Best way to hunt a deer, for photos that is!

Friday morning I was up early and off to work before the sun rose. I watched it come up and almost stopped on the highway 3 different times to take some photos of it cresting the horizon but I had to be at work bright and early so I kept going. I still managed to get to my exit early and decided to take a quick detour to Sunset Lake in Bridgewater.

For those of you that don't know, I drive a hybrid - to be more specific a Toyota Prius. The Prius is really cool because at speeds less than 30 miles an hour it has a tendency to turn the engine off and use the electric motor. I found a spot to park and glided up and imagine my surprise when I saw a deer maybe 25 feet away. Her ears didn't even twitch. The silent mode of the car took her completely unawares. Of course, I then made my first mistake, I turned the car off. The smarter thing would have been to just open the window and shoot pictures of her from there. (The windows are electric - they Don't work with the engine off)

I decided to be a little braver and got out of the car without closing the door. She pricked her ears at the sound of me getting out and gave me the first shot.

D300, 70 - 300mm VR, 260mm, f/5.6, 1/30s, ISO 800
Click image for a larger view

She didn't like the camera noise but slowly started moving through the woods and since I wasn't moving at all she kept going. She grabbed something to eat but kept her eye on me. When she stopped and looked through the opening in the trees I grabbed my second opportunity.

D300, 70 - 300mm VR, 300mm, f/5.6, 1/25s, ISO 800
Click image for a larger view

I love the way the trees frame this shot. I definitely recommend a hybrid for sneaking up on animals. It makes it much easier.

Dinner in my Backyard redux

My wife was looking at the blog this morning and asked how the picture of the deer had come out so well since I had taken it through our kitchen window. I reminded her that I had turned off the lights in the kitchen to minimize reflections and then I showed her the real secret. You see I had grabbed the camera with the attached lens from the bag and had very little time to change any settings except for the shutter speed. Deer don't tend to stick around when you have a dog that barks at the site of anything encroaching on its territory.

You can see from the top photograph that the whole picture appears washed out and grey. I very simply opened the shot in Adobe Photoshop and reset the black point and white point on the photo using a curves layer. I used the black of the Deer's eye and the white from her ear and the rest of the colors aligned right with it.

Dinner in my back yard

Sunday afternoon, after the thunder storms passed through Wanaque, guess who decided to come for dinner. There was a tasty tree with some low hanging branches that she just couldn't resist. The photo was shot through a closed window.

D300, 18-200mm VR, 150mm, f/5.6, ISO 720, 1/10s

White Horses!

A two day absence and you guys already thought I had fallen into my bad habits again. Saturday was a traveling day for vacation and yesterday was unpack/veg/mow the lawn day. Not to mention that some of us had to go to our day job again starting today.

Anyway, I have started to go though my pictures from vacation and this was one of the easiest posts since it was the easier of my galleries to put together. As you know - I went out to grab some photos of the rising sun on the day after Independence Day. Seemed like a good idea when I had spontaneously woken up at 4:30 in the morning, stupid me. So off I went.

On the way back from the 2 different spots that I hit I ran into these two beautiful creatures just staring at the road while they were mowing the lawn. What a sweet deal - they mow the lawn and fertilize it at the same time.....!

I pulled over right there and started shooting. They backed off pretty quick but they were definitely interested in me and my clicking camera. The white one - the one that looks bleached, really is that bright - it isn't blown highlights. The two made a majestic pair as they strolled around their paddock. If you click for a larger view you can also see the whole gallery.

D300, 18 - 200mm, 170mm, f/6.3, 1/500s ISO 200
Click image for larger view

Hanging out down in the pond

This critter was hanging out in one of Storyland's ponds.

D300, 18-200mm, 200mm, f/5.6, 1/125s, ISO 200
Click image for larger version

Dawn over Tilton

My wife Sue asked me last night what my plans were today. I, of course, didn't have anything in mind. She was taking the kids over to her 91 year old Grandma (Nana) to do some baking and I was free to do whatever I wanted. I joked - well if I wake up at 4:30 I'll go take some sunrise photos. I didn't plan on getting up early - on vacation I like to sleep late - the only time I really get a chance to catch up.

So - what happens - I wake up without an alarm at 4:30 and decide I might as well go out and get some photos. I snuck out (Sue was awake) but my father-in-law had no idea I had left. The benefit of parking the car out front.

I was figuring I would head to the Franklin Falls Dam and got a mile down the road and was struck by the beautiful sky over the mountains with the clouds in the valley. I pulled over and that became my spot.

D300, 70-300mm VR, 70mm, 1/125s, f/4.5, ISO 220
Click image for larger version

I love the juxtaposition of the dark foreground trees with the clouds hanging over the valley and then the high clouds over the mountains catching the sun still under the horizon.

I stayed around taking pictures from there until the sun completely cleared the horizon, but just barely. That led to this photo:

D300, Tokina 12-24mm, 12mm, 1/500s, f/11, ISO 200
Click image for larger version

This photo is from the same spot with a much wider lens. You can still see the clouds over the valley and some remnants of the red over the mountains. I love what the lens does to the sun - always nice when it makes a star and in this case it appears to make a 16 pointer. I have many more photos but with the laptop trouble I am having it is a little more difficult to edit them while I am here.

The best part of the morning was when I walked into the house and my Father-in-law jumped. he didn't expect anyone to be coming in and was surprised when I appeared. Katie was sitting next to him and had a big laugh at his expense.

The Flume

We went to the Flume Gorge at Franconia State Park with the family on the first full day of vacation. I haven't been to the Flume for over 25 years but I had remembered enjoying it. Surprisingly enough Katie didn't put up a fight and seemed fairly excited about going. She wanted to be the tour guide on the hike.

By the way - a great thing to know about NH state parks is that NH senior citizens get in for free. You need a picture ID but if you are 65 years or older and live in NH then you get into all state parks for free. Not only do you get into the Flume but you get a free ride on the tramway if you desire.

The hike was a lot of fun and I got some great pictures. Katie enjoyed going up the flume although I am not sure that being a tour guide is really her thing. For the first half mile she never looked up from the map and the guide except to see if we got to a place yet. It was cute and endearing but she missed a lot. The second issue for her was that the tour guide always has to be in front. You weren't allowed to pass her which always makes things interesting.

The Flume still holds its beauty and it is a fun hike - it does help to be in some shape. The girls especially liked when I came up through the Bear Hole. Kimmy was sure that I couldn't make it but I won't take no for an answer and got up fairly easily.

We took the Ridge trail back and that leads you by the Pool.

D300, Tokina 12 - 24, f/6.3, ISO 360, 1/500s

I took this shot from the covered bridge looking into the pool.

Peek-a-boo

I was walking back from Sunset Lake to the car when this little critter decided it was a good time to play peek-a-boo. He was a little skittish but really wanted to see what was going on so he kept sticking his head out and then pulling it back. Squirrels are a sure sign of spring and they seemed to be out in force today.

The good news about not putting your camera away is that you never know what you are going to see.

D300, 70-300mm VR, 300mm, f/5.6, 1/320s, ISO 400

More spring evidence in Wanaque

The weather has been very warm here and except for the frequent boughts of rain it has been pretty nice. We decided to take a walk as a family yesterday and the benefits of living at the bottom of the hill versus the top (where we live) become obvious.

The first picture is of a tree right in front of our house as its blooms appear.

D300, 18-200mm VR, 200mm, f/5.6, 1/100s, ISO 200

The second photo is a similar tree a block and a half away at the bottom of the hill. The blooms are already cracking open.

D300, 18-200mm VR, 170mm, f/8.0, 1/400s, ISO 200

First Hawk - Oops - Turkey Vulture

Photographing birds in flight is never an easy thing to do. Between trying to keep the bird in focus (or in some cases even getting the bird in focus) and framing the shot it is very difficult. Add to that the fact that you need a decent zoom or prime lens it gets even more difficult. My longest zoom is a 200-400mm but it is too slow for getting useful shots of birds in flight so I am now using my 300mm f/4.0. My guess is that I will go to a 1.4 or 1.7 teleconverter for more reach when I am doing photos like this in the future as you lose some detail when you crop a hawk shot at 300mm.

D300, 300mm, f/11.0, 1/400s, ISO 200

Moon over Wanaque

The half moon decided to make an appearance this afternoon and led to this photo:D300, 300mm f/4.0, f/7.1, ISO 200, 1/400s

Which was follow by these robins who were very comfortable in a budding springtime tree.D300, 300mm f/4.0, f/10.0, ISO 200, 1/400s

Almost Spring

I was out shooting this afternoon for a few minutes and noticed that spring is ready to be sprung. You can see the buds on this tree just starting.

D300, 300mm f/4.0, ISO 200, 1/400s, f/8.0

Ducks at Sunset

I was going through my photos from yesterday (didn't really get a chance to shoot today because of the rain) and found this shot that I took right after the sunset skies that I posted yesterday. I like this picture because I captured so much of the scene. The ducks, the sky, the water - I just like the way it all fits.

D300, 18-200mm VR, 48mm, f/4.5, 1/30s, ISO 320

Sunset over Sunset Lake

I went to Sunset Lake in Bridgewater to take some pictures of the birds who have a tendency to hang out together. Of, course, I had to stay for awhile and before I knew it the sun was setting over the trees and it made for some great shots.

D300, 12-24mm, 12mm, f/4.5, 1/50s, ISO 500
D300, 12-24mm, 24mm, f/4.5, 1/50s, ISO 400

Geese Flying

I stopped at Sunset Lake tonight on my way home to play with my camera once again. I took lots of pictures of the ducks and geese but this is one my favorites. The geese coming in to land from the direction of the setting sun.

D300, 70-300mm VR, 300mm, f/5.6, 1/500s, ISO 200

More Orchids

Here are a few more shots from the orchid show (made up names). Click on the pictures to see the entire gallery.

These looked almost like they were plastic and were really cool. Cake candle holders...

D300, 18-200mm, 200mm, f/9.0, 1/60s, IS0 200, Flash

A pink spotted friend

D300, 18-200mm, 56mm, f/8.0, 1/250s, IS0 200, Flash

A purple butterfly

D300, 18-200mm, 200mm, f/22.0, 1/60s, IS0 200, Flash

A portrait in red (love the white outline)

D300, 18-200mm, 170mm, f/5.6, 1/50s, IS0 200, Flash

Is it Spring Yet

So it isn't really spring yet but I am not sure how you can tell. Maybe the snow on the ground for the last few days is a clue but with all the rain we had today a lot of it has melted. I have seen a few blue birds and cardinals in the last few weeks but while we were at Botanical Gardens on Sunday I caught this fellow in a tree.

D300, 18-200mm, 200mm, f/8.0, ISO 200, 1/250s

Right next to him was this other little guy who had just finished eating some of the berries from the tree.

D300, 18-200mm, 200mm, f/9.0, ISO 200, 1/320s

Orchid Show

D300, 18-200mm, 60mm, f/20.0, ISO 200, 1/60s, Flash

D300, 18-200mm, 18mm, f/9.0, ISO 200, 1/60s, Flash

D300, 18-200mm, 18mm, f/9.0, ISO 200, 1/60s, Flash

D300, 18-200mm, 50mm, f/16.0, ISO 200, 1/60s, Flash

D300, 18-200mm, 200mm, f/5.6, ISO 200, 1/60s, Flash

D300, 18-200mm, 95mm, f/18.0, ISO 200, 1/60s, Flash

D300, 18-200mm, 36mm, f/20.0, ISO 200, 1/125s

New York Botanical Garden

The family went to the New York Botanical Garden to see the Orchid show yesterday. I highly recommend that if you have some time that you try and get there. There is so much to see and the cool part is you can actually listen to the tour on a cell phone. They give you a number to call when you get in and then you enter a code as you get to each different part of the show. The flowers are absolutely gorgeous and the smells are great.

They have a kid section of the garden where yesterday Kimmy and Katie made Boll Weevil hats and planted a soy bean that they were given to take home. During the spring and summer its a great park to walk around and enjoy the day and during the winter they do a train show with model trains and the different sites and buildings of New York City.

Night Time Photography

As usual - I had trouble sleeping last night. What better way to waste some time then to come downstairs and set up the camera to shoot some night time photos out the windows. I hooked up my new corded remote - bought it from a Hong Kong ebay store and placed the camera on a pillow aiming out the window. Too lazy to set the tripod up at 1am and the pillow seemed a good choice. The remote worked like a charm, it gets rid of the vibrations that occur when you press the shutter release.

I took a bunch of photos using only moonlight and a neighbors automatic lights. All of my photos were 4 - 5 second exposures. It will be much easier in the summer when I get rid of the glare from the window I was shooting out of.

D300, 18-200mm, 18mm, f/3.5, ISO 720, 5s