Blog Archives
A Tight V
Friends, first , thanks for all the birthday wishes. i had a great day. Jim and I went to Crex for dawn and watched the cranes leave their roost site in the morning. This image was taken the night before when the cranes were coasting into their roost site. Three natural history facts are in this photo, cranes fly in a v formation, they coast before landing and they talk to the birds below to warn them of their landing. so til Tomorrow MJ
Why Heron have Long Necks
Friends, this Blue Heron has a very long neck so he can bunch it up and rest his chin when he is resting. The morning was very windy and his head feathers were standing up on end, i love the feather details. I did not like the green detailed background so i tried to minimize its effect, did i succeed??, til Tomorrow MJ
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
Wet Day in the Badlands
Friends, a wet summer in the North Dakota badlands leaves saturated colors and a dark sky. A little different than we usually see in August out there. 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
Sharp Tail portraits
Friends, these male Sharptail Grouse are taking a break from their dancing in the spring. They came very close to the blind and sometimes i even had to back the zoom off from 400 mm to 300 or even 100mm. What a day, started very foggy but with the sunrise came the color. til Tomorrow MJ
Red-Headed Duck
Friends, fall is here in all her splendor and ducks are arriving daily. This lone male red-headed duck was found north of us on Lake Superior. Hope his friends are somewhere around cause he was hanging out with some mallard females. I think this image is an example of how light can change a good image into a better than average image, or dare i say great image. The reflections of the fall foliage in the water helps to set off the duck colors, but what do you think? til Tomorrow MJ
Then There were Three in a Tree
Friends, sorry for the alliteration, i couldn’t resist. The cedar waxwings are migrating thru Duluth Mn on the shores of Lake Superior. This dead birch tree made a handy lookout for these three, they didn’t stay for long, just long enough for me to photo. The bird in the middle is an immature but still has the yellow tip on the tail. The little round red blob is a berry that the right bird dropped when he landed til Tomorrow MJ
Tamron 150-600 mm- More Testing
Friends, this is another test of Tamron 150-600 mm sharpness so those who are not interested can tune out now, this white-throated sparrow was on a bird feeder at Hawk Ridge, I was about ten feet away and the day was beautiful. This would simulate conditions that i usually shoot little birdies, handheld and sitting on a rock. No sharpening on this image just straight out of the camera, the bottom image is an extreme crop to show the head details
This image is pretty sharp and the one below has some minimal sharpness added in photoshop, so 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
MJ Springett 