Getting the Perfect Shot

You see pictures all the time. On the internet, on Facebook, in the newspaper and books, on TV... you get the picture (see what I did there?)  Did you ever think of what they went through to get those pictures?  Where they had to stand?  What conditions they had to be in?  Between the extreme heat and cold, rain and snow, wind... Pretty much everywhere postal workers go, but also in weirder places like water, the edge of cliffs, trees, and even in the sky these days with those weird remote controlled helicopter thingys.  I've been a few weird places myself.  

To get to the lake at sunrise, which is about a 30 minute drive (depending on where I want to go), I have to wake up about 4:00 am and rush out of the house as soon as the coffee is ready.

This shot took a little while to set-up in 90 degree and high humidity weather.  Luckily, I had to stand in this stream to get the shot, which was much cooler.

Here, I'm crossing a river to get the shot by standing on the rock bed in the middle.  This spot is actually deeper than it looks.  Probably about 2 feet deep, but I didn't want to get that wet this day.  

Photo courtesy of Amanda Clausen.

Burrrrr.... think about this.  It's almost 10 degrees below zero with wind chills about 35 degrees below zero.  I'm standing (again) in the middle of the stream for this shot.  Luckily, the water temps were just above freezing here, so it was actually warmer standing in the water than standing on the open land.  I love this place and wouldn't miss a sunrise photo opportunity with one of my best friends in the world for anything.  Especially when 3/4 of the family was there as well.

Here I am on New Year's Eve, first thing in the morning, standing in that river for that shot above.  

Photo courtesy of Val Ewing.

This shot, I was chilly.  It really was a nice day for this.  Temps were around 40 - 45 degrees.  Not too much wind.  Really, a nice day to hike and take a few pictures... for those who are dry.  Now, I was walking up the spring fed stream to take a picture of this dam, when I hit another underground spring in the middle of this innocent looking super-clear stream.  One step was fine, nice and solid.  The next step went just as good as the first.  I guess I was getting pretty cocky to think that I could make it all the way up this spring and get into position without incident.  The third step was right into a spring pocket!  My left leg went straight down, just about up to my hip, without even touching the bottom!  I wonder how deep that pocket really was?  I'm thinking a trip back there in the summer heat to find the depth of that hole might be in order.

This is what it looked like after I went in just before for the shot above.  I was told these boots were supposed to prevent you from getting wet.  Boy, they sure do hold the water!  Next time I'll try harder to keep the water on the outside. 

Photo courtesy of Amanda Clausen.

One of my favorite shots of all time is also one of my favorite spots of all time.  But, to get here, you have to hike either down a waterfall, or the other way is about a 2-1/2 hour hike through hills, plains and lowlands.  By the time you get here, the Ultra-cold water is a welcoming relief.  But standing in it for some time to get off several 20 second shots numbs your feet.  It's going from one extreme to the other in a matter of seconds!  I still wouldn't trade the experience for anything.

Can you guess the hazards in this picture?  Imagine 40 - 50 mph wind gusts, sustained around 30 mph.  It's about 37 degrees and it's drizzling.  It's hard to get the camera to stay dry, but it's impossible to keep myself dry.  That's alright with me, I like the challenge of it, shooting in all kinds of weather.  I'm "outdoorsy".  I can dress for weather like this.  It also helps that I'm going home after this shot to a warm house and a big hot cup of coffee to get the chill out of my bones.

This was me trying to get a shot of the waves exploding onto the pier.  I had to sit on the rail because the water (which was barely flowing down the ramp under me when I showed up minutes before this shot) was now a full blown 6" deep river cascading to the other side of the pier into the marina.

Photo courtesy of Amanda Clausen.

Here's the other end of this river, flowing into the marina.

I will continue to put myself in some precarious positions for the perfect shot.  It's something I have found to be "at the right place at the right time at the right angle".  It makes the picture.  I always practice safety though, I want to be doing this for a long time still, but if I get wet in the process, it's best that I at least save the camera instead of my pride!

Bird Nerds

Yes.  You read the title right.  We are bird nerds.  We go out to a lot of different places, especially in spring time during migration, to find new birds that we've never seen before.  We have a bird book.  We highlight in it and write the dates that we've seen different birds.  We're not really that hardcore about it though, we use the equipment that we've got and mostly stay in our area of the state.  Still, we're pretty nerdy when we find another species that we haven't seen before.  For instance, today (I'm writing this on Friday, April 13th 2018) we saw 6 different birds that we've never before seen.

Here's a few of the smaller birds that we saw.  These are the smaller variety (under 7"):

This is a White Breasted Nuthatch, one that we have seen before, but hadn't had photographed yet.

This is a Female Yellow Rumped Warbler (New)

Male Yellow Rumped Warbler (New)

Male Yellow Rumped Warbler in Flight (New)

This is a Ruby Crowned Kinglet (New)

 Male Golden Crowned Kinglet (New)

Eastern Pheobe (New)

It's fun to scout out the smaller birds.  They seem to want you to take their picture.  They're less elusive.  They're chock full of character and sing beautiful songs that call to you.  But what is birdwatching without some of the larger ones?   These few are between 9" and 16".

Male Red Bellied Woodpecker (seen before, but not photographed)

Lesser Yellowlegs, about 10" (New)

Greater Yellowlegs, about 14" (New)

Male Ring Necked Duck, about 16" (New)

These are just a few of the birds that we've seen this season.  We're always excited to see this time of year birds like Goldeneye Ducks, Hooded Mergansers, Buffleheads, Scaups, Shovelers and Teals.  Some of these are migratory birds, some stay in this area throughout the summer.