Tag: wildlife photography blog

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The Circle of Life

Walking the trail this morning I thought to myself that this may be the first morning that I just don’t see anything really worth shooting.  It’s unusual to visit our local wildlife preserve and not see a variety of birds that change throughout the seasons.  Most everytime I go out I find something to shoot.  It’s been dry in West Texas for several months and the playa lake at the preserve is almost dry. This has a significant effect on both the amount and variety of birds that visit. I was almost completely around the trail and had only seen a few Redwing Blackbirds.

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Beep Beep

Was out this afternoon looking for things to shoot.  I didn’t come across Wile E Coyote  but I did  I come across a Road Runner or Chaparral.  According to the Audubon website, the roadrunner is the most famous bird in the southwest, featured in folklore and cartoons, known by its long tail and expressive crest. The Roadrunner walks and runs on the ground, flying only when necessary. It can run 15 miles per hour, probably with much faster spurts when chasing a fast-running lizard or other prey. Its prowess as a rattlesnake fighter has been much exaggerated, but it does eat a remarkable variety of smaller creatures.

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Wildlife Photography Tips. Slow down, you’re moving too fast

Paul Simon wrote the 59th Street Bridge Song (” Feeling Groovy “) in 1966. The song starts with the lyrics, “slow down your moving too fast, you got to make the morning last”. I think of that song often and the message it was trying to send. It applies to every aspect of our lives. Nowadays, we all have more to do than we have time to do it. One of the reasons I picked up a camera in the first place was to force me to slow down and see the world in a different light, so to speak. It’s never more important to slow down than when trying to photograph wildlife. Nature works on its own time, and it’s not in a hurry. I think a Chinese philosopher said that, or something like it. Anyway, slow down. Nature rewards the patient photographer.

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Wildlife Photography Tips. Wow, this lens is heavy!

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thought that to myself while walking with my supertelephoto lens. Currently I have a Nikon 500mm F4. This lens, as well as the rest of the supertelephoto group, is heavy. These lenses weighs in at around 10lbs, give or take a pound. Lugging them around is a chore. While you might occasionally take a few handheld shots with these superteles, you need to have some form of stabilization in order to consistently get keeper shots. The solution is a mono pod or tripod with some type of head. Together with your camera, battery grip, and lens, a tripod or mono pod with head adds to the weight. There needs to be a way to carry your rig comfortably, over significant distance and have it remain immediately available for use should a wildlife photography opportunity present itself. I have looked at and tried a number of combinations and the one I find most useful is this. Continue reading “Wildlife Photography Tips. Wow, this lens is heavy!”