Sea Otter Mother Nursing Pup

Sea Otters are trending here, so I’ll continue with this image of a mother nursing her pup. The hardest part of making this image in the Homer harbor (Alaska) was getting an image without a reflection of the many colorful boats. I started lying on the dock, but didn’t like the split horizon that the ice floating in the background caused. I slowly stood-up and was lucky they drifted closer to me while both looking at me - smile!

Stay safe!

Sea Otter Mother and Pup KISS

Here’s a special moment between a mother Sea Otter and her Pup. What appears to be a kiss, is really the baby trying to take food from it’s mother’s mouth ;) If you missed it, and are looking for something to do, here is a link to my recent Vistek Live Stream that was sponsored by Sony of Canada. We had our share of technical difficulties, but that often happens live.

In this episode we discuss what it takes to get world class wildlife images and how any nature enthusiast can immediately start taking better photos of their...

Sea Otter Mother eating a crab

This is the mother of the baby Sea Otter (from my last post HERE in case you missed it) eating a crab while the snow was gently falling. We usually get Sea Otters (mothers and babies) in Homer Harbor each year during my Eagles Galore Photography Workshops, this year was unusual; all of the Sea Otters in Katchemak Bay seemed to seek the protection from the unusually cold weather in the protected harbor.

Bald Eagle Eaglet

Here’s an older image from my Ultimate Brown Bear by boat WORKSHOP in Katmai, Alaska. The Bald Eagle nests are always a nice distraction from the bears. Some years they are plentiful and easily approached from the comfort of our live aboard ship. We returned to the ship after a successful morning in the rain and the captain treated us with a warm and dry Eagle cruise while the rest of the crew spoiled us with an awesome lunch.

Bald Eagle OLD CRUSTY

I think I will have to call this one OLD CRUSTY; If you take a look closely, there is green staining on the underside of the head and at the base of it’s tail. There is even some green lichen between it’s wings. This might be a senior Eagle. I rejected this one during my first pass, but then reconsidered the second time around; something that doesn’t happen often ;)

Adult Bald Eagle Portrait

Here’s a head shot of an adult Bald Eagle made with the Sony Alpha a9 II Mirrorless camera & Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS Lens. The edge to edge sharpness is as impressive as the Sony 600mm f/4 GM OSS Lens.

Immature Bald Eagle Portrait

A portrait of an immature Bald Eagle (1.5 yrs. old basic I plumage; mostly black beak and cere with ochre eyes) with a drop of ice at the end of it’s beak.

I probably spent half an hour with this beauty and it put on quite a show. I was lying on the ground and every time I lifted my foot behind me, it would fluff-up and look directly at me. I had plenty of time to increase my depth of field to f/20 to ensure sharpness from the tip of the beak to beyond the eyes.

Bald Eagle Fishing Panorama

A four image stitched panorama from my recent Bald Eagles Galore Photography Workshop. The activity was slow to start when we arrived just after the top of the tide, but we all still managed to get some awesome Eaglescapes while the water was nice and flat. I grabbed my Sony FE 24-105mm f/4 G OSS Lens and started off by lying downhill on my belly at the waters edge to get as low as possible. It didn’t take long for my back to act-up, so I had to settle for sitting as low as possible on my bum.

Bald Eagle flying in snow

I’m hiding-out in the studio in self-isolation and spending time trying to distract myself from the news (bad news). Here’s another Bald Eagle headed straight at me from an EPIC shoot in the light snow. We made so many images in such great conditions! Let me know if you are getting sick of the Eagles……

Long-tailed Duck

Sitting on shore photographing the ducks and gulls at the end of the spit in Homer has always been a favorite pastime during any available downtime during my workshops. There is a pipe that expels effluent from the fish processing plant into the bay that all of the birds come to every 20 minutes or so. Sadly, the plant wasn’t in operation when the light was nice or the water flat this year. Luckily, this Long-tailed Duck flew right into the mass of Eagles during our shoot for 10 seconds one morning; it fluffed-up, spread it’s wings and took off when it realized it’s mistake :)

Getting off the boat and working with super telephoto lenses (Sony 600mm f/4 GM OSS Lens, Sony FE 2X Teleconverter @ 1,200mm) for the fishing images really isolates the Eagles from the water surface background. The Sony Alpha a9 II Mirrorless camera handles high ISO so well that noise is never a concern IF you expose the image correctly and try not to crop much. This image was shot vertical and is full frame on the width; I cropped off a little top & bottom to make a stronger composition with more visual impact.

Bald Eagle on the run

I’m on the run to my Ultimate Bald Eagles Galore workshop in Homer Alaska, and wanted to leave you with a fun image that shows just how close we get to these majestic beauties! 80% of my participants are repeat clients this year and I am looking forward to seeing them all again. Join me for this trip of a lifetime next March and I promise you will bring home a portfolio full of images that I would be proud to call my own; that’s what keeps me going back! Get as much (or as little) help as you like while taking full advantage of my site and subject knowledge and the logistics are all taken care of.

Osprey with nesting material

An Osprey brings nesting material to it’s nest on Lake Blue Cypress during my Ospreys Galore and so much more workshop. If you are looking for a fun adventure and complete portfolio of Osprey images while learning everything there is to know about bird photography, then join me in Florida this April for my two daily cruises on Lake Blue Cypress aboard a pontoon boat. We will be a small crew with ample room and hundreds of Ospreys to choose from; many with fish, nesting material and babies in their nests at eye level.

Osprey with American Shad in Golden Light

If you want to make images like this while learning all of the intricacies of birds in flight photography (and birds on perches), then join the fun on Lake Blue Cypress in Florida this April. We cruise the sunrise and sunset hours away on a pontoon boat with hundreds of pairs of Ospreys bringing fish back to their babies in Florida’s golden light. Ospreys Galore and so much more promises to fill your Osprey portfolio with amazing action packed images. Read more about Ospreys Galore and so much more HERE.

Bald Eagle Keep Calm and Fish On

One of the advantages of having so many years experience in Kachemak Bay in Alaska is knowing where to be when. When there is howling winds making the water rough, it’s hard to make pleasing images; for this image, my trusted Captain maneuvered us into a hidden protected cove where the water was flat. What started out to be a rather gloomy and wet day turned into a smashing success for everyone in my group. Learn more about my Eagles Galore (and so much more) Workshop CLICK HERE.

Bald Eagle with Fish in Golden Light

This 3.5 year old Bald Eagle (Basic III Plumage) put on quite a show for my group during my Bald Eagle Workshop. This image was made a split second before that out of focus wave washed into the front of my Sony 400mm f/2.8 lens; thankfully the lens survived without any damage.

I already have a few folks signed-up for next year’s Bald Eagles Galore and so much more Workshop, so don’t delay your booking for next March.

Bald Eagle portrait in the rain

I was recently asked what the minimum shutter speed I feel comfortable shooting long lenses hand-held. I had to hesitate to answer, as it’s nothing I think about with the high ISO performance of my Sony cameras; It's not like the old film (slide) days when there were severe limits to image quality at higher ISO. I simply use whatever ISO I need to reach the desired shutter speed. So I decided to see if I could still hand-hold a 600mm lens with a 2X extender on it, and just how steady I might still be. Can I still hand-hold at 1/40s and still produce sharp results? Well, as this image demonstrates, yes, but I don’t need to, so I will continue to use my Wimberley head II on my tripod or crank-up the ISO to accommodate higher shutter speeds. There are two risks when trying to use as low an ISO as possible:

1. Don't get a critically sharp image before the subject moves away.

2. Miss unexpected action with inadequate shutter speed.

Pro tips for hand-holding long lenses:

1. Turn on the image stabilizer (camera and lens).

2. Control breathing to minimize movement.

3. Press your supporting arm into your body to form a triangle brace between your hand under the lens, your shoulder, and your torso.

4. Position your legs so they are a little wider than your shoulders.

5. Align your body so it is perpendicular to your subject.

6. Control shutter finger movement; press slowly.
   

Bald Eagles Tandem Flight

Seeing Bald Eagles maneuver during their frequent pursuits is incredible; the speed and agility is simply mind blowing! I absolutely love the distraction of photographing them, particularly in bad weather :) This adult (5+ years with white head and tail) is trying to outmaneuver a juvenile (dark bill and eyes) that is likely it’s offspring.

Bald Eagle in snow

It simply amazes me how well modern cameras handle high ISO. I have been working through old slides and seeing how much grain there was not so long ago. I just threw away thousands of Kodachrome frames because as good as they were then, they don’t stand up to the competition from today’s digital images.

So then, why am I photographing this static Bald Eagle at 1/4,000 of a second? Because I am waiting for it to blast-off, and want to freeze the action when it does. There is no noise in the image at ISO 2,500, so why not?

Atlantic Puffin Portrait on blue

I love spending time in front of seabirds behind my super-telephoto lenses. Waiting for that perfect pose do require patience and remaining still, but in the right light, with the right background… the results can be rewarding. I carefully watched the sun angle until the water in the background fell into the shade of the island and I just love the resulting midnight blue background.