I Might Believe Anything on This Topic

Astrophotography has got to be my least familiar photography topic. As much as I try, other than the obvious stars and the moon, I struggle to know what is out there in space during the dark of night (that really is not dark!).

Once again tonight I went looking for the green comet. Like previous attempts, I am finding a very bright spot that may or may not…

I Took My Canoe For A Ride

Ice changed my plans for paddling today.

The afternoon was going to be on the Shell Rock River, enjoying the protected water corridor, but when I arrived there was too much shelf ice at too sharp of an angle for me to…

I’ll Fly Away

My photo for today isn’t much…just an image of an immature rough-legged hawk. As much as I tried, I was not able to capture a better image of this bird. It simply did not want a picture taken.

As I Explained

Wow! What a nice turnout and engaged audience for my nature photography presentation tonight! I sincerely appreciate so many of you taking time out of your schedules to look at photos, talk stories, and ask questions. I sure had fun!

Near the end of my presentation I explained how when I started my “Picture a Day” project eighteen years ago I wondered if I would find something each day to photograph. I mentioned that I quit worrying about finding a photo subject because something always came through.

Today, even tonight, I was not certain what image I would record and share with viewers. After all, it was dark, the day was long, and…

Tough as Ducks

During the spring migration I often spend time attempting to photograph waterfowl in flight. Bird in flight imaging is challenging - the birds are moving, my camera and I are moving, and exposures and focus are ever changing. In other words, there are many moving parts that need to align to produce a single image that is acceptable. For that reason, my success rate on ducks in flight is considerable lower than when I photograph stationary birds.

With our heavy blanket of snow forcing ring-necked pheasants to field edges, I have had ample opportunity to practice photographing nearly stationary birds in fields along road edges. Yes, some of the pictures have been interesting and worked, but what I have wanted was nicely lit, correctly exposed and focused rooster pheasant in flight images. Today I came pretty close.

If you look carefully you can see…

Restoring Balance

(Note: This image was created last night, after a very long weekend.)

I do not hide that some of my responsibilities in life have dramatic impacts on my emotional well-being. Considering I routinely respond to disasters, medical emergencies, and death scenes, it became important that I found a technique to bring balance back to my emotions after particularly trying incidents.

This past weekend was challenging for many of us. Our EMS pagers sounded more often than normal. With EMS providers being in short supply, that meant several responses with an ambulance within a short time period.

Yesterday the tones went off for many to respond to a particularly violent trauma call. Many of us worked together for hours to process the scene. As the process was wrapping up, I recognized a need to restore balance again.

Nature is my “go to” when life is weighing heavy on my mind. So last night, cold or not, I…

Moon Phases?

After spending much of the night up or awake working my volunteer job, I did something I seldom do - I slept late today. As a result I was too late to go ice fishing. Normally that would not have been a big deal, but from what I heard from several anglers, the fish were really biting today.

Fish biting and me seeing plenty of wildlife activity at the same time makes me believe the…

Part of the Process

People sometimes ask how I am able to shoot the pictures I do. Some days the process is remarkably easy. Other days, like today, hours of effort are invested in the process with no return.

For more than two hours I stood out in a snowy prairie hoping to photograph a short-eared owl. Not one bird flew close enough for a photo. In fact, the owls I did see were a long distance away. Still, I…

Two Things a Shih tzu Does Not Like

During our afternoon drive today I learned two things our Shih tzu Layla does not like.

Dislike #1 - Layla does not like it when I open the truck windows and turn off the heater to eliminate heat shimmer from distorting my images. The sudden chill makes her ride uncomfortable and she quickly, but briefly, shakes like a quaking aspen leaf in a gentle breeze.

Dislike #2 - Layla suffers from a heavy posterior. When I slow quickly or turn faster than she is prepared for, her weighty back end tends to …

Not Fit For Man, Beast, or Layla

After work today Layla and I drove around the countryside in search of scenery or wildlife suitable for photography. The wildlife was…

Edited For Privacy

For the past while I have been watching red fox activity not too far from our home. Today I was fortunate to record a couple of nice images of the beautiful animal in snow.

For the privacy and protection of the fox, I have edited the images enough to obscure the location of the animal.

Move Along

At an intersection today I found this rooster ring-necked pheasant out strutting on the road, eventually working toward the side of the road, but hardly moving when traffic came along. He showed no fear, even when traffic whizzed by at close range. My slowing to avoid hitting him only…

Selfish Benefit of Deep Snow

Now that we have many inches of snow blanketing the area, one selfish benefit of the white stuff is that it makes observing and photographing some wildlife species much easier than normal. That isn’t so good for the wildlife since it means they are having to work much harder to find life-sustaining food to get them through the worst of winter.

Today I spotted a small flock of horned larks. I paused along the road and this one…

Same Scene - Leading Lines

I am preparing to do a couple/few photography presentations in the upcoming weeks. As I explain photos, one thing to discuss is leading lines. Leading lines guide viewers to follow the path. Leading lines can be straight, angled, curvy, or whatever direction they might take. This wandering water path (leading line) goes back and forth. Did you notice how you…

Traveling with Gramps

It is one thing to have the title of “Grandfather.” It is another to be a “Gramps” or whatever name your grandkids might give you as your relationship with them develops. I have said many times that if I can do at least half of what my granddad did for and with me for my very special grandkids, then I would be doing OK. This weekend my oldest grandson and I went for a drive to explore and did we ever find something interesting that I am sure he will remember for a long time.

The two of us traveled to the Mississippi River to check out the conditions at one of my favored place to paddle the big river. Of course the river was frozen, but that did not mean there weren’t things to see and do.

As we approached the ramp area/parking lot, I noticed several large totes neatly organized in the lot. Several fellows were working around the totes, so the two of us got out to look around and ask questions. What we learned was that we were seeing the fruits of cutting holes in the ice and seining freshwater…

Hibiscus Trumps Winter

My photo for today was likely to have been a hen ring-necked pheasant taking flight against a snowy background had I not noticed our hibiscus was still producing a beautiful blossom. There is another about ready to appear - likely over the weekend.

So, instead of yet another winter image for today, how about we…

Eggs?

During my drive with the dog today I spotted this bald eagle on alert, on perch, near a nest. I am wondering if its mate was in the nest, possibly sitting on eggs. Time will tell.

Ol’ Layla

For a decade or so we had two Shih tzu dogs in our family - Lexi and Layla. Lexi was a smart dog with a bit of a princess mentality, and very much a close companion. We lost Lexi too soon. Layla was the opposite type of dog Describing Layla requires a paragraph of its own.

Layla has that typical scrunched face that Shih tzus are born with. Her body is considerably wider than her undercarriage - likely from her fondness for human food. Layla’s eyes are a shade of blue or a milky white due to cataracts. Even before she developed cataracts, her eyes protruded and looked in different directions. She is either partially deaf or has mastered selective deafness. The dog can’t always hear, but crinkle a mini-marshmallow bag just a little bit and she is on full alert. Ol’ Layla developed serious dental problems resulting in a series of surgeries. She now does not have one tooth in her mouth. Without teeth, her tongue falls out of her mouth, often with a left lean. With the tongue hanging uncontrollably, she tends to drool. Her attitude waivers between standoffish and welcoming…she decides and we respond accordingly.

This afternoon after work I thought it would be nice of me to…

Beautiful Introduced Species

Much of the time when someone mentions an introduced species, the thought of negative, unexpected consequences comes to mind - think of plants or fish species that take over native populations. On those more rare occasions when an introduced species does not have detrimental effects, we think nothing but good of them - as in the ring-necked pheasant.

Conditions like we have had the past couple of days have made rooster pheasants shine. The sun on their bright, colorful feathers against a background of snow is a sight to behold. Such compositions are certainly a delight to nature photographers - an introduced species or not.

This fellow was out scratching around in a field of snow. I could not see that he hit any grain, but with a little more time and perhaps some luck, he will have a meal for the day. Or, by being exposed out in the open he may become a meal for the day for an eagle, fox, or coyote.

Ready To Take Action

I teach many active shooter/active threat response classes with local law enforcement officers each year. Of the options to possibly save your life (Run, Hide, Fight) - the hide option is one where too often I see people get themselves boxed in.

As we discuss this in the trainings…if you are going to hide, hide in a manner that allows you to quickly get up to fight, or run, or take down the threat - whatever you deem to be in your best interest. Do not hide in a way that you can do nothing if you are found. We encourage people to be in a position to spring up and take action - to fight like your life depends on it because it probably does.

I thought of that discussion as I watched this bald eagle on a frosty perch. One minute the bird appeared to be resting comfortably and a split-second later the bird had…