Posts in Category: Emmon’s Preserve
Maine! Gift Owl
Barred Owl: York County, Maine, USA, April 2024 — Sometimes Owls happen. I was down on the ground photographing Trout Lilies in one of my favorite spots for aka Adders Tongue, Yellow Dog Tooth Violet. I had been down there for at least 10 minutes when I decided to stand up and move to another clump. When I stood, a big bird dropped out of the tree right above my head…no more than 10 feet above my head, and swooped away through the still bare trees to land in a big maple 50 yards into the forest. It must have been there when I walked in and I must have been right under it all the time I was photographing the lily. It took me a moment to process the fact that it must be an Owl. I could see it there sitting on a limb with its back to me, way too wide for a hawk, and its flight had been absolutely silent. Owl! I worked my way around, looking for a more or less unobstructed view, trying very hard not to disturb the bird any more than I already had. There was, of course, no ideal line of sight and though it was sitting in full noon sun, its eyes were in deep shadow. Still, a Barred Owl in broad daylight. That does not happen often, or at least not to me. OM Systems OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator. This is an image that required more than normal processing to find the eyes in their shadowed recesses, and to remove foreground obstructions, but, still…my best shot ever of a Barred Owl, and only the third one I have seen in Maine. What a gift!
Maine! Full song!
Brown Thrasher: York County, Maine, USA — It was a treat to find this Brown Thrasher when I was out looking for Trout Lily the other day. It even sat up and sang for me. 🙂 OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine Landscape
Not exactly a landscape, but part of the early spring landscape in the Southern Maine woodlands. In this case Emmon’s Preserve of the Kennebunkport Land Trust. I went a week ago to check the Trout Lily (Adder’s Tongue…I just found out it is also called Dog Tooth Violet, though that was a distinctly different plant in upstate New York when I was growing up) and the leaves were just barely above ground. This week there are a few in full blossom, but only a few in the most favored of spots among thousands of plants. This is a hand-held in-camera focus stack with the OM System OM-1 and M.Zuiko 12-45 Pro zoom. Program mode. Processed in Photomator.
Maine Landscape
Batson River, Emmon’s Preserve, Kennebunkport Land Trust. Spring spate. Shutter mode with LiveND. OM System OM-1 with M.Zuiko 12-45 Pro zoom at 24mm equivalent. Processed in Photomator.
Fall rapids
Rapids with their burden of fallen leaves on the Batson River at Emmon’s Preserve in Kennebunkport Maine. This is an intermediate shot between frozen water and silk…an HDR in Shutter preferred at 1/5 of a second and f18. ISO 200 at 24mm equivalent with the OM Systems OMD EM5Mkiii with the 12-45mm zoom. Processed in Pixelmator Pro.
Light in the forest…
Emmon’s Preserve, Kennebunkport, Maine, USA, October 2023 — Just a study in light and shadow…with some fall foliage for highlight. OM Systems OMD EM5Mkiii with 12-45mm zoom at 24mm equivalent. Program mode with in-camera HDR. -1EV.
Flower Long-horn Beetle
Flower Long-horn Beetle (sp?): Emmon’s Preserve, Kennebunkport, Maine, USA, June 2022 — I stopped at Emmon’s Preserve while out on my eTrike the other day, looking mostly for dragonflies. There were none in the upper meadow, or around the small pond near the Kennebunkport Land Trust headquarters house. ?? I did find this consolation prize Long-horn Beetle of indeterminate species along the edge of the trail. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/640th.
Wild Turkey Poult
Wild Turkey: Gravely Brook Road, Kennebunkport, Maine, USA, June 2022 — As I passed on my eTrike the other day, out towards Emmon’s Preserve on Gravely Brook Road in Kennebunkport, a few hen turkeys and their nursery skittered out of the ditch and headed out into a field of mixed weeds and hay. I got off the trike and got my camera out, but the poults had disappeared into the taller vegetation. I watched the hens as they wandered out into the field, and eventually this one poult stuck its head up high enough for me to see. There were at least half a dozen of them in there, but I could not see them. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/800th.
The ledges…
Another celebration of autumn in Southern Maine. The ledges on the Batson River at Emmon’s Preserve in Kennebunkport. The low flow of water has the leaves to contend with as well as gravity. iPhone SE with the Sirui 18mm ultra-wide lens. Apple Camera app with Smart HDR. Processed in Apple Photos.
Batson River autumn panorama
This is one of the upper pools on the Batson River at Emmon’s Preserve in Kennebunkport, Maine, USA. Nothing spectacular but an interesting place for a panorama with the fall foliage. iPhone SE with the Sirui 18mm ultra-wide lens, held in portrait position and swept from left to right through only a portion of its 360 degree reach. Smart HDR was on in the Apple Camera app, but I have no idea if it works with sweep panorama. Processed in Apple Photos.