Too late? Right on time?

I admit that I was pretty comfortable sitting in the living room drinking a cup of coffee and reading a bit this morning when the local news came on.  I was looking at pretty bright skies and was a bit surprised to see the view from the OHSU “tram-cam” showing the city in pretty deep fog.  My plans for the morning changed rather abruptly.  I packed an assortment of gear, kissed Dianne goodbye and headed for Pittock Mansion.  I kept telling myself that “it will be what it will be” but I was hoping to still find the city fogged in.  A young man was standing by railing at the viewpoint when I approached.  His first words: “it was really spectacular a half hour ago”.  I can only imagine.  The fog was drifting around and was strongly backlit to the south.  I cussed at the foreground bushes again and started shooting a few series of images for panos.  It was what it was.  Not a bad way to start the day all-in-all.  And, yes, the goose really did fly through the viewfinder at just the right time.  Guess I wasn’t too late after all.

Shooting blind

Eric and I met for the first time at Pittock Mansion one night about a month ago.  We have exchanged emails and FaceBook posts since then and discovered that we both enjoy photography and being “out there”.  I enjoy bird photography even if I can’t identify too many species.  I’m learning bird behavior and trying to teach myself some discipline in camera techniques to maximize my chances of getting birds captured in a sharp photoraph.  I was pretty excited when Eric told me that he had reserved the photo blind at the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge and invited me to go along.

We met up at Eric’s place and headed out for the refuge.  We shouldered packs and walked the 1+ miles into the blind as the sky started to get some light.  I’ve never been in a bird blind before muchless shot from one.  This one is pretty nice but I was a bit dissapointed in the camo webbing they have hung on the roof and how it limited the vertical photo options in what seemed to be an already confined opening.  Little plywood sliders allow photographers to alter the view from 3 sides of the blind while still keeping the interior of the blind fairly inconspicuous to the birds outside.  We settled in and started trying to figure out how to set tripods for use or just use the window sills as supports.  Neither of us had brought any beanbag supports along.  I quickly opted to use the tripod after some really pathetic attempts to shoot using the window sill.  I was also a bit dissapointed in the backgrounds you get from much of the available views.  Power towers, highways, houses, barns…. not what I wanted in my photos.  Luckily there were a few views that excluded the debris and allowed a nice multi-layered background of trees and hills.

We shot for about 3 hours and opted to head back to the observation deck by the visitor center.  We stopped to photograph the nesting owl along the way.  I tried flash this time but I think it will work a lot better once I get a Better Beamer.  The photo below typifies the many that I took from the blind.

The birds were really quite distant from the blind since the lakes are still quite low.  Another month or two and the water will be lapping at the blind’s supports and the birds should be a different story all together.  We noticed that there are opening along the floor of the blind as well.  These would allow us to lay on the floor and shoot at a bird’s eye level.  That would solve much of the background issues as well.  If the birds are closer the focus depth of field would also help isolate the birds from the background.  I’m pretty sure that Eric and I will return when the water is up and the forecast is for a clear day.

The photos below illustrate the type of shot one can get from the observation deck near the visitor center.  This deck is on a river terrace about 30 feet above the floodplain.  The lakes are distant so the birds are small and a long lens is a prerequisite unless you just want to shoot some nice grand landscapes.  These images were shot with a 200-400mm lens.  A few had a 1.7x in addition.  I’m looking forward to a time when the birds might be closer.

A casual visit

I’m not feeling terribly guilty about it.  Really.  It seemed like the natural thing to do today.  You see I’m going to hole up for several hours in a bird blind with a relatively new friend, Eric, this coming Saturday.  The blind is at the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge and I’d never been there before.  Sure, I’ve driven by the turnoff several times but never took the time to go in.  So, motivated to get familiar with the place before sunrise on Saturday and hoping for some practice taking photos of moving birds before our trip to Bosque del Apache next month, I grabbed the gear and headed out while it was still dry.  My goals were simple:  (1)get a feel for the place and the way birds move around during the day and (2) practice wing shooting birds in good light.

I was greeted by a nice lady volunteer as I put my camera pack on and grabbed the tripod for the hike out toward the blind.  She advised that there was a snow goose – “first this year” right down below the visitor center.  She did everything but tell me I was a fool if I didn’t go over there right then to get a look and a picture.  I wandered over to the patio viewing area and gazed out at the mostly drained wetlands.  Lots of geese and ducks.  I suppose that there could have been a snow goose in there but, really, I wasn’t terribly excited by the view or the light.  Off I went on the hike to the north and west.  I ran into a guy walking out and he advised me that there was the “picture of a lifetime” waiting just ahead.  He gave me directions and could barely contain his enthusiasm while sharing the location of an owl sleeping in a tree just across a creek from the trail.  He told me that a volunteer, Ron, had the bird staked out with a spotting scope and that I couldn’t miss it.  Well, I did.  I kept walking past where the bird should have been.  I scanned and looked… no dice.  Pretty soon I ran into Ron and he asked if I’d seen the owl.  He admitted that it really wasn’t all that unexpected to have missed it… I knew I liked this guy.  He took me back and put his scope the bird.  Good grief… even with the longest lens I have the bird was still a very small part of the frame.  And it was like midnight dark in the area.  I jacked the ISO up to 1600 and practiced what I know about “proper long lens technique”.  I’m not really thrilled with the results but it is honestly one of the few owl photos I’ve ever taken.

I walked out to the wetland observation deck and located the trail to the blind I’ll share with Eric this Saturday.  Since I didn’t have any reservation to the blind I turned around and headed back to the car without a vist to see what it offered.  I went back to the visitor center and set up on the patio near the refuge office.  I thought I’d just see if I could get any decent light on birds as they flew in.  Anyone who’s been with me knows that I took a lot of shots with crappy light… just no discipline I guess.  Every once in awhile the light got bright and birds were flying in the best direction to “light up”.  All of the following images were taken using the 200-400 lens with a 1.7x add-on.  None of the images are sharp enough to pass for a print but they are close.  Poor technique.. probably.  OK, most likely.  I’ll try to do more shots without the 1.7x and see if the image sharpness doesn’t improve.

At one point I heard a clamor of geese and ducks in the distance as they all scattered to the skies.  Then another wave of birds left from a pond closer to me.  I scanned the sky for the hawk or eagle that promoted the defensive behavior of the birds.  Here it came… right at me.  I put the focus mark on the eagle and silently hoped that the continuous servo was engaged.  I took a series of shots as the eagle flew right over me.  Was I ready for this?  Nope.  Was I excited?  Yup.  Did I get anything worth showing?  You decide.

Looking forward

We had a great time in Bozeman with Chad and Devri.  Now, on the way back to Portland, we will once again stop at the poplar stands on I-84 near Pendelton.  Our hope is that the week since this image was taken has produced brighter colors and a few more leaves on the ground.  We’re also hoping that we get wonderful backlight and a somewhat cloudy sky to keep the highlights from blowing out.  If we don’t get all that we want I think we still have some wonderful images to work with.

Where’d they all go?

Dianne and I visited Yellowstone today while Chad worked and Devri attended school.  Snow had recently fallen and the roads into Lamar Valley were snowy, slick and slow.  Since we had no specific target the slow trip was just fine.  We had gotten some coffee in Gardiner and all the cameras were set for action.  Our first clue should have been the lack of elk around Mammoth Hot Springs.  We’d always seen elk there.  Not this time.  Hmm.  Off we went to Tower Junction and east into Lamar Valley.  One solitary bison way off in the distance.

Then we saw a herd of elk on a far slope so we pulled over to take a look.  One bull evident among the cows.  Again, way off in the distance.

A lone coyote pranced along the road long enough to get a few frames.

As we headed out of Lamar and back to Bozeman a small group of bison had assembled next to a small lake.  Lots of young ones played in the group.  Again, the animals were quite distant and the light was poor.  What the heck, its just pixels.

Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge – Ridgefield, WA

I’ve been to the Ridgefield NWR many times in the past.  I’ve driven around the loop alone and with friends.  I’ve been there at sunrise, sunset and midday.  You never really know what to expect but it rarely disappoints.  Yesterday I went mainly to get familiar with a new lens in preparation for a trip to the Bosque del Apache in mid-December.  Even though you are restricted to your car while touring the Ridgefield NWR you frequently get closer to birds than I’ve ever experienced before.  At this time of year I expect more birds than I saw.  Maybe it was that the ponds had been drained or there were hunters shooting nearby but the few birds that were seen were clearly more wary than I’ve seen before… faster to fly away and generally at a greater distance from the road.

Herons seem to be a fixture at Ridgefield.  I’ve never been there that I have not seen at least 3…. more often than not there are dozens, give or take.  This trip brought me 4 herons and bunch of red winged blackbirds along with a red tail hawk and a harrier.  Pretty slim pickings but fun none the less.

This heron was on the job early in the morning.  I’m not sure if it was really hunting already or just waking up.  It was about 50 yards from the road and I knew that it would be small in the frame.  I shot a few horizontal images and a few vertical and then proceeded on my way.  As I started my second circuit of the drive through the refuge the heron was still there and had not moved as far as I could tell.  I always marvel at the patience these birds exhibit.

When I got home and processed the pictures from the day I kept coming back to this one.  Maybe it’s the foggy feel.  Maybe it is the geometric design in the trees around the perimeter of the scene.  I knew that putting the bird in the lower right third was a good thing but I didn’t realize how the image would inherit a “painterly” feel from the soft light and shallow depth of field.  I enjoy the image and will probably print it out for critique at the camera club next month.  Until then I’ll be practicing panning birds with a lens that ’s larger than anything I’ve ever owned before.  Much to learn… throw me in the briar patch!

Fall extravaganza

Anyone who follows my blog knows that my color vision deficiencies can be a tad frustrating at times.  Most of the time being “color blind” is nothing at all.  Other times, like right now with fall foliage showing their seasonal colors, not being able to see reds or oranges accurately is pretty much a drag.  Poor Dianne, I bet she answers me a hundred times a day when asked “how about that one?” or “any color over here?”    She fills in the blanks for me and keeps me from posting images of dead leaves that I think look really colorful.  I’m grateful for her patience with me.

I was fortunate to be able to visit the Wenatchee National Forest yesterday and the day before.  I had a room in Leavenworth, WA and about 4 hours of work to do for the Forest Service on Wednesday morning. The color started for me as I climbed the pass on I-90 coming out of Tacoma.  It continued on Bluet Pass as I neared Leavenworth.  The larch just seemed to scream at me to stop, climb the hill across from them and take a photo.  I learned later that the nifty little lens mount that I have for my tripod has developed into a problem and no longer steadies the camera when I am taking photos manually.  Drat… nothing like trying to make sharp photos with a camera that wiggles and rocks if touched.  I was lucky to get a few sharp images but I suffered from the goofy lens mount throughout this trip.  Many potentially nice images are now digital memories thanks to my lack of recognition of the problem before I got too far along in the trip.  Lesson learned but I’m looking for a solution.  My son the mechanical engineer may get a parental request when we see him in Bozeman next week.

Larch on Bluet Pass

The Icicle River watershed is a wonderful place to roam around in the evening.  The light was fading fast and my stomach was telling me that I should be looking for some food.  My head and heart won out and I stayed until dark knowing that the restaurants would still take my money once I showed up.  While the light was flat, the colors were great.. if you like yellows… I do.

Icicle River

The next day I spent time with a friend who still works for the Wenatchee National Forest.  Matt drew the short straw and got the assignment to take me into an area where a problem road had been decommissioned and turned into a trail.  The main goal here was to keep the road from adding sediments to the Wenatchee River and, thereby, screwing up the fish habitat.  Salmon were working in the riffles when Matt and I walked in to take the photos.  The darn light on the river kept me from getting any decent photos of the fish and their redds (egg nests) but we both enjoyed watching them do their thing.

I said goodbye to Matt about lunch time and headed my car back up the river to where we’d seen some folks doing fish surveys.  I figured I’d try again to get some photos of the fish and the redds.  Oh yeah, there just happened to be a serious amount of wonderful color along the Wenatchee River as well.  Darned if some of it didn’t find it’s way into my camera’s memory.

Wenatchee River above Leavenworth, WA

Wenatchee River

Today woke to fog and “cloudy bright” light.  I’d been going to the Japanese Garden to check on colors for the past couple of weeks but had not been terribly impressed.  Seems you just can’t hurry some things.  I headed back to the garden this morning and was greeted by several other photographers toting tripods and a variety of lenses.

(taken with my iPhone)

Of course I had to play as well.  Here’s one take of the tree that I brought home.

Portland Japanese Garden

I continued to roam around the Garden for another hour and decided that my patience had run thin with waiting for all the other visitors to move out of the viewfinder frame.  I may come back another day soon during “member hours” so the crowd will be minimized.  The following images are all multiple shot panoramas and capture some of the iconic (eg, done before) scenes in the garden.

Portland Japanese Garden

Portland Japanese Garden

Something different

It seems that I frequently look to others for wisdom about how to make better pictures.  I lean on David duChemin (http://www.pixelatedimage.com/blog/) a lot.  I really enjoy his images and his writing style.  Just tonight I bought his latest ebook “Drawing the Eye” and will be studying it in the coming days as time allows.  I always seem to learn something from a majority of posts by Joe McNally.  It is really interesting to read his words during and immediately after spending a week with Jay Maisel in NY.  I have to respect Mr. Maisel for what he has done and what he is but it sure seems that his New York personality runneth over at times.  Hey.. to rock McNally back on his heels has to be a serious punch to the ego.  I’m going to be watching McNally for how he put this experience to work.  I would have loved to just been a fly watching the two of these guys walking and shooting the streets of NY.  Funny.. I’ve seen McNally’s images, or a sample of them, but I haven’t seen any of Maisel’s…. hmmm.

I’ve been reading about composition, lighting, processing… my head is full.  Last weekend we had the good fortune to shoot two wonderful young people”s  high school senior portraits… thanks Clifford and Hannah.  You rock.  For me there is nothing quite like a session of “let’s see what you’ve got” to reinforce that time with the camera is probably more important than time with the books.  Dianne and I seem to have fallen into a rythm while working with seniors and we enjoy it.  Creative use of backgrounds and light to make the young folks look their best pushes us.  Anyone who’s done this knows how challenging – and fun – it can be.  When I sit down at my computer and smile at images running by every 3 seconds I know it’s been a good day.  Then I slow down and critique the images for quality… sharpness, background, light, exposure, pose… they all matter. That’s where I learn.  If I can see a light in their eyes and they seem to be saying “this isn’t so bad” then I feel successful.  Sure, we could push the envelope more in posing and settings but for right now I’m comfortable with trying to make sure I get their eyes sharp and that the background pushes them to the front and doesn’t absorb them.

So tonight I have some time on my own and I thought I’d dive back into the files to play a bit…maybe practice some post-processing techniques I’ve been reading about.   I landed on some images from one of my favorite places, Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge.  This image came from a trip on a winter morning when I was alone and had time to spend doing what ever it took to get what ever I was after.  How’s that for a long way of saying “wandering at will”?

Leafless trees.  Fog.  Clouds.  Grasses.  No birds.

Graphic elements come to the front and I know from past experience that the layers of trees can be really eye catching.  I said it was winter so you can imagine that the dominant color was gray.  It was calm and not raining.  I had a thermos of coffee and, being restricted to the car during the drive around the refuge, I was warm.  No grand sunrise.  No amazing colors.  Just quiet neutral tones.  Smells like black and white to me.

Hill Walk #2

We took some time off from processing images and preparing for the weekend’s photo sessions in eastern Oregon to go on the second “hill walk” listed in the book Portland Hill Walks. This one is listed as being just under 5 miles and looked to be in somewhat familiar terrain… crossing Cornell and visiting Pittock Mansion. Staring at NW 25th and Raleigh the route winds up through some amazing neighborhoods. Some of the houses were built in the late 1800’s and some are being built today. I’m always amazed at the beauty of the neighborhoods and the variety of styles. I’m also rather amazed at the amount of work being done on quite a few houses. I guess they are all trying to beat the coming winter rains. The walk starts with a quick succession of stairways the longest of which is 141 steps. Very cool to find these in good shape and clean.

The book provides a nice history of the area and some of the owners of the homes. The authors talk about landslides and terraces… all part of living in the west hills.

And then the trail enters Forest Park and wanders in the beauty of the forest. The trail exits the park at Pittock Mansion and then starts back down hill to northwest neighborhoods.

We finished the walk feeling fortunate to be outdoors and in good health. This cheery scene just seemed to capture the way we felt about having the opportunity to “be out there”.

The best part was the people

So I seem to be a bit possessed with a desire to get a good pano shot of the moon rising over Mt Hood with the city in the foreground.  If you follow this blog you’ve seen many other attempts and read other stories.  When Dianne and I came home from a great dinner at Derek and Heidi’s place… thanks for turning 13 Riley!….. we both commented about how clear the night sky seemed.  Hey, it’s been Portland gray for some time so the clear sky was noteable.  I knew that the moon was still mostly full but wasn’t sure where it would come up relative to Mt. Hood.  What the heck, we got home, packed some camera gear, and headed back to Pittock.  It wasn’t too long until we saw the moon coming up.  There was a low cloud layer and the moon was way north of Mt. Hood.   At least it was in view.

Shortly after we arrived and finished setting up a young couple wandered into the area with cameras in evidence.  It’s not unusual to have the company of other photographers but these two approached with smiles and friendly conversation.  We quickly put the Canon/Nikon debate to rest and set about shooting.  As we shot we laughed a bit about many things.  It was fun to just enjoy the moment with them, get to know them a bit and continue the quest for the elusive shot I want so badly.  So, thanks Tracy and Eric (pardon any spelling errors, please).  You made our evening a lot more fun that it would have been otherwise.

Oh yeah… there is a pano that extends far enough to the south to include Mt. Hood but the mountain was so dim and faded that it really doesn’t warrant posting.  HDR didn’t help either.  This simple 2 shot pano seems to work best for me.  Another time… the quest lives on.