Friends, i had to be creative today and do some artwork on photos that i took on Thursday. Cranes Flying and the moon rising were just too tempting to leave as is, so here is my rendition that depicts the crane spirits moving into winter across the harvest moon. God gave me photoshop, so i sometimes use it to express my feelings. til Tomorrow MJ
Category Archives: Crex Meadows
Artwork
Wing Beats
Friends, i know i do this same image every year and sometimes several times a year, but the takeoff and landing of cranes on their roost site is still a wonder to me. The air from their wingbeats causes a rush of joy as they pass over my head, sometimes so close you feel you could touch those feathers. Crex Meadows this time of year is a paradise for photographers who love nature. til Tomorrow MJ
Juvenile Trumpeter Swan
Friends, Early in the morning we went to see the sunrise in Crex Meadows and watch the Sandhill Cranes lift off their roost site and fly off to the fields. But this Trumpeter Swan family stole the show. This cygnet has juvenile gray feathers with a striking pink bill and sorry about the adult in the background, serves as a nice contrast to show off the adult vs young coloring. Next Spring they will all be white with black bills. til Tomorrow MJ
The Last of Fall
Friends, the end of fall season and this scene has disappeared as we have snow on the ground this morning. yuch, time to break out the overcoats and boots. But i can enjoy this scene one more time. the leaning trees are real and not an artifact of the wide angle lens, as you can see some straight trees in the background on the right side of the image, til Tomorrow MJ
Sunrise Crane
Friends, this Sandhill Crane has recently landed in Crex Meadows in Northwestern Wisconsin. About 12,000 birds will gather here before their migration southward. In the early morning, starting at sunrise, they fly off their roost site and go out to the fields. A test of my new lens while panning the birds shows the sharpness, a vast improvement over my old lens. til Tomorrow MJ
Mad Birdie
Friends, the expression on this yellow-rumped warbler appears as though he is mad. I think it is the white eyebrows, but loved the feather details so excuse the extreme crop. He was only a few feet away but he is a very small birdie. A disclaimer, this was shot last spring with my old lens 100-400 mm Canon so I am comparing these results with the new telephoto 150-600 mm, I like the new lens better. til Tomorrow MJ
Tamron 150-600 mm Sharp
Friends, I have been distressed by those who claim that the new Tamron 150-600 mm lens produces a soft image, so i set about testing what i sensed is true about this lens. The top image is the original image of an eagle sitting on her nest in the fall (now) after the immatures have left. The bottom left image is a 23% crop of the original (77% of the pixels were cut) raw image shot with the 150-600 mm extended to full 600 mm and focused on the yellow eye. The bottom right image is the same extreme crop with a software cleanup. You can judge for yourself. til Tomorrow MJ
Red Necked Grebe
Friends, having a ball working with my new lens, sharper and faster focusing than my old lens, not to mention more magnification (600mm). This lens for the money is a real bargain, so far the only defect is my shooting technique, but i am practicing for that once in a lifetime shot. This red-necked grebe is shy and for two summers has eluded me, but i spied him thru the dense blue stem grasses along phantom lake and was able to photograph without a distracting background. I love the color of the lake when it is slightly choppy as in this image. til Tomorrow MJ
Adult Harrier
Friends, this Northern Harrier is probably an adult male and was hunting on an open field. You can see the blurred background as i panned with the bird in flight. This image was taken with my old 100-400mm lens, looking forward to working a similar image with my new 150-600mm lens. til Tomorrow MJ
Weekly Photo Challenge: Summer Lovin
Friends, i love photographing beauty in nature and especially macro work, so while nosing around the wild lilies,in my childhood we called them tiger lilies, i discovered a small butterfly nectaring inside the cup. He is a hairstreak and these small creatures are easily confused with the Karner Blue, a rare butterfly also found in Crex Meadows. til Tomorrow MJ
http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/summer-lovin/ other contributions on this theme can be found at this link
MJ Springett 