photoartflightGreat Blue Heron In The Fog
Posted on January 22, 2017
Early in the morning we arrived at Blackwater NWR and the fog was quite heavy. We thought it was going to burn off in an hour or so, according to the weather reports. I found this Great Blue Heron at the beginning of the Wildlife Drive and thought it was interesting. I increased the contrast and saturation in Adobe Camera Raw so you could at least see the Heron, but still have the feel of it being in fog. In “real life” the fog was so heavy you could hardly see the Heron. It was a “flat” gray with hardly any color, just gray. I also continued along the Wildlife Drive shooting different landscapes and “still life” detail images which I still have to get to.
Sunrise At Blackwater NWR
Posted on January 21, 2017
A few images of the sunrise from an earlier trip to the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Cambridge Maryland. From 24mm to 105mm including stacked images and multi-image panorama.
Two image blended panaorama @105mm
Sunrise @ 105mm
Sunrise @ 45mm
Sunrise @ 24mm -2 image blend for sky and slightly lightening foreground
Sunrise @24mm -single image
Bald Eagles From Blackwater NWR
Posted on January 16, 2017
Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge has some of the largest concentrations of Bald Eagles in the Northeast in the Winter months. Also the largest breeding populations of Bald Eagles north of Florida. The Refuge is over 28,000 acres with a Wildlife Drive and multiple trails. The main photo areas would be on the Wildlife Drive, multiple trails off or near the Wildlife Drive or The Tubman Road Trail. There are roads running through the Refuge, but they frown on people stopping to photograph because they are busy roads with no spots to stop unless you are on a bike. But you can drive through and see the Eagles flying or in the trees. Plus quite a few Eagle nests plus other birds, etc. On these I removed a few branches that were distracting. Shot with a Canon 1D MkIV and a 400mm f/4 DO lens w/ a 1.4X series III Teleconverter, handheld.
Sunrise To Sunset at BWR
Posted on January 15, 2017
A series of Sunrise and Sunsets from along the Wildlife Drive at the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge outside of Cambridge Maryland. The Featured image is along the start of the Wildlife Drive at sunrise.
Sunrise at Blackwater, @14mm- m43 Panasonic (28mm – 35mm equivalent)
Sun getting lower along the Blackwater River, @ 24mm, 24-105mm Canon f/4
Sun starting to set near the end of the Wildlife Drive, @ 40mm, f/16, 24-105mm Canon f/4
Wider view of setting sun near the end of the Wildlife Drive, 24mm @ f/16, 24-105 Canon f/4 lens
Even wider view at almost sunset near the end of the Wildlife Drive, 24mm @ f/16, Can0n 24-105 f/4 lens
Glow after the sun has set, 50mm @ f/11, 1/200sec., Canon 24-105 f/4 lens
Snow Geese
Posted on December 31, 2016
I was going through some external hard disks and found some images I had not worked on. For this post I am using Snow Geese images taken at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge taken in November a few years ago. There used to be flocks of thousands of Snow Geese in the Winter months at Blackwater NWR but in recent years they have moved to different locations. The noise of thousands of Snow Geese squawking as they take off or land in huge flocks is amazing. These photos are of a lone pair coming in for a landing.
A different group of birds flew by as I was shooting the above Snow Geese – 3 Marine FA-18s.
Eagles at Sunrise
Posted on December 14, 2016
When we go to the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Cambridge Maryland, we try to arrive right before sunrise. It takes us about 4 hours, so with traffic, many times we arrive a little late. On this trip we got there right on time. Driving down the entrance road and stopping to sign in, we spotted these 2 Eagles in a tree right along the entrance road. I liked the warm light as the sun was rising behind the tree with the Eagles, giving me an abstract silhouette of the Eagles. I got a few shots, but we wanted to get a little further down the road for some Landscapes with the rising sun.
Bald Eagle @ 1792mm
Posted on December 10, 2016
I switched over to a new iMac and was setting my Hard Drives. Going through some old external Hard Drives I found this Bald Eagle photo from 2011 taken at the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Cambridge Maryland. They have one of the largest amounts of Bald Eagles (in the Winter months) in the Northeast. But it such a large area with many areas you cannot get access to photograph. It was shot with a Sigma 300-800mm lens @ 800mm, with a 1.4X Teleconverter on an old Canon 20D and cropped in some.When you add the teleconverter and the 1.6X crop of the old 20D it comes out to 1792mm for the uncropped version. Surprised it looks this good. But it brings back memories.
BWR Observation Platform – 24mm
Posted on December 9, 2016
While we were at the Wildlife Refuge, I was looking along the Observation Platform to see if I could find something interesting to photograph. As I was walking down, I looked back and thought the platform itself was interesting. Plus I had a fairly Dramatic Sky to work with. Then I tried a series of effects in Photoshop, blending color and monotone into 1 image. If nothing else it kept me amused for a while trying different colors, tones, masks & combinations together. Plus it was fun to see different effects and how they work together.
Blackwater Landscapes Along The Wildlife Drive
Posted on December 6, 2016
Usually we go to Blackwater NWR (Maryland) for photographing Eagles, Ospreys and other Birds & Wildlife. Or if we stay til dark, they have very colorful sunsets, being close to the coast. But lately I have been photographing more of the landscapes along the Wildlife Drive. Also gives some practice trying HDR techniques or Panoramas. The eagle population is still growing as many Eagles are returning to the Refuge for the Winter. Next I have to try views along the trails. Usually when I am on the trails I have long lenses with me to capture birds in the trees. At this time of year the Ospreys have left and the Eagles are gaining numbers as many come down from Canada.
The featured image was a 5 shot panorama, over lapping images, shot at 24mm. The next image is a 6 image HDR bracketed panorama image assembled in Photoshop. 3 bracketed exposures for each of the 2 sections, combined in Photoshop. Still trying to get use to CC 2017 Photoshop, from my usual CS6 workflow.
Red Admiral Butterfly
Posted on November 19, 2016
W hen we were at the Blackwater NWR, we drove over to the Tubman Trail, which is another area on the Blackwater NWR. It is more walking trails with ponds and wooded areas. We were surprised to see butterflies this late in the season. They did not sit still for long and were flirting all over. The one on the featured image stayed for about 30 seconds before it moved on. The one below was on the sign for the hiking path.
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