Nature Light Photo

Photo of the Week – Santa Rosa Plateau Garter Snake

Garter Snake on the Santa Rosa Plateau

Every spring, after the rains, the Santa Rosa Plateau comes alive with life. The vernal pools are full, the wildflowers are blooming, and the wildlife are coming out of hibernation.

The garter snake population is particularly active and in the middle of mating season. They seem to hang out at the edge of the vernal pools; the thicker females can have as many as 10-15 males around them at a time.

As you walk the boardwalk over the vernal pool, a snake might pop up from the bottom for a breath of air and swim on the surface for a minute or two. That’s what this little guy was doing before he disappeared toward the bottom again.

The image was taken with a Nikon D300 and a Nikkor 70-200 f2.8 lens at 200mm. The exposure was for 1/320 at f8 and an ISO of 640.

Photo of the Week – Bodie Weasel

Mountain Weasel

If you’ve been following me, you know I love Bodie, CA. The ghost town turned into a state park is one of my favorite places to visit at almost any time of year.

I was there last year in the early spring on a full day shoot at the park. I shot from sunrise to sunset. In the middle of the day, this little guy popped out from beneath the snow and started scampering around. He is a mountain weasel (Mustela altaica). It was the first time I’ve ever seen one.

I got this one good shot after working and waiting for over an hour. He would dive down between the snow and the bank and then suddenly appear somewhere else. I sat down behind a small bush, put the camera on the sticks, and waited, sitting fairly still. Eventually, he came out, posed for me, and took off across the field. Never saw him again.

The image was taken with a Nikon D300 and a Nikkor 70-200 f2.8 lens with 2x teleconverter. The exposure was for 1/800 of a second at f6.3 and an ISO of 200.

Please leave comment and let me know what you think.

Square Crop at Monterey Bay Aquarium

Monterey Sea Urchin

Usually, I like the keep the aspect ratio of my images in the same format that the camera produce. In my Nikon D300, that would mean a 3:2 ratio. That translates into a 4×6, 8×12, or 12×18. But in this case I felt the image required something different.

I first saw the sea urchin climbing the glass at the Monterey Bay Aquarium because the bright red mouth parts contrasted against the pale blue/aqua background. After some time I realized that the image was not going to work in my usual landscape or portrait orientation.

Because of the radial symmetry where all the spines radiate from a central point, I felt that the image required a square crop to emphasis the symmetry of the urchin. By focusing on the mouth parts of the urchin (the center) the out of focus spines lead the viewers’ eye into the center of the frame, holding their attention and keeping them in the frame. And when I composed the shot, I kept that in mind.

The image was taken with Nikon D300 and a Nikkor 50mm 1.4 lens. The exposure was for 1/30 of a second at f2 and the ISO was at 1000.

Please use the form below to leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

Photo of the Week – Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal

The Comfort of Friends

This was taken at Piedras Blancas beach near San Simeo, CA. I had to find the right angle that allowed me to fill the frame with the three seals and then wait for the seal to close her eyes to get the shot.

The image was taken with a Nikon D300 and a Nikkor 70-200 f2.8 lens at 200mm. The exposure was for 1/250 at f2.8 and an ISO of 200.

Please feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Photo of the Week – Morro Loon

This was taken during this years Morro Bay Photo Expo in the Shooting From the Water workshop.

The bird was just floating in the bay when it suddenly started to stretch it’s wings.

It was shot with a Nikon D300 and a 70-200 f2.8 lens at 160mm. The exposure was 1/640 second at f4 and an ISO of 200.

Morro Loon

Please feel free to leave a comment and tell me what you think.

Wildflower Blooms at The Santa Rosa Plateau

I spent Sunday morning at the Santa Rosa Plateau in quest for some good wildflower shots. There were none. There were almost no wildflowers. There were plenty of snakes.

That’s why I love the Santa Rosa Plateau in the spring. If you can’t find flowers, you can find snakes. And if that doesn’t work, the vernal pools always give you something to shoot.

Here are some of the shots I took.

The Photography of David Courtenay

About   month ago, I attended Dane Sanders Real Time Community one day presentation that included Dane Sanders, Chris Becker, and Scott Bourne. My whole intent was to listen to Mr. Bourne and ask him about being a nature photographer. I got that chance.

He recommended using some of the online forums, the first being NatureScapes.net.  I had already signed up for it previously, but have since become much more active in the community. That is how I ran across this photographer and saw his amazing work.

I was going through the NatureScapes.net forums and found a couple of posts by David Courtenay. He seemed to know what he was talking about, so I checked out his website.

One word: WOW!!!

The front page is a flash page with some AMAZING images on it. If you delve deeper into the site those images don’t stop. He has 25 different galleries and in none of them can I find what I would consider even a mediocre image. They are ALL breath taking and VERY well composed and captured.

I have a couple of favorites. One of them is#9 in the Indian Tiger portfolio. Most people would take pictures of a tiger in the wild and you would see the tiger and Mr. Courtenay has twelve other images that do that very well. This image is of a paw print in the mud and it is WELL done. I have seen images of tigers and if I went to India, I would have some good images of tigers also, but I think the image of the paw print shows a different view. There is enough in the image to give a sense of the size of the tiger.

The other is #27 in the American Mammal portfolio. It has a deer standing with it’s neck turned, looking to the right. I swear that he had to be laying on the ground in front of the deer to take the picture. I contacted him about it and he said that he used a remote on a camouflaged camera to capture the image. I don’t care, it is THE best deer picture I have ever seen.Images of deer are a dime a dozen, but none that I have ever seen are as good or from the perspective as Mr. Courtenay’s. I have seen images of tigers and if I went to India, I would have some good images of tigers also, but I think the image of the paw print shows a different view. There is enough in the image to give a sense of the size of the tiger.

All of them give you a fresh perspective on the subject. In the American Mammals portfolio, Mr. Courtenay has fourteen images of a squirrel. A SQUIRREL!!! Anyone can take a picture of a squirrel!! But not with the impact of his images.

His photos are what I want to be able to capture images similar to his. They are tack sharp, well composed, and convey the sense of the viewer actually being there. This is the skill that I want and need to develop in my images.

After reading his bio, he has been active in photography for quite some time and has lived in many places giving him access to some great areas to photograph. I realize that that experience has contributed to the excellence of his images, but as his squirrel photos demonstrate, you don’t need exotic subjects to make captivating images.

You need the skills and the vision to capture what is before you. This is what I aspire to achieve in my photography. I need to see the picture and become good enough to be able to capture it while it is in front of me.

I am going to have to step up my game to reach that goal.

Elephant Seals on the Central Coast

I spent yesterday at Piedras Blancas near San Simeon on the central coast. I got these images using my 70-200 f2.8 with a 2x teleconverter.

I hope you enjoy. I’ll post more later.