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.
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Posted by Gustav under Cameras,Subject,Technique,Wildlife | Comments (8)
January 31, 2010
In the colder North American climate, such as found in southern Quebec and Vermont, Mother Nature puts up an incredible display of colors in September and October. For many us landscape photographers, this 2-3 week period of fiery fall colors is the most productive, exciting and stimulating time of the year. This makes the arrival of November all the more difficult to accept: cold weather, gray skies, rain, snow, drab colors – probably the worst month for nature photography around here… In December, the cold weather arrives, and winter slowly settles, putting an icy grip over the regions.
At this time of year, many people imitate bears and head indoors to “hibernate” until the arrival of warmer spring weather. Nature photographers tend to spend more time in front of their computers, working on articles, preparing image submissions to Editors, while slowly packing on the pounds…
Ice Floe Sunset Over Lake of Two Mountains
Canon EOS 20D
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L USM lens at 17mm
1/13s (middle exposure), f/16, ISO 100
Hoya Moose Polarizer, Hitech 3-stop GND
3 exposure HDR image processed in Photomatix Read more…
Posted by Rob under L'Ile Bizard (Quebec),Landscapes,Musings,Quebec,Wildlife,Winter | Comments (13)
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
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Posted by Gustav under Fall,Fine Art Prints,Maine,Wildlife,Workshops & Tours | Comments (0)
April 11, 2009
It was about the time we first heard the woodcock peenting – the male’s plaintive mating call that sounds like a creaky floor board – in the meadow below the house this spring that Freddie and Michael’s pond thawed. About a quarter of a mile north of us, Freddie and Michael are our nearest neighbors. Their post and beam house sits, much like our house, at the top of an expanse of open field that descends gradually down to a large, federally protected wetland. The pond lies half way between the house and the wetland and toward our side of their property.
Freddie and Michael are ideal neighbors. They bring us fresh rhubarb from their garden which we, i.e, my wife, Cheryl, gives back to them baked into strawberry rhubarb pie, though, she has to cut the pie in half and bring it to them the same day she bakes it otherwise I’ll usually forget that I’m only supposed to eat half of the pie. And I’m welcome to rinse off our dogs, Aldo and Bela, in the pond after they’ve been chasing frogs and tadpoles in the wetland or for all three of us to take a cool dip after I’ve been toiling around the homestead on a hot summer day. As ponds go, Freddie and Michael’s pond is of medium size, about 100′ in diameter, not overly landscaped but with a fairly dense copse of alders, birches, aspens, and some scotch pine along the south bank that blocked the view of the water from our deck except in winter, of course, when we could see through the bare branches of the deciduous trees but when the pond was merely a circular impression in the austere winterscape between our house and theirs. Then, last fall, I noticed yellowish stumps gleaming in the afternoon sun where some of the alders and birches had stood. Seems, a family of beaver had moved from the wetland into the pond.
Beaver & Branches
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Posted by Gustav under Equipment,Spring,Tripods,Vermont,Wildlife | Comments (4)
