PORTFOLIO SELECTS
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BLACK GOLD
I spent the better part of May sunsets haunting a marsh along my route home from work. I originally attempted to get mostly red-winged blackbirds flying among the cattails but I’m a cheap date and pretty soon was shooting anything that moved.
The grackles were great. They’re not as “popular” as red wings but were a bit slower which helped in my effort to get long sequences of flight.gracklesblackcattailsmarshflyingbacklight
From PANORANIMALS
BLADERIDER
I’d swear they were having fun.
It was a hot and breezy mid-summer day on the pond. And I was actually in the pond half submerged under camo with the camera supported on a surrounding air tube – to enable me to get at eye level with the ducks. There wasn’t much duck action however, and I began to scout around for something else to shoot.
I spotted some damsel flies and drifted over to check them out. They were backlit and the sunlight enhanced the beauty of their wings and rim lit their delicate features. I got some beautiful shots of them hovering over the water with full reflections as soft focused shimmers of leaves and seeds floated by beneath them.
Then I saw the windsurfers.
The damsels were landing on the floating willow leaves. At first I assumed it was just to grab a rest mid-pond. But as I tracked with them it looked like they would land on a leaf, windsurf it to the edge of the pond, fly back up wind, select another leaf, and do it all over again.
Kowabunga.
OVER, UNDER & THROUGH
For the first week or so, cygnets only surface feed. They peck the grasses and anything that looks good floating. And when the adults dip, they hurriedly hover around to grab whatever gets dredged up from below.
Like all of us, they learn from example and before long are dipping and diving for themselves.
I’ve shot thousands of frames of ducks growing through this stage – the mother tilts straight down with her bum pointing up in the air and the chicks surround her in anticipation - but this was the first family of trumpeter swans I’d observed. So I immediately recognized the behavior but rather than a bum in the air there was the beautiful arch portal of the neck framing the cygnets in waiting.
Nice.
FOURmation
Thousands of sandhill cranes winter at Bosque del Apache from November through February. They spend the nights in long lined formations standing safely away from shore in the middle of three large shallow ponds on the refuge. Every morning as the sun rises over the distant mountains, they walk towards the warmth in small groups until they break into a run, lift off, and then head out to the planted fields to spend the day feeding.
They’ll migrate from field to field over the course of the day, enjoying a mix of grains. Then as dusk approaches they all begin to head back to their select ponds to spend the evening.
I captured these four in the late afternoon. I was standing high on the edge of the field and caught them shortly after take off while they were still relatively close to the ground, which accounts for the eye level view.
ANGELS
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 the snowstorm, diffused lighting, and super-telephoto lens created a unique effect that looked more painterly than photographic, giving them an angelic appearance.
TUSH
More than just a cute butt …
The underwater viewing room at the zoo is a great place to see the polar bears. Usually, just before feeding time, they enter the pool to cool down and play. The children have a great time watching and gather around the windows to get as close as possible, screaming in delight, laughing, and slapping trying to get their attention. Where else could you go nose to nose with a polar bear?
Often, you’ll hear comments about the paws. The bears love to charge the windows and push themselves back off from the glass. When they press their feet flat up against the windows you get a beautiful view of the undersides. The paws are giant sized and to me there’s a certain cartoon quality about them. I think it’s the roundish shape of the pads and black dots of the claws, set off against the thick white fur, that makes them seem cute and friendly.
That and knowing there’s a nine-centimeter thick safety panel keeping them at bay.From EVERYTHING
GO
Red tailed hawk
SWIRLY GIRLY
It’s become an annual meeting.
I’ve encountered this same female snapping turtle in the exact same place the last three springs. I’m excited to see her – she’s big and beautiful, probably a 16” diameter shell - but I also feel badly. Each time we meet, it’s just as she’s working her way up the steep bank below the dam of the pond that she’s trying to reach. As soon as she sees me, she turns around and slides back into the stream, giving up all the ground she’s gained. Then she lies perfectly still in the water thinking I can no longer see her and waiting for me to leave.
I look forward to next year’s meeting – with guilty pleasure.ron pittssnapping turtlesnapperrapidscreekstreamlong exposurenaturewildlifeanimalsreptiles
From EVERYTHING
HIDING FROM THE HERON
A couple of herons frequent our ponds. Our dogs can be barking at them ten feet from shore and it doesn’t faze the birds, but I just have to open the door and they fly off. So, I generally spend an hour or two each week trying to sneak up on the herons.
For HIDING I slowly worked my way toward him by darting from tree to tree whenever he lunged for fish. I started shooting at about fifty feet from behind the cover of a pine tree and the tall shoreline grasses. That’s why he appears to be floating in a field of green.
Now I use a hunting blind to hide from the heron.ronpittsbeautifulnaturephotographyphotographimageswildlifeanimalsbirdsgreat blue heronherongreengreydiffused
DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT
One moment I was shooting a mountain peak poking through the clouds against a predawn sky and the next it was shrouded over by a bank of clouds. Then the clouds swept past the summit and dropped down towards the lake, threatening to obscure the entire view. Suddenly the sun broke over the eastern ridge and slipped under the cloudbank, lighting a path across the lower face of the mountain. I had to remind myself to close my gaping mouth and shoot before it was gone.
Sometimes when I'm shooting panoramas such as this one that requires several images stitched together to create the whole, by the time I finish my panning across the vista, the weather and lighting will look completely different than it did at the start. The weather changes so quickly in the mountains, I think you could classify shooting them as action photography rather than landscape photography.
This photo was taken from Num Te Ja Lodge on Bow Lake in early October. I woke to -10 C temps and a beautiful blanket of snow from an overnight storm.
TRIP THE LIGHT FANTASTIC
It began as a study of isolation.Amongst the tens of thousands of snow geese there stood, one, lone sandhill crane. There were hundreds of other cranes on the pond but most were grouped together along the edge of the sea of geese.Somehow this gal got stranded in the middle. The sandhills were already on the pond when the geese flew in. And when the geese come they arrive all at once and blanket the pond in a matter of seconds. So it’s likely that this crane was just caught off guard and when the feathers settled she found herself surrounded.It was an interesting juxtaposition. I shot a single frame with the crane centered and then recorded a few frames on either side imagining I would combine them into a panorama. Then she slowly began to move, picking her way through and high stepping over the congestion of geese. Gradually she broke into a trot, which became a run, and turned into a take-off as I merrily tracked along with her.It became a study in motion.
sandhill cranessnow geesesnowgeesebosque del apachenew mexicomistfogpondwetlandsmuybridgelaunchingtaking offthousandslandingflyingpanoranimal
EMERALD CASCADES
From EVERYTHING
THREE AMIGOS
Not having seen much wildlife all day, we were heading in for an early dinner when we spotted these three big horns on a cliff above the road. It didn’t look like much was happening but we thought we’d give it a chance. As we pulled over, we noticed a couple other photographers had spotted them as well and had set up across the road from us.
For the next half hour we watched the sheep feeding. Then they began to tease and test each other. They’d mill around the edge picking at the tall grass until one would move up behind the other and then start kneeing him in the butt. Eventually the knee-ee would turn around, they’d face off, and do the classic ramming thing. They’d stand a few moments, stunned, then go about feeding again until one would start kneeing the other and it would begin all over.
We shot until we lost the light. We were heading back to the car when we noticed what began as two had turned into fifteen photographers, all with big lenses. Must have been a slow day for everyone.
SUSPLENDID
There are thousands of sandhill cranes who winter at the Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge in southern New Mexico. They spend their nights sleeping on the big ponds of the flooded fields and during the day, they feed in the fields that have been cultivated to provide food. They're relatively shy birds and keep their distance from all the park visitors, but their daily routines are fairly predictable. So photographers can stake out along the edges of the ponds and the fields during the "golden hour" of light in the morning and evenings and capture them in all their grace and beauty as they travel past.
bosque del apache wildlife refugeanimalsbirdssandhill cranessunsetdesertnew mexicoflightwings
BRUSH WITH BEAUTY
I saw the shot.
I could barely make out a silhouette, but the moment I spotted it, I slammed the brakes and jumped out with my camera, grabbed the tripod from the back, and raced to the edge of the bank to get as close as possible.
It was early evening in Bosque del Apache, and there was a mule deer with a nice rack feeding on the far side of the channel. I only knew he was there because of the shadow of his form against the tall, backlit grass, that he was nibbling on. But in the minute it took me to get situated and shooting, the shot was gone. Now, he was moving around too much and I couldn’t catch a clear silhouette. I kept working it as he gradually foraged his way through the grass and into clear view; some great moments but not what I saw when I came on the scene.
Then I spotted the doe. She wasn’t even visible before, but now appeared, almost ghost like against the grass curtain of light. As she reached up high to nibble the shoots there was just enough definition to make out the silhouette.
I had it.From EVERYTHING
LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT
A pair of wood ducks spending some quiet morning time together on the pond. This woodpeckered log is a favourite resting place for the couple.
ronpittsapple of his eyebeautifulnaturephotographyphotographimageswildlifeanimalsgreengreymalefemalewood duckwood duckslogwaterpondreflection
From EVERYTHING
LITTLE SCOUT
This little guy bravely approached me as I floated nearby in the water to see what I was. He got a good look at what must have appeared to be a big black eyeball (my foot long, seven inch diameter telephoto lens) and turned back to report the news to mom.
PHANTOM IN THE MIST
From EVERYTHING
A TEACHING MOMENT
From EVERYTHING
TOUCHING MOMENT
SWANDERFULL
WARY
From EVERYTHING
RUSH HOUR
From EVERYTHING
THE GREAT BLUE YONDER
Scootching made this shot possible.
It’s often the case when I wake in the morning that I’ll look out from the bedroom window and see a heron on the pond. And as much as I’d like to go out to shoot I know from multiple past experiences that it’s almost impossible to get out there close enough to get a shot without spooking them.
But occasionally there are two herons, which means there’s a chance that something interesting can happen between them as they jockey around the pond for territorial position. And while they distract each other there’s a chance they might not notice a big guy with a huge lens sneaking towards them.
There wasn’t time to change so I just donned my camo hat and went out in my pajamas. I sat on my butt behind the camera and scootched forward along the wet grass whenever they weren’t looking. It took me a half an hour to work my way down the exposed hillside to the edge of the pond - a distance of a mere 60 feet.
I finally reached the cover of the tall grass along the pond edge and from that vantage caught this sequence of one heron crossing to get away from the other.
Then again, perhaps it was the pajamas.
SMOKE BUSH BEAUTY
I was having fun with the chickadees around the feeder, taking advantage of a warm November day - trying to capture the last of the fall colours. I started out under the cover of camouflage but soon abandoned it when it became obvious they could care less if I was around. It's funny. The other, bigger birds are always very wary but not these little guys. They don't care who's around. They just want to eat and, if you're in the way, they'll use you as an interim perch to get to the food.
BLUEBIRDING
I had never seen a bluebird hover before, but there it was in an extremely high wind, flying in place a couple meters off the ground hunting for food. I had stopped along the edge of a large meadow to shoot a lone bull elk lying in the grass when I noticed the bluebirds. Usually photographing birds mid flight is a challenge, even with auto focus, but this hovering habit made it easy. The real challenge was that I couldn't get any closer and the wind was blowing so hard it was difficult to hold the big lens steady. I ended up hanging my backpack on the tripod for extra ballast and pushed the exposure to shoot as fast as I could in the fading evening light.
As I was editing the bluebird shots, I was frustrated to see how small the images were until I came upon the idea of compositing them into a single image. Not only did it fill frame with added interest, but because all views are from the exact same perspective, it enhances the feeling that this bird was hovering in place.From EVERYTHING
ALGONQUIN
From EVERYTHING
SPEEDO
First:
This is of course, a composite – what I call a Panoranimal. However, unlike most of my digitally stitched works that are sequential frames of action, this composite was made from three separate dives. Same bird. Same location. Different dives.
Second:
We’re lucky in that we have kingfishers that fish on our pond. So, four summers ago I placed two tall dead branches over a narrow, shallow channel. The location was the perfect distance from my shooting blind for me to capture full frame images of the birds when they perched.
Coincidentally it turned out to be a good fishing spot and I witnessed lots of activity. At first I was happy just to get shots of them sitting on the branches eyeballing their prey below or preening after they returned from a dive. I also got nice shots of them with their catch, repeatedly slapping them against the wood to finish the kill (or soften the bones?). Even got a picture of one flipping it into his mouth with the fish suspended mid air directly above his throat.
But the kings were always too fast for me to capture a complete series of them diving. Consider what is involved: I had to anticipate their start, then follow them darting straight down twelve feet in a second, hitting a different target location every time, while keeping them in focus and in frame – a frame BTW that was barely big enough to accommodate them with their wings fully extended.
I made numerous attempts every summer. I slowly got better. The cameras eventually got faster. Until one weekend while a persistent kingfisher was making repeated unsuccessful dives I captured enough sequences to complete the shot.
At last.From EVERYTHING
DRENCHED
Bears in trees were everywhere.
The whitebark tree pine cone seeds are a big part of the bear's diet. At the higher elevations in Yellowstone Park, Wyoming, there is a run of whitebarks along one of the mountain passes. Unlike other pines, these cones don't drop off; the bears must either rob the secreted caches of birds and squirrels, or do for themselves. The first week in October they were out in full force doing for themselves.
The bears appeared to climb effortlessly and seemed at ease no matter how precarious the perch. If a cone was out of reach they’d either bend the limb as they wished or snapped the limb right off and plucked the cone like a grape. Some would daintily pick out the seeds with their claws and others would just chow down on the cones.
This day it was raining steadily so I had to shoot from under a camera covering. I’m not crazy about shooting bears while using it because I can’t tell what’s going on around me. Plus, it was overcast and the bear was buried in the dark of the tree cover. But just when I was ready to pack it in he popped up into this open area of the tree top. He casually bowed a few limbs to get his treat, then looked my way to give me the shot and let me call it a day.
Quite a sight.bearsgrizzlyblackyellowstone parkrain stormpine treesseedsdrenchedclimbing trees
PURPLE HAZE
Driving home from work on a rainy spring evening, I came across this scene at a favourite marsh. The rain had drizzled to a stop and the setting sun squeaked through the cloud cover to light up the steamy nesting site of the redwings.
From EVERYTHING
BLACK GOLD
From EVERYTHING
FLEW MAN CHEW
Robin gathering tiger lily leaves.
BIG DREAMS
Someday …
Normally, if the mother mallard suspects that I might be in my island blind, she keeps her distance. She will feed her chicks around the perimeter and swim past freely but she would never land anywhere near the blind.
But this season, I think mom was a repeat customer. Ducks pretty much all look the same but when I checked previous year’s photos it looked like she had similar markings. And I believe she knew she’d be safer near us in case of predators.
Indeed, we’d rushed out several times in past seasons to scare away minks and others while she squawked and stood her ground against them. And we’d already had several such interventions this year.
So here they were, landing right next to me and actually snuggling in together for a short siesta less than 20 feet away. And as they were jockeying for position around mom, this little one came wondering over to me, and with a far away look in his eye, rose up and flapped his little wings. Looked like he was dreaming of future flights.
Then he wobbled back and took a nap.From EVERYTHING
VEILED BLUE
From EVERYTHING
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
