Our guest blogger this week is Denise Ippolito.
Every year during the late spring and summer I spend a lot of my time photographing Black Skimmers on Long Island NY. The skimmers nest right along side of Common Terns, Piping Plovers, Least Terns and American Oystercatchers though the Least Terns keep more to themselves than the other species. Both the Common and Least Terns will aggressively dive bomb people who get too close to the colony. This gives folks the impression that the terns are the only aggressive birds in the colony. However as you observe the colony over time you will discover that as the adult skimmers bring fish to their chicks they will boldly attack any birds that gets too close to them including other adult skimmers. These attacks can be very brutal, and sometimes result in injuries. Adult Black Skimmers will also attack and kill young skimmer chicks that make the mistake of venturing away from their own nest site. I once saw a tiny skimmer chick wander into a nearby nest site; it was viciously attacked over and over again. It eventually found a small patch of vegetation to hide in but later on in the morning I saw it lying dead next to its hiding place. It can be sad for some to watch as nature does its thing. You cannot enter the colony and even if you could it would be wrong to interfere no matter how much your heart wants to. Only the fittest survive.
I love to walk out to the beach in the early morning. I can hear the skimmers barking calls up and down the shoreline. They are busy feeding and flying back and forth from one colony to the other; we often joke that they are feeding their mistresses at the other colony. The bills of Black Skimmers are large and thin from side to side. They are reddish orange at the base and black towards the tip. The lower mandible is longer than the upper mandible. The mandibles of the juvenile skimmers are of equal length until they fledge. At this time the lower mandible continues to grow. While flying the skimmer places the bottom mandible into the water to catch small fish. After heavy rains in late summer the fledged juvenile skimmers will practice their skimming techniques in the large puddles that have formed. Still mornings can offer great opportunities for capturing images of these beautiful birds in flight skimming on the calm water. Winds with southerly or easterly components are best as the birds will be flying towards you. Sometimes the young skimmers will practice skimming the sand with their lower mandibles just touch the surface.
When you photograph these birds in flight it is very easy to clip their wings when trying to fill the frame. Black Skimmers can have a wingspan of four feet. If you are set up with a long lens on a tripod you loosen your tripod collar and go for vertical captures. Similarly, when you are faced with wind against sun conditions and the birds are landing with their rears towards you it is a good idea to watch for them banking before landing and try to capture vertical originals of them in banking poses.
At the end of the nesting season when the flock leaves for winter it can be tough to watch the young skimmers that are unable to make the flight become easy pickings for the voracious Great Black-backed Gulls that patrol the shoreline looking for their next meal. It is a good time to revisit your images and remember the great times that you had capturing images that depict the miracle of skimmer courtship, egg-laying, hatching, growth, and development.
Our guest blogger this week is Manassas Warrenton Camera Club VP Steve Heap.
Many of us gain a great deal of satisfaction from searching out a beautiful or awe-inspiring location and creating a delightful image that captures the essence of the location. We have spent a lot of money on equipment, and certainly a lot of time in getting that perfect shot – and our friends are very complimentary about its beauty and often ask – why don’t you sell it?
Turning an image into cash is not as easy as it may seem. Almost everyone seems to have a good camera these days, and with the high technical quality from modern DSLRs and compacts (and iPhones!), it is getting harder to persuade people to part with a lot of money for an image that is probably much better than they could have done, but they still work out its cost in their head and start from there. You can try selling prints in galleries or at exhibitions, but there is a cost for each image sold, as well as the time spent manning the gallery.
The other approach is to try selling online. There are sites that offer to sell prints of your images, but the competition is fierce. There are also stock sites, which maintain a library of images for designers to license when they need a certain shot of a Caribbean bay to illustrate a magazine article. Without a doubt, the biggest sellers on stock sites are the shots of businesspeople around a table, or an attractive woman with a headset, but, with the internet making images available to any buyer in any country, there is also a market for attractive nature, landscape, travel and wildlife shots.
There is considerable debate in the stock industry between the traditional stock agencies like Getty who still charge several hundred dollars per license, and the online microstock agencies that sell images under subscription plans for a few dollars, but make up for it with high volumes. Of course, if your images are not exclusively offered via one agency, you can upload to many and multiply your chance of sales.
Is it easy to make money this way? No, it is not a quick path to riches, but it can be a useful way to pay something towards the cost of all that equipment!
Steve Heap has been selling images on the main stock sites for four years and has built up a portfolio of over 3000 photos covering travel, nature, product and portrait imagery. He has written an eBook on how to Get Started in Stock Photography available on Amazon and from his website, and he blogs regularly about his experiences in making money from stock photos at http://www.BackyardSilver.com
Our guest blogger this week is Debbi Koplen.
Butterfly season is almost upon us (May through September), and the WashingtonD.C.area is not lacking in places to photograph them. A list of locations will be provided at the end of this narrative.
Shooting Tips:
If one wishes to photograph the intricate details of a butterfly or fill the frame with the butterfly, it would be best to shoot with a dedicated macro lens. I recommend a macro lens that provides at least 1:1 ratio, meaning that the image will be life-sized. Macro adapters, such as those you can attach to an iPhone or a Lensbaby lens would also work.
I do not recommend using a tripod because butterflies flutter from place to place and a tripod would limit your ability to keep up. I have used a monopod, which provides some stability while allowing for more freedom of movement over a tripod. However, I usually shoot hand-held using manual, not auto focus. I control my focus by moving closer and further from the butterfly rather than adjusting the lens. Auto focus is usually not fast enough to get the shot unless the butterfly has settled and is not moving, which is generally not the case.
Most butterfly shooters prefer that the eyes, antennae, wings, and abdomen are sharp, while allowing the background to fall out of focus. An out of focus background creates that desirable creamy look, or bokeh. Quality of bokeh varies by lens. An out of focus background will also get rid of unwanted distractions, keeping the attention on the butterfly. To achieve an out of focus background, use a shallow depth of field (DOF) when shooting. To get a shallow DOF, you’ll need to shoot with large apertures (smaller numbers like 2.8, 4.0, etc.) and/or shoot with a telephoto lens (I suggest 105mm or longer). To get more focal length from your lens, you can couple it with a teleconverter. Just remember that you sacrifice a stop or two of light when using a teleconverter. The longer the focal length, the further you can shoot from the butterfly while still filling the frame with the subject, thus reducing your chances of spooking the butterfly off. I shoot with a Nikon 200mm micro lens, giving me ample room between the lens and the butterfly.
To see what is in focus and out of focus, try using your DOF preview button, which is found on most mid to pro-level camera bodies. You can also experiment with different apertures (bracket), or you can just check your LCD display and adjust as you go. You will want to shoot as parallel to the butterfly as possible (on the same plane) to maximize focus area of the butterfly. You might want to experiment with focus; however, and break the general rule of keeping the butterfly sharp. I have a shot of a butterfly “coming in for a landing” with the flower in complete focus and the butterfly soft. Rules were meant to be broken in photography!
Another general preference is to freeze movement. Unless it’s cold outside, butterflies flit, flitter, flutter, and fly, and seem to always be on the go. You need to freeze the action if you want your subject sharp. To do this, you will need a shutter speed of at least 1/500 of a second, and faster if you have enough light. If you are using a wide aperture, you already have an available light advantage. You can augment this by increasing the ISO. In addition, you can use fill flash to freeze action, but I prefer natural light. Again, rules in photography were meant to be broken. Try slowing down your shutter speed to document the movement of the wings, especially if you can hold the rest of the scene in focus. I have seen a local photographer do some very lovely work using this technique.
Butterflies look best in bright diffused light, so either a very bright, but overcast day or an indoor butterfly habitat with sky lighting (on a sunny day) is best. If shooting in full sun, be mindful of not getting your shadow in the photograph.
Butterflies spook easily so don’t be surprised if they fly off when you approach them. Your best bet is to situate yourself somewhere near an area that would attract them and wait. As long as you are still and quiet, they’ll land close to you.
Locations:
In the Washington, D.C.area, you have the choice of indoor and outdoor butterfly locations. My personal favorite location is the “Wings of Fancy” butterfly house located at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, Maryland. They open this year on May 5th, and stay open through mid-September. It has sky lighting, so the light quality is spectacular for butterfly photography, plus you are protected overhead if it rains. They import butterflies from North America, Mexico, and Central America. It takes them about a month to get fully stocked, so if you go early, you may want to visit later in the season to see more species. There is a small admission fee. Here is their website:
An outdoor location for photographing butterflies is the Smithsonian Butterfly Garden located on the 9th Street side of the National Museum of Natural History on National Mall. It is a winding path filled with flowers that attract butterflies (butterfly weed). It is fairly active with butterflies on hot, sunny days.
Another outdoor location is Meadowlark Gardens in Vienna, VA. There are areas of the garden that grow butterfly weed just to the sides of the main walking path that lead down into the property from the Visitor’s Center. Again, on hot summer days, you will see the most butterfly action.
Aside from these specific locations (all of which also offer flower photography), butterflies can generally be found during the warmer months in gardens, wildlife habitats, and public parks. Once while hiking along a ridge in July in the Blue RidgeMountains, I came across hundreds, if not thousands, of butterflies in one area. I could not believe my eyes! I photographed multiple butterflies in a single frame. I re-visited the location a few years later only to find a few butterflies congregating. I think the changes in our environment play havoc with their migration.
Finally, if you want the complete science on butterflies and how best to photograph them, you may want to check out this book on Amazon by photography professional and naturalist William B. Folsom.
Butterfly Photographer’s Handbook: A Comprehensive Reference for Nature Photographers
Deborah’s bio:
Deborah Koplen is a self-taught amateur photographer who lives inNorthern Virginia and works for the federal government. In 2001, her mild interest in photography turned into a full-blown passion and she now spends most of her free time refining her photographic technique. Debbi enjoys shooting a variety of subjects as long as it holds visual interest for her. She is mainly drawn to interesting light, with the subject coming second. She has won a number of local and online photography contests, to include several Picture of the Month and Picture of the Year awards. She has also been published in National Park calendars and brochures. Debbi’s work is scheduled to be featured at a prominent local camera store this summer.
Our Guest Blogger this week is Karen Rexrode.
Six years ago I saw a photograph in a magazine that really caught my eye. The macro image showed flowers that were surrounded by bubbles and texture. Not quite sure how it was done, I finally figured out that the flowers were frozen in ice. I started to experiment and have really enjoyed the process, tweeking things as I figure out what works best. If you are interested in the technique, there are a few pointers I can share to make your experimenting a little more successful. It’s also high season to go out into the garden and find perfect samples, I have used everything from dogwood blooms to garden vegetables like radishes and beets.
First off you will need a container that will fit into your freezer, preferably one that is tall and narrow. Allow for extra room at the top for flower stems that will stick out. Wire should be wrapped around the top of the container so that you can anchor stems as they hang upside down in the water. A simple piece of wire crosses the top, wrapped around each stem, holding the flowers in the middle of the container and loops back around the outside wire. The hardest part to composing the flowers well is getting them in the middle and at slightly variable heights. As water is poured, you want to fill the container slowly. At this point the stems will swing over and touch the sides. I try and firm up the wires or use a kitchen utensil to counter balance the tilt (lay it on the wires as a weight). Sometimes a barbeque skewer is all that’s needed. You want the flowers to hang in the middle if possible. Just make sure your utensil stays above the water so it doesn’t freeze into your block of ice.
With utmost care, you carry the filled container to your freezer and wait. I find that 12 to 18 hours works best. This will depend on the size of the container and your freezer. If you wait too long, the block turns solid and becomes opaque. When it’s just perfect, you have unfrozen water in the middle, the rest is frozen enough for you to handle. I flip the block upside down so that the flowers are upright. If you notice small air bubbles rising, the block is not frozen enough, refreeze. Rarely is the bottom of the ice block even, so I put it on a projector table (any table will do), with a towel underneath to help hold it steady. Trust me on this, many a block have I dropped and it’s messy.
To photograph this I use either a 105 or a 200 mm macro. I add an off camera flash held behind a diffuser. Focus on the flowers inside of the block, particularly the edge of the petals. I set the camera to 10 second delay and take lots of photographs with the flash aimed at different angles. Be mindful of the glare from the ice (hence the diffuser). I generally find that the best angles for the flash are from above and through the sides. Also keep in mind that it’s best if you have a little natural light. Do not freeze your flowers in the morning and have them ready when the only light is your off camera flash. I tend to set up the container in the evening so they are ready the next afternoon. I have even taken them outside to photograph, but at the very least I use a window with indirect light.
Some flowers work better than others. Avoid daisies or flowers with petals that might reflex. Asters and sunflowers are two examples that have not worked well. My favorites have been tulips, calla lilies,
ranunculus and poppies.
A few years ago I started to experiment with the blocks of ice put out in snow, particularly while it’s still snowing. A winning combination, even with old blocks of ice that have become solid with only a hint of the flowers showing. Just lay them out on snow covered ground, sinking them flush with the snow.
Our Guest Blogger this week is Fort Worth, Texas based Nature Photographer Barbara Kile
The phrase ‘bloom where you’re planted’ refers to making the best of a situation and learning to grow and develop in less than ideal conditions. I love nature – especially flowers. Texas has many things to offer, especially if you want to drive the back roads. Flowers, however, is not one of them. In recent years, lack of rain and widespread drought conditions have limited our spring wildflowers – which when blooming – help make Texas one of the most lovely areas in the country in the spring. (There are more wildflowers this year, due to some winter rain!) The wind and heat here can be relentless especially when trying to photograph flowers outside. So, with these limitations, I had to find a way to photograph the flowers I love! Solution: A home macro studio. With a macro studio, we can create images 365 days a year whether the weather cooperates or not. Here are some tips on how to build your own macro studio and to utilize several options for creating backgrounds to suit your subject, including a brief discussion of image and texture overlays. Here’s what you need to create your macro studio:
1) A large table (preferably tall) as your base. I use a cutting table with the top measuring 24” x 40”. It is expandable if needed (2 drop leaves) and has drawers for storage. Place it in a well lit area of your house, but with accessory lighting, that is not totally necessary.
2) A cubed frame, measuring about 24”. Initially, I used one made of pvc pipe that Home Depot cut for me. This version costs less than $12, and this link will give you specifics.
I now use one by Interfit, which comes with an optional diffusion tent with an opening in the top to insert a fabric background of your choice. (Study the picture carefully, as their assembly instructions are somewhat lacking!) This model is less than $60.
Both of these cube options can fold flat should you want to store them.
3) Background of your choice. Poster board is an option, but can be too reflective. Specialty mat board is a better option. (I just recently purchased some from this company which has a distributor nearby). Quilting fabrics are great, especially ‘watercolor’ prints. Photograph with a shallow depth of field and the background will be out of focus. Keep it simple, especially if you want to overlay a texture. I often just use white or a light muted green fabric. Be sure you keep the background free of shadows.
4) Diffusion fabric, to provide even lighting for your subject. White rip stop nylon from the local fabric store is perfect. You have 2 options here: drape the fabric over the cube or cut pieces for the sides only and use Velcro to attach these pieces (like curtains) to your frame.
5) Table top lights, with diffusion covers and adjustable stands. These are placed outside your diffusion tent – on the sides or behind, depending on your preferred direction of the light source. You can use creative lighting if that’s something you enjoy, including colored gels, flashlights, or light painting.
6) Other accessories:
- A wireless close up speedlight system. This is optional, but the value here is the ability to hand hold or place these little flash units anywhere needed to remove shadows or add an additional light.
- Reflector set with silver and gold covers to bounce light into the subject.
- Spring clamps (from Home Depot) to fit the pvc or metal tubing of your cube for securing background board or fabric.
 The ‘fun factor’ increased for me when I learned to create colorful and complimentary canvases for my flowers! The process of image and texture overlays requires knowledge of layers, blending modes, opacities and masking in Photoshop. This is a class in itself, but well worth your time and effort to learn. This process gives a unique look to my flowers and turns them into great digital art! I am fanatical about backgrounds, whether photographing indoors or outdoors, and I prefer not to use white, black or static backgrounds with my images. With continuing practice, you will soon learn exactly how each blending mode will affect an image. I use several blending modes in my work: normal, multiply, screen, overlay, soft light and hard light. Often, several textures or color layers are used on an image all with varying opacities &/or blending modes – and all with layer masks. Then the paintbrush is used to add or subtract what part of the texture or color overlay I want on an image.
 There are several sources for good purchased textures. Sources include Flypaper, French Kiss, Kim Klassen, and Pixel Dust. I have photographed textures myself and there are also some free textures from Flickr under the Creative Commons license. (Search ‘textures for layer’) Color washes are a great way to create a background for any image. Simply throw your subject out of focus to whatever degree you want, click the shutter and save the image! Blend it back with your soft focus subject to enhance your background and create a beautiful color palette. Save all textures or overlays in special folders and size them to match your camera’s resolution. Rename the files including the source of the texture, then save them as tiff or psd files. I have used texture overlays on landscape images, trees, flowers and blooms which I photograph outdoors as well. You might download a free texture from Flickr, or try photographing some textured concrete, a wall, a piece of wood, or some clouds, then experiment with adding the image to one of your images. A popular look is the ‘vintage’ look, so you will need a warm toned, slightly grungy texture for those types of images. For a pastel look, try a light neutral overlay. Do not discount a texture because it seemed too ‘heavy handed.’ Remember, it’s all about the blending mode and opacity!
I hope this encourages you to try this fun and inexpensive part of photography. I’ve never had so much fun! After processing an image out of the camera, look at it and ask: ‘What do I want to create here?’ Then just start ‘playing!’ Since you can now make images year around, why not get started! Contact me through my website if I can help in any way!
Barbara has written tutorials on how to get started with flower photography for websites, gives presentations to local camera clubs, and judges the annual nature photography contest for the only nature photography club in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
Barbara would welcome your visit to see more of her work.
Website: http://www.barbarakilephoto.com/
With the early arrival of spring this year comes the early arrival of a favorite. Bluebells grow in abundance along Bull Run in Manassas and Riverbend Park in Fairfax. There may be other locations in our area but these are the two that I know.
Bluebells usually bloom in early to mid-April and then disappear until the next year soon after blooming. The Bluebells can be a challenging subject to photograph, but at the same time a truly worthwhile subject. If macro photography is not your specialty, the forest floor is covered with green and blue and makes for nice landscape photography.
If you decide to shoot the Bluebells be sure to bring something to kneel on or wear rain pants. The ground is usually wet in the environment where the beautiful flowers flourish.
Get out soon or you will have to wait until next year.
Don Rosenberger is a member of the Manassas Warrenton Camera Club and a volunteer for Nature Visions. Don considers himself a “professional amateur” and spends much of his free time in pursuit of his passion. More of Don’s work can be seen at www.donrosenberger.com.
Our winter in the Mid-Atlantic was a mild one to say the least and with that comes the early arrival of spring. My original plan was to relaunch the Nature Visions Blog in early April, but with spring blooming everywhere in the last couple days I just felt I needed to get the blog back online.
The photo above is one of the famous Himalayan Blue Poppies that is shown each year at Longwood Gardens. I took a day off work this week to spend the morning shooting with Tony Sweet. Did I mention that Tony will be speaking and teaching at Nature Visions this year? I’m in the early stages of planning lectures and workshops and we will have more to announce in the next month or two.
Back to the poppies. I know many if not most of our club members know about Longwood and the blue poppies, but in case you don’t, mark your calendar for March 15th each year. The timing of the poppies can vary a little bit but I was told by one of the staff that you can always count on them being on display on the 15th.
In regard to my shot, considering the strong light that was coming from behind the poppy, I used a small gold reflector to light the face of the flower. I also loved how the highlights in the background created a nice bokeh effect. After shooting the poppies for the last couple of years I was pleased to find a new way to capture their beauty.
Now back to the Expo. Last year was fantastic and we have some ideas to make this year’s Expo another can’t miss event. We are starting the planning process and members of the Expo Board visited with each of the founding clubs to seek their feedback and input so we can continue to best serve our members and the photographic community. You can help by telling your friends about our event, from lovers of fine photography to photographers of all levels the 2012 Expo is an event not to be missed.
Don Rosenberger is a member of the Manassas Warrenton Camera Club and a volunteer for Nature Visions. Don considers himself a “professional amateur” and spends much of his free time in pursuit of his passion. More of Don’s work can be seen at www.donrosenberger.com.
 Susan Phillips is being congratulated by Expo President Greg Daily and Art Wolf for winning "Best in Show"
With the 2011 Expo behind us we would like to take a few minutes to recap the event and thank everyone who made the Expo possible.
This year for the first time we started the Expo with a full day workshop by renowned photographer Art Wolfe. Art taught his composition workshop. His background is painting and it was fascinating to learn how this has influenced his photographic art. We were also treated to some of his unpublished work that was nothing less than mind blowing. After Art’s workshop we transformed the Gregory Theatre into the display space for this year’s juried images. We featured 300 juried images from members of the 6 founding camera clubs. The body of work was as stunning as it was diverse.
Saturday morning Charles Needle kicked off the lectures with his inspirational presentation on impressionistic and macro photography. Next up was Baltimore based photographer Arthur Ransome who discussed “Seeing in Black and White”, followed by Ellen Anon sharing her insights into creating visual intensity. At 4:00 pm Art Wolfe took the stage to present his keynote lecture “Between Heaven & Earth”. Art’s keynote was educational, inspirational, and entertaining! After Art’s keynote he assisted us in awarding the Best in Show ribbons from those that were juried into the exhibit. Congratulations to Tom Brett for winning 3rd place with his print titled “Single Beach Grass”, Mark Dilallo won 2nd place for his print titled “Great Falls Sunrise”, Geff Bourke won 1st place for his print titled “The Web” and Susan Phillips won Best in Show with her print titled “White Peacock Display”.
Sunday morning Lynda Richardson started us off with her presentation on “photo essays”, next up was Kevin Adams presenting a program on “digital after dark”, followed by Denise Ippolito who spoke about “a blend of art and nature”. Joseph Rossbach closed out the Sunday lectures with a great presentation on “creating dramatic landscape images”.
In addition to 2 days of lectures, we also had 2 days of workshops. The topics were diverse and many of the workshops sold out. In between the lectures and workshops attendees could visit with our vendors. Many were offering special pricing and the latest products were available.
Those of us who worked behind the scenes were thrilled by the success of this year’s Expo. We want to thank our sponsors, vendors, and volunteers. Without their help the Expo would not have been possible. However, we are always on the lookout for talented volunteers to help with the planning and production of next year’s Expo. If you are interested please contact us at info@naturevisions.org.
After spending the last 8 months posting weekly blog updates, our blog editor needs a vacation. We plan to start the blog up again in the spring. We are always looking for content so if you think you might be interested in being a guest blogger on our site, please contact Don Rosenberger at info@naturevisions.org to discuss specifics.
If you’re one of the folks that made it to the Expo this year, we want to thank you for your support and we hope you had a great time. If you did not make it to the Expo this year, we hope you will mark your calendar for November 9 and 10, 2012 and see us next year!
This week’s guest blogger is Michael Masters.
Looking for a nature photography opportunity after Thanksgiving? Give Waterfowl Weekend (Nov. 24-27) at Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge a try! This time of year ducks and geese will be in full migration. There won’t be many better opportunities for critter photography in the Mid-Atlantic region this time of year.
Avian photography is one of the most popular forms of natural image making, and bird photographers are always seeking hotspots. In our area, one need look no further than the Chincoteague refuge – which is co-located with the Assateague National Seashore on the barrier island of the same name. Chincoteague, the island – and its quaint and delightful town – lies inboard between Assateague Island and the Eastern Shore mainland.
Once home to a small village – founded around the island’s historic 1833 lighthouse and the local fishing industry – the Virginia part of Assateague was donated to the U.S. Government in 1943 for use as a wildlife refuge. Made famous for its wild ponies by Marguerite Henry’s Misty of Chincoteague – a photographic draw in their own right – Assateague’s location as a stopover on the Atlantic Flyway makes it ideal for photographing waterfowl and other migrating birds in the Fall.
Although exact timing is never predictable, the big autumn attraction is snow geese, which often show up in the thousands – or even tens of thousands! But waterfowl of many species abound, including mallards, northern pintails, northern shovelers, black ducks, ruddy ducks, lesser scaups, Canada geese as well as coots and more. Cormorants are usually in attendance, diving for fish among the waterfowl or drying their wings on snags – providing great photo ops as they do so.
Waders are ever present, including great egrets, snowy egrets, great blue herons, tri-color herons and occasional little blues. If one looks closely, one can find black-crowned night herons hiding in brush thickets, along with glimpses of secretive green herons. Several species of shore birds will likely be observed, the most striking of which are skittish American oystercatchers.
Ospreys are often seen, along with various other raptors. Nesting bald eagles have been present the last few years, though they rarely venture close enough for prize winning images. One may also see whitetail and sika deer, raccoons, otters, rabbits and even an occasional fox. Not to mention the famous ponies. The island is also home to the endangered Delmarva fox squirrel – and I even have an image of a black squirrel!
In addition to fall migration, Waterfowl Weekend is special for another reason. One of the favorite attractions is a three mile drive called the Wildlife Loop, normally open to vehicles from 3 PM to dusk. (It may be hiked any time the refuge is open.) However, from Thanksgiving Day through Sunday the Loop opens to traffic at 9 AM, an added bonus. The Loop encloses the aptly named Snow Goose Pool – frequently the scene of very large and impressive avian gatherings. Hint: snow geese blastoffs can be – well, a real blast for nature photographers! J
Moreover, the service road north from the Wildlife Loop, normally closed to vehicular traffic, is also open – an opportunity to explore a seldom seen part of the island.
I’ll be there, as will many other nature lovers and photographers – so why not come out and join the fun! If you want to chase our feathered friends, bring a long lens for avian portraits and an intermediate telephoto for flight images.
Although Hurricane Irene caused substantial damage, recovery efforts are underway, and it is anticipated that Waterfowl Weekend will take place as planned. For updates, call refuge information at (757) 336-6122 or refer to the refuge home page at http://www.fws.gov/northeast/chinco/.
Michael Masters is moderator for the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of NatureScapes.net, a web community devoted to nature photography. As moderator, Michael organizes outings for members in the region. Chincoteague NWR is a perennial favorite. Michael may be reached at Michael@GrayFoxImages.com.
Our guest blogger is Charles Needle. Charles will be lecturing at this year’s Expo and teaching a “Creative Macro Lab” workshop.
Greetings, fellow nature photographers and friends! I’m very excited about traveling to Manassas this month and presenting at this year’s Nature Visions Expo. Since this will be my first appearance at Nature Visions, I’m especially looking forward to making new friends who are also passionate about the art and craft of nature photography.
One of my true passions is creating unique, jaw-dropping macro images like the one above, which was created using a sheet of clear glass treated with Rain-X to help repel the water droplets.
To achieve this cool effect, you’ll need a sheet of clear glass that’s approximately 36″ x 36,” supported by four sturdy objects of the same height, such as bricks or plastic milk jugs. Be sure the glass is raised about 12″ off the floor. Coat the glass with Rain-X (available at any hardware or automotive supply store), let it dry, and then spray with plain water (no glycerin). Place a flower or other object under the sheet of glass so that it’s about 5 or 6″ below the surface of the glass. For this image, I cut the stem of a single sunflower and placed it in a drinking glass that had a slightly smaller diameter than the flower, so that the glass would not show below.
Once you have it all set up, aim your macro lens (preferably a longer focal-length lens, such as a 200mm Nikkor or a 180mm Canon) pointing straight down over the glass, keeping the camera back as parallel to the surface of the glass as possible to ensure maximum sharpness. Focus manually on the water droplets on the surface of the glass (not on the flower below the glass) and experiment with various f/stops. Here I used f/8 at 1/2 sec. You’ll be amazed that whatever you’re shooting shows up in even the tiniest of water droplets! I have also tried this technique using fabrics with repeating patterns and family photos.
If you want to see how this is done, live and in person, you may wish to attend my “Creative Macro Lab” workshop at 12:15 pm on Saturday. Using a tethered capture set-up at the front of the room, I will demonstrate this technique using my Nikon D3 and also show how to shoot several other creative tabletop macro set-ups involving iridescent glass, colorful backdrops and mylar.
Also during Saturday’s “Creative Macro Lab,” I will show you how to create painterly Impressionistic images in-camera using Multiple-Exposure Monet, multiple-exposure zoom & rotate, and soft-glow montage camera techniques…all via a tethered capture set-up….something else I’m extremely jazzed about teaching.
It’s going to be a fun, informative and inspiring Expo. I look forward to seeing you in Manassas!
Charles is a professional nature photographer, workshop instructor, educator, author and lecturer. You can learn more about this topic in his eBook, Creative Macro Photography: Professional Tips & Techniques and by visiting his website, www.charlesneedlephoto.com.
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