Photo of the Day! Gooseberry Falls!

Nikon D7000, Sigma 24-70 f/2.8 @ 38mm, ISO 100, remote shutter, 3 shot HDR

This is from a couple of weeks ago at Gooseberry Falls State Park in Minnesota.

Photo of the Day! Gray Jay

Nikon D90, Nikkor 300mm f2.8, ISO 640, f5.6, 1/320

This photo was taken in northern Minnesota early last winter. This was one of the few photos I have used my Nikkor 300mm without the TC14 attach. The Gray Jays have little fear of people allowing to use shorter focal lengths.

Photo of the Day! Ruddy Turnstone

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 300mm f2.8 w/TC14e II, ISO 400, f5.6, 1/2000, +2/3ev, SB800

I really miss being on the beach with my camera right now, so I thought I would post a photo from my Florida trip. I only had one chance to shoot a Ruddy Turnstone, but I think I made the most of it. One thing I learned while shooting on the beach it to bring a flash and shoot at least +1/3 of a stop to get the nice soft colors in the background to show.

Photo of the Day! Fishing at Gooseberry Falls..

Nikon D7000, Sigma 24-70 f/2.8 @ 27mm, ISO 100, f/16, 0.2 sec

This fisherman braved the rain and cold in pursuit of the elusive trout. Fishing at a scene like this, catching fish probably isn't even that important.

Photo of the Day! Split Rock Lighthouse

Nikon D90, Nikon 70-300mm VR, ISO 320, 70mm, f16, 1/400

I took this photo while camping along Minnesota's northshore a couple of years ago at Split Rock State Park. This was my first time using my then new Nikon D90. It took me awhile to get use to the new camera and its features.

Photo of the Day! Behind the Falls

Nikon D7000, Sigma 24-70 f/2.8 @38mm, f/9, ISO 100, 0.4 sec with Hoya 4 stop ND

This was from this past rainy weekend at Gooseberry Falls state park in Minnesota. This is from behind one of the falls. The trip ended up being quite the adventure, even though we were only able to camp for one night. The rain and storms over the last 24 hours have been very strong. We packed up when we could and got home a few days early. I did find time for this shot which made the whole trip worth it!

Photo of the Day! Abstract Landscape

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 300mm f2.8 w/TC14e II, ISO 400, F11, 1/40

While shooting Wood Ducks a couple of weeks ago I noticed this reflection. I like the vertical lines and soft spring colors.

Photo of the Day! Yellowstone National Park

Nikon D90, Tokina 12-24mm f4, ISO 200, f16, 3 shot HDR, Photomatix, LR3

As many of you know, Chad and I went to Yellowstone National Park last fall and loved every minute of it. I recently went through my files from the trip and found this photo. I merged the photos in Photomatix and brought the HDR back into Lightroom 3 to finish the job.

Photo of the Day! Common Loon!

Nikon D90, Nikkor 300mm f/4 AFS + TC 14E II @ f/7.1, ISO 720, 1/1000

Finally, open water, warm weather and to prove it, the common loon has returned to Minnesota! Summer here we come!

Photo of the Day! Tree Swallow

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 300mm f2.8 wTC14e II, ISO 500, f6.3, 1/1600, SB800

This was from a couple of weeks ago while shooting Eastern Bluebirds. The bluebirds would have to defend their nest from constant harassment from the Tree Swallows. I like this picture because it makes the story of the tree swallow "attacking" the bluebird nest better with the angry look in his eyes.

Photo of the Day! Cascade River State Park

Nikon D90, Tokina 12-24mm f4, ISO 200, f22, 3 shot HDR w/Photomatix

After a long cold and rainy week and not much shooting I went back through some of my older folders to see if I missed something. I love doing this because I almost always come away with something new.

In this case, I found this full shot of the falls in Cascade River State Park along the north shore of Minnesota. I merged the three photos -2,0,+2 in Photomatix and did the basic color correction in Lightroom 3.

Photo of the Day! Mexican Sunset

Panasonic Lumix FZ7 @ ISO 80, 6mm, f/2.8, 1/15, handheld

This was the most amazing sunset I've ever seen. This was also an unexpected image as noted by the camera I used. I was on vacation in Nuevo Vallarta with my wife when this beautiful sunset fell on the horizon. Amazing.

Photo of the Day! Gosling pt. II

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 300mm f2.8 w/TC14e II, ISO 400, f4.5, 1/1250, +1/3ev

What I like about this photo is that it shows the size difference between the adults and the goslings. These goslings couldn't be more than a couple of days old when I took the photo. I hope to have some more soon for you all.

Photo of the Day! Gosling

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 300mm f2.8 w/TC14e II, ISO 400, f4.5, 1/2000, +1/3ev

Here is part two of my trip to the local pond where I found three sets of goslings roaming around. I still plan to head back there ASAP before the fly away, but weather and my job has ruined those plans so far.

Photo of the Day! Female Wood Duck pt. II

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 300mm f2.8 w/TC14e II, ISO 640, f6.3, 1/1000

Here is the second image from last week's wood duck adventure. I was lucky enough to have a wood duck pair to swim past me to get this shot. I hope to get to that spot again soon to see if I can photography the male.

Photo of the Day! Killdeer

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 300mm f2.8, ISO 400, f5, 1/1600, +1/3ev, SB800

I took this photo just a few minutes after I took the "Baby Goose" photo that I shared yesterday. There is a resident Killdeer pair in a field close to home that is accessible by vehicle. I'm interested in following them as they nest for the spring and summer months. As I was watching the pair a Coopers Hawk swooped at them halfheartedly.

Photo of the Day! Baby Goose

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 300mm f2.8 w/TC14e II @420mm, ISO 400, f4.5, 1/1600, +1/3ev, SB800

In honor of the text I received at 0136 hours this morning from good friend that gave birth to a little girl, I thought I would post my first gosling photo of the spring. I was surprised to find 3 sets of families on one small pond close to my house over the weekend. I plan on going back to watch them grow over the coming weeks.

Mother's Day Photo of the Day!

Nikon D90, Nikkor 20mm f2.8, ISO 200, f4, 1/1600

This is one of our Mom's favorite photos taken in 2009 when I was doing a 100 Photos in 100 Days project. Part of the project was to make photos near my house. This was taken while I was walking my dog just a couple of blocks from home. Again this week, I have been looking close to home for subjects to photograph. I have had some good luck so far!

Photo of the Day! Blue-winged Teal

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 300mm f2.8 w/TC14e II, ISO 400, f7.1, 1/1250

I was out once again at my wood duck pond, and once again the wood ducks eluded me. After a couple of hours a male and female Blue-winged Teal landed in the pond. The best part is, they swan right at me! Just before they got into range, something spooked them and they flew off.

Photo of the Day! Grackle

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 300mm f2.8 w/TC14e II @420mm, ISO 200, f5.6, 1/1000, SB800 for fill

I went out for a quick morning shoot this week at a local park. I was out looking for Purple Martin's, but the city was putting the docks in the water where they are normally found. I walked around a small pond and found this Grackle in the dead reeds from last year.

Photo of the Day! Female Wood Duck

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 300mm f2.8 w/TC14e II, ISO 640, f6.3, 1/1600, +1/3ev, SB800 for fill

Yesterday I was at my favorite Wood Duck pond for an early morning shoot. At first I was a bit disappointed on the lack on wood ducks on the pond. However, after a short wait a male and a female swam past me. The male wouldn't come nearly as close as the female did.

Photo of the Day! Tree Swallow!

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 500mm f/4 AFS @ ISO 320, f/5.6, 1/800

This was from this week while photographing bluebirds. The tree swallows made it a point to harass the bluebirds and their nest boxes whenever possible. The bluebirds were vigilante though and fearlessly chanced them away each time. This tree swallow was much more relaxed soaking up some sun.

Photo of the Day! Field Sparrow

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 300mm f2.8 TC-14e II, ISO 500, f6.3, 1/2000, +1/3ev, SB800 for fill

This is from last weeks shoot with Chad at Hyland Park, MN. Chad and I were there looking for eastern bluebirds when this little field sparrow was chirping below the bird box. I quickly fired off a few shots while he was on the perch.

Behind the Image: Field Sparrow

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 300mm f2.8 w/TC-14E II @420mm, ISO 500, f6.3, 1/2000, +1/3ev, SB800 for fill

Chad and I were out on Friday April 29th, 2011 looking for eastern Bluebirds in a field filled with bird boxes. The key to any wildlife photographer is to know your subject that you are photographing. Chad and I watched the male bluebird chase away any incoming threats to his nest (mostly tree swallows). As we were watching the male bluebird and tree swallows chase each other around I noticed the familiar sound of a field sparrow calling. There were multiple field sparrows calling back and forth all morning long.

While photographing a male eastern bluebird, Chad saw the field sparrow calling from underneath the bluebird's box. Since the field sparrow was on the ground, I took my camera on the tripod and crawled on my belly down a slight hill towards my target.

Once I was in place, the field sparrow was busy calling for a mate and was unaware of my presence. The field sparrow hopped along the ground only landing on low laying perches. After a few minutes of shooting, I got the shot posted above. What I like about the photo is the intimate setting. The setting of the photo is this is were the field sparrow lives and spends most of his time. I was able to capture a small portion of this field life and how it looks and calls for a mate.

Chad and I as wildlife photographers capturing this moment is only part of what we love to do. The other part is showing other people that may not want to lay in a tick infested field a shot of a field sparrow calling in the grass.