No, it’s not Thanksgiving… just turkey passing through.
We had 3 of them munching their way across our neighborhood. Gotta love it!
Grand Canyon: North Rim
Grand Canyon has been on my mind. I wrote a blog about the exciting new publication of my friend, Dave’s new book, A Year in the Grand Canyon…. https://kritterspaw.com
It reminded me of our own trip with Dave to the Grand Canyon, and camping at Crazy Jug Point, so I thought I would reminisce and resurrect some of my favorite pix.
We were fortunate enough to benefit from Dave’s amazing knowledge of the Grand Canyon, as he shared his special spots with us and we chattered around the campfire.
It was a fantastic and memorable time. Hey, Dave… We should do it again! Can you fit us into your busy schedule?
OMG! It’s a BEAR!
John and I often go out to the Mogollon Rim for dinner, sunsets, and in search of a bear. I would so love to get a photo of a bear. Little did we know when we sat down to dinner this evening we would get more than we bargained for…. dinner and entertainment.
For whatever reason, we decided to have dinner in our dining room. So here we were enjoying a lovely meal, chattering about our day, when we looked out our window and saw a bear on our front concrete pad. This ‘little guy’ was standing on two feet getting into our bird feeder. OMG! It’s a BEAR! He was maybe 30 feet from us. OMG! It’s a BEAR! Holy cow, errr BEAR!
We watched him (or her) from the comfort of our window until he just sauntered off toward our neighbor, where he again stood on two feet and got into their bird feeder. Finding them both empty he cruised down to our neighbor down the hill, hoping to find more success.
“Quick, call Pat! I’m grabbing my camera” … and with that I was chasing this bear through our neighborhood.
He didn’t go far. He found Pat’s feeding trough just right as he lied in it and wallowed, shoveling food into his mouth.
These pix aren’t going to win any awards, but OMG! It’s a BEAR!
Elk babies
I’m thrilled to report… the elk babies are back! It’s that time of year. Here on the mountain June / July brings babies. Baby chipmunks, bunnies, wood ducks, heron’s, fawns, and elk. If we’re lucky we get a glimpse of them.
On days that I get to see these beautiful animals and witness nature at its finest, it’s a GREAT day! I feel so very fortunate to live in amongst these many animals… and be able to have such great photography fodor. I just hope I can do them justice.
Oh, Canada
You may have read my earlier posts here and here . If so, you’ll know we just got back from a fabulous trip to Nova Scotia. We enjoyed the seafood, the scenery, and the water. We saw puffins, eagles, seal, grouse, pheasant, porcupine, deer, and caribou.
It’s so awesome just to watch nature in it’s climates and storms, it’s moods and sweeps…. we just love it. We can spend time just watching it’s many facets, meeting people, and taking it all in. Oh my, how we have evolved.
Becoming a photographer teaches one many things. Not the least of which is juxtaposition, simplification, patterns and light. It’s a joy to see something, capture it and make a seemingly ordinary commonplace item something extraordinary. Not that a large lobster boat cast onshore is anything ordinary!
There is something about being on the coast. It produces such moods and emotion. It giveth and it take away; the sea can be peaceful or unforgiving. Many lives are lost on the seas, caught in it’s moods. We saw a great testament and monument to that in Lunenburg where marble pillars list the names of the lost. It gives one pause.
Yet, on it’s good days the sea is inviting in it’s beauty and allure… a peaceful serene place. It’s no wonder we crave it and constantly go back for more.
In Lunenburg we enjoyed fabulous Adams & Knickles scallops, the seaside village, and surrounding Blue Rocks.
The evening light on Lunenburg was spectacular, but it does take a long zoom and tripod to get the shot, as it isn’t up close and personal… it’s across the way at the golf course.
When we were there the flowers were blooming and the birds chirping, storms were brewing, and sun was still hesitant to shine through. Yet the water was flowing and the animals active. It was a quiet and fun time to be there.
Peggy’s Cove
Anyone that knows us, knows that we love the water. We always find the water where ever we go (that and food markets, but I digress). Peggy’s Cove is a popular photography place with it’s iconic lighthouse and multitude of photographs littering the internet. So we figured it was our turn to experience it for ourselves.
We planned a trip to Nova Scotia that included both Cape Breton Island, Peggy’s Cove, and Lunenburg. Check out more here.
We found Peggy’s Cove to be fantastically picturesque. It was stunning to take in… almost like props were set there for photography. The iconic lobster traps, the colorful lobster boats, and rustic docks overlooking the bay. Wow!
The weather cleared for us for 2 full days when we were in Peggy’s Cove and Lunenburg… then the fog rolled back in. It gave us just long enough to get some great sunset shots in this magical place.
I found the bay to be so much more picturesque than the lighthouse. But thankfully I was the only one who thought so, as I had the bay to myself while hoards of tourists climbed all over the lighthouse.
Milk Ranch Road
Last I blogged, I spoke about the Mogollon Rim and it’s many faces. We continue to explore it’s personalities and strive to find new places to capture it’s essence. This week’s trip took us to Milk Ranch Rd, which is kinda on-the-rim-off-the-rim. You still get those great views, but not the great winds (if you’ve been to Mogollon Rim you know what I mean, it’s always windy).
We found a great spot and stayed overnight to get sunset and sunrise shots. The sun casts shadows across the canyons creating dark lines, making it ever challenging to capture. But I’m up for the continued challenge.
Unfortunately, on this particularly trip I forgot my tripod. Pretty humorous that was an issue for me, as I have never been a tripod shooter. It always seemed such a pain. Now that I have embraced it, I can’t live without it. I can set up the tripod and take those low light photographs (sunrise, sunset, stars) while maximizing my aperture to let lots of light in but still keeping my ISO low to avoid noise. Star photos were a bit dicey though taken on a sweatshirt. The glow of our fire cast a orange hue on the pine trees above.
Rim Pix
We have been trying to capture the Mogollon Rim. While it is a drop dead gorgeous landscape, it is so vast it is hard to capture. But we’re determined to build a collection of photos that do it justice. So be prepared… this is not the first, nor will it be the last post on this topic.
It has so very many faces, both in terms of blue blue skies… and storm clouds on the horizon. It’s got gnarly trees and craggy ridge lines. It has endless personalities with tons of character.
For us, it’s our all time FAVORITE place to have dinner. I don’t know what it is, but we’ll pack up a dinner and head out to the rim… and the food always tastes better. The scenery is surreal and of course, the company always fantastic.
And when we’re lucky… we even get visitors (of the furry kind). Last week we saw a bear. Too far away to photo, but a bear nonetheless. For us… that was a thrill.
Panning Technique
I love this technique, but it does take practice.
Thank goodness for digital cameras. I can practice all I want, and throw out the duds.
The trick is a SLOW shutter speed. It should be 1/8, 1/4, or 1/2 second. It has to be slow enough to actually capture the motion. At 1/500 or 1/30 second won’t cut it as your inferred motion will be too slight.
The tricky part is getting the shutter speed that slow during the day. There are several ways to assist in this. Use a small aperture (f/22), allowing for the slowest shutter. Use a polarizer or Neutral Density filter to cut the light, and slow down the shutter.
Once you can get the shutter slow enough… let ‘er rip.
This is a hand held technique, not tripod. So you have to move with the subject. Focus on where the subject will be crossing your path (or use Al Servo) parallel to where you await your subject to pass. Also use your high speed exposure to take multiple photos as you swing with your moving subject.
It’s good fun and a cool technique. Good luck.
May Day Snow
When I wrote about Snow showers in my kritterspaw blog (here), I thought it was our last snow storm of the year. Phoenix, 2 hours south has already seen 90F days. Well, in the week since then Phoenix has seen 100F days, the calendar has rolled over to May, and we got another snow storm. Much to the delight of our visiting San Diego friends, we were treated with a magical day on the rim of light snow, fog, and cool weather conditions. The weather made for interesting photos and a great day.
We managed to grab an opening in the snow fall to stop for a glorious picnic as we watched the snow melt off the trees like pouring rain.
As the fog rolled in, the weather just got more mysterious, and along with it the photographic opportunities.
While you couldn’t see the rim well, it brought an otherworldly eeriness to our outing.
It truly was a magical day. So glad we were able to enjoy it, and share it with friends.
kritterspix 