Sometimes you just have to shoot what’s out there. Sometimes you just have to wait.

I’ve been struggling with finding new subjects lately. Between the lack of time and crappy weather there wasn’t much “new” coming down the creative pipe. So I figured I would just go practice my long telephoto panning, and just set up my rig next to a canal to wait for any duck, seagull, cormorant … or swan to fly by. Several did, and I was eventually rewarded with a fairly close-up series of this guy as he high-tailed it by me.  You know,  these big fellas can really go fast once they get movin’.

(Sigma f/4.5  500mm on Nikon D700)

Came across this fellow on the shore of Lake Neuchâtel last week during a quick after-work stroll. He wasn’t moving very much but he seemed ok. After approaching cautiously (and unusually close, they’re usually more wary than this), I suddenly realized that he had a fishing line hanging out of his mouth, which totally changes the composition (and interpretation) of the photo.

Obviously, i’ve been dabbling with HDR again. I like the resulting effect on the bird, but a little less fussy about the noise in the background.

I lament not getting outside enough for early summer mornings this year to take more macro shots. OK, the above pic doesn’t qualify as macro but on this morning I was probably out bug-hunting (they move more slowly when they’re chilly).

With winter quickly approaching the days of dewy mornings and getting soaking-wet feet in fields looking for the perfect “bug shot” are coming to a close for another year. Alas, time to switch gears anyway.

Who knows what birds are saying to each other sometimes, but with this pic I can’t help but think that the fellow on the right is little upset at his cousin

One of the two lighthouses at Cape Spear, Newfoundland – the most easterly point in North America. This one is the oldest surviving lighthouse in the province.

I’ve been here countless times (even got married here), but on this particular early morning the light was incredibly warm and the wind was unusually calm.  And for the first time in my life I was the sole person there for over an hour.

Though there is nothing spectacular about this image, I consider it to be one of my most satisfying shots – due to the fact that it was taken with my supposedly ”worst” lens (DX 18-70, no VR, kit lens). Taken in the  late evening, I had been watching 2-3 gulls buzzing our patio just overhead for about 20 minutes. I started noticing their flight patterns so got myself in position to anticipate an approach. I didn’t want to take the chance of missing the shot by running inside and changing lenses.

It goes to show that you don’t need the latest gear to get a decent action shot (though sometimes it helps to have reliable autofocus).  In fact, IMO this image is all about timing, light, angle of light… and having appropriate camera settings ready.

Taken near Cavo, Elba.

Walking through Pippy Park in St. John’s, Newfoundland today at the end of a long morning of walking, I was almost hit on the head by tree bark falling from above…. I look up to see a pair of Black-Backed Woodpeckers ripping the bark off a dead tree. Unlike the woodpeckers that I’ve come across in Europe, this pair was quite relaxed about being so close to hikers/photographers – enough to snap a few decent pics, anyway.

Although other pics I took perhaps show better detail of the animal, I chose to post this image because I think it best captures the unique behavior of this particular species.

I’m not a huge fan of overly-processed pics, but some HDR (blending several exposures of the same image) can yield some pretty cool results when done correctly (i.e. without overdoing it). I came across a nice image yesterday on Flickr that inspired me to try it out with an image that I recently took while in San Francisco.

I’ve read that you get better results when taking at least 5 or more images with a stop or two of exposure difference between them (i.e.   +3  +2   +1   0   -1   -2  -3). Some photographers even go as far as to use 11 different images. I tend to think that you’re throwing away a lot of data when you go that far, keeping in mind that you will eventually merge the images back to a single, flattened image.

The Caddie above is actually a single image, taken on a very steep section of Lombard Street in San Francisco (which gives it a very wonky composition).

In Aperture I created 4 copies of the original raw image and adjusted the exposure of 4 of them to obtain five images of stepped exposure (  +2   +1   0   -1   -2 ) . I exported the five images (TIFF 16 bit) into photoshop and experimented with HDR Pro … et voilà.

And BTW, here’s that inspiring picture  (actually a composite from 30 images).

You can’t see it very well in this pic, but that is indeed a little mouse getting a free tour of the valley before lunch.

Plenty of kestrels and kites circling our house these days as the famers bale hay for the first time this year. I’ve got another decent pic of this one that I’ll post in a few days.

Regular visitors to our garden, but they rarely come close enough to get decent BIF (birds in flight) captures. Last year our neighbor (who is a farmer) turned his field which attracted significantly more hawks. Originally I thought it was because there would be more available prey (as in mice). I was partly right – in fact a large part of their diet, it turns out, is worms.

This is actually a highly cropped image. More from this series, including the worms, are here.

Spotted this hoopoe (cropped image) at the ASPO nature center on Friday afternoon during a quick visit after work.

I was about to give up and go home (I had just fruitlessly waited 30 minutes for a Kingfisher to make a move…)  when I spotted this guy feeding beyond the log.

I’d never seen one before and had to identify him back at the lodge. He was in fairly low light, but the results aren’t bad (he wouldn’t venture to the quickly fading sunlight for me  :-( ).

wiki :   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoopoe

» A few more pics are in this gallery .

If you watch these guys for a even a short time, they become fairly predictable. This guy (actually, I think it’s a gal) was feeling a little threatened by its reflection in the window and repeatedly attacked itself, then retreating to a ledge just below. They are pretty quick, but after a few attempts I managed to snap this one –  fleeing from itself.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Wagtail

I’m a firm believer that half the battle in regularly getting satisfying nature results is simply deciding to consistently get out the door at the right time of day (i.e. early, early, early).

This shot was taken at 7:12 am. An hour later there was nothing but a very unexceptional scene here. Yes, I did walk back through the same spot – the mist had burned off and the sun was quite blinding.  There is no luck involved here however, as I had decided to go out early on each of the five mornings of this particular week. Only one morning presented such interesting conditions (the one on which this shot was taken), but I had to get up at 5:30 each morning to “get” one very good day.

For what it’s worth, there is actually very little post processing here, just a tad bit of sharpening and a little vibrancy in Aperture. Otherwise, this is pretty much how I saw the scene.

[PS. more images from this particular morning are here and here ]

View of Fuji-San, arriving over the Owakudani ridge in a gondola car at the crater’s edge. The smoke is continually spewed from the mountain’s sulfurous vents.

I’m not sure if eating a cousin is considered as cannibalism in the crow world, but I’m pretty sure that’s  a chicken bone he’s making off with.

This pic was actually quite a challenge that turned out ok. A close (~25 m), dark, fast-flying object set against an extremely bright background. After trying a few variations in post, I felt the black/white version brought out more of the detail of both the crow and the sparkling snow.

For those that (still) ask me what a DLSR can do that their compact can’t :  well, this pic serves as a pretty good example. The matrix metering of the D7000 did an excellent job here, IMO.

A few nights later, here’s a shot centered on the Northern star with a little more interesting foreground. This is a 42 minute exposure.

In post-processing, I’ve upped both the exposure and saturation a little to bring out the quantity of stars. A more color-realistic image is here.

BTW, can you spot the satellite ???             Hint: If you can’t …  try again with this larger pic.

Very clear sky tonight with no wind, so I thought I’d try a long exposure shot from our driveway.

If the weather cooperates again tomorrow I’ll try to get the Northern star more centered…

Exposure time was just over 31 minutes.

Going through photos from last year that I haven’t seen in a while.

I just like to colors in this one, as I managed to get this guy in front of a nice background.

Taken in New Mexico, USA.

A slightly morbid image, but nevertheless a nice illustration of teamwork – a small group of ants killed, dismembered  and carried off this wasp. This particular adventure lasted about an hour and they showed amazing perseverance and organization in dragging the head (pictured here) up a vertical wall about 1.5 meters high.

Taken in Elba, Italy.

Click here for a video on defensive ants.

Wow, It’s been a while since my last post. Very, very busy with both my day job and cabin-building these days.

OK, I’m not a huge fan of zoos, but I can’t help but take a camera when I go along as they make for good practice. I was hoping for a shot of the new Snow Leopards ” Milla & Altaï “, but the Arctic Wolfs were much closer than usual. This was best of a small series (cropped).

Taken at the Servion Zoo near Lausanne with four small kids in tow.

Very little time to get in the field so I’ve been going through some older pics that merit a second round of sorting. Dragonflies are a favorite subject of mine (and many other nature photographers). Taken in Gletterens last summer.

I rarely see ravens (mostly common crows around Switzerland), so when I saw this one preening its nest I was quite impressed with its size.

Taken near the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.

Still on the China theme… although I haven’t had a chance to examine most of the pics from that trip last month, this image grabbed my attention as I was scanning through them. Taken at the Forbidden City in Beijing – at the end of the 3-hour tour in 30 degree C heat – I was on an opposing bench enjoying an ice cream when I realized the interesting mix of people sitting just across from me. The red wall of the Forbidden City is a strong color but in my opinion increases the quality of the image, providing a striking and symbolic background.

I hope to have more images from this trip posted in the next few days.

A HDR pic of a section of the Wall, taken about 150 km to the north of Beijing near Jinshanling.

And no, you cannot see it from the moon. Although perhaps possible from low earth orbit, aka the shuttle (I don’t claim to have done either – see above wiki article).

I hadn’t taken out the macro lens yet this year, so I did so the other day in the place I know best – our garden. I got the idea in my head that I’d post a photo of the first image that I took. La voilà - the common blowfly.

Yes, that’s the Matterhorn – the beginning of the most popular route up the north-east ridge. It’s not the view we’re accustomed to seeing of the most recognizable mountain in the world. But sometimes a different perspective can provide a better sense of scale.

Actually, now that I see on this web page the low resolution photo does not do it justice. Have a look at a 10 MB full-size pic from the D7000 here.

I’ve been pretty busy lately, but in the little spare time that I do have I’ve been trying to get some decent captures of the kites and falcons around our area. Unfortunately they don’t feel like cooperating with my work schedule…  :-(

Anyway, here’s another piccy of a red kite.

These guys often circle the fields around our house, but usually at fairly high altitudes. They tend to come closer when the farmers turn their fields (all-you-can-eat mice-arama).

wiki: red kite

My first pic of a Kingfisher, well-known for their fishing abilities and colorful plumage.

Taken from a blind at the nature reserve La Sauge, near Neuchâtel. In this pic he’s quite far away from me (heavy crop here), and the background is a little “busy”. Nevertheless, a first is a first.

Magical mist on the Canal de la Sauge just before sunrise.

This guy has been hanging around our garden lately. Talk about quick.

Want to see an incredible video about a weasel…?  Have a look here.

One of the countless photogenic corners of Copenhagen.

I’ve been trying to sort through some travel pics lately and thought I’d post a few of my faves. This one is from 2009.

There’s always someone, somewhere, who is worse off than you.

Taken at Venice Beach, California in June 2010.

Moonset of the “Supermoon”, taken near Chasseral, Neuchâtel. 6:21am on March 20, 2011.

The wind was so cold on this morning I could barely operate the dials on the camera. The deformation is a known phenomenon caused by refraction.

Thanks to a viscously (cold) north wind, it cleared off during the evening and the supermoon showed itself.

Effective focal length of  about 760mm, on tripod, mirror lock-up, etc. A little contrast added to bring out the features. Taken in Le Côty (see GPS link below).

A typical cormorant pose: drying his wings.

The same guy from the previous post, just a few minutes later. I moved about 20 metres to get him square with his wings open against the colorful sunrise.

There’s no way I could have exposed for both the bird and orange sunrise, so I opted for the latter… and the sillouette.

Taken on a morning when my youngest son Liam (2 yrs) woke me up at 4:23 am…

I figured I may as well get up and go for a walk with the camera before heading to work. I had seen this guy perched here many time before during the day so I figured I’d go have a look. He wasn’t there, but after 10 minutes he kindly made an appearance. This also happened to be the only time this day when the light was decent. Thanks for getting me up Liam.

Taken near the University de Neuchâtel.

Wiki entry on Cormorants here ( I haven’t identified this one yet).

Although I didn’t get to see them do their full courtship dance (I had to get back to work!), they still make a photogenic pair.

Taken in Neuchâtel, near the main port.

See earlier post from 2010 here.

YouTube video here.

[ Thought I'd move away from the wildlife for a shot or two  ]

Handheld shot of the colorful bridge in Tokyo Bay. Who said the 105mm Micro was only for Macro shots ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_Bridge_(Tokyo)

More shots from Japan, including panos of this area, here.

Just one of many pics I took of the Brown Pelicans that swoop along the beaches of Cancun. Great practice for Birds-in-Flight shots.

[ See related BIF ePhotozine article here ]

[ See full gallery here ]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_Pelican

An otherwise boring beach shot, given a little colour punch with Aperture.

Taken in Cancun, Mexico.

With all the snow melting so early the foxes are starting to come out of the forest to hunt for mice and moles in the fields. This one was taken from our bedroom window. They’re pretty fun to watch as they do their vertical pounce. Maybe not from the mice’s perspective, I guess…

He/she’s pretty far from the camera (~100 meters), and in the shade. Not great conditions – plus I’ve got a 1.7 tele-convertor on the lens so the sharpness is definitely a notch down, as you can see from this cropped image.

UPDATE: Full gallery now available here.

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A portrait shot of the same woodpecker as the November 28th post. Not very often I see her perched like this. Indeed, I was ready, and waiting…

I’ve since noticed that there’s also a male that comes around, though I have yet to capture both in the same frame.

UPDATE: Full gallery now available here.

—

I realise that I’m a little stuck on the bird theme lately, but the winter snow somewhat limits wildlife choices at times-

The Blue Tit (had to look that one up) is another photogenic fellow who battles for the winter feeders in our garden.

Once you get past their nuisances – namely the early morning cawing and garbage destruction – you have to admit that the crow is a work of art. One of my favorite birds – adaptable, intelligent and photogenic – much like his cousins the Jays and Magpies.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crow

Caught this fellow half-napping in Geneva on Sunday while on a family walk. The contrast with the water and the yellow eyes was too good to pass up.

I believe that this is a species of Diving Duck, but as I couldn’t see the bill I can’t be 100% sure.

UPDATE: Full gallery now available here.

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The Dendrocopos woodpecker, female version. AKA, Great Spotted Woodpecker.
We know her as The Birdseed Bully of our garden.

They may be jays but they’re like hawks around the feeders in the winter. That is, until the woodpeckers decide to show them who’s the boss… (see next post, in a few days…)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_jay

Taken near Chasseral, Neuchâtel.

Lac de Tanay, July 2010.

Taken at the Cabane de Susanfe, Switzerland.

During a recent trip to Albuquerque, there was a hummingbird garden just outside my hotel room. As we don’t have any hummingbirds in Switzerland (that I know of), I could have stayed for hours photographing these guys. Are they ever fun to watch.

See a full gallery here.

I was able to get fairly close to this guy, pretty much standing directly under the tree he was in for about 10 minutes. I think that this is a red-tailed hawk.

See a few more here.

Up close, this little sparrow looks a lot meaner than he really is.
Taken in Neuchâtel.

Always good to have the Macro in the bag – you never know what may drop in.
While visiting a medieval village festival I spotted this fellow.

Taken with the Nikon 1.7x teleconverter on the 105mm AF-S Micro. While not supposed to work with this lens (AF suffers a little in low light), it does a pretty good job of extending the reach to 180mm (DX) when the light is decent. This shot is hand-held.

I think that this is a Yellow-winged darter.

Side view of the same damselfly in the previous post.

Definitely one of my favorite subjects to photograph. Taken close to Topsail Beach, near St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada.

I was so busy watching the elaborate ritual that I almost forgot to snap a few photos. Apparently, amid wildly gyrating neck movements (necking?), they offer each other weed(s).

Taken in Neuchâtel.

During my lunch break today, I made a quick first visit to the Le centre-nature ASPO de La Sauge, located just across the lake from where I work.

Most times when I go out with my 80-400 I come back disappointed with the results near the 400 end. This frog is one that didn’t turn out too badly.

I’m hiding under a large tree here, about 20 metres from the burrow.

These guys were obviously checking me out. They’re probably wondering what guy in his right mind would wait 2 hours in 30 degree heat for a picture of two marmots.
In my defense, they were pretty entertaining.

Corny title – subject to modification until I can properly classify !

Taken in our garden.

I consider myself pretty lucky to have spotted this weasel (a.k.a.  stoat, or ermine). They’re quite evasive.

Taken near Chasseral, NE.

I believe that this is a finch, or a sparrow. Anyone ?

Taken near the port of Neuchâtel.

If these things were a few feet long they’d be pretty scary.

Taken in our garden. I am continually trying to practice capturing images of flying insects (with little preparation).

Judging from its light colour, I believe that it’s a common fly, young adult stage. Corrections are welcome.

Not a whisper of wind and nobody else is up.

This fellow came all the way across the lake to check up on us.

I believe that this is an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, but I’m not 100% sure. Taken near Tanay, in the Chablais Alps, CH.

Spotted a few of these guys on the way up to the summit of Le Grammont, near Tanay (CH).

Yet another “browse-around-the-garden-looking-for-stuff-to-shoot” photo.

Another garden shot. “Fly-on-Nettles”.

Cricket on a blade of grass.

Tranquil sunrises in the mountains are among nature’s most inspiring moments…

A few more from the same morning are here.

I believe that this is an Eastern Tent caterpillar.

A few more of him here.

At least that’s what I believe this guy to be.

More shots of him here.

Capturing this is an exercise in patience.

A rainy day on the rugby pitch in Fribourg, Switzerland.

A few chamois, taken near the ski station Savagnières, on the trail up to Chasseral, NE.

Telsa just loves the camera. Taken on a perfect winter morning for photography.

Any excuse to get outside with the camera!

And the dogs are always up for it too.

Tesla is always expecting food.

Teasing Telsa with a stick is always a bit of risk in the best of conditions. You’ve got to time the stick-teasing retraction with the timing of the shutter release,. Well … let’s just say that she almost got my arm with this shot.

I really should know my Animalia classification better.

My son, Liam at about 14 months. His expression reminds me of a Dr. Seuss character.

The infamous Nikon “Mecca” in Ginza, Tokyo. Lots of eye-candy, but no deals here. Had a quick look and moved on…  If you’re looking for a better deal, stick to Hong Kong.

From a pedway near Wan Chai, Hong Kong

Merchant in Stanley Market, Hong Kong Island

Posing with her parents outside a temple in Suwa, Japan.

Just a nice object that I first mistook for a fire hydrant!

Suwa, Japan.

Magpies are very wary birds, and they’re almost impossible to approach in rural areas (such as near our house).

In Copenhagen, however, they were landing only 10 metres aways… and I pounced !  (photographically-speaking, of course).

The light was so nice this evening in Copenhagen. I just placed the camera on the table and took a few shots with the timer before supper was served.

The meal was nice too !

Entrance to the beautiful park in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Frederiksberg Haven, Denmark

The colorful row of buildings of Nyhavn.

Copenhagen, Denmark.

My daughter Sophia trying her hand at a pottery wheel for the first time at a local country fair.

Cernier, Fête de la terre.

View from our garden on a dewy, hazy, summer morning.