photoartflightKingbird With Dragonfly Meal
Posted on August 6, 2018
I was photographing a Great Blue Heron along the Wildlife Drive, when this Kingbird landed to the right of me. I noticed it had caught a Dragonfly for a meal. I think the dragonfly was an Eastern Amberwing. The Kingbird was not close so I tried to get a little closer and I managed to get a quick shot before it flew off.
Cloud Panoramas From Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge
Posted on July 31, 2018
We went to the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge outside of Cambridge, Maryland to see what subjects we could find to photograph. These images were taken along the Wildlife Drive. The Eagles were scarce, only saw a few in the distance, but we kind of expected that. But in the Winter months Blackwater has one of the highest numbers of Eagles in the Northeast. So we were concentrating on Dragonflies, other birds, panoramas and sunrises & sunsets. The featured image was 4 Horizontal shots @24mm, assembled in Photoshop. With wide angle lenses for panoramas, I tend to overlap more than when using long telephoto lenses. The wider the focal length the more overlapping shots I do. These images were shot on or near the long Observation Platform along the 4 mile Wildlife Drive. The above featured image was 4 horizontal shots @ 24mm. On the right side of the featured image you can see part of the Observation Platform. These images were taken with the Canon 24-105mm lens or the Sigma 12-24mm lens. The Blackwater NWR includes more than 28,000 acres of tidal marsh, mixed hardwood and loblolly pine forests, managed freshwater wetlands and croplands. The Blackwater & Little Blackwater Rivers flow through the refuge so I guess that is where they got the name Blackwater NWR.
3 Horizontal Images @ 24mm
3 Vertical Images Combined For Horizontal Image @ 24mm
4 Vertical Images Combined For Horizontal Final Image @24mm
3 Vertical Images Combined for Horizontal Final Image @ 24mm
4 Vertical Images Combined For Vertical Image @ 12mm
Pre-Sunrise Clouds – 24 Shot Panorama @ 400mm
Posted on June 18, 2018
I like going to the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Maryland for their colorful Sunrises and Sunsets. (Also for Eagles & Ospreys and…) On this day the clouds were very interesting so I was shooting a few different versions, compositions, focal lengths and Camera/lens combos. Then I noticed a thin long length of colorful clouds above the trees but below the main larger clouds. So I tried a 400mm with a 1.4X Teleconverter pano version. I shot 24 images with that combo, with large overlaps on each shot, all handheld. This is the Featured Image above. I used a lot of overlapping images because it usually lines up better, especially when the camera is handheld. If I do not need them I can just use a few instead. Below are more versions with different camera and lens combinations. Also some eagles that flew by in the colorful sky adding some interest and a subject in the colorful sky. In the featured image about 2/3rds over to the right there is a small dot below the clouds. That was another Bald Eagle flying through and I decided to leave it and not clone it out.
Blackwater NWR PreSunrise @ 24mm (2 image blend for foreground detail)
Blackwater NWR Sunrise, 2 Image pano @ 24mm
Blackwater NWR Sunrise @ 400mm, Canon 400mm DO lens
Blackwater NWR Sunrise @ 400mm, Canon 400mm DO lens w/ Canon 1.4X Teleconverter
Immature Bald Eagle Soaring in the Sunrise, Canon 400mm DO w/ 1.4X Teleconverter
Closer Bald Eagle Flying in the Sunrise, Canon 400mm DO w/ 1.4X Teleconverter
Sunbeam Through Opening In Clouds
Posted on April 2, 2018
While I was working on files from a previous visit to the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Cambridge, Maryland, I came across this image of a sunbeam shining through an opening in the cloud cover. I used a 400mm lens to isolate the beam so it was more prominent in the image. With a wider view, the sunbeam did not seem to stand out as much. I think the beam as is, is prominent enough against the clouds and I did not want to enhance the beam to make it stand out more, opting for a more natural look.
Double Sunbeams, 400mm f/4 with 1.4x Teleconverter
Blackwater NWR Early Morning Landscape
Posted on March 28, 2018
Going through my old files looking for images to post. This was taken at the Blackwater NWR in Maryland early in the morning along the Wildlife Drive. I used my small Panasonic Pocket Camera. I usually keep a small pocket camera or a m43 camera with a 14-140mm lens with me for Photo Subjects that require a wider view, since my main camera usually here has a 400mm lens with a 1.4X teleconverter. I have tried my iPhone for this but I feel it is not quite as good as I would want it to be. I have used the iPhone, but that is usually when I do not have any other camera with me.
Blackwater Early Morning Sunrise
Posted on March 27, 2018
An early morning sunrise from last year at the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Maryland. This is a view from along the Wildlife Drive. 2 image exposure blend to bring out shadows and maintain the colorful glow of the sunrise. Shot at 24mm.
Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge Sunsets
Posted on March 25, 2018
Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge has some amazing sunsets. Being somewhat close to the coast it seems like the sunsets are more colorful than usual. Sunrises are also very colorful if you can get there that early. We live about 4 hours from Blackwater so we do not get there as often as I would like. If you position yourself near the end of the Wildlife Drive at sunset, you can stay for a short while after the theoretical closing time to enjoy the sunsets. They used to drive through to make sure everyone leaves, but are usually cooperative. Quite often you see flocks of birds flying through the colorful skies which adds some interest to the colorful skies. For the featured image I was using a Canon 15mm Fisheye f/2.8 lens. I corrected some distortion in Camera Raw.
The above image was shot with a Panasonic LX Pocket camera. This is along the Wildlife Drive right before the final turn in the road to the straight away to the exit, where the featured photo was taken.
Multi-Image FlyOut Panorama at Sunset – Panned during a burst of images, assembled in Photoshop. Also along the last straight away to the exit.
Extreme Snow Geese Panorama
Posted on February 25, 2018
I know it is hard to see here on the featured image, but sometimes I try images just for the challenge! I really thought it would not work, but gave it a shot anyway. Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not. This series worked! This is 50 closely overlapping images, combined in Photoshop, for a final image that is 170 inches long. I shot this with a larger overlap than usual because the subjects were moving and gave me more choices for working on the final layered file to fix moving Snow Geese on the overlapping sections. Before flattening the layered file, on the overlapping areas I could erase small sections with the movement I wanted to erase. There is probably more than a thousand Snow Geese in this group and they made a lot of noise, even at the distance I was from them. I let Photoshop churn away overnight so I am not sure how long it took to assemble. I would guess more than 5 or 6 hours, since it was my home system. I was using a 400mm lens with a 1.4X teleconverter. When I started to shoot this panorama I had no idea how many images I would end up with to combine. This was taken last year at the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Maryland.
Sunrise Through The Trees
Posted on February 15, 2018
As we were driving along the Wildlife Drive at the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, we were enjoying the colorful morning sky. I liked this tree silo’d against the colorful morning sky, so I took a few shots and then moved on to see what other photo opportunities could be found.
Colorful Morning Sky At Blackwater NWR
Posted on February 14, 2018
A still colorful morning sky after the sun had come up. This was from along the Wildlife Drive at the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Cambridge Maryland. I was going to do a series of images for a panorama, but then decided it was better as 1 image.
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