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 

We really wanted to thank you for such a wonderful trip! Your guidance and photographic expertise were invaluable! It was wonderful making your acquaintance, and adding a new friend to our list of special people we have had lead us on tours! Needless to say, the trip with Andy with only the three of us was an incredible afternoon, and the trip to Machias Seal Island to photograph the puffins was a “life-time” experience! Thank you again for your superb leadership and for being an incredibly great leader! Hope our paths can cross again. It would always be delightful to be “in the field” with you anytime! I’m looking forward to learning Photoshop (your guidance and tutelage should make it easier) so I can print off some of my fantastic Puffin pics.

Razorbill Stretching and Yawning
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

Gustav

Follow this link to this month’s special Hunt’s offers: http://wbhunt.com/specials/

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

Eliot Scher is a big man with an uncompromising passion for his wife, photography, model railroading, finance, and teaching to name a few.  Eliot Scher does not dabble in anything; he either strives to excel or he doesn’t waste his or anyone else’s time.  A retired New York City public school teacher, Eliot prefers the company of people who also set high standards for themselves – and meet them.  His charm and largess of good will quickly disarm and reassure anyone who, at first impression, might find his demanding nature somewhat intimidating.  This was Eliot’s third Sojourns In Nature tour.  Apparently, at least where it comes to photography, I managed to have measured up to Eliot’s expectations, that, and the fact that I was also an enthusiastic and accomplished model railroader and my history as an educator, eventually led to my friendship with Eliot and a remarkable invitation.

About a year ago, Eliot emailed me and proposed a western trip to some of the iconic landscapes in northern Arizona and southern Utah.  I told him that I was already working on an Arizona itinerary with Ed Taube, a Phoenix-based photographer, but would certainly consider an extension to the tour.  Eliot wrote back that if I were available, he would cover all of my expenses for a week-long extension to the Arizona tour during which he and I would photograph Monument Valley, Canyonlands National Park (NP), Arches NP, Bryce, and Zion National Parks.  “Why would you do that?”, I asked him.  “Your job,” Eliot replied, is simply to make sure we get at least one world-class calendar shot at every location.”  I had never photographed out west before so without any familiarity whatsoever with the photo opportunities, I should have demurred.  But Eliot insisted and, well, it was simply an offer I couldn’t refuse.  So, that’s how I ended up in Eliot’s Cherokee headed for Monument Valley when everyone else was headed back toward Phoenix.

West Mitten Butte as seen from Balcony of View Hotel at Twilight
Canon EOS 1-D Mark II N
Canon EF 70-200mmf/4 L USM lens at 70mm
30″ @ f/16, ISO 200; aperture priority, evaluative metering
Gitzo GT3541LS tripod with Manfrotto 3047 head
cable release, mirror lockup

We arrived in Monument Valley the following afternoon in the teeth of a classic western dust storm.  Covering our noses with one hand and holding the brims of our hats low over our foreheads with the other, we  lowered our heads and shouldered into the 60 mph wind as we walked from the car to the front door of the View Hotel.  Dust swirled into the lobby when we came through the door some of it adding to a  small pile of red sand just inside the threshold, the rest settling on the gritty, marbled floor.  As Eliot checked us in, I took off my hat and discretely dumped a handful of the red dust that had accumulated in the brim into one of the potted planters in the lobby and then, without returning to the car for our gear and baggage, we went up to our room.

Now, I’ve seen some sights from some windows in my travels but the view from the balcony of the View Hotel beats all.  There, right outside of the sliding glass doors, were the three mittens, the iconic Monument Valley buttes,  towering over the chaparral and the few RV’s and cars braving the loop road through the valley.  The monoliths were softened somewhat by the red pall of the sandstorm but nonetheless they were easily the most breathtaking view I have ever seen out of a window.  I looked at Eliot and nearly in tears, thanked him again.  I ached to retrieve my camera gear from the car if only to grab a snapshot of the view from the room but we bided our time, hoping the wind would eventually die down.  At the moment, taking the camera gear out of the bag outside of the hotel was not an option; the fine sand would have destroyed the camera and lenses as quickly as if we had dropped them into the ocean.  I wasn’t even keen on getting the bag from the car to the hotel fearing the sand might work its way through the zipper during the short walk across the parking lot.  No, we would have to wait in the hotel until the sandstorm passed.  So we showered, had an early dinner, and browsed the gift shop.

Dawn in Monument Valley
Canon EOS 1-D Mark II N
Canon EF 70-200mmf/4 L USM lens at 127mm
4″ @ f/32, -.67 EC, ISO 100; aperture priority, evaluative metering
Gitzo GT3541LS tripod with Manfrotto 3047 head
cable release, mirror lockup

Next morning, we rose early and I slid open the glass doors.  Stars twinkled above the mittens, no dust whipped our faces.  It was breathlessly quiet.  We dressed and I carefully folded the bandanna I had bought in the gift shop and tied it around my neck.  Looking like a tourist pretending to be a cowboy is one thing; looking like an intrepid nature photographer prepared for all contingencies which happens to make me look like a cowboy, well, thats’ quite another. 

Totem Pole Formation and Dune
Canon EOS 1-D Mark II N
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L USM lens at 36mm
.3″ @ f/22, +.67 EC, ISO 100; aperture priority, evaluative metering
Moose warming polarizer
Gitzo GT3541LS tripod with Manfrotto 3047 head
cable release, mirror lockup

In a little while, Eliot and I were bouncing along in a Jeep on sacred Navajo land, well off the beaten track of the loop road to which the tourists are confined.  Eliot had hired Navajo guide, Ray Phillips, to take us into the back country to photograph the sites that are accessible only by private guide.  Conditions were ideal; it was a clear morning with a brilliant sunrise.  The low-angled sunlight highlighted the textures of the landscape, the rippled sand dunes, the craggy rock formations, it revealed the surreal patterns and ignited the overhangs and arches and created dramatic contrasts between the rock and the soft sand.  You don’t have to be a spiritual sort to sense the presence of the ancients in this place, to know that the lineage of paleolithic Indians, native Americans, and settlers extends back thousands of years from the moment one leaves a footprint on the sand and that one’s presence here is just as ephemeral.  Not even the rocks are permanent. 

Petroglyphs, Monument Valley
Canon EOS 1-D Mark II N
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L USM lens at 40mm
3.2″ @ f/22, ISO 100; aperture priority, evaluative metering
Gitzo GT3541LS tripod with Manfrotto 3047 head
cable release, mirror lockup

It’s easy to get caught up in the romantic fantasy of the “wild west”.  Travelling between Monument Valley and Canyonlands, one day, we strolled into a small cafe in Bluff, Utah.  My bandanna had indeed come in handy as the wind and dust usually returned around midday after abating overnight and allowing us the mornings to shoot so I continued to wear it for the rest of the trip.  All I lacked, really, to blend into a western movie set was a Winchester in hand or a Colt .45 on my hip.  We must have both been thinking it but Eliot finally made it official as we sat down at a small, round table in a rustic dining room appointed with western paraphernalia and lots of clippings and autographed photos of the late actor, James Mason.  I tipped back my Panama Jack hat and settled into my chair like a parched drifter eager for a drink and a card game.  A friendly young girl in a colorful apron came over, smiled at us, and asked us what we wanted to drink.  “Coffee,” we replied.

Ear of the Wind and Dead Tree
Canon EOS 1-D Mark II N
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L USM lens at 32mm
1/20″ @ f/8, +1 EC, ISO 100; aperture priority, evaluative metering
Moose warming polarizer
Gitzo GT3541LS tripod with Manfrotto 3047 head
cable release, mirror lockup

“By God, you look like Gus McCrae,” Eliot said.  “Who?” I said.  “Gus McCrae,” said Eliot.  “Whose Gus McCrae,” I said.  Eliot raised his eyebrows.  “Augustus McCrae,” repeated Eliot.  “You mean to tell me you don’t know who Augustus McCrae is!” he said.  “Nope,” I said unintimidated. 

“Lonesome Dove,” said Eliot.  “Heard of it; never read it,” I said.  Eliot shook his head and took out his camcorder, pointed it at me, and began filming and narrating the video for his wife, Ginny.  He said that he was sitting in a cafe in Bluff, Utah with Captain Augustus McCrae, or at least the closest thing he’ll come in this lifetime to riding with an imaginary version of the famous Texas Ranger.  Of course, I too had fantasized about us being a couple of high plains riders on a mission, but I wouldn’t have admitted it to anyone.  So I was embarrassed and didn’t know what to do or say when Eliot not only revealed the fantasy but began recording it for posterity.  He must be suffering from a touch of altitude sickness, I thought, but then somewhere during the narration Eliot mentioned that Gus McCrae was played by Robert Duvall in the TV miniseries based on the book by Larry McMurtry.  Robert Duvall, I thought to myself, not bad.  I figured if Eliot was sufficiently delusional to imagine us as a couple of high plains drifters and me as Robert Duvall, so be it.  I could play along.  After all, I make my living as a shootist.

Eliot asked the waitress about the oatmeal and she assured us it was outstanding.  We each ordered a bowl and then I asked her about all the James Mason mementos.  She freely admitted that she was thoroughly infatuated with James Mason and that she had put her husband on notice that if the ghost of James Mason ever appeared in her cafe that she would have a child with him.  I told her I felt the same way about Valerie Bertinelli but that her chances of conceiving  a child with James Mason were still better than my ever having sex with Ms. Bertinelli.  Eliot and I both agreed that the oatmeal was the best we’ve ever eaten. 

 Andrea Carpenter, Owner of the Comb Ridge Cafe with Photo of James Mason
Canon EOS 1-D Mark II N
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L USM lens at 17mm
1/50″ @ f/4, +.67 EC, ISO 200; aperture priority, evaluative metering
handheld

See Eliot’s Southwest porfolio here: http://scaramouchephoto.com/#/gallery/great-southwest/  and stay tuned for the third and final saga!

By the way, Rob is selling his Gitzo G1341 tripod and Markins M10 ballhead.  If you’re interested, you can contact Rob directly at: RServranckx@Videotron.ca and find more details about the tripod and head here:

http://bit.ly/cU99OP

http://bit.ly/baDdHc

Happy trails,

Gustav

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

Sunset at Mather Point, Grand Canyon National Park
Canon EOS 1-D Mark II N
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L USM lens at 17mm
f/11 @ 20″ ISO 200
Lee -1.5 GND & #2 Coral GND warming filters
evaluative metering, aperture priority
Gitzo GT3541LS tripod, cable release, mirror lockup

Many human (not geological) years ago, I had the unforgettable privilege of seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time in the extraordinary company of a group of geology graduate students from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.  I happened to be a graduate student at the University myself, in the biology department, and was invited to tag along with these intrepid rock hounds whose idea of a spring break was not to steep themselves in bikinis and booze under coconut palms but rather to pile into one of the University vans on a Friday morning, drive non-stop to Arizona, hike the Grand Canyon down the Bright Angel trail to the Colorado River, spend a day camping and skinny dipping (to be sure, girls aspire to being geologists too so I didn’t miss out on much by way of carnal pleasures), and then make the arduous ascent back up the canyon and return back to McMaster in time for class nine days later. 

Cathedral Rock Reflection in Oak Creek, Sedona, AZ
Canon EOS 40D
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 IS USM lens @ 327mm
f/22 @ .6″ ISO 100 with circular polarizer & Lee GND
evaluative metering, aperture priority
Manfrotto tripod with 3047 head

I remember arriving at the edge of the canyon near the visitor center with my peers and other tourists and overhearing a woman say to her husband, with a sigh in her voice, that ”It doesn’t look like the pictures in Arizona Highways magazine.”  It was the middle of the afternoon and sunny.  The canyon was an etiolated mosaic of blue and gray hues with only hints of red and orange and yellow.  Of course, I and my fellow grad students were dumbstruck by the sheer immensity of all the stratigraphy, sedimentology, uplifting, and erosional topography that lay before us, more geology than we had ever seen in our lives.  Now, as a photographer, I can sympathize with the woman’s dissapointment with the canyon – in the wrong light, even the Grand Canyon fails to inspire some people and that’s what had me worried as I looked up at the clear sky upon arriving in Phoenix.  “Is it always this damned sunny?” I asked Ed as we walked to his car.  “Naw,” said Ed as we loaded my gear into his rig.  “Nightime, it gets dark.”

Canon EOS 40D
Canon 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM lens @ 10mm, focused to infinity
f/18 @ 63″, ISO 100
manual mode, evaluative metering
auto white balance
Manfrotto tripod with 3047 head

Most of our subjects on this tour were, well, rocks.  Really big rocks.  Some water, but mostly rocks the size of skyscrapers.  But this wasn’t the Arizona Rock & Color Tour, it was the Arizona Light& Color Tour.  Of course I knew we could count on our subjects -  the rocks - to be in place when we arrived at our various destinations but the light was our biggest variable and my major concern.   What’s more, many of the views we were hoping to frame would necessarily include a significant amount of sky.   Empty, featureless skies, even above a magnificent and well-lit foreground, can ruin a shot. 

Sunbeam, Upper Antelope Canyon I
Canon EOS 1-D Mark II N
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L USM lens at 17mm
f/22 @ 5″ ISO 100
evaluative metering, aperture priority
Gitzo GT3541LS tripod, cable release, mirror lockup

Additionally, many of the scenes we hoped to photograph were iconic landscapes that had been photographed millions of times by tourists, amateur, and professional photographers.  It always unnerves me a bit to approach a subject that has been so extensively and sublimely represented photographically as some of the locations we visited and to imagine that I could possibly produce a photograph unlike anything that’s already been captured by the best photographers in the world, past and present, let alone improve on it.  Ninety nine and nine tenths of the time, I can’t.  However, professional nature photographers, by their nature, are gamblers; I mean, who else but a gambler would stake their next meal or their mortgage on whether or not they consistently manage to be in the right place at the precise moment to capture a puffin with a beak full of herring or a rainbow over Niagara Falls from 3000′ over the falls or a comet streaking across the New England night sky?  It’s like I tell my dad who’s still confused about how I make my living; I tell him that I’m the poker player, the professional gambler in the old western television shows and movies who drifts into town and wins just enough money at cards to keep him in room and board (and whiskey) and his horse well fed.  Then he moves on.  Then, there’s the mercurial nature of light and the possibility, however rare, that I might catch a play of light on the scene that will allow me to render a truly unique image.  What’s incontrovertible is that if I am not there and never try, I’ll never have the opportunity to be lucky.    

Lower Antelope Canyon I
Canon EOS 1-D Mark II N
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L USM lens at 17mm
f/22 @ 2″ ISO 100
evaluative metering, aperture priority
Gitzo GT3541LS tripod, cable release, mirror lockup

I rose early in the morning of the first full day of the tour, dressed, strapped on my camera bag, and rested my tripod on my shoulder as if were a Winchester.  I strolled down the street from Ed’s front door about a hundred yards to the base of a hill bristling with Saguaro cacti.  Cactus blossoms adorned almost every arm of one particular cactus and caught my eye; I hadn’t noticed it the previous evening during the meet-and-greet gathering at Ed’s but cactus blossoms are very ephemeral and the buds had likely opened overnight.  It was the only cactus with so many blossoms in full bloom.  I used the soft morning light to create a pleasing vertical composition and then returned to the house just as I began to feel the sun’s heat on the back of my neck.  Ed told me that since the blossoms last only about a day and especially since blossoming season of the Saguaro wasn’t going to peak for about another two weeks, I was very lucky to get that shot.  So, an hour later, when Ed and I picked up our tour group at the hotel and our posse of ten intrepid nature photographers rode north out of Phoenix past the mesquite and sagebrush and prickly pear, I counted on my first bit of luck to be a good omen for the tour and that, with some grit and determination, we would indeed capture the light and color (and, hopefully, some clouds) of the American southwest.

Saguaro Cactus in Bloom, Phoenix, AZ
Canon EOS 1-D Mark II N
Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L IS USM lens at 127mm
f/16 @ 1/30″ ISO 100
evaluative metering, aperture priority
Gitzo GT3541LS tripod, cable release, mirror lockup, IS off

Hoodoo, Page, AZ
Panasonic Lumix DMC- ZS1

To view participant’s portfolios from this tour, simply click on their respective links:

Ed Taube: http://www.taubephotography.com/landscape.asp
Eliot Scher: http://scaramouchephoto.com/#/gallery/great-southwest/
Kathy Dean: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2067005&id=1403518106&l=46d9b37abd
Kevin Ehlers: http://www.flickr.com/photos/criticalaperturephotography/
Aaron Fracht-Monroe: http://picasaweb.google.com/aaronfm/ArizonaLightColor
Carolyn Gooding: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cg9291x/sets/72157624257284531/
Kent Fairfield: http://kentfairfield.zenfolio.com/p757931313
Gustav W. Verderber: http://www.sojournsinnature.com/coppermine/thumbnails.php?album=7 

I’ll let the images speak for themselves and you decide whether or not the light was with us. 

I’m extremely grateful to E. J. Peiker of Naturscapes.net for his generous advice on locations and times of day that made our shooting in Arizona much more efficient.  Thanks E. J.!!

IN ADDITION TO BEING A HIGHLY-HONORED IMAGE IN THE CURRENT “OCEANS” ISSUE OF NATURE’S BEST, MY IMAGE, “BLOOD STAR AND BARNACLES” IS FEATURED ON THE BACK COVER AS WELL AS  ON THE CONTENTS PAGE.  NOT BAD FOR A LIL’ OL’ STARFISH WHEN ONE CONSIDERS IT’S UP AGAINST GREAT WHITE SHARKS, WHALES, PENGUINS, FLYING FISH, AND POLAR BEARS!!

Peace and may the light be with you,

Gustav

This month’s special Hunt’s offers: (contact Kathryn: knazzaro@wbhunt.com)

Note: There is a Sigma Lens recall in effect, posted 6-16.   

The affected lenses are:

APO 50-500mm F4.5-6.3 DG OS HSM: serial #’s between 10633051 and 10972000 APO APO 120-400mm F4.5-5.6 DG OS HSM: serial #’s between 10574001 and 10972000 APO 150-500mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM: serial #’s between 10674301 and 10972000  Sigma states to overcome this issue, they will be offering customers a modification service free of charge through a local authorized Sigma service station…..Contact Sigma if you have an affected lens:   http://www.sigma-photo.co.jp/english/network/index.htm

Canon used equipment :

Canon 100-400mm IS L – $1,099.99

Canon 70-300mm DO IS – $999.99

Canon EF 2x II Tele – $229.00

Canon original rebel with grip and 18-55mm – $289.00 Canon rebel XTI w/18-55mm – $289.00 Canon rebel XS w/ 18-55mm IS  – $369.00

Nikon used equipment:

 Nikon 24-120mm VR – $499.00

Nikon 16mm 2.8 fisheye – $749.00

Nikon 70-200mm 2.8 VR  1st version – $1,500.00 Sigma for Nikon 8mm F4 fisheye – $625.00 Nikon D300 body – $1,199.99

Our Nikon refurbished equipment is in stock and selling fast; Nikon instant rebates on new products are on until June 26th.

  

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.   

Photography was already an established medium in Thoreau’s time.  In fact, there are a number of daguerreotype photographs of Thoreau and it was in 1871, less than a decade after Thoreau’s passing, that the famous photographer of the American west, William Jackson, joined the Hayden Expedition and produced a seminal portfolio of landscape photography that helped persuade Americans to establish Yellowstone National Park.   So, while I suspect that “poet”, as Thoreau uses the word in the above quote, refers to any form of expressive art (and I also maintain that a well-taken nature photograph is visual poetry), had he been more specific, Thoreau may well have written, …as a poet, naturalist, or nature photographer it may be…   

Whatever medium we choose to replace the “gun and fish-pole”, be it, in fact, writing, photography, painting, science…if nature, and especially wildlife, is our subject, then the first requirement is that we become familiar with our subject(s).  And many of us, as Thoreau points out, first learn about the natural world around us by way of hunting and fishing or trapping or some more “traditional”, for lack of another term, and typically more intrusive reason for going into nature in the first place that forces us to pay attention to the rhythms and ways of the natural world.  Putting oneself in exactly the right place, at exactly the right time, to make a clean kill, to catch a brook trout on a dry fly, to trap a bobcat, or create a publishable or exhibition-quality nature photograph, all require very similar knowledge, skills, planning, and execution. Ultimately, the final result, the venison on the dinner table, the trophy fish, or the print in the gallery, is only a small part of a very involved and prolonged process that may take years of learning about guns and ballistics and honing one’s marksmanship or practicing casting a lure or dry fly into an inner tube, or understanding the relationship between f-stops and shutter speeds and light until choosing the right combination becomes second-nature.  Meanwhile, to become a better hunter, with a camera or with a gun or fish pole, one must also become a better naturalist.  We must know about insect hatches and what flies to present to a brook trout as against a brown trout, on a sunny day as well as after a heavy rain.  We must know when and where the deer rut and the tom turkey displays.  We must learn to track and scout out locations to find that promising spot where a 10-point buck will appear early one autumn morning just as the sun streaks through the mist and between the trees that just might give the hunter or the photographer the opportunity to pull the trigger or press the shutter.  And there it is, that last act that, for the majority of people, distinguishes whether one is called a hunter or a photographer, notwithstanding the fact that that final event – the squeezing of the trigger or the pushing of a shutter button, is but a fraction of a second in what amounts to decades of preparation leading up to the kill, or the photograph.   

Minimally, a hunter using a firearm or bow and arrow must 1) see enough of his or her quarry to incontrovertibly identify it, and 2) be sufficiently close to make a clean, killing shot.  Additionally, the photographer must 3) be close enough to make the subject the focus of the composition, 4) eliminate all distracting elements from the scene while 5) keeping all the compelling elements that compliment the composition within the frame, 6) have the subject not just sufficiently lit to identify it but sublimely lit with a catchlight in its eye(s) and 7) with the subject facing the camera have it 8) exhibit an interesting behavior.    

Now, unless the distinction between hunting and photography really lies only with what is squeezed in the end,  a cable release or a trigger, which process do you think requires more skill?  Remember the Vietnam war movie, The Deer Hunter?  DeNiro’s character embodies the quintessential hunter, the one who rises well before the sun, finds and inexorably tracks a trophy buck across rugged terrain patiently waiting for that one moment when he can place the bullet in the deer’s flank just so and drop it in its tracks instantly.   Finally, at dusk, the weary buck leaps up onto a rocky ledge and stands fully exposed, a beautiful sillhouette against the twilight.  Seizing the opportunity, the hunter sights his rifle on the deer, convinces himself that he can take the shot, but decides not to and lets the majestic animal live. Likewise, in wildlife photography, the hunter and the subject of the hunt, walk away from the final act.  Apart from pulling a trigger or releasing the arrow and pushing the shutter button, there’s no arguable difference between hunting and wildlife photography except that the latter requires a much better hunter.    

  

New England Coyote
Trailtimer EZCam, Model EZ-2500 infrared game camera
One minute delay
Kodak E100G
no flash
Troy, VT 

Clearly, 99% of hunting, be it to bag a photo or a meal, is accomplished before one has the animal in the gun sight or the viewfinder. Hence, it can be argued that the skillfull game  or camera hunter is no less a hunter even if he or she isn’t even present at the final act. I want to establish the idea that it’s not necessary that the photographer be lurking behind the camera at the moment the camera makes the exposure in order to merit the credit for having taken that photograph because, indeed, there are those naysayers who feel otherwise. If one diligently undergoes all the requisite training, dutifully does the necessary research, and keenly strategizes their fieldwork in placing their camera(s) in just the right place to produce an artful photograph of an animal that would be nearly impossible to photograph if the photographer were crouching behind the camera at the moment of the exposure, it is entirely owing to the camera hunter’s skill that an exquisite photo resulted from the photographer’s craft and diligence and, of course, the animal’s unwitting cooperation.   

Long ago, I decided I would no longer create stock photos of animals in captivity, including animals in zoos, in rehabilitation or nature centers, or animals I’ve trapped and confined.  I am first and foremost, a naturalist.  Nature photography evolved out of my passion for nature and the environment and an affinity for all things wild. I have an M.S. in zoology, not an M.F.A. in photography, that is to say, that my primary interest is not so much in producing images but in using photography as a tool or medium to celebrate and hopefully to promote the intrinsic value of nature. Wild nature. In short, photography is merely the  note pad or sketch book in which I record, as artfully (read poetically) as I know how, the reasons that compel me to be in nature in order to share and celebrate nature’s attributes which I feel should compel everyone to want to experience and therefore conserve our natural areas and their inhabitants. Photographing captive animals completely leaves out the experience of being in nature - the purpose behind my being a nature photographer in the first place.  What’s more, these days many editors prefer images of animals in the wild or even shun captive animal photography altogether.   

At first, my decision might have precluded me from obtaining images of some particularly elusive wildlife.  Here in the northeast, I can’t think of anything more difficult to photograph than coyotes and bobcats.  Snowshoe hares and black bear, perhaps, but with some persistance and frequently visiting areas in winter with high concentrations of hare will eventually result in a sighting.  For bears, just broadcast your desire to photograph a bear to friends and neighbors and soon someone will email or telephone you about a bear raiding their bird feeder that you can intercept or to let you know of a pair of cubs huddled in the branches of a beech tree in their dooryard.    

Ruffed Grouse Drumming
Canon EOS3 with Canon  EF 300mm f/2.8 L IS USM Lens
f/8 @ 1/180″ on Kodak E100G pushed to ISO 200
Canon 550EX Speedlight
Gitzo Studex tripod 
Eden, VT 

But coyotes and bobcats avoid humans much to the same degree as wolves.  Any hint of human scent from someone sitting in a blind will keep them away.  Even absent a photographer in a blind, the mere handling of the bait, our footprints, or any human artifacts we may leave behind at the site (cameras, ropes, wires, tape, etc.) could discourage them from approaching.  Though not impossible (I know a photographer who spent two winters sitting in his blind at subzero temperatures who, during the second winter, managed to get a few nice frames of a bobcat as well as severe frostbite in his hands.), it is extremely improbable that one will get a good photograph of certain animals from a blind or any method that requires the photographer to manually make the exposure.  Hence, my decision to try using remote camera setups for some of the most difficult to photograph species.  In fact, I was encouraged to experiment with remote setups by my friend, Roy Toft, who helped National Geographic photograph tigers in India with similar, albeit somewhat more sophisiticated, unmanned techniques.   

In the second installment of this series on remote setups I will provide an overview of remote camera, aka game camera technology, review several leading game cameras on the market, and discuss the necessary and optional features of these cameras you should consider if you’d like to create your own remote setup.  In the third and final installment, I’ll show you how I and my friend and fellow naturalist, Jeff Parson’s, scouted out the location and positioned the camera to get the photo of the bobcat featured at the top of this blog.   

May the light be with you,
 

Gustav 

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.    

It was a sparkling, spring day, clear and dry without a cloud in the sky when we left the runway of the tiny airport outside of Buffalo on Monday, April 5, 2010. Harry banked toward the west and flew up the Niagara River as we climbed to 3000 feet. He pointed out the Erie Canal as I adjusted my polarizer and fine tuned my exposure in order to have everything ready for the moment when we passed over the Falls. The plexiglass windscreen of my door was slightly tinted and considerably scratched. Opening it wasn’t an option. First, it didn’t open far enough and secondly, the wind would have ripped it off. The greenish color cast of the tint I knew I could eliminate in post-processing but the scratches I hoped would disappear as I focused my 17-40mm to infinity.  

Within 15 minutes, the rapids upriver of the falls appeared outside my window. I held the front of my lens as close to the windscreen as possible without allowing the edge of the polarizer to touch the window since then the vibration of the airplane would inevitably transmit through to the camera. Harry banked toward the west and began a clockwise circuit of the falls. He had flown over Niagara Falls numerous times and though Harry gave me some idea of what I would see of the falls through the window of the plane, I had never seen them from the air so I really had no idea how large they would appear from 3000 feet, the mandated altitude over the falls for private aircraft. Zooming in our out by changing our altitude wasn’t possible.  

There’s not enough room in the cockpit for my entire camera bag so as Harry was going through his pre-flight check on the ground, I had tucked my 70-200mm into my jacket pocket and put the 17-40mm on my camera. Fortunately, I made the right choice and didn’t have to switch lenses at the last moment. When the falls came into view Harry dipped the right wing so the view out my window was almost directly down onto the Niagara River. I adjusted my zoom to crop out the wing and landing gear along the upper and lower edges of the image respectively and started shooting the instant that I had the entire sweep of the falls, including the American Falls and Horseshoe Falls, in my viewfinder.   

Photographing something that has, as they say, been shot to death (bison in Yellowstone, a monarch butterfly, fall foliage…) to create a compelling, original image is always a challenge. Niagara Falls? Wasn’t that the first post card ever printed?  OK, maybe the second or third. I have seen hundreds of images of Niagara Falls, but I don’t recall seeing anything like what I saw through my viewfinder as we circled over the falls that day. But what I saw next confirmed for me that my image of the falls, though not necessarily one-of-a-kind, would certainly rank among the elite of Niagara Falls images that have ever been made.  

As Harry continued his loop around the falls and we flew into Canada, I had the notion to put down my camera and simply enjoy the view as I knew that we would increasingly be facing into the sunlight and I suspected that we had passed the optimal angle for shooting the falls without considerable glare on the water. I resisted the notion, however, and I continued to adjust my composition as our angle on the view below us changed. Then, suddenly, for no more than a couple of seconds, two bright rainbows flashed in the mist over both the American and Horseshoe Falls.  If I had relaxed a few moments earlier and lowered my camera even slightly thinking that the window of opportunity had passed, I would have missed the shot and, rest assured, I would have regretted that for the rest of my life.  

I managed to get off three quick frames before the rainbows disappeared again. A few seconds later, glare obliterated the jade green water of the river and I allowed myself to check my LCD screen. Two of the images clipped the Skylon Tower on the Canadian side near the left edge of the image – a casualty of not being familiar with the scene and knowing the important elements to include in the composition. In the last frame, it was all there!  I showed Harry. “Want to go around again?” he asked.  “Absolutely,” I replied. 

We made another circuit of the falls but alas, this time, we did not see the rainbows. The angle, with respect to the sun had to be just right to see them, something I learned from photographing rainbows in the plumes of mist from erupting geysers in Yellowstone. In other words, had we not spotted the rainbows on our first pass, we would likely never have spotted them at all. Did I mention that plain dumb luck is a critical element of nature photography?  

Thank you Harry!!! 

Canon EOS 1-D Mark II N
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L USM IS Lens at 34mm
Moose 81A Polarizer
Aperture Priority, Evaluative Metering
f/6.3 @ 1/640″, ISO 400
IS stabilization on
handheld

 
My Cousin, Harry Fischer, with His Plane

May the light be with you,

Gustav 

This image was taken 20 minutes after sunset, on an unusually calm evening, on the shores of Lake of Two Mountains in L’Ile Bizard, Quebec – just a few kilometers from where I live.

When shooting sunsets, it’s worthwhile to wait a 15-30 minutes after the sun has dipped below the horizon to see what happens. The wind usually dies down, the sky can take on some beautiful & rich colors, and the lower contrast between land and sky is easier to control.

I really love this type of image - the simplified composition, calm water and pastel colors convey a sense of tranquility and calm. I hope you like it too.

The colors are “real”, and obtained by stacking three separate filters: a Singh-Ray 4-stop Neutral Density filter to slow the exposure to 20 seconds, a 3-stop Graduated Neutral Density filter to darken the bright sky, and a polarizer to eliminate the shine off the wet rocks and to help see through the water’s surface.

Image specs:

• Canon EOS 5D Mark II
• Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L USM at 21mm
• f/13, 20 seconds, ISO 200
• Singh-Ray 3-stop hard GND, Singh-Ray 4-stop ND and B+W polarizer mounted on a Lee Filter System
• Gitzo GT3541LS tripod with RRS BH-55 ballhead, mirror lockup, cable release
• Processed with Adobe Camera Raw 5.x

Please leave a comment, either positive or negative – it’s always appreciated. If you’re interested in purchasing a print of this image, please let me know.

See you in the field,

Rob

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

Me? My pulse accelerates as I see the promise of snow and ice to come.  Winter is a time of photography opportunity, as there are relatively few winter landscape photographers. Creating winter images is very rewarding, and I just love strapping on my snowshoes early in the morning while the sun is low in the sky, and exploring snow-covered forests and meadows… I really love the solitude and quiet of winter.

Winter Sunrise
Canon EOS 20D
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L USM lens at 25mm
1/8s, f/22, ISO 100
Hoya Moose Polarizer and Hitech 3-stop GND

There’s nothing like feeling the little hairs in your nostrils freeze up as you’re breathing in the icy air on a cold winter day! With the sun being much lower in the sky during the winter months, it is usually possible to do outdoor photography at any time of the day. With blue skies, white snow, frost-covered branches, iced-up streams, there are so many photographic choices!

But of course, you need to know how to stay comfortable in cold weather in order to enjoy this.

Let’s be honest here, being “comfortable” outdoors in winter is much more a psychological issue than a physical one. Deciding to leave a warm bed early in the morning to head out in the cold of winter is not easy… but it is worth it. Being on location early means that you greatly improve your photographic opportunities. Birds and wildlife are more likely to be visible at dawn than in the middle of the day.

Frosty Great Gray Owl
Canon EOS 20D
Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM lens
1/320s, f/8, ISO 200

This Great Gray Owl was barely starting to wake up when I came upon it. It was still frost-covered from the cold night. Yeah, yeah… I can year you say “Wow, you must have been really lucky to get that shot.” Well yes, and NO. You need to be there to be “lucky”. You need to go out and be outside to get the shots. I would not have been “lucky” if I were still in bed. I would not have seen this beautiful Red Fox had I been sipping a latte in front of my PC! By going out often enough, odds are that you will eventually see something (note to self: buy more lottery tickets in order to get more “lucky” )

Red Fox in Winter
Canon EOS 20D
Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM lens
1/2000s, f/5.6, ISO 200

Ironically, when I go out in winter, I tend to overdress and be too hot rather than cold. It’s so easy to forget how much heat a body can generate while walking or snowshoeing in snow… On this -22C/-8F morning, I can still remember airing out my heavy winter parka and removing my hot gloves a number of times in order to avoid sweating too much:

Snow-Covered Trees in Winter
Canon EOS 5D MkII
Canon EF 24.105mm f/4 L USM lens at 47mm
1/25s, f/14, ISO 100
B+W Polarizer

There’s really no big secret in staying warm on a cold winter day… For your body, dress in layers, avoiding anything that absorbs moisture. Use a base layer of wool, silk or a synthetic fibre, optionally add an insulating layer of fleece or wool of appropriate thickness, and then finish off with either a good quality soft shell or a parka with, both of which should have a hood. Mix and match the layers, adding or removing any one depending on the temperature. If I wear a parka, I’ll not wear a heavy insulating layer, preferring instead a lighter synthetic long-sleeved t-shirt over my underwear.

On my legs, I wear lightly insulated breathable soft shell pants that shed snow and moisture,  along with a set of long-johns when it’s colder.

Black Diamond Guide Gloves, Columbia Titanium Bugaboot  XTM Omni-Tech Boots
MSR Lighting Ascent Snowshoes, Kahtoola MICROspikes

I always wear wool socks inside the best pair of boots I could find, the Columbia Titanium Bugaboot  XTM Omni-Tech, rated to about -60F when active. These are wonderful, warm boots that are relatively light and very comfortable, and are snowshoe friendly.

I searched a long time for a good set of gloves that would keep my hands warm while also allowing me to handle my camera gear. I’ve fallen in love with my Black Diamond Guide Gloves, they’re very warm and give me just enough dexterity to use my camera, but I can only wear them when it’s below -15C / 1F, as I otherwise get too warm in them!

For headwear, I like a synthetic beanie, which is light but warm and sheds snow.  On very cold or windy days, or if I need to stay still for a while, I always have the option of slipping on my shell or parka hood.

My other tools of the trade include a good set of snowshoes (the MSR Lighting Ascent) and the fantastic Kahtoola MICROspikes which work perfectly on the slipperiest and iciest of terrain. A note about the MICROspikes: I wear about size 9 shoes/boots, and I use a medium size over my running shoes (great for winter running on icy streets!) and use the large size on my winter boots and hiking boots.

Ah… winter…  The ice, the snow, the stillness and the beautiful solitude. I just love it.

Magenta Sunset over Lake of Two Mountains
Canon EOS 5D MkII
Canon EF-17-40mm f/4 L USM lens at 22mm
10s, f/16, ISO 100
Singh-Ray 3-stop GND, Singh-Ray 4-stop ND, B+W Polarizer

If you’re interesting in purchasing any of the above images as prints, please contact me!

See you in the field,

Rob

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. 

Especially gratifying for me is the close, albeit virtual, association that the new site provides for Rob, Billy, and myself.  With Billy back in Ireland again, it’s become even more difficult for us to present the collaborative, live version of our multimedia presentation, Sojourns in The Wild.  The website, in a fashion, allows us to continue “performing” together, though I will miss those standing ovations.    All of the music on the new Sojourns website are William’s original compositions and you can order CD’s from Billy by simply clicking on the links to his website provided wherever you see his name on the Sojourns site. 

I’ve said this to Rob and I don’t mind sharing this admission with you that, were it not for my friendship and working relationship with him and his invaluable contribution to Sojourns, I’m not sure that I would still be photographing, at least professionally.  The digital transition, over the last decade, what with the pressure on photographers from editors and stock agencies to stay on top of the most recent technological advances in cameras and having to spend upwards of $5,000.00 nearly every year on a new body with the latest bells and whistles and greater resolution, the expense of computers and imaging software, not to mention the learning curve, in particular for the more computer illiterate among us, the cost of developing and maintaining a sophisiticated website…has caused a number of otherwise outstanding nature photographers to take pause and assess what they can afford to invest in this endeavor, either professionally and certainly as a hobby.   I know several who ultimately decided that it’s not worth it.  Nature photography is not something one gets into for the profit; it’s a passion driven by anything but a love for money.  Without Rob, my cost / benefit analysis would long ago have forced me to get a real job and I am eternally grateful to him for allowing me to continue in such a grand fashion.  

Additionally, Rob has launched his own website: Visions In Nature.  No, he’s not leaving Sojourns but his superb photography and unique style certainly merits a stage of its own.   Rob also recently published an article on the web’s finest nature photography forum, www.NatureScapes.net on his own approach to handheld macro techniques.  You can read the entire article here:  http://www.naturescapes.net/docs/index.php/articles/381.  It seems that Rob is entirely on the map as a standout nature photographer.   

As you browse through the new Sojourns website, you’ll notice that we’ve eliminated quite a bit of the old clutter to provide a more streamlined experience for visitors and because we’ve chosen to focus or efforts on some projects and for various reasons…Billy’s moving back to Ireland, for instance…set others aside for the time being.  We’ve done extremely well, especially during the summer art circuits, with our print sales so we’ve given that more of a spotlight.  Enjoy “strolling” through the fine art print galleries and listening to Billy’s enchanting music while you consider a print for your home or office or as a gift. Drop into our store for one of our books.   I was, by the way, very taken by the response, so far, to the announcement of my memoir, Nesting Behavior, and the reviews I’ve recieved from those who have read it.   Here’s just one comment from Kristin Camp about the memoir:

Certainly, the tours and workshop itineries which continue to take us all to some of the most spectacular natural environments on Earth will remain a principal component of Sojourns so long as, well, you know, the light is with us.   We’ll be spending time aboard the Barbara Frost again this summer with Capt. Andy Patterson to photograph seals, puffins, and breathtaking seascapes on the Tom Jordan Memorial Boreal Coast Tour.  It’s not too early to sign up for the 2010 Green Mountain Workshop because that one fills up fast and don’t wait any longer to join us out west on the Arizona Color and Light Tour in early spring of 2010.  I’m happy to report that the Kenya Photo Safari is full, but sad for those of you who didn’t make it on board this time around.  As they say in Kenya, “Hakuna matata”, that is, no worries – we’ll offer it again in a year or two.   I will post the Fall Foliage Magical Mystery Tour and the Moose Tour itineraries shortly but they will take place in late September and early October again as usual.  And finally, consider joining us on what I find to be one of the most productive and exotic tours we have to offer in 2011 and travel with us to Newfoundland! 

The new website makes it easy to stay current with what’s happening at Sojourns.  Simply visit the News page  and read about the latest updates and subscribe to the monthly Sojourns newsletter so you can read our blogs and learn about upcoming exhibits and new tours and to be among the first to see brand new images as we bring them home from the field.   And if you visit the new Contact & Bio page you’ll see that Rob finally convinced me to update my photo there.  I’m really going to miss that older photo of younger me with the cowboy hat and flowing locks.  So what if it was a quarter century old photo! 

Once again, Rob, Billy, and I hope you enjoy the new Sojourn In Nature and that you’ll use the comment option at the end of this blog or drop into our inbox to share your thoughts with us.  Now, have a sip of your beverage, grab another cracker or cookie, and click right through here to the new website:  www.SojournsInNature.com. 

May the light be with you, 

Gustav

Rob here, again.

NatureScapes.net, the best nature photography resource web site and forum on the internet, has published an updated version of my Hand-Held Flash Macro Photography article, which was originally published on the Sojourns In Nature blog. This is quite an honor, and I wanted to share the good news with you.

See http://www.naturescapes.net/docs/index.php/category-photographic-technique/41-photographic-technique/381-rob-servranckx.


All the best,

Rob

I just wanted to let you know about my new web site, Visions In Nature.   No need to worry, I’m still partnering with Gustav on Sojourns In Nature. Visions In Nature is just the place for me to share my own images and style.

I’d love to hear your feedback on the site. Here’s a screen shot of the home page:

Look for an overhaul of the Sojourns in Nature site in the coming weeks… I’ve spent most of my holiday break working on it.

All the best for 2010,

Rob

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.  

There’s a particular view down a forested constriction in the pond with layers of forest, water, and Belvidere Mountain filling in the far background that I like and so I hurried the group to that spot.  In spite of a slight breeze that swayed the dried fireweed in the foreground, the surface of the pond was glassy with spectacular reflections of “autumn’s fire” on either side of the pond.  Indeed, that was the shot.

I kicked up my ISO a notch and adjusted my aperture to compromise between an adequate shutter speed to freeze, as much as possible, the motion of the fireweed and sufficient DOF to keep the entire, sweeping scene in sharp focus.  Then, during a relatively calm moment, I  pressed my cable release and checked my histogram.  We were all lined up shooting pretty much the same composition and a few moments later, when you could already pick out the brighter stars in between the layers of clouds, we grinned at one another like Cheshire cats as we folded our tripods.  Again, I heard the comment from one of the participants, a remark Belvidere Pond often elicits from my clients, “If I don’t get anything else on this trip, I’m already happy.”

We returned to the clubhouse feeling utterly fulfilled where we feasted on home-made lasagna and strawberry shortcake and viewed our captures on our laptops over more wine.

The next day, we chased the autumn color and the light across northern Vermont, returning to favorite haunts and exploring a few new locations I had scouted previously and determined had possibilities.  The day ended again with a fabulous home-cooked meal – venison this time, apple pie and, of course, more wine and viewing of our photos and discussing compositions and exposure and some post-processing tutoring. 

On the third day, it was off to the White Mountains and the famous Kancamangus Highway. 

Among the most outstanding autumn subjects in the Whites is the reflection of fall color on the Swift River that runs alongside the Kanc between the Bear Notch road and Conway.  Numerous convenient parking spots along the highway provide easy access to the river which runs north-south.  The morning sun illuminates the trees on the west bank of the river while the tall trees on the east side keep the river – and most importantly the white granite rocks in the river – in shade.   Many top photographers come here to capture fall foliage from this unique perspective creating kaleidoscopes of color and counterpoint abstracts among the stalwart rocks and the whimsical, dynamic water. 

There are also many waterfalls in the vicinity, so many, in fact, that one of the trails in Franconia Notch is called the “Falling Waters Trail”.  Some require a bit of hiking, others, like Silver Cascades, are hard by the road.  Fortunately, we had mostly overcast skies throughout the tour which, as you might know, provides much better light in which to photograph autumn color than a typically “nice” sunny day.  Of course, cloudy skies can also bring rain and, this year, we had plenty of that.  Rain also assures that the waterfalls will be primed and roaring against their colorful backdrops but we frequently had to take turns huddling under each other’s umbrellas or fumbling with our camera’s ”raincoats” in order to photograph the striking contrast of cascading white water and resplendent foliage.  

After the official tour ended, Rob came down from Canada and joined me in the field for a few days.  (See his recent “Hot Shots” in this blog series.)  The two of us concluded our fall tour at Lake Willoughby back in Vermont at a spot on the south shore which we discovered during the Green Mountain Workshop in Spring.  Here, fretworks of roots of cedar trees that have been exposed by waves during storms provide intriguing foregrounds against the turquoise water, the dour cliffs, and the fall tapestry beyond. 

Willoughby Lake
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 17-40mm  f/4 L IS USM lens at 24mm
evaluative metering, aperture priority
.4″ @ f/16, ISO 100
Singh-Ray 3-stop hard GND, B+W polarizer
Gitzo GT3541LS tripod, cable release, mirror lockup

Roots and Fall Color at Lake Willoughby
Canon EOS 1-D Mark II N
Canon EF 17-40mm  f/4 L IS USM lens at 20mm
evaluative metering, aperture priority
.6″ @ f/10, ISO 100
Lee 1.5 and 3 stop GND and Moose 81A Polarizer
Gitzo GT3541LS tripod, cable release, mirror lockup  

Rob will be taking over the blogs for the next couple of months treating you to some more of his brilliant winter images while I come in from the cold and retreat to my writer’s garret to work on a book project.  Here’s a parting shot.

 

Sunset Clouds
Canon EOS 1-D Mark II N
Canon EF 70-200mm  f/4 L IS USM lens 200mm
evaluative metering, aperture priority
1/60″ @ f/4, ISO 200
handheld

While I cast about for a publisher for my second book, Nesting Behavior, The Romantic Memoir of a New England Nature Photographer, I’ll be offering downloads of the manuscript from our website for a pittance.  I hope you’ll consider reading it by the fire this winter and will let me know what you truly think of the story and the writing.   I’ll send out a brief announcement when the book is on the website.

Don’t forget, we’ll be returning to Kenya again and the immensely popular Tom Jordan Memorial Boreal Tour to Maine is coming back in 2010.  Of course, the Green Mountain Nature Photography Workshop and the Fall Foliage Magical Mystery Tour will always be among our offerings.   You can find itineraries for all of these programs on our “In The Field” page here: http://www.sojournsinnature.com/inthefield.php.

May the light be with you,

Gustav 

Sojourns In Nature is very proud to announce that we are sponsored by:

My friend, Gary Farber at Hunt’s, has generously offered to contribute $125.00 toward the cost of our multimedia presentation, “Sojourns in The Wild – Farther Afield” and all he’s asking in return is an invitation from the club, museum, theatre, campus, or organization hosting the show to attend the presentation and set up his Hunt’s exhibit.  This reduces the cost of the presentation to $225.00!  You get the presentation, a field seminar, and two pros to tap for advice, deals on gear, and otherwise abuse us until you run out of questions or they throw us out of the pub after the show.

This month’s special Hunt’s offer to Sojourns In Nature Subscribers:

 Need a tripod?  Get the promotional code from Gustav (Gustav@SojournsInNature.com), pass it on  to Gary (digitalguygary@wbhunt.com) at Hunt’s with your order, and get free shipping on any Gitzo tripod. 

The grey, drizzly November weather we’re having is making think back and look at images taken in different seasons. I fell upon this one taken in May 2009, following record-high spring water levels. After many weeks of frustration caused by extremely high water, which robbed me of my usual shoreline compositions, the water finally receded dropping by about 6 feet in 1 month.

Still, the water line was still many feet above normal levels – the “seaweed” see in the foreground is actually grass, and the “aquatic plant” in the middle of the image is a dry-land bush…

In order to tame the very bright sky and properly expose the dark foreground, I used two GND filters, a 2-stop one just below the bush, and a 3-stop one at the horizon line.

Image specs:

• Canon EOS 5D Mark II
• Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L USM at 31mm
• f/22, 4 seconds, ISO 50
• Singh-Ray 3-stop hard GND, Lee 2-stop hard GND, B+W polarizer
• Gitzo GT3541LS tripod with RRS BH-55 ballhead, cable release

Please leave a comment, either positive or negative – it’s always appreciated. If you’re interested in purchasing a print of this image, please let me know.

See you in the field,

Rob