PORTFOLIO SELECTS
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DAWNING
Sandhil cranes, Bosque del Apache, New Mexico.
THE SOUND OF SPRING
Red wing blackbird
SNOWDRIFT
From EVERYTHING
DIAPHANOUS DESCENT
It was a moment of weakness.
I was never a big fan of intentionally, blurred shots. I had tried a few early on when I began shooting but I didn’t really push the technique and was never all that satisfied with the resulting images.
However, midway through my third trip to Bosque del Apache in New Mexico, I’d just about exhausted every angle, composition, and idea for shooting the cranes and geese. I wanted something different. I was ready for the blur.
If you can pan with the birds and match their flight speed you’ve got a fair chance of getting the head in relatively good focus even when using a slow shutter. At the same time, panning with a slow exposure blurs and streaks the background. In addition, it allows the wings to blur. The resulting images can run the full gamut of totally abstract to hauntingly surreal and all of them convey the sense of motion better than birds frozen in mid-air.
With so many variables it’s a bit of a crapshoot. Some images were way too abstract and I had many fails because I couldn’t get the heads sharp enough. But some like Diaphanous Descent blew me away.
Now, I’m a believer.From EVERYTHING
TANGLED
I missed it.
It was a challenge to follow the moose as she moved across the meadow drifting in and out of clear view. The tangles of branches kept grabbing the focus and I had to keep shifting positions in deep snow to stay alongside her. Eventually she moved so deep into the woods that I had to let her go.
I was hoping for something more interesting than just a cow in the snow, but other than a few peek-a-boo poses from scattered clearings I didn’t think I’d gotten any good photos.
It was only later in the evening while editing, that I discovered the beautiful abstract pattern created by the branches silhouetted against her dark fur. Even if I had just been watching rather than concentrating on shooting it’s unlikely I would have seen the effect.
A perfect example of the power of the still.
A GLANCE BACK
From EVERYTHING
POLAR PEEPS
It seemed easy enough…
I read about the new polar bear cub at the zoo and immediately decided to go while he was still in the “cute” stage. Didn’t know what to expect but figured it’d be relatively simple to get a few “aw” pictures. The only special game plan was to wait for a snow day.
Perfect.
A snowstorm arrived in a few days and as I worked my way through morning rush hour, clichés of “shooting fish in a barrel…” rang in my ears.
Slightly mistaken.
There were two viewing areas. One from behind a barrier and chain link fence – not gonna work. The second was a half-enclosed shelter with glass - but only five meters wide for an overflowing crowd of families.
The challenge.
- The glass was covered with condensation on both sides from all the warm bodies making it difficult to focus.
- There were dozens of kids plastered against it scrambling for a view and parents with strollers packed in behind them. I didn’t want to hit anyone swinging around 20 pounds of camera nor get in the way of them enjoying the cub.
- The storm brought a cold snap and I’m a wimp when it comes to numb fingers, metal objects, little buttons, and fingerless gloves.
Eventually.
I contorted myself into a corner and with the sounds of kids laughing and cheering at the baby bear’s antics, settled in for one of the more enjoyable shoots I’ve done.
… Not as easy as planned but more fun than I expected.polar bearcubsnowstormzoohudsontoronto zoonewbornrescuedwildlifenaturepolar peepscutefur
BISON & BIRDS
Birds are to be found everywhere.
We had just left Zion National Park in southwestern Utah, looking for a place to stop for morning coffee, when we spotted the buffalo. It’d been several days since we’d seen buffalo and that was a couple states back, in Wyoming. I wasn’t even aware there were buffalo in Utah.
This was a small herd and they were at least a quarter mile off the road. Despite the distance, it was quite a sight. The contrast between the chocolate brown of the bison, the soft creamy yellow of the grass, and the way the tall grass feathered them into the landscape made it appear they were floating in a cloud. It looked like the quintessential western setting complete with what appeared to be cowboys on horseback riding on a trail just to the east.
The land was fenced off so we couldn’t approach any nearer than the roadside but the supertelephoto lens provided just the reach I needed. It wasn’t until I frame up the shot that I was able to see the cowbirds on their backs.
They were the proverbial cherry on top.
GLAZED WOOD
From EVERYTHING
SNUZZLE
You never know.
A photographer friend and I were scouting the usual roadside areas around Algonquin Park when we chanced upon this mother and calf. It was Labour Day weekend, no one was seeing much wildlife – including us, and so we were glad to finally find something. We parked on the shoulder along with a few others that were already there and picked a spot to shoot from.
I’ve learned the hard way to always try to get a shot ASAP in case my subject leaves. Once I’ve got something in the can, then I’ll take a look around and consider other vantage points and possibilities. But even when I move, I try to be ready to shoot because you can never predict what or when something will happen.
I had just finished making such a location adjustment when the cow suddenly turned and looked down at her calf who then reached up for a little nuzzle. I held the trigger down and shot until they separated. If focus and exposure were good I knew I had a sweet moment. Then I looked for my friend to see how he faired.
He didn’t.
Unfortunately he had decided to move his car closer to where we were standing and missed it.
Been there. Done that. Sure I’ll do it again – but not this time.moosecalfcowalgonquinwildlifenaturefallsnugglesnuzzlemuzzlemotherly lovenuturing
INTO THE DARK
Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico.
I wanted to try for a different view of the sandhill cranes as they flew into the big pond for the evening so I’d left the crowd of photographers and set up at a nearby trail where the birds would pass over an opening in the tree canopy.
Well, it didn’t pan out and had gotten dark and I was about to leave when I spotted what I assumed was a coyote coming down the trail. But when I focused in I realized I was looking at a mountain lion.
Incredible luck. There’s always talk about the lions at the refuge but the sightings are rare. And here I was, all alone, in the cover of my car with the camera all set up, as a big cat slowly headed straight towards me.
It was one of those wonderful moments in the viewfinder that gets the adrenaline pumping. To add to that I was nervous - worried I would blow the shots; it was way dark, difficult to focus, and it was my first few days with a new camera and unfamiliar controls.
As he neared, the cat graciously turned to give me some profile time before disappearing into the bush. I sat there for a while in the quiet of the night soaking it all in. Then I raised the windows so no one would hear my whooping it up and headed back to town.mountain lioncougarbosque del apache
From PANORANIMALS
THE CONVERSATION
From EVERYTHING
SWAN AT DAWN
I couldn’t believe my luck.
In the past 8 years, we’ve twice had trumpeter swans on our pond and then only for a day. So when Terrie called at work with the news of a swan, I came home right away hoping to catch it in the evening light thinking it might be my only opportunity.
It’s very difficult to approach our pond without being seen so I loaded my gear on a sled and dragged it behind me in the snow as I belly crawled to the bridge to hide behind the dam. I shot from there until the light ran out, and then retraced my crawl back home so I wouldn’t scare him away.
Next morning I was relieved to see he was still there. I crawled back out into place before sunrise and shot until I had to leave for work. It was Friday and I hoped if he spent the weekend I could shoot the entire time.
Better than that - he stayed the next two weeks.
PIGEONS
From EVERYTHING
SNOWDRIFT
From EVERYTHING
FLICKER OF HOPE
From EVERYTHING
TORN CURTAIN
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WINTER FRIENDS
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SAILING ON GOSSAMER WAVES OF LIGHT
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MIGRATION
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TANGLED UP AND BLUE
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NIGHT VISION
Fireflies, Summer Solstice.
firefliessummergrassnight photographyorbslightning bugs
From EVERYTHING
NORTHERN EXPOSURE
Sooo cold. Fingers, toes, and face, numb.
Where the Mississippi River runs through Monticello, Minnesota, the water stays open even during coldest weather from the upstream nuclear power plant. When trumpeter swans were reintroduced there in 1986, Sheila Lawrence who lived nearby started a daily feeding ritual. What began as a few swans has turned into thousands. And what was once a few buckets worth of corn has become nearly a ton a day.
“The Swan Lady” passed away in 2011 but her husband continues the tradition. The area has become a mini park; a small lot between a couple houses, high above the feeding bank, fenced off so as not to disturb the birds below.
I arrived at the park before dawn to be ready for sunrise. The sky was perfectly clear and the mix of extreme cold air and relatively warm water was creating massive billows of mist. Combined with the high winds, it looked like an armada of clouds was blowing down the Mississippi.
There’s nothing better than swans floating through the mist in beautiful morning light.
I shot until I ran out of memory and the golden hour light was gone, along with my last reserves of body heat.
Headed back to the hotel to download and thaw.trumpeter swanmistfogwaterwings
From EVERYTHING
STARRY NIGHT
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FRESH PAINT
Lucky us.
In June, on three separate occasions, we were fortunate to witness three painted turtles laying eggs along the bank of the pond. We marked the areas hoping to see them hatch. But even with three nests, it was a long shot that we’d spot the loonie-sized offspring emerge and work their way through the grass to the water.
But the odds were with us. Not only did Terrie notice the tiny ground breaking disturbances of the first and second nests hatching – both birthings happened on weekends when I was home with the camera to capture the moments.
Two out of three – not bad.painted turtlehatchingturtle nestfresh paintron pittspanoranimal
DAWN
The first time I witnessed the snow geese arriving I didn’t know where to begin to shoot. Thirty thousand birds landing en masse, squawking, flapping, and settling down on this huge pond in just a little over five minutes is a lot to take in. How do you pick a shot out from all that? How do you capture the frenzy as well as the calm with so much to choose from across such a wide expanse?
Fortunately, it was a routine that they repeated daily during their winter stay at Bosque del Apache in New Mexico. It gave me plenty of practice and by the end of my first week there I’d found the rhythm and figured out my approach.
DAWN was taken several minutes after the mass landing frenzy as the stragglers caught up with the rest of the flock. The cold temps combined with the warm bodies and the sun hitting the frigid water as it cleared the distant mountains, created a beautiful misty backdrop for their graceful winged poses.
The field of action was seventy meters distant so I swept across the pond with my 600mm and stitched the results into this panoranimal. Other than that, nothing was done to alter the image. The morning light, atmospheric distortion, and slow shutter speed, naturally combined to give it a painterly look.
FEEDING FRENZY
That spring I hauled several dead tree limbs on to the island so the birds could use them as perches. The results exceeded my expectations, because not only did we end up hosting a family of four kingfishers, but we also attracted a flock of cedar waxwings. Every morning and evening, about a dozen of them would gather on the branches and use them as a launch for their bug hunts around the island airways.
This is a composite of five images taken over a few minutes, one evening in July.cedar wax wingswax wingscompositepondbirdsnaturewildlifeanimals
EVENING PROMENADE
We have a big pond right outside the back of the house and every summer we’ve been fortunate to have at least one family of mallards make it their home. In fact, the last two seasons they’ve shown up on exactly the same day – June 10th.
I try to be ready to photograph and spend as much time with them as I can during their first few weeks when their cute factor is way off the charts. Sometimes I get in the water to move around and shoot them from eye level. Other times, like for this image, I shoot from the cover of a blind.
It’s impossible to tell them apart from their markings but it’s easy to see personality differences right from the start. Some are very timid and barely leave mom’s side. Others are more daring and venture farther away until she silently signals and they race back, virtually running atop the water.
And, there appears to be three parade modes. There’s the one where mom leads and they all trail behind single file. There is the cluster mode with mom in the middle of the group. And then there is this arrangement where the chicks take the lead and proudly parade themselves around the pond.
LAST LOOK
From EVERYTHING
SUPER MOONSTRUCK
It’s not just the moon; - it’s the supermoon. Okay, technically it was the night after the super-full-moon.
It’s not the traditional island-view of Toronto we’re used to seeing. It was shot from 60K north of downtown in Caledon, using 840mm worth of lens.
It’s not a cheat. The moon appears huge because: Obviously, the farther away, the smaller the city appears. But as I used a super-telephoto lens, downtown appears large in the frame. And since the moon stays relatively the same size no matter where you are, and because during that “super” cycle it was roughly 13% larger, it appeared huuuge compared to the buildings.
It’s not a comp. I didn’t move anything. This was the moon’s actual trajectory. That strange howl you might’ve heard that night, downtown? That was me whooping when I saw it passing perfectly behind the CN Tower. Photoshop was used only to stitch the sequence together.
It wasn’t (just) luck. I used an “app” (LightTrac) to determine when and where to position myself.
It was lucky:
- That I had access to the perfect viewing location.
- That the horizon was free of cloud-cover yet cloudy enough overhead to add interest as the moon peeked in and out of view. (The night of the supermoon it was completely clouded at the horizon and only clear well above the skyline.)
And, it was lucky that everything came together perfectly.Super moonsupermoonmoonrisetorontoontarioCN towerskylinenightimecity lights
RUSHHH
Semipalmated sandpipers in massive numbers fattening up in the Bay of Fundy, before their 3 day non stop migration to South America.
From EVERYTHING
ROLY POLY
It seemed easy enough…
I read about the new polar bear cub at the zoo and immediately decided to go while he was still in the “cute” stage. Didn’t know what to expect but figured it’d be relatively simple to get a few “aw” pictures. The only special game plan was to wait for a snow day.
Perfect.
A snowstorm arrived in a few days and as I worked my way through morning rush hour, clichés of “shooting fish in a barrel…” rang in my ears.
Slightly mistaken.
There were two viewing areas. One from behind a barrier and chain link fence – not gonna work. The second was a half-enclosed shelter with glass - but only five meters wide for an overflowing crowd of families.
The challenge.
- The glass was covered with condensation on both sides from all the warm bodies making it difficult to focus.
- There were dozens of kids plastered against it scrambling for a view and parents with strollers packed in behind them. I didn’t want to hit anyone swinging around 20 pounds of camera nor get in the way of them enjoying the cub.
- The storm brought a cold snap and I’m a wimp when it comes to numb fingers, metal objects, little buttons, and fingerless gloves.
Eventually.
I contorted myself into a corner and with the sounds of kids laughing and cheering at the baby bear’s antics, settled in for one of the more enjoyable shoots I’ve done.
… Not as easy as planned but more fun than I expected.
WINTER CARDINAL HUES
It was the Christmas holiday and I set out that morning trying to get the definitive photograph of a chickadee. There were at least a dozen of them around the feeder when a pair of cardinals showed up. The male was the more cautious and kept his distance but this gal came right in to feed despite my presence. She shielded herself from me by staying deep inside the lilac making it difficult for me to pull focus through the branches, but a few times I was able to snake my way through and grab some shots.
Then she hopped up to this perch in the (somewhat) open, tilted her head at me, paused just a beat in a perfect pose, and flew off, but not before I rattled off a few frames. There wasn’t much light but the muted shades of the winter branches were the perfect match for her pale shades of brown and red.
Voila! The chickadee would have to be for another day. That day I had my cardinal.
The ARCHANGEL
This is a male trumpeter swan photographed during a snowstorm in late March. He and his mate were migrating north when they chose to wait out the storm on our pond in Tottenham, Ontario.
That morning, I was surprised to see a pair of swans mixed in with the usual collection of geese and ducks that hang out in our open water. I quickly layered up, donned my waders and headed out, hoping I could get into position without scaring away the newcomers.
I snuck up the creek to the dam under our bridge and hunkered down to get an eye-level view of the birds as they cruised around the pond, feeding and resting. The bridge protected me from the snow but the water, of course, was ice cold and my waders had a slow leak. So I’d shoot until my boots filled with water, sneak back inside to dry out, warm up, recharge camera batteries, and then sneak back out for another session. This lasted until the storm cleared in the afternoon and they flew off.
The female was tagged and we later learned that she was a three-year-old released in Stratford, Ontario and spent her summers on Wye Marsh just north of us. She’d also been spotted several times in other area lakes.
It was a great day of shooting and I knew I’d captured some memorable images but I had no idea just how lucky I’d been; the combination of snowstorm, diffused lighting, and super-telephoto lens created a unique effect that looked more painterly than photographic, giving him an angelic appearance.trumpeter swanwinterspringsnowpond icewings
From EVERYTHING
COMET THE FROG
It was a dark and stormy night…
This is a tree frog clinging to a rain-dropped, sliding glass door, shot at night by room light from inside my studio.
I’d been editing photos all evening and enjoying the spring rainstorm. It was past midnight and I was ready for bed. Then I noticed shiny little blobs of underbellies slithering up the door - five tree frogs creeping up the wet glass.
I hesitated - I had to get up in six hours. But it was too good to pass up. It’s rare that a photo-op you can shoot from the comfort of your home and pajamas literally comes knocking at your door. Sleep could wait.
Frogs hang around the house at night because the light from inside attracts bugs. Movement, rather than the light attracts the frogs. But nothing was flying in that downpour. My theory is the backlit raindrops sliding down the glass looked like prey and that’s what drew them in.
They hung around while I tweaked exposures and compositions, contorting on the floor to get a belly level view while avoiding my reflection, until one by one they flung themselves off into the night.
When I finally made it to bed I told Terrie it was still raining cats and dogs – and frogs.
WET & WILD
Wet & Wild
So… I’m standing ankle deep in the mud along the edge of this marsh huddling under my little homemade camera cover. All afternoon it’s been a steady, sleety, in and out of snowy, cold rain. My face has been jammed up against the viewfinder for over an hour, waiting for this handsome young bull to shake the freezing rain off his drenched coat … again.
He did it not five minutes after I started shooting and I caught the whole thing. It was perfect: heads up, facing me directly, lots of spray, focused, and a good exposure. A beautiful sight; like a dog shaking, only in slow motion because of moose mass. Knew I had a great shot but couldn’t leave with just one. He was still there and if the temp kept dropping I could get some big ol’ fat snowflakes that would spice up the shot.
A half later we’re both still there and I’ve got him doing it four times. It’s been one of those – okay, okay, next one is the last one for sure and then I’m done - scenarios. But it’s not getting any snowier, my back is getting stiff, the bottom half of me is getting soaked, I’m getting cold, and, I know I’ve already got the perfect shot.
I leave. Figure I’ll come back the next week if I hear he’s still around.
Turns out he was. But… he’d dropped one of his antlers.
Once again, timing proves to be everything.From EVERYTHING
POLAR EXPRESS
Danger was all around. They were closing in: pushing me, tugging at my legs, herding me, all sizes and ages, and all with a gleam in their eye.
Usually I shoot alone. But that’s impossible at the zoo. I was in the midst of a dozen families of giggling kids shrieking at the site of huge bears playfully charging the windows of the underwater viewing room of the polar bear pool.
I concentrated, trying to catch the bears as they darted past the windows, not knowing which of the five portals they might go to, trying to get a clear shot without hands slapping at the glass, and trying not to trip over kids or the armada of strollers.
I also didn’t want to hog the view. So I stepped back and shot from behind the little mob, holding my camera overhead. Pretty soon I was giggling along with everyone else as the bears dove, tumbled, and bubbled about to the delight of their audience. Sure I missed some shots but it only takes one.
And this one was it.
ABOVE THE CAULDRON
Snow geese and sandhill cranes in morning mist, Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico, United States.
It suddenly dawned on me after a half hour of shooting, that the beautiful mist enveloping the birds on the pond had not been there before they arrived. It was so cold and there were so many thousands of warm-bodied, heavy breathing snow geese and sandhill cranes, they were generating their own fog.
This was what I called the second staging pond; after the geese left the two larger ponds in the middle of the Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge, they would all congregate on this, outlying, relatively smaller pond and leave just after sunrise for the feeding fields. When they left they would blast off en masse, sounding like the roar of a jet, and creating a disturbance in the air that you could feel as they passed directly over.sandhill cranessnow geesesnowgeesebosque del apachenew mexicomistfogpondwetlands
WHAT LIES BENEATH
I went to Newfoundland for the whales, the hope of capturing a big tail shot and the chance to see icebergs. My research showed that mid July was virtually a lock for whales but the icebergs were likely to be gone – even though it was a record year for bergs (thank you global warming).
So I was excited to hear, when I arrived at my first location, that one of only two remaining icebergs around Newfoundland was stuck in a bay nearby. I learned that the whale/iceberg combo is the grand prize photograph for some and the guide services pride themselves on delivering the opportunity for such a shot.
I went out twice a day in the zodiac – on the morning and evening runs – and every time we’d hunt for whales and visit the iceberg. If we sighted whales nearby, we’d maneuver to try and line up a combo shot. Quite a feat on their part really, if you consider the logistics of finding and predicting whale movement in the ocean, lining the whale up with the only iceberg around, and timing it capture it diving.
For my part I had the challenge of getting the whale in focus and keeping it and the iceberg in frame from a small boat on rolling seas while keeping my camera dry.
This particular day the thick fog that engulfed the ice created a magical view of what looked like an ice castle in the clouds. We slowly circled around the base and gawked at the size and beauty and craned to take pictures of the steep sides towering above us – always ready to blast out of there if it began to crack or shift. Then we ventured back to open waters and farther down the coast.
On the return leg of our tour, we picked up a humpback headed in the direction of our iceberg and the maneuvering fun began. There were some opportunities to include both in frame but nothing worthwhile as the ice was just a hunk of white off in the distance. Then he did a deep dive and we lost him.
“Blow at one o’clock!.” He’d surfaced - much farther ahead and close to the berg - but too far for a shot. We raced to catch up and as we approached we could see he was going to dive again. I steadied myself as the boat swung and rolled into position and fired away as soon as I thought I had locked on to him.
I got five shots off in a second just as he went under. Three were just waves and ice. One caught a tail half submerged. And this one - WHAT LIES BENEATH.From EVERYTHING
FIRST FOX
It was the Ides of March. Well, nearly anyway. It was the 11th and it was a beautifully warm sunny Saturday. Flocks of geese had been honking all week long on our pond, happy to find a great place to rest and refuel on their migration north.
We’d also been seeing teens of turkeys the last couple weeks, parading around the area and even coming up to the feeder on the deck.
Spring was definitely in the air and I decided to take a ride and see if the blackbirds had returned to my favorite swamp. Indeed they had, though still small in numbers and I didn’t see a shot. But on the trip back home I saw a fox crossing on the road up ahead and to my delight he parked himself on the high bank on the west side to catch the last light. I slowed to a stop, popped myself up through the sunroof and started firing off shots as fast as I could. I was in an extremely awkward shooting position and could barely see what I had in the viewfinder. I just tried to get the eyes centered to focus on and held down the trigger. A couple dozen shots later another truck roared on by and scarred him off. Just as he left he looked back at me. Click.
My first fox.foxsunsetwildlifenatureanimals
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