After about two weeks without my main camera at Nikon’s service department, I just checked the repair status and it has been shipped and will be arriving today! Glad to hear it is on its way and I am pleased about the turn around time. I thought it would be much closer to a month rather than just two weeks. I can’t comment on the repair as it isn’t here yet, but I’ll be sitting at the window waiting for that big brown UPS truck!
New Theories in Breeding Patterns for Migratory Birds
October 29, 2009 By 4 Comments
Yellow-billed Cuckoo - Everglades, Florida
Traditionally, migratory songbirds are thought to follow a fairly standard life history. Breed in the United States and Canada during the spring and summer and then migrate to Central and South America for the winter to avoid the harsh weather conditions and food scarcity found across much of North America. However, new scientific evidence may turn that on its head, at least for a few species.
Woodpeckers Everywhere
October 27, 2009 By 1 Comment
Red-bellied Woodpecker - Everglades National Park, Florida
I was going stir crazy sitting in front of the computer all day, so this evening I headed out for a walk in the woods. I decided to explore a patch of forest known as Monkey Run as I had never been there before, and an immature Red-headed Woodpecker had been seen there a couple times in the last few days.
Chasing a Scissor-tail
October 26, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher - Everglades National Park, Florida
We birders are a funny crowd. Yes, you know that. We do many strange things for perspective of the uninitiated, so what specifically am I thinking about? Well, yesterday, I drove over an hour to see a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. So, what is weird about this? Let’s be honest, driving an hour to see an individual bird isn’t all that unusual in my life. Well, Scissor-tailed Flycatchers are a rather common bird, even abundant in the summer, in Texas where I have lived for the past few years. Plus, I have photographed them in the Everglades in winter. So why would I drive an hour to see a bird I have seen numerous times before? It’s all about the regional list.
Alley North: Science, Photography, and Subject Welfare
October 25, 2009 By 6 Comments
As you may know, the Florida Everglades are near and dear to me as I spent nearly two years dedicated to my project, Everglades Imagery: Intimate Detail of a Vast Landscape. I have not spent any significant time in the region for quite a few years so I have planned to spend some time there in January. As I have been planning this trip, I have spent a lot of time thinking about the experiences I had when I lived in the National Park during the first half of 2005. One of those experiences was so unique that I thought I’d share it with you today.
On the morning of March 30, 2005, I found myself on an airboat headed out several miles into the open sawgrass prairie of Water Conservation Area 3, an area north of Everglades National Park. I was in the company of two students and their research advisor and we were trailing another couple airboats also loaded with researchers. Our destination? The Alley North Rookery.
Kizilburun: Shipwreck Panoramas 150 Feet Underwater
October 23, 2009 By 15 Comments
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Dockside Panorama - Kizilburun, Turkey
I’d like to take a minute to share a little about the project I worked on all last summer, the Kizilburun shipwreck excavation. My wife and I spent the summer living in a remote camp on the coast of Turkey as part of a team excavating a shipwreck over 2,000 years old. This really is a project my wife has worked on for a couple years now but this summer I was able to join the excavation as a photographer.
Using Mug Shots to Improve Bird Photography
October 20, 2009 By 3 Comments
White-crowned Sparrow - Treman Marine Park, Ithaca, NY
Consider a mug shot image pair for a moment. You have two images, the head on shot and the profile. Say someone is arrested for a crime and a newspaper runs one of the images, 99 times out of a 100 you’ll see the straight on shot. Why is that? Quite simply, the subject is engaging the viewer by looking directly into the camera, often with some menacing look.
So you may ask what a mug shot has to do with bird photography? It’s all about how the subject engages the viewer by looking into the camera and how the photographer captures the perfect head tilt.
A Busted Morning
October 19, 2009 By Leave a Comment
I headed out into the cold this morning to see what I could find at Myers Point. My hope is that there would be a couple shorebirds hanging out that I could spend an hour or two photographing. Unfortunately the only shorebird was a lonely Killdeer. The point was covered in gulls, but I didn’t spend any time photographing them. In hindsight, I probably should have given it a shot as I struck out everywhere else.
Weather Forecasts and Geese
October 18, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Mallard - Stewart Park, Ithaca, NY
I am getting more than just a bit frustrated with the weather forecasts these days. Today I slept in because the weather forecast said a rainy cloudy morning followed by a sunnier afternoon and evening. When I got up this morning it was gorgeous. When I just headed out to photograph this evening, it got cloudy. It makes for a frustrating time.
First Snow?!?
October 16, 2009 By 1 Comment
First Snow - Roy H. Park Preserve, Dryden, NY
It is hard to believe that we are half way through October and have already had our first snow. I’m a Floridian so this is rather mind blowing. I did live in Maine for four years, but even there we usually didn’t have a good snow until Thanksgiving. My birthday is next weekend and it has already snowed. I simply can’t believe it.
