Tumbling down at Emmon’s Preserve
As I have mentioned before, the Batson River tumbles down over a short run of ledges at Emmon’s Preserve in Kennebunkport…there is not always enough water to make it interesting, but recent tropical storms and tropical storm remnants have made the ledges merry! I am not a fan of the whole silky water effect thing, when it is overdone, but I do like a bit of blur. Sony Rx10iv at 34mm equivalent. Program with HDR. Program shift for a slow shutter speed and Exposure Compensation to hold the highlights. Nominal exposure: ISO 100 @ f16 @ 1/6th. -1.7 EV. Hand held.
Fall coming on…
Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve at Laudholm Farms, Wells, Maine, USA — Early signs of fall. The leaves have begun to change over the past 3 days and I can see autumn coming…feel it too in the mornings. Sony Rx10iv at 567mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 800 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Red-breasted Nuthatch visit
Red-breasted Nuthatch, Kennebunk, Maine, USA — The Red-breasted Nuthatches come rarely enough to our feeders that I count each visit as something special…even when they come, as this one did, well past the hour for decent photography. It is getting dark early these late September days. A shot like this strains the abilities of the Sony Rx10iv. 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 5000 @ f4 @ 1/500th. I am eagerly awaiting Topaz DeNoise for the iPad…but they are taking their own sweet time with it. 🙂
Falling water…
Falls on the Batson River at Emmon’s Preserve. The Batson River is more of a large brook for most of its run, only achieving anything like river size in its last few miles to the ocean, and then not by most river standards. When the water is high there is a nice tumble down a series of ledges between two deep pools in Emmon’s Preserve (Kennebunkport Land Trust). This is a close up of one of the tumbles…using in-camera HDR, and program shift for a slow shutter speed. Sony Rx10iv at 60mm equivalent. HDR with program shift and -1EV exposure compensation (to protect the highlights). Nominal exposure ISO 100 @ f16 @ 1/6th.
Bluebird in training…
Eastern Bluebird: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — A few days ago I featured a fledgling from the first brood of Eastern Bluebirds from this season in our neighborhood…this is a fledgling from the second brood. All the young birds seem to be spending their time together as fall comes on, and I have not seen the adults (to notice) in a week or so. Maybe the youngsters have claimed our yard and feeders as a hangout…or maybe the adults are just foraging further afield. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 1000 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Red Admiral
Red Admiral: Kennebunk Plains Preserve, Kennebunk, Maine, USA — This appears to be a fairly fresh Red Admiral that I caught among the low growing Asters which currently cover the Kennebunk Plains. The Red Admiral is apparently found throughout Maine, but I am not totally certain that I have ever encountered one here before. The Admiral (which, according to the Wiki, was originally called the Red Admirable) was very busy and would not sit still, so I never did get the full wings shot I was after, before it lifted up and disappeared over some tall trees growing the little gully that leads down to Day Brook Pond. I glimpsed it once more flying high on my way back. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos and assembled in FrameMagic. ISO 200-250 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
A work in progress…
Eastern Bluebird: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — This is one of this year’s fledglings, maybe from the first brood considering the amount of color it has already, and the lack of speckling, but it still retains that “unfinished” look. A work in progress. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 1250 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
The “crook in my neck” bird :)
White-breasted Nuthatch, Kennebunk, Maine, USA — It seems like it has been a while since I posted a nice close up shot of a bird from our feeding station. All the birds were very active ahead of storms coming in on a cold front yesterday so I spent some time in the open deck door watching and photographing. The White-breasted Nuthatch gets itself in some amazing poses as it picks jump seeds at the feeder. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 1000 @ f4 @ 1/500th. (and not bad for a high ISO shot 🙂
Another Laudholm landscape
Another iPhone and Sirui 18mm ultra-wide lens landscape from the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve at Laudholm Farms, in Wells Maine. Textures, colors, and clouds. What could be better? Apple Camera app with Smart HDR engaged. Processed in Apple Photos.
Ladyish Bug?
While walking at the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve at Laudholm Farms the other day, I spotted what I thought might gleam off the shell of a very small insect on the dried flowers of a plant along the trail. I took a few tel-macro shots at 600mm equivalent, but I was not sure, through the viewfinder, if I was really even seeing a bug at all. In processing on my iPad Pro, I discovered this elegant little beetle. The Fieldguides AI app says it is a Cryptocephalus (Leaf Beetle) of some kind. The closest match on Google Lens, and the only one from North America, is 14 Spotted Leaf Beetle. The photo has received the super-crop treatment: processed as most of my photos are in Polarr, then opened in Pixelmator Photo Pro for enlargement using the Machine Learning Super Resolution tool, then recropped for what amounts to maybe the equivalent 2500mm of magnification from 5 feet, and possibly a 4x macro. This is a tiny bug, less than 1/8th inch long. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed as above. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/800th.