Posts in Category: dawn
Snow Geese at dawn
Snow Geese, Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge south of Socorro, New Mexico
One of the most popular activities at the Festival of the Cranes at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge is, believe it or not, to get up at 4am to be at the Refuge in time to stand in the cold beside a body of water in the dark and wait for the sunrise. Generally, if you have picked your spot correctly, just before the sun crests the horizon, the Snow Geese will rise from the water and fly off to feed in fields deeper in the Refuge, followed shortly but the Sandhill Cranes. Seeing the Geese and Cranes rise in the dawn light is what brings the folks out that early, and it is indeed an experience not to be missed. I do it once at least on each visit. Yesterday I actually taught a workshop and had 4 other intrepid souls with cameras beside me at the pond in the dark, and were amply rewarded.
This is a small flock of Snow (and Ross’) Geese moving just as the first light came into the sky. Sony RX10iii. Program Mode. Processed in PhotoShop Express on my Android tablet.
Morning shells
Shells, Velano Beach, St. Augustine FL
We are in St. Augustine Florida for the Florida Birding and Photo Fest where I will lead a series of Point and Shoot Nature Photography workshops. This is shells in the dawn light on the beach across from our Airbnb…a lovely house which we share with a few other guests.
Sony HX90V in-camera HDR. Processed in Lightroom.
Redwings in the Cattails
Young male Red-winged Blackbirds, Bosque del Apache NWR, Socorro NM
This is a rather odd photo…but I like it. There were 30 or more young male Red-winged Backbirds in the stand of cattails along the boardwalk over the diving duck pond at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, just before dawn, making a total racket. They were well hidden, so this is the best I could do for a shot. Still, I think it is effective, capturing the situation pretty well…and a graphics…as an image…it has a lot of visual interest, between the colors, textures, and shapes. Or that is what I think 🙂
Nikon P610 at 600mm equivalent field of view. 1/80th @ ISO 400 @ f5.6. Processed in Lightroom.
Evoking Cranes in the Dawn
Sandhill Cranes before dawn. Bosque del Apache NWR, Socorro NM
This is, to my eye, an “evocative” image…it evokes the experience of watching the Sandhill Cranes taking flight in the pre-dawn light at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge more than it “portrays” it. High ISO, low shutter speed, and a rapid pan with the birds in flight leads to an impressionistic background…water (including the two cranes standing) and landscape suggested rather than detailed…stripped down to a basic layering of color and texture. The relatively sharp cranes are laid over the background, but even they have a bit of the motion blur. Overall it looks more like a painting than a photograph. Generally I do not like that…but here, I think, it works. This would stand up to a fairly large print…and viewed from normal viewing distance, it would be quite striking on the wall. Evocative!
Nikon P900 at 400mm equivalent field of view. 1/60th @ ISO 560 @ f5. Processed and cropped slightly at the bottom for composition in Lightroom.
Bosque Dawn
Snow Geese and Sandhill Cranes, Bosque del Apache NWR, Socorro NM
There is a somewhat famous photograph by another photographer called “Bosque Dawn”. If you go to Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge you will see it…far faded from its native glory these days…on a billboard on the way out of the refuge on the left a mile or so before you get to San Antonio. When it first went up, years ago, it was impressive! This shot is nothing like it actually…but it catches some of the unique atmosphere of Bosque del Apache at dawn in November when the Geese and the Cranes are in. As you can see this is just at dawn. The sun is already touching the tops of the mountains behind on the left, but it has not reached the birds on the water. There is a dawn glow in sky, reflected subtly in the water. And the Geese are on the wing. They had settled in this pond with the Cranes (who had been there all night) for a few moments on their way out of the refuge (or further down the refuge) for the day…and to give the gathered photographers a treat. I was there leading one of my Point and Shoot Nature Photography workshops, and enjoying every moment of it.
Nikon P900 at 135mm equivalent field of view. Shutter preferred. 1/250th @ ISO 140 @ f4. Processed in Lightroom.
Fawns in the corn. Happy Sunday!
Mule Deer, Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, Socorro NM
“If your eye is generous, then your whole being is full of light!” Jesus
We first saw these two fawns and their mother on the shaded, thickety side of the tour loop at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in Socorro New Mexico early one morning last week. They are Mule Deer, heaver, with bigger ears than the Eastern White-tailed Deer of our Maine forests, more at home in the sage scrub, pinion-juniper and ponderosa forest of the west. We stopped just down the road for a field of geese and cranes, and were surprised when the deer crossed the road behind us and came up the sunny side into the field where we were standing. They were headed for the green fodder the geese were enjoying. On their way they passed through a field of corn which the refuge personnel had knocked down for the cranes and geese. The field was pretty well picked over, which explains why the cranes and geese were not using it, and it barely slowed the deer, but the early morning light turned the corn to gold, and brought up the warm hues in the young deer’s hides. Irresistible.
We have an instinctive attraction for the young of all species (well, mammals at lest…most do not find the young of insects and snakes particularity likable). Dogs, cats, deer, raccoons, even hamsters and mice once they get their hair…the young all tug at something inside us. I would like to think it is the remnant of, or evidence of, our original assignment on this earth…that it brings out not only the parental instinct, but the caregiver purpose that is part of our inheritance as human beings. The young are innocent and vulnerable. For the most part it brings out the best in us…we respond with love, which overflows, given half a chance, to care. We respond with a generosity that touches all that is deep within us. This is good. If the eye is even that generous, then there is still some light in us.
A place like Bosque del Apache opens people’s eyes. I have seen it happen over and over. Whether it is the spectacle of the geese and cranes, or the warm light on deer fawns, Bosque wakens the generosity in most of us. This is a good thing. May you find something today to increase the generosity of your eye…so that you may be filled with light. Happy Sunday!
Sandhill Fight after Dawn
Sandhill Crane in flight, Bosque del Apache NWR, Socorro NM
One of the delights of Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge and the Festival of the Cranes is to be by one of the ponds where the Sandhill Cranes spend the night, and to see them fly out just before and just after dawn. The light in the Rio Grande Valley of central New Mexico is unique in November, and the way it highlights the Cranes against the mountains makes for memorable sights and memorable shots.
As a photographer, it is a challenge to balance the existing light with shutter speeds that will stop (or at least “slow”) the Cranes in flight. This shot was taken in Shutter Preferred, with the shutter set to 1/400th, in the earliest sun. That pushed the ISO to and acceptable 400. Before dawn I was shooting at 1/250th and ISO 800-1000. Also acceptable for the light conditions, though 1/250th leaves the wing tips blurred. It full daylight I push the speed up to 1/640th with gives me ISO 100, and excellent detail. Still, the atmosphere of this shot, with the glowing light of dawn on both the cranes and the mountains behind, has an attraction that many full daylight shots miss.
Nikon P900 at about 1600mm equivalent field of view. f6.3. Processed in Lightroom.
Dawn light on the marsh
Back Creek, Kennebunk ME
I am posting this morning from Panama City, Panama. By day’s end, if all goes to plan, I will be at Tranquilo Bay Lodge, and will be there for a week. One last shot this morning from Kennebunk (for the time being). This is the first sun as it strikes across the marsh at the mouth of Back Creek, behind the dunes at our local beach.
Nikon P900 in Landscape mode, with multiple exposure Noise Reduction turned on. 24mm equivalent field of view. 1/125 @ ISO100 @ f2.8. Processed in Lightroom.
He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! Happy Easter.
Back Creek and Mousam River, Sunrise, Easter 2015
As the dawn sweeps over the globe today, Christians are gathering on mountain tops, hilltops, roofs of buildings, and beaches to witness the sunrise. It is Easter Sunday for most Christians, and the sunrise this day symbolizes the resurrection of Jesus Christ two thousand years ago, and celebrates his ongoing life through the spirit in each of us. And whatever you think of Christianity, the promise of new life, of being better at loving and giving and living, is one that speaks to us all. In the dawn, as the sun rises yet again on a new day, surely we can all believe a little more deeply that forgiveness is possible, that love is all that matters, and that joy is not only within reach, but our birthright. Surely this day, we can all believe that peace on earth begins with us, with each of us, facing the dawn with hope and open hearts. He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! Happy Easter Sunday!
Snowy Dawn. Happy Sunday!
Snowy Egret at dawn. Merritt Island NWR, FL
Yeah…not that kind of snow 🙂 Still in Florida. First light on Blackpoint Wildlife Drive at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge in January, when the birds are in close to the road, is often spectacular. The birds are between you and the rising sun, and if you catch the light just right, the images glow. This Snowy Egret was feeding about as close to the road as a bird can get, and the light was right! 🙂
And there is something about being out when the day is young, catching the birds at their breakfast, that lends zest to day, and to life. We begin again, all over again, with the adventure! I think that is the key to living a life of the spirit in the flesh…every day is a new adventure…and no matter what comes, it will be, before it is over, good. Some days are a trial and some days are just full of blessing. Or maybe I should say: Some days we are blessed with trials, and some days we are just blessed. Most days, these days, I am simply blessed…enjoying the adventure. I look forward from the dawn of each day with hope, with expectation, with joy, and with thanksgiving…I may not always show it…but I do. In a little over an hour I will leave for maybe my last early morning circuit of Blackpoint Drive for this trip. What good thing does God in the spirit have in store for today? Happy Sunday!