August 17, 2010
G’day Everyone,
We’ve recently returned from another outstanding Tom Jordan Memorial Boreal Coast Tour and rather than extolling the photo opportunities of this tour, let me simply show you a couple of the images I harvested this year and let our esteemed participants offer their commentary. By the way, if you’re still wondering about the name of this tour, you’ll have to either 1) come on the tour or 2) purchase my memoir – http://www.sojournsinnature.com/store.php#Nesting. 
Also, while the Blue Ox Moose Tour is filled, there’s still some room for additional participants in the upcoming Fall Foliage Magical Mystery Tour – http://www.sojournsinnature.com/fallfoliageworkshop.php. Come join us to capture New England’s autumn grandeur.
Atlantic Puffin in Flight with Fish
Canon EOS 1-D Mark II N
Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L IS USM lens at 200mm with 1.4x teleconverter
1/2500″ @ f/8, .33 EC, ISO 400
evaluative metering, aperture priority
IS mode 2, CF 17 at automatic 13 pt. expansion
handheld
Read more…
Posted by Gustav under Hot Shots,Maine,Workshops & Tours | Comments (4)
July 18, 2010
G’day Everyone,
After the Grand Canyon, the tour headed south, stopping for a sunset shot of Cathedral Rock in Sedona before returning to Phoenix to overnight and depart for home the following morning. At Sedona, I hugged and kissed my wife, Cheryl, goodbye, bid everyone else farewell, and instead of accompanying everyone to Phoenix, I climbed into Eliot Scher’s rented Grand Cherokee and the two of us headed for Kayenta and Monument Valley.
Cathedral Rock at Sunset
Canon EOS 1-D Mark II N
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L USM lens at 25mm
6″ @ f/22, +.67 EC, ISO 100; aperture priority, evaluative metering
Moose warming polarizer and Lee – 1.5 GND filters
Gitzo GT3541LS tripod with Manfrotto 3047 head
cable release, mirror lockup
Read more…
Posted by Gustav under American West,Workshops & Tours | Comments (4)
June 21, 2010
G’day Everyone,
One would think that leading an exclusively landscape photography tour in Arizona, the off chance of spotting a California Condor or Elk notwithstanding, would be a piece of cake. Heck, it should even be easier than photographing fall foliage in New England since, after all, fall colors are ephemeral and tumble to the ground within a few days after turning and, as unlikely as it seems, one can actually miss peak autumn color! (Believe me, I ought to know.) But the rain-bowed rocks and famed geological formations of the American southwest – the buttes, mesas, canyons, and arches, well, they aren’t tumbling down or losing their vermilions and ochres and burnt oranges anytime soon, unless you’re a geologist and consider, say, five million years “soon”. Yes, one would think that getting world-class images of these locations is as easy as, well, pointing and shooting. Yet, as I stepped out of the Phoenix airport into the blistering desert sun and looked up at the absolutely cloudless sky I was reminded that even though stationary rock formations don’t run off or fly away like mammals and birds and insects or wave in the breeze like flowers, my coleader, Arizona photographer, Ed Taube, and I would still have to work hard to send our participants home with some prize photographs.
Sunset at Yavapai Point, Grand Canyon National Park
Canon EOS 1-D Mark II N
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L USM lens at 21mm
f/20 @ 1/15″, ISO 100, -1/3 ec
Lee -1.5 GND & #2 Coral GND warming filters
evaluative metering, aperture priority
Gitzo GT3541LS tripod, cable release, mirror lockup
Read more…
Posted by Gustav under American West,Landscapes,Workshops & Tours | Comments (0)
May 9, 2010
Bobcat on Ledges
StealthCam I590 digital infrared game camera
3 burst mode, 1 minute intervals
no flash
In Walden, Henry David Thoreau acknowledges that many a naturalist’s initial introduction to nature is by way of hunting and fishing:
“He goes thither at first as a hunter and fisher, until at last, if he has the seeds of a better life in him, he distinguishes his proper objects, as a poet or naturalist it may be, and leaves the gun and fish-pole behind.”
Indeed, my first forays into the woods were with a gun over my shoulder on my uncle Victor’s 400 acre farm in upstate New York. By the time I was 17 years old, I had shot my share of woodchuck, grouse, rabbit, and deer. And, growing up on the Great Lakes in the fifties and sixties, I’ve caught and eaten enough perch and walleye that, if you turn off the lights, what with the accumulated dioxins, PCBs, mercury, and who knows what else in me, I’m surprised I don’t glow in the dark.
Now, those who have known me long and well might argue a tad with Thoreau, if they could, about whether any better seeds ever sprouted within me, or that I’m even fertile ground for weeds. I’d suggest we leave that discussion for another forum and another day and for others who, admittedly, would be much more qualified than I to judge my virtues.
In the meantime, I’d like to explore the idea and particular application of the phrases “…he distinguishes his proper objects, as a poet or naturalist it may be…” by way of discussing a couple of topics I believe I’m qualified to write about with some semblance of credibility, namely, photography and hunting. Then, how one might combine the skills of a hunter and the abilities of an artist to produce exhibition-quality photos of relatively elusive wildlife, taken in the wild.
Read more…
Posted by Gustav under Cameras,Subject,Technique,Wildlife | Comments (8)
April 18, 2010
During the recent early spell of summer around the first week in April, I grabbed the opportunity to spend a couple of days with my cousin Harry in Buffalo. My friendship with Harry goes back to the summers of the 1960′s and early 70′s when he and I would hunt and fish and ride dirt bikes on my uncle’s farm in the Allegany Mountains of western New York.
Harry earned his pilot’s license shortly after returning safely from Vietnam where he spent two tours of duty as a helicopter gunner. He’s an avid and skilled pilot and owns a small Cherokee single engine plane. He frequently flies into the municipal airport here in Newport, Vermont and I’ll go and pick him up and we’ll pal around like we used to, going out in my canoe for the day and target shooting in the meadow behind my house.
As usual, when we’re together, he’ll take me up in his plane and very often, if the conditions are benign, he’ll let me fly it. However, the day after I arrived in Buffalo, I wasn’t interested in taking over the controls. I had come prepared to do something that I could only do with Harry’s help, something I had been wanting to do for some years but owing to the difficulty of coordinating my and Harry’s schedule with the weather, just hadn’t had the opportunity to do, and something that required my keeping my hands on the controls of my camera while Harry adeptly manages the controls of his plane. What I hoped to do during this visit with Harry was to photograph something that likely has been photographed more often than anything else in the world besides babies. I wanted to get a novel view of Niagara Falls from the air on a clear day.
Read more…
Posted by Gustav under Aerial Photography,Hot Shots,Technique | Comments (2)
January 11, 2010
G’day Everyone,
Yesterday evening, January 10, 2010, Rob launched the reincarnation of our website, Sojourns In Nature. It’s the most comprehensive overhaul of the website since it’s inception over ten years ago. The front page and the fine art galleries now feature the music of my long-time friend, the noted Celtic musician and composer, William Jackson. We hope that you’ll take a few moments at the end of your busy day to relax and experience the new Sojourns In Nature web site and we invite you to leave your comments and let us know what you think of our new presentation.
Read more…
Posted by Gustav under News | Comments (2)
December 3, 2009
G’day Everyone,
It’s late afternoon on October 2 and our small group of Magical Mystery Tour participants are becoming acquainted over cheese and crackers and a little bit of wine provided by our wonderful host, Deb Godin, at the Lakeview Clubhouse in Eden. I glance out the window and notice that the crisp autumn light has mellowed so I muster everyone and we head over to my favorite fall foliage location, Belvidere Pond.
I’ve always bragged on Belvidere Pond, how it never lets me down, graciously offering me something to photograph nearly every time I visit it, from otters glissading on its frozen surface in winter or migrating geese relaxing on its glassy water during the spring migration, stunning fall foliage landscapes, to an occasional moose. Belvidere Pond has typically been the highlight not only for myself, but for many participants on the Fall Foliage Magical Mystery Tour. That’s high praise when one considers that the tour covers some of the most fabulous autumn scenery in all of New England, from the Green Mountains to the Kancamagus Highway in the Whites.
There was nothing special about the light that evening, on the contrary, it didn’t look that promising, what with the dark clouds on the horizon behind which the sun would soon disappear. There was really no reason to suspect that Belvidere Pond was about to yield up yet another incredible gem of a photo.
Autumn Splendor at Belvidere Pond
Canon EOS 1-D Mark II N
Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L IS USM lens at 116mm
evaluative metering, aperture priority
3.2″ @ f/11, ISO 200
Moose 81A Polarizer
Gitzo GT3541LS tripod, cable release, mirror lockup
Read more…
Posted by Gustav under Fall,Fall Foliage,Landscapes,New Hampshire,Vermont,Workshops & Tours | Comments (2)
November 3, 2009
G’day everyone,
Spend, say, three days in Baxter State Park in Maine, especially in Spring or Fall, and you’re bound to encounter a moose. Though, on any given day, you could beat the bushes from the first glimmer of dawn until the last bit of twilight gutters without ever seeing Alces alces. I know. I’ve done it, as have many people. In fact, I spoke with a couple I met in the park during this year’s tour who told me they paid a professional guide $400.00 for one day to help them find a moose. They eagerly followed the guide to several dozen ponds, wallows, and wetlands throughout the park, in vain. The guide apologized and kept their money.
On the one hand, Baxter State Park, central Maine for that matter, is the moosiest area in all of New England. On the other hand, it’s a huge area with thousands of wetlands, ponds, and lakes where one might see a moose out in the open. The thing is that on any given day moose will indeed make an appearance in any of these areas. But not necessarily every day and not consitently in the same location. Question is, will you pick the same location a moose has chosen to visit on a particular day?
Bull Moose
Canon EOS 1-D Mark II N
Canon EF 300mm f/2.8 L IS USM lens with Canon 2x teleconverter
1/400″ @ f/5.6, ISO 400
Gitzo GT3541LS carbon fiber tripod with Wimberley Head
Read more…
Posted by Gustav under Fall,Fine Art Prints,Maine,Wildlife,Workshops & Tours | Comments (0)
October 13, 2009
G’day Everyone,
In last month’s blog, Rob explained his technique for photographing insects and other small wildlife without a tripod. Equipped with a macro lens, a strobe, and a diffuser, Rob enjoys (or so he claims) chasing his flighty subjects across the meadows and through the forests and wetlands hoping to creep up on them whenever they land, if they ever do. First, he has to find his subject. Then he as to keep up with it. If it lands, it may not land in an accessible location let alone a photogenic one that will enable him to create a pleasing composition. Even if he’s lucky and all this actually happens, he still has to hope that his photographic quarry allows him to get his lens within inches of it and keep the subject within the thumbnail-thin DOF long enough to get off a frame or two before he has to commence chasing it all over again. Whew!!! Asked why he does it, he says “It’s all about the thrill of the hunt.”
Let me tell you something about the so-called thrill of the hunt – it’s overratted. Ain’t what it’s cracked up to be. Me? I take a much more genteel approach to macro photography.
Cherry-faced Meadowhawk on Meadowsweet
Canon EOS 1-D Mark ll N
Nikon 200mm Micro Nikkor f/4 (with Canon/Nikon adaptor)
.4″ @ f/22, ISO 100
Gitzo GT3145LS tripod with Novoflex focusing rail
cable release and mirror lock-up
Read more…
Posted by Gustav under Fall,Macro,Seasons,Technique | Comments (0)
July 31, 2009
G’day Everyone,
When Isaac whispered “leopard” and pointed to a lone acacia tree on the horizon between the waving expanse of tall, golden oat grass and the pastel backdrop of purple hills and pale blue sky, all I saw was the arborescent outline of a tree. Isaac brought the Land Rover to a full stop and picked up the binoculars and immediately handed them over the back of the front seat. I took them but I continued to stare at the tree through the open window of the middle seat for another several moments before resigning myself to the binocs. Isaac hardly ever used them. I have 20/15 vision but, even through the binoculars, all I could see was the silhouette of the tree against the bright sky and perhaps a slight bulging on one of the thicker branches extending horizontally from the left side of the short trunk and something that looked like an enormous wasp nest suspended from a branch on the opposite side of the tree. Isaac leaned over the back of the front seat as I, in turn, passed the binoculars to Peter, my only client on this Kenya photo safari and who, like me, was starring vainly at the acacia tree from the back seat.
“I can put us right under that tree without scaring off the cat.” grinned Issac. “But you must be patient; it will take some time. OK?”
Masai Giraffes and Burchells Zebra, Masai Mara
Canon EOS 1-D Mark II N
Canon EF 300mm f/2.8 IS L IS USM lens
1/1000 @ f5.6 at ISO 200, +.5 exposure compensation
evaluative metering, aperture priority
handheld
Read more…
Posted by Gustav under Kenya,Workshops & Tours | Comments (0)
