I made a quick trip to Longmont to visit my parents.  Though I was ostensibly there to see them, I couldn’t resist a quick detour to a nearby open space while my kids were playing with Grandma.  I’m glad I went! There were many subjects, including ducks, geese, and gulls.  As a bonus, the ducks were much less skittish than my previous (frustrating) duck photography outing. The Northern Shovelers (Anas clypeata), in particular, were great. As always, click on any image in the post for a larger version.

The Ring-billed gulls (Larus delawarensis) were everywhere.  I like the sweet light on this bird against the dark clouds.

The Common Goldeneyes (Bucephala clangula) would not get close enough for a frame filling shot, so I tried for a wider perspective.  It is harder than one might guess to get all three ducks facing the same direction.

I love shooting in raking light (i.e. off of the sun angle).  The catch light and “glowing” feet make this one work.  Be sure to click on the image to see it full size.

I’m not certain what is going on with this bird.  Molting? Juvenile?

Though it may not be apparent from the web-sized jpeg, the sharpness and detail in this image is breathtaking.   Great light, perfect head angle, and the water droplet off the beak make this one of my favorite shoveler portraits.

Finally, a Common Merganser (Mergus merganser).   This is one of the last images of the day.  I like how the setting sun spotlights the bird’s head while its body is hidden in shadow.

Potentially related posts:

1. Northern Shoveler
2. Pintail Takeoff
3. Elk

SUPERHUMAN snapper Greg du Toit was so determined to photograph wild lions drinking he sat SUBMERGED in their watering hole — for THREE months.

These incredible pictures show that Greg’s blood, sweat and tears approach to his work — three hours per day for seven days a week in the water — was worth the wait.

But it came at a huge price for the photographer who was diagnosed with horrific tropical diseases Bilharzia, Malaria and several parasites, which he soaked up through the dirty water in the drinking hole.

To top things off, du Toit was at serious risk of being eaten by the lions he was photographing.  On the other hand, his images are fantastic.  Check out the slideshow in the linked article.  Even better are the photos on du Toit’s website.   The African Anomaly gallery is particularly good.  Worth a look

Potentially related posts:

1. Another Crazy Wildlife Photographer

I visited my favorite fox spot during a recent snow storm.  The foxes were nowhere to be found, but rather than go home empty, I spent some time photographing the local waterfowl.  I ordinarily would have not given the Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) a second look.  However, the heavy snow gave me an opportunity to create some goose images that were not merely documentary, but said something about the animals persevering through harsh conditions.  As an added bonus, the snow created great, clean backgrounds.

I also shot these Common Goldeneyes (Bucephala clangula) taking flight.  Not really enough light for flight photography, but the blurs work.

See something you like? Have a question? Please leave a comment.

Potentially related posts:

1. Red Foxes in Snow
2. Red Foxes and the First Snow of the Season
3. Elk and a Mulie

I promise to get back to posting my own work soon.

Potentially related posts:

1. More Blurs, and Other Powerful Work by Alain Briot
2. More Landscape Blurs

Potentially related posts:

1. Remarkable Leopard Seal Video
2. Hilarious Nikon D3x Video

(Note: I have chosen to respect Groves’ copyright by refraining from posting his images here.)

I was looking for a perch for a songbird setup a la Alan Murphy. Never had much luck with the birds, but this is a pretty good consolation prize. This is a tiny bud from one of our bushes (maybe 1/4″ across). In order to get the whole thing sharp I stacked a number of images using Helicon Focus. I converted to monochrome and toned the image using Photoshop and a custom tone curve.

Potentially related posts:

1. Trees in Morning Fog
2. Tonehacker and Toning Photographs in Photoshop
3. Rework

Went back for another crack at the many ducks wintering on the Platte. The ducks were very skittish (and the gunfire from adjacent hunting areas didn’t help matters). Still, I’m pleased to come away with this image for  Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata).  Hopefully I can improve my stalking technique and put a lens on some other ducks.

Potentially related posts:

1. Pintail Takeoff
2. Duck Duck Gull

I went looking for ducks on the Platte River this morning. I found a great many ducks but they were remarkably skittish.   I plan to try again with a bind, but even without one I still came away with a couple of reasonably good images, including this photo of a Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) taking flight.  Light levels were too low for sharp images of birds in flight, so I went for a slightly blurred look instead.  As always, click on the image for a larger/sharper version.

Potentially related posts:

1. Northern Shoveler
2. Duck Duck Gull
3. Rutting Mule Deer