The Grizzly and The IPAD

I recently found out that an article I had written about a year ago for Nature Photographer magazine has just become available as an IPAD App.  It is in the current, winter issue even though the article is about watching a grizzly bear mating ritual that took place in a snowstorm in June.  Lots of grizzly biology as well as issues pertaining to photographing the ritual in heavy snow.  Here is one of the images used in the article.

If you have an IPAD and are willing to spend $3.99 for the issue, it might be worth your time.  Of course, there are lots of other good articles as well.  ENJOY !!

The Long Lens Landscape Revisited

Several months ago, I posted an image of a large lichen taken from a distance with my 500 mm lens.  The key point of that post was the shallow depth of field one gets from a long lens.  Here is another example, this time being able to isolate your subject.  On my  trip to Yellowstone last fall, I took a couple of shots that really show the isolation.  I took two shots from the exact same location, first with a 70 mm lens then with the 500.  First is the 70 mm shot of the Yellowstone River looking downstream from the Chittenden Bridge.  Note the black rectangle around the boulder near the center of the image.  That is about the field of view that you see in the 500 mm shot.

 

The next image is the one shot with the 500 mm lens from the same location.  Note how effective the narrow angle of view combined with the lens magnification is in isolating the boulder as subject.  (Although this is a good example of the isolation, it isn't a particularly good overall image because the background is too much like the color and tonality of the boulder)  Anyway, when you are in a prime shooting location, take the time to think about all of your lenses and don't forget the long lens for landscapes.

 

Life and Death at Otter Creek

Several weeks ago, I arrived at Yellowstone to do a week of late fall shooting.  In the afternoon of day one, I was driving south of Canyon near Otter Creek and came upon a giant traffic jam.  In Yellowstone that always means a wildlife sighting.  So, like everyone else, I pulled over where I could and walked to where the crowd was gathered.  There was an adult bison laying about 100 yards from the road and a lone wolf resting in the woods about 20 yards away.  Rangers told us that the bison was injured or sick and the Canyon pack of wolves had been waiting for it to die.  After waiting awhile, I drove on,  When I returned the next day, the bison had either died or been killed by the wolves during the night.  Other than the ravens and the eagle, none of the wolves or other predators/scavengers were present.  Although I checked back several other times during the week, the wolves didn't return.  This image was made late in the day about 40 + hours after the bison expired.  Not much is left of the carcass; nothing goes to waste in the wild.  A fascinating scene to observe over several days.  Note the eagle flying away in the background.

Killer Bears?? and Global Warming

The summer of 2010 has seen two high profile incidents in the Greater Yellowstone area, incidents in which people were killed by grizzly bears.  Unfortunately, the 'popular media' sometimes over plays an incident and the general public draws cause and effect conclusions which may not be accurate.  One incident, the one in the campground near Cooke City was described as an aberration and largely unexplained as to why the grizzly sow attacked several people, killing one man.  In the case of Mr. Evert the botanist, the consensus view seems to be that he was unfortunately at the wrong place and time when a tranquilized bear was coming out of sedation.

Now comes a lengthy story that is online in Counterpunch written by Doug Peacock, who, as far as I am concerned, is the 'Best' author ever on knowing about, understanding and telling the story of this great creature at the top of the western wildlife food chain.  I'm hoping the article will be widely read and will stir useful debate about how we can protect the Great Bear and its habitat.  Click here to read the article.

Olympic National Park

About two weeks ago, I returned from a week of shooting in Olympic National Park in Washington state.  First time I had been back there since the summer of 1999.  What a great location for a landscape photographer, lots of variety in both scenery and in weather.  From Alpine mountain vistas to pacific beaches to temperate rainforest in the space of a couple of hundred miles.  Over the course of the next week, I'll put up a gallery of some of my favorite images from the trip.  For now, here is a vertical panorama shot with a Nikon Tilt/Shift 45mm lens that allows you to shoot very tall subjects without the distortion that would come from tilting the lens upward to get the treetops.  Great place to be a photographer; look for the new gallery soon.