The last morning of my Better than Bosque workshop was cold, windy and cloudy. We drove to Albuquerque to broaden our portfolio and look for ducks. A few Wood Ducks flew up into this tree to eat the berries as the sun broke through the clouds. I was lucky to get a few frames of a beautiful drake clear from the branches and obstructions before it flew off in the wrong direction. Reminds me of an ornament in a Christmas Tree - smile.
Wood Duck in flight
A highlight for me during my Best of Bosque workshop every year is spending time with wood ducks that never disappoint. This image was made with the Sony Alpha 1 camera with a 600mm f/4 lens and 1.4X extender.
Northern Harrier in flight
Here is a female Northern Harrier from yesterday (day 4 of my Best of Bosque workshop). We have had some near-epic Northern Harrier encounters so far. My favourite is still the one I posted on Wednesday morning with the cottonwood trees in the background SEE IT HERE.
Unlike many raptors, hen or northern harriers have historically been favourably regarded by farmers because they eat mice that damage crops. Harriers are sometimes called "good hawks" because they pose no threat to poultry as some hawks do.
Come and see me at ProFusion Expo in Toronto
Come and say hello and join me for my FREE mini-workshop presentation at Canada’s largest camera show in Toronto. I will be presenting at 12:00 on both November 9th and 10th. The presentation is sponsored by Sony and I look forward to seeing you there! Learn more about ProFusion Expo HERE.
Sandhill Crane Predawn Call
Here is another Sandhill Crane from my Better than Bosque workshop last December 7. It was dark, the air was cold, but still and we listened to the chorus of Sandhill Cranes waking for a good long while before they started to fly out. The dark overcast conditions were perfect for low contrast out-of-focus backgrounds. The key when working at high ISOs like 16,000 is to expose the image perfectly and try your best to capture full-frame images that don’t require cropping (or much cropping).
Join me in New Mexico from Dec. 5-9 for my Best of Bosque Workshop Adventure.
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CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE OR SIGN-UP
Join me in New Mexico from Dec. 5-9 for my Best of Bosque Workshop Adventure. ☞ CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE OR SIGN-UP
Snow Goose Last Call
Last call for my Best of Bosque workshop from December 5-9. Join me in New Mexico for an action-packed five-day workshop/adventure. Learn more about my Best of Bosque Workshop HERE.
Snow Goose
A Snow Goose gently lands against the distant out-of-focus Cottonwood trees at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge on the second day of my Best of Bosque workshop last December.
Sandhill Crane on final approach
Here is another Sandhill Crane from my Best of Bosque workshop last December. It is surprisingly difficult to to get a head-on landing image with the head and neck clear of the wings and body. As always, having five full days and an abundance of subjects and activity with an ounce of patience paid off - wink.
Wood Duck Horizontal Portrait
Here’s another Wood Duck Portrait from my Best of Bosque workshop last December. Wood Ducks are high on most bird photographers’ want lists and we usually have plenty of great opportunities to fill memory cards full of images of them during my Best of Bosque workshop. Amazingly, two spots are still left for my December 5-9 Best of Bosque workshop after a couple cancelled for medical reasons. Learn more and sign-up HERE.
Bosque Dawn Silhouette Eagle in a tree with Sandhill Cranes
Here is a dawn silhouette from my 2008 Best of Bosque workshop. As with pretty much all of my silhouettes, I took some creative liberties with the white balance to make the image pop.
Sandhill Crane Dream what makes a successful intentional blur
I am not a huge fan of most of the intentional blurs that I see. I really feel there needs to be more than trying to make something out of a “mistake”. The vast majority of these types of images lack light; yeah, photographers try it when there is not enough light, but I mean they lack the quality of light to make them shine and stand out as art. In this case, I absolutely love the dreamy, rusty, oranges and texture in the background.
Dream of Sandhill Cranes? Join me at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge for my Dec. 5-9 Best of Bosque Workshop. Learn More HERE.
Wood Duck Portrait
A portrait of a drake (male) Wood duck from my Best of Bosque workshop last December. When the light angle is right, all of the colourful iridescence show wonderfully!
As iridescent birds move, nanoscale structures within their feathers’ tiny branch-like filaments — known as barbules — interact with light to amplify certain wavelengths depending on the viewing angle. This iridescence is known as structural coloration, wherein crystal-like nanostructures manipulate light.
Coyote
We had some awesome Coyote encounters during my Best of Bosque workshop last December. The record-breaking drought in the west meant much fewer flooded wetlands for migrating birds, so all of the wildlife was concentrated around the limited flooded zones: Much like during the dry season in Africa, where there is an abundance of prey, there are also predators lurking.
Eared Grebe with reflection
Still water on a cloudy and windless day was perfect to create images with reflections. This is an Eared Grebe from my Best of Bosque workshop last December.
Among the most skillful of all diving birds, grebes not only plunge headfirst underwater; they also can sink slowly out of sight by compressing their feathers and driving out trapped air, thus making themselves less buoyant. Grebes, in fact, are so well adapted to life in the water that they seldom fly, and many birders have never seen one on the wing.
Northern Pintail banking in flight
A Northern Pintail banks in flight in preparation for landing. Photographing the ducks in flight during my Best of Bosque workshop is so much fun and very rewarding when things work out. As they land, they tend to bank and change flight path suddenly making it challenging.
Join me at Bosque del Apache from December 5-9 for an awesome photographic adventure. CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE HERE
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Join me at Bosque del Apache from December 5-9 for an awesome photographic adventure. CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE HERE 🦆
Snow Goose Landing Head-on
After a cold and productive morning shoot, we decided to stay out and use the harsh light to practice tracking birds in flight. I always take advantage of any opportunity to hone my reflexes, but rarely push the trigger in harsh light: the difference on this day was the wind was directly from behind us when we pointed out shadows at the birds. So, far from a masterpiece, but I do love this head-on landing shot with the Snow Goose calling and the out-of-focus cottonwood trees in the background.
Sandhill Crane Calling Silhouette
A silhouette of a Sandhill Crane calling with the high desert mountains in the background. Join me in New Mexico from Dec. 5-9 for my Best of Bosque workshop. Learn More HERE.
Sandhill Crane Landing at Last Light
After a cold morning start and a brutally harsh sunny day, we were rewarded with the warmest, sweetest last light and hundreds of Sandhill Cranes landing in front of us.
Join me for my Best of Bosque Workshop December 5-9 in Socorro, New Mexico (near Albuquerque). Learn more HERE.
Ross's Goose in flight
A Ross’s Goose from last December’s Best of Bosque workshop. Picking out and targeting the Ross’s Geese amongst the more abundant Snow Geese is always a fun way to pass the time as thousands of Geese continuously blast off when predators disturb them.
Northern Shoveler
A non-breeding drake (male) Northern Shoveler from my Best of Bosque workshop last December. Many of the dabbling ducks use their flat bills to strain food items from the water, but the big spatulate bill of the Northern Shoveler is adapted to take this habit to the extreme. Flocks of shovelers often swim along with their big bills barely submerged in front of them, straining food from the muddy soup of shallow waters.