The Sojourns In Nature Photo Blog

December 3, 2009

The 2009 Fall Foliage Magical Mystery Tour

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.

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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

July 6, 2009

Cover Photo – Summer, 2009 Nature Photographer Magazine

G’day Everyone,

For those of us sufficiently aged to remember the music of the seventies, you might recall the tongue-in-cheek song by Dr. Hook, “The Cover Of The Rolling Stone”. Whether you’re a “big rock singer with golden fingers” or a nature photographer with a keen eye, a cover shot, in particular, on a national publication, is about as good as it gets. You’d think, being a professional and all, getting one’s images published loses its allure after a while. Not for this pro. What with the competition these days, it’s more important than ever to stand out and there’s not much that spotlights one’s work better than a national cover. Well, ok, there’s winning the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year Award and the Pulitzer Prize, but let’s keep it real.

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My image, “Sunrise at Otter Rocks” (below), appears on the front cover of the current issue (Summer, 2009) of Nature Photographer magazine. I’m offering a signed 18″ x 24″ print, matted and framed in solid oak of the cover image, along with an autographed copy of the magazine with free shipping to all Sojourns In Nature subscribers for $195.00. Simply email me at gustav@sojournsinnature.com if you’re interested. You might also consider joining me in Maine on the Tom Jordan Memorial Boreal Coast Tour next summer. Who knows, if you stood right next to me…..

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Sunrise at Otter Rocks
Canon EOS 1-D Mark II N
Nikon 24mm f/1.2 with Canon-Nikon Adaptor Ring
f/22 @ 1.5″, +1 exposure compensation, ASA 100
Cokin -3 GND filter
Gitzo 2220 tripod with Manfrotto 3047 head
cable release, mirror lockup

June 10, 2009

Rob’s June 2009 Vacation

Hey friends,

For many years now, I’ve been taking a vacation during the first week of June. Not only does this coincide with my birthday, but early June tends to be very nice weather-wise and is great for nature photography. Coincidentally, this is the same week as the Green Mountain Nature Photography Workshop takes places, and for the third year in a row, I headed down to northern Vermont for 5 days to be co-instructor of the workshop.

I know, I know, many of you are scratching your heads about this. Why on earth would I want to “work” during my vacation? Why would I choose to get up at 5:00 or 6:00 in the morning for 5 days? Truth is that for me this is not work, and getting up early is worth it. I love to share my passion for nature photography with others, and I happen to have pretty good technical know-how regarding photography and equipment, so it is a pleasure and a thrill to help others in their photographic journey.

So on Friday May 29th 2009, my first day of vacation, I headed down to Vermont to hook up with my friend and photo partner Gustav. Sadly, my wife Johanne had to stay in Montreal, as our 13+ year Labrador Retriever, Gryphon, no longer travels well and gets too stressed when we are away. Many thanks to my darling wife, who did not make me feel bad about leaving her behind.

I’ll reserve a detailed day-by-day description of the workshop for a future blog post next spring… For now, I simply wanted to share a few of my favorite images with you. I’m deliberately choosing images that are different from my previous 2 trips to the workshop.

Four Corners Fall - Missisquoi River
Four Corners Falls – Missisquoi River – North Troy, Vermont
Canon EOS 5D MkII
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L lens at 21mm
ISO 100, 0.5s at f/20
Filters: Singh-Ray Gold-n-Blue Polarizer
Gitzo GT3541LS Tripod with Really Right Stuff BH-55 Ballhead

May 5, 2009

The Call of Spring

For those of us less cold-hardy than the Rob Servranckxs of the world, unless I’m sojourning somewhere south of South Carolina, the camera gear does tend to gather some dust between the time the frost is on the pumpkin and the woodcock returns to the meadow. (In case you’re picturing me supine on the couch reading model railroad magazines between November and April, I’ll let you know that I finished writing my first novel while the snow was drifting and the wind was rattling the windows.) Rarely, I’ll be in the field as early as mid-March, keeping vigil by an otter hole in the thinning ice of Belvidere Pond or in my blind on a clear morning hoping to intercept a courting gobbler and catch the light show of the rising sun playing on his iridescent plumage.

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Wild Turkey (Jake)
Canon EOS 1-D Mark ll N
Canon EF300mm f/2.8 L IS lens
1/100″ @ f/6.3 at ISO 400, spot metering
Gitzo Studex tripod with Wimberley Head

April 11, 2009

An Evening at the Beaver Pond

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.

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Beaver & Branches

Read more…

Posted by Gustav under Equipment,Spring,Tripods,Vermont,Wildlife | Comments (4)

March 8, 2009

Favorite Activities – The Green Mountain Workshop

Hey all,

I’ve been thinking about what to write for the March blog entry. My initial thought was to write about winter photography. You know, as a counterpoint to Gustav’s Solstice 2008 entry, where the self-proclaimed “winter wimp” whines about the cold, dark days and freezing extremities… Use ‘em or lose ‘em, my friend! I’ve not abandoned that blog idea. I will eventually be writing about the joys of winter photography, and the gear and clothing I use to stay safe, comfortable and warm. However, with the Green Mountain Workshop being only 3 months away, I thought I’d use this space to make a shameless self-marketing plug.

Truth is, neither Gustav nor I are very adept at filling this workshop. This boggles my mind… but then, marketing just ain’t our thing, photography is. This workshop is probably the best “bang for the buck” nature photography workshop an aspiring nature photographer can take. Seriously… Why? Well, let me just tell you the ways! (Or ask one of the previous years’ participants.)

We do not have a specific agenda or time schedule – we go with the weather, the flow, and the requests of the participants. When weather cooperates, we maximize the time in the field for hands-on work. When rain hits, we’ll retreat indoors for work on digital workflow, image processing and photography theory. And with the purchase of a new large tent/greenhouse, we’ll able to shoot insects and plants without getting wet even if the rain does not let up!

Although I can’t tell you exactly what we’ll be doing in the 2009 version of the workshop, I can still tempt you by writing about some of the fun stuff we will do and learn. Take a look at my 2008 Green Mountain Workshop blog entry for a day-by-day account of the photo activities and wonderful meals we had last year.

Moss Glenn Falls (Granville)
Moss Glenn Falls – Granville, Vermont
Canon EOS 20D with Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L USM lens at 31mm
1.3s at f/16, ISO 100
Singh-Ray Gold-n-Blue Polarizer
Gitzo G2220 tripod, Really Right Stuff BH-55 ballhead, cable release, mirror lock-up

January 2, 2009

Using the Singh-Ray Gold-N-Blue Polarizer

Happy New Year to all!

Before getting to the “meat” of this article on using the Sing-Ray the Gold-N-Blue polarizer, let me give you a quick update on my new Canon EOS 5D MkII camera. I’m mid-way through my 2008 Holiday break – a full two weeks off work, and it feels great! I was supposed to be spending a lot of time outdoors, enjoying my new Canon EOS 5D MkII camera, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing…

Alas, the weather has been most uncooperative, with lots of rain and freezing rain over the beautiful snow, cloudy skies, very high winds (blowing at 100km/h as I’m writing this on December 28th, 2008), slippery and icy conditions, etc… [sigh]… I did go out a whole three times to enjoy my new camera, but 95% of the images I’ve taken with it so far were indoor “test” shots. I am absolutely thrilled with the image quality of this camera. The 5D MkII is everything I was hoping it would be, so let me share a couple of shots:

Snow Covered Trees in Winter
Canon EOS 5D MkII with Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM lens at 47mm
1/25s at f/14, ISO 100
B+W Polarizer
Gitzo G1340 tripod, Really Right Stuff BH-55 ballhead, cable release, mirror lock-up

Gryphon
Gryphon
Canon EOS 5D MkII with Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L IS USM lens at 81mm
1/50s at f/5.6, ISO 1600(!)
Gitzo GT3541LS tripod, Really Right Stuff BH-55 ballhead

November 9, 2008

Favorite Places

G’day Everyone,

A frequent question at presentations and exhibits is whether or not I have a favorite photographic location and if so, where it is. I suppose most folks expect me to describe some exotic locale far from home, likely requiring hours of intolerable air travel with its associated trevails, then a day or two of tiresome paddling along a murky river through a dense, foreboding jungle, the air humming with malaria-transmitting mosquitoes, the shores fringed with crocodiles longer than the canoe.

Autumn at Tamarack Brook
Canon EOS 1-D Mark II N, Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L USM lens at 17mm
Moose 81A Polarizer
30 seconds at f/19, ISO 100
evaluative metering, aperture priority
Gitzo G2220 tripod, Bogen 3047 head, cable release

September 7, 2008

Gustav’s Blog Debut

Gustav here…

As Rob mentioned, up here in the Northeast, it’s been a difficult summer for photography. Between the rain and gas prices, getting into the field, especially farther afield, has been a real challenge. Of course one doesn’t necessarily have to get into the truck or car to find nature. Especially here in Vermont, nature is right outside the door. Mornings are growing cool, almost frosty. Time to prowl for those dewy insects and webs in the meadow.

Monarch Chrysalis Jewel Stage with Dew
Canon EOS -1D Mark II N with Nikon Micro-Nikkor 200mm f/4 lens and 52.5mm extension

1/6 second at f/32, ISO 100

Novoflex single axis focusing rail

Gitzo G2220 tripod, Bogen 3047 head, cable release, mirror lock-up

The time I have not spent running the roads, I’ve invested in my exhibits instead and I’m delighted to report that it’s paid off. I have often been asked, at presentations, at exhibits, and in emails, how one gets away with making a living in nature photography. Yes, I’m certainly getting away with something that keeps me looking over my shoulder (now going on 25 years) for someone to grab me by the scruff of my neck and plunk me down on an assembly line (done that) or at the head of a classroom (done that) or in an office cubicle (haven’t done that but have seen several episodes of “The Office” on TV) or in some other sort of employment generally considered by society as a “real job”. I’m 54 now and generally unemployable. I believe I could no more apply for a job than I could consider enlisting in the marines. Thus, part of my answer to the question of how I get away with this is, I have no choice. That’s a good thing.

June 9, 2008

2008 Green Mountain Workshop

Wow, what a wonderful time I had at the 2008 Green Mountain Nature Photography Workshop, where I was co-instructor of the workshop with my good friend Gustav W. Verderber. This is my 2nd year at the workshop, and I just love the experience. The workshop is held in the Eden Mills area in northern Vermont, just east of the Jay Peak ski area.

Johanne and I got to Gustav & Cheryl’s house on Friday (May 30th) in the early afternoon. After relaxing for a couple of hours, Gustav and I headed to the Lakeview Campground, on the shore of picturesque Lake Eden in Eden Mills, Vermont. Lakeview Campground was once again the home base of our nature photography workshop. We went to meet our two workshop participants (Bob and Owen) and have dinner with them. As usual, Lakeview owner Deb Godin treated us like kings, with wonderful meals and a warm welcome. On the menu tonight: Chicken Cordon Bleu with gravy, broccoli with pine nuts, baked potatoes, fresh salad, and a brownie with chocolate sauce and ice cream for dessert.

After dinner, the four of us head off to the Belvidere Pond area, locally known as “moose alley”. On a given day, at dawn and dusk, there’s about a 30% chance of seeing a moose. As luck would have it, this was such a day:

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Smiling Moose
Canon EOS 20D, Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM lens
1/200s., f/5.6, ISO 400
Tripod mounted
Manual exposure (spot metering at -1EV on the chocolate brown fur)