D Mark II; Canon 100-400 Mark II at 278 mm; f5.6; 1/5000 sec; ISO 1250

              

Stories Behind the 10s – Loon Toss

From the Photographer: Barry Mullin

This image was taken on April 21, 2018 from the West end of the Coon Rapids Dam looking up river (North).  It was a beautiful sunny day with a very light breeze.  Lakes were not yet free of ice, so lots of ducks and loons were hanging out in the calm waters above the dam.  I watched this loon fish in the shallows near the river bank for about twenty minutes and saw him catch numerous fish and crayfish.  He didn’t seem to care at all that I was not too far away.  Every time the loon surfaced with a catch, I was ready and took burst shots.  I was lucky to catch this image with the crayfish mid air.  

Technical Data: Nikon D7500 with a Tamron SP AF 150-600 F5-6.3 lens; mounted on a monopod with a swivel head; 1/3200 sec; @ f / 6.3, ISO 800; 550 mm.

Salon Acceptances -March 2021

Our March Salon was held as a virtual salon due to the restrictions placed on us for Covid19

Here are the Salon acceptances for March – Congratulations to you all – your images will be moved forward for judging in the end of year competition. The year end images will be showcased and the competition results will be announced at the May meeting.

We are looking forward to seeing you once again when we emerge into safer environment.

Paul Kammen	Canada Warbler	9
Mike Sweet	Pie-Billed Grebe	8
Dianne Herman	Martial Eagle in Serengeti	9
Mariann Cyr	Upper Gooseberry Falls	8
Tom Hansen	Awesome Opossum	8
Dennis Randall	Virginia Rail	8
Karl Fiegenscuh	Whooper Swan Up Close	8
Joe Fierst	Screech Owl with Pellet	9
Rick Graves	Frosted Flower	9
Roslynn Long	Watchful Snowy Owl	8
Alan Schulz	Short-eared Owl at Sunset	9
Don Specht	Backlit Sunflower	8
Paul Kammen	Black Throated Blue Warbler	9
Mike Sweet	Green Jay	10
Deanne Probst	Snow Dusters	8
Mariann Cyr	Eurasian Brown Bear	8
Tom Hansen	Red-Bellied Woody	8
Dennis Randall	Curious White-breasted Nuthatch	8
Ron Johnson	Heron in Flight	8
Barry Mullin	Loon Toss	10
Karl Fiegenschuh	Wolf Curled	9
Dave Klein	Barred Owl	9
Richard Gotz	Song Sparrow	8
Alan Schulz	Black-browed Albatross and Chick	10

Stories Behind the 10s – Prairie Lake Sunset

 

From the Photographer: John Pennoyer;

When instructing my landscape photography classes I always talk about location, location, location and to be as familiar as possible with the location. This image was taken at Crow-Hassan Park Reserve, Minnesota, For the last several years I have been a volunteer for Three Rivers Park District with this being my designated park.  I have gotten to know every nook and cranny of this park.
This image was taken in June 2020. I was there doing my normal photo route for the park and it looked like it could be a very nice sunset so I stayed later than normal. I knew the sun would be setting right over Prairie Lake and I went there early to check out a location. I had used “Photographer Ephemeris” to find the exact compass reading for sunset. When the time came, I used my small ladder for a higher position to shoot down on the grasses. The clouds had begun to separate and was really filling the frame very nicely! I decided to make my composition more “clouds” than the lake. The foreground was just the grasses and not holding much interest. Although I did take other images when the sun was just a tad higher, they did not nearly have the same impact with the sun in a lower position. Notice the heavier clouds in this image, about one minute later the sun  moved down into them and my sunset photography was  over for the night. In photography-  many times – timing is everything!

Technical Data: Camera: Nikon D850, Lens: Nikon 14mm-24mm @ 15mm, ISO 200, Manual Exposure, f11, 1/200s, EV -2/3 (no filters), Cloudy White Balance, Gitzo Tripod w RRS Ball Head, Cable Release

If you would like to see more from this photographer:  www.immpressionsofnature.net 

Stories Behind the 10s – Japanese White Eye

From the Photographer: Karl Fiegenschuh 

I was in Japan for a Winter wildlife photography trip with Martin Bailey.  I had a couple of days free in Tokyo after the workshop.  I spent one afternoon photographing the Japanese White-Eye in the Shinjuku Goyen National Garden.  The cherry blossoms were in full bloom and dozens of birds flittered through the branches. The park was full of visitors on this Sunday afternoon enjoying the sunlight and the beautiful trees. There were only a few photographers around and I was asked several times what we were photographing. And, no, I don’t speak Japanese – It was remarkable that several people overcame their natural shyness to approach a foreigner and to speak English.

I was fortunate to be able to get some amazing images of these very photogenic birds in such a spectacular setting. Afterwards I wandered through the rest of the beautiful park before eating a nice sushi dinner and returning to the hotel.

Technical Data: Canon 7D Mark II camera with Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II lens,  with 1.4x teleconverter. Handheld at 1/500 sec., f/9,  at ISO 640.  Cropped to a portrait format and slightly edited in Lightroom.

Salon Acceptances -February 2021

Our February Salon was held as a virtual salon due to the restrictions placed on us for Covid19

Here are the Salon acceptances for February – Congratulations to you all – your images will be moved forward for judging in the end of year competition. The year end images will be showcased and the competition results will be announced at the May meeting.

We are looking forward to seeing you once again when we emerge into safer environment.

Paul Kammen	Great Gray Owl	8
Eric Gusrafson	Ringneck Pheasant	8
Mariann Cyr	Courting Laysan Albatross	8
Jordan Randall	Cedar Waxwing	8
Berry Mullin	Common Goldeneye	8
Karl Fiegenschuh	Pair of Otters	8
Joe Fierst	Sunset Glow, Big Dipper and Aurora	8
Roslynn Long	Foraging Goldfinch	8
Ron Lahr	Night Lightning	8
Dee Hunnisett-Dritz	Elk	8
Don Wendel	December Frost on Birch Lake	8
Alan Schulz	Oystercatcher in Sorrel	9
Don Specht	If You Go Low – I Go High	10
Kathy Bishop	Dewey Beauty	8
Mike Sweet	Reddish Egret	8
Diane Herman	Sunset Clouds with Acacia	9
Deanne Probst	Sepia Dunes	9
Sandy Swanson	Sandhill Crane in Flight	8
Mariann Cyr	Red Pine	8
Tom Hansen	Cardinal	9
Dennis Randall	Couch’s Kingbird	8
Jordan Randall	Frozen Sunrise	8
Karl Fiegenschuh	Sandhill Crane Formation	9
Rick Graves	Frost Crystals on Leaf	8
Dave Klein	Prairie Chicken Attack	9
Roslynn Long	Trumpeter Swan Fishing	8
Dee Hunnisett-Dritz	Rabbit in Clover	9
Richard Gotz	>House Wren with Lunch	8
Alan Schulz	Bald Eagle Portrait Detail	10
Don Specht	Morning Snack	9
Scott Landseidel	Buck with High Rack	8

 

Stories Behind the 10s – Frost Crystal

From the Photographer: Rick Graves 

This image was created on December 1, 2020 at a small frozen pond near my house. The morning was calm and cold. The November snow had mostly melted. It was a prime morning to look for transparent ice and see if there were leaves or other interesting stuff frozen in the ice. I ventured out about mid-morning. When I arrived at this particular pond the ice was indeed very clear but the interesting frost crystals that had formed on the parts of leaves and twigs that were sticking out of the ice was an unexpected bonus. I moved along the edge of the pond photographing ice crystals and leaves for about a half an hour before I discovered this much larger crystal. I spent several minutes determining a good composition and making multiple images for the focus stack. Fortunately for me, the shadows from a small woodland area between this portion of the pond and the sun kept the frost crystals from melting this late in the morning.

Technical data: Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, Tamron SP 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro lens, Gitzo GT3530LS tripod, Kirk BH-1 ball head, Manual mode: ISO 200, 0.3s, f/14, 10 image focus stack processed in Photoshop and Lightroom.

Salon Acceptances – January 2021

Our January Salon was  held as a virtual salon due to the restrictions placed on us for Covid19

Here are the Salon acceptances for January – Congratulations to you all – your images will be moved forward for judging in the end of year competition. The year end images will be showcased and the competition results will be announced at the May meeting.

We are looking forward to seeing you once again when we emerge into safer environment.

Paul Kammen	Blackburnian Warbler	9
Mike Sweet	Snowy Egret	9
Deanne Probst	Sand Dune Splendor	9
Eric Gustafson	Timberwolves	8
Sandy Swanson	Foster’s Tern Acrobat	9
Mariann Cyr	Cascada Paine	9
Tom Hansen	Mississippi River Swans	9
Jeanette Mayo	Determined Great Horned Owlet	9
Linda Scher	The Hunter	10
Dennis Randall	On the Hunt for Food	8
Jordan Randall	Bluebell Bloom	8
Ron Johnson	Hungry Squirrel	8
Greg Triplett	Slot Canyon	9
Barry Mullin	Sage Creek Gang	9
Karl Fiegenschuh	Sandhill Silhouette	8
Joe Fierst	Loon in Flight	8
Rick Graves	Frosty Leaf	9
Dave Klein	Great Gray Owl	9
Roslynn Long	Eastern Bluebird Getting a Drink	9
Dee Hunnisett-Dritz	Eagle Juvenile	8
John Pennoyer	Prairie Lake Sunset	10
Dave Perez	Wood Duck Hen	8
Alan Schulz	Kelp Goose Family	8
Don Specht	River Otter with Bullhead	9
Scott Landseidel	Elakala Falls WV	8
Paul Kammen	Hawk Owl	9
Mike Sweet	Brown Thrasher	9
Diane Herman	Boreal Owl with Red Squirrel	9
Deanne Probst	Ubehebe Angel,Owl or Alien	8
Eric Gustafson	Yellow Warbler	9
Sandy Swanson	Loon Stretch	8
Mark Ye	A Hoar Frost of a Morning	8
Mariann Cyr	Walrus Pod in Fog	8
Tom Hansen	Whitetail Buck in October Snowfall	9
Jeanette Mayo	Woodie with Crabapple	8
Linda Scher	On High Alert	8
Dennis Randall	Focused	9
Jordan Randall	A Straddling Yellowthroat	10
Rick Graves	Frost Crystal	10
Dave Klein	Snow Goose in Flight	10
Roslynn Long	Green Heron Stretch	9
Dee Hunnisett-Dritz	Blue Heron	9
John Pennoyer	Ice at Tettegouche	9
Dave Perez	Elk	9
Alan Schulz	Birches and Fog Pan	8
Don Specht	Prairie Blue-Eyed Grass	9
Scott Landseidel	Coyote – 4 Off the Floor	8