Nature – Page 11 – Circadianreflections Blog

Super Moon Rising November 2016

November 15, 2016November 15, 2016Posted in California Wildlife Reserves, National Wildlife Refuges in California, Nikon, Photography, Sandhill Cranes, Super MoonsTagged Belt of Venus, Birds in Flight, Birds in the Wild, California, I was born under a wandering star, Nature, Nikon, Photography, Reflection, Sandhill Crane Evening Fly-In, Sandhill Cranes, Silhouette, Super Moon, Woodbridge Ecological Reserve35 Comments

I mentioned in yesterday’s blog post here that photographing November’s Super Moon was N° 1 on my photography list of things to do this past week-end.

Quite awhile back I made plans to shoot it with with friends, and a photography group we’re in in central California at a Sandhill Crane Refuge called Woodbridge Ecological Reserve aka Isenberg Crane Reserve. The Sandhill Cranes Winter here, and in November both Greater and Lesser Sandhill Cranes are on the Reserve.

The goal was to photograph the Sandhill Crane’s evening Fly-in and rising Super Moon.

Here is a series of images I made.

It was hazy and a little cloudy, but here is the Moon just rising above the mountains. You can barely see the mountains.

…some Sandhill Cranes making their way into the Marsh.

Two Sandhill Cranes flying in high in front of the Moon.

Once the sun went down it was pretty tough shooting. I really pushed the ISO to keep my shutter speed up so the Sandhill Cranes wouldn’t be too blurry, but I failed for the most part. I also focused on the Moon and not the Cranes which didn’t help keep the Cranes sharp. Still. I would do it all over again. It was an amazing evening hearing and seeing the Cranes coming in with this year’s special Super Moon, and the company was the best.

Nikon D700| Nikkor 200-500mm| Lexar Digital Film| PS CC 2017 & On1 Photo 10.5

More to come…

Draw-a-Bird Day Nov.2016

November 8, 2016November 8, 2016Posted in Birds, Draw a Bird Day, Photography, WatercolorTagged Birds, Canson Watercolor Paper, Draw a Bird Day, Escoda Brushes, Mimik Kolinsky Brushes, Nature, painting, Turner Artist Watercolor, Watercolor33 Comments

I actually painted this in late October and thought if it came out alright I’d post it for this month’s Draw-a-Bird day.

I’ve never seen a Barred Owl in the wild but, would love to!

Barred Owl in Watercolor

Reference/inspiration Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North America

Painted on Canson 140lb coldpress watercolor paper

Paint: Turner Artist Watercolors; sap green, maya yellow, burnt umber, permanent yellow, ultramarine blue

Ink: Carbon Platinum Pen and ink

Brushes: Escoda #6, rd #2 rd , Mimik Kolinsky #12

More to come…

Fall Colors in the Eastern Sierras

October 23, 2016Posted in birding, Eastern Sierras, Fall Color, Landscape Photography, Nikon, PhotographyTagged Birding, Birds in the Wild, Creeks, Eastern Sierras, Landscape Photography, Mono Lake, Nature, Nikon, Photography38 Comments

Here are several images I made while in the Eastern Sierras looking for Fall Colors.

A spillover along a creek…

Spill Over

The back-light was gorgeous on this little tree, but the broken branch looked like an arm with fingers placing the tree in the light to me.

Backlit Leaves

a little cluster of color among the sage brush… Fall Colors

After sunrise I turned around and saw some Alpine Glow on the Sierras so hustled over to the this side to make a quick image. The reflections were nice too.

Alpine Glow on Eastern Sierras from Mono Lake

I was delighted to see a little flock of White Crowned Sparrows. They’re just beginning to show up in the Bay Area to winter where I live.

White Crowned Sparrows

a valley full of color!

Fall Colors

I couldn’t resist a little close up of the new pinecone with the golden Bokeh gleaming behind it. Feels like Christmas in October. 🙂

Pinecone Virginia Lake Area

I walked back from Misty Fall about a quarter mile to get this shot. I’m so glad I did. I love this sign!

South Fork Bishop Creek Canyon

Nikon Df| Nikkor 17-35mm & 180mm lenses| Delkin Digital Film| Tripod & Hand-held

More to come…

Fiery Skipper & Gear Review

August 7, 2016August 7, 2016Posted in Butterflies and Skippers, Camera Gear Reviews, Close Up Photograhy', Insects, Nature Photography, Nikon, PhotographyTagged Butterflies and Skippers, Camera Gear Reviews, Fiery Skipper, Insects, Insects of North America, Lenses, Nature, Nature Photography, Nikkor, Nikon, Photography12 Comments

I’m renting a Nikkor 24-120mm f/4G VR lens for a week to see if I like it well enough to replace my older 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 AF-D Micro lens. I sat in the backyard hoping the Skipper would show up so I could see how the lens handles close up imaging with my Canon 500D Close Up lens attached to it.

I really would like 24mm on the wide end, and having a little more reach couldn’t hurt.

I’ve shot less than 200 frames since picking up the lens late Friday afternoon; so far I am liking what I’m seeing.
It’s sharp, contrasty, auto-focuses quickly, and is pretty quiet. I don’t hear or feel VR (Nikon’s lens stablization) kicking in, but it must work b/c I was able to snap off a throw away low light shot made in my living room at 1/13s hand held and it’s pretty good…in focus and not blurry!

It’s easy to carry. It weighs 1.56 pounds which is just a tick under my 17-35mm so, the weight feels natural to me. What I’m trying to say is; I’m comfortable holding it and my camera. There’s not much difference weight wise between having the 28-105 or this lens on the camera to me.

One bête noire is the focus ring on this rental lens is SUPER hard to turn. Doing photography in the dark means one needs to be able to focus manually. While photographing the Moon and planet conjunctions both Friday and Saturday nights it wasn’t easy rotating the focus ring with this copy of the lens. I’m hoping it’s just this rental unit and not a characteristic of the lens. The rental copy has been well used. I can tell that because the gold lettering stating the lens specs is just about worn off, and the focus ring is a pain to use.

I haven’t uploaded last night’s images yet, but hope I was able to dial in a well focused shot. I’ll be posting those images soon.

You won’t get graphs, charts, and scientific testing with my reviews. I’m all about how the lens feels, works in my hands, and how good or bad the images look. I’ll be printing several images as well as pixel peeping on my PC to see how well they look.

My kit this week will be Nikon Df| Nikkor 24-120mm f/4G VR

Canon 500D Close Up lens

B+W Polarizer

2 Singh-Ray Graduated Filters

2 B+W Neutral Density Filters

SB910 Speedlight

Cable Release

Either my Nikkor 20mm f1.8G or my 16mm f/2.8D Fisheye for ultra wide angle photography.

Iphone 5

Both images made with the Nikon Df| Nikkor 24-120mm f4G VR| Canon 500D Close Up lens|Delkin Digital Film| PS CC 2015.5

FWIW: I’ll be off line most of this week. I’m still behind reading posts, and will get further behind this week! I’m getting some posts ready in advance and scheduled, but won’t be able to comment or view posts easily. Y’all have a great week! I’ll catch up when I get back. xx

More to come…

Clark’s Grebes

August 6, 2016August 6, 2016Posted in Birds in the Wild, Birds of North America, Clark's Grebes, Nature Photography, Nikon, PhotographyTagged Bird Photography, Birding, Birds in the Wild, Birds of North America, Clark's Grebes, Grebe Behavior, Grebe Chicks, Nature, Nikon, Photography20 Comments

Today I thought I share some images from my Spring Grebe excursion. We met at 5:45am to get out on the water to see the sun rise over the mountains and get that great light.

We were so fortunate to have a lovely morning with a rosy glow, and the Grebes were up and feeding already as well.

The male Grebes impressed me by how hard they work to feed the family. I’ll try to convey that with some images.

The male making a fish transfer to his mate and a hungry chick poking its head out in anticipation;

Clark's Grebe Pair making fish transfer

…but that little fish was a slippery one and she dropped it, fortunately, she was able to retrieve it quickly!

Clark Grebe Pair

Here a Clark’s Grebe male is just about to make the transfer;

Clark's Grebe Male making Fish Transfer to Female

Here’s a Clark’s Grebe male feeding a fish directly to a chick. That fish looks too big for that tiny bill!

Clark's Grebe Male Transferring Fish to Grebe Chick

With several mouths to feed the male does a whole lot of fishing!

He helps with swimming lessons, and even gives the female a break by allowing the chicks to swim from Mom’s back to his. Western Grebes: Yes, it’s a butt shot. 🙂

Western Grebes

Seeing this was so exciting and so darn adorable!!

Nikon D700| Nikkor 200-500mm| Lexar Professional Digital Film| PS CC 2015.5

Have a wonderful week-end Everyone!

More to come…

Humpback Whales

July 18, 2016July 17, 2016Posted in Monterey Bay, Nature, Nature Photography, Photography, Travel and Tourism, WhalesTagged Blue Ocean Cruises, Humpback Whales, Monterey Submarine Canyon, Nature, Nikon, Photography, Sea Mammals, Travel and Tourism, Whale Watching40 Comments

Saturday I spent late morning until early afternoon at sea Whale Watching outside of Monterey, CA. We sailed about 12 miles off shore to the Monterey Submarine Canyon where there were quite a number of Humpback Whales, Gray Whales, and a Blue Whale feeding on Krill, and other little fishes that were abundant on Saturday.

“The Monterey Submarine Canyon is quite large…an undersea Grand Canyon. It’s 470 kilometers (292 miles) long and approximately 12 kilometers (39 ft) at its widest point with a maximum rim to floor relief of 1,700 meters (5,577feet).” ~Simon Sanctuary

It’s was quite exciting seeing the Whales! I didn’t see a Breach this time out, but saw lots of Spouting, or Blowing.

Humpback Whale Spouting

It was overcast, windy, and a bit choppy out at sea the whole time. The Sun only peeked out a couple of times.

I saw some Fluking when the whales are going to dive down as much as 50 meters.

Humpback Whale Fluking

Once they reach the depth they want they begin to slowly rise by spiraling up to the surface often in teams creating a Bubble Net. The purpose of the bubble is to congregate the Krill and prey and force them to the surface. The Krill and fish see the bubbles as a net and feeling trapped they stay in the center of the Bubble Net. The Whales come up with an explosion of air with their mouths wide open eating all they can.

Here are two images of a fin of a Humpback Whale when it breaks the surface while they’re under the surface spinning.

Humpback Whale Spouting w Flipper showing

Humpback Whale Flipper;

The Humpback often get under that Bubble Net and Lunge up with their mouths gaping open scooping up the prey. Here you see at least 3 working as a team.

Humpback Whale Lunge Feeding

I see four working together here.

Humpback Whales Lunge Feeding

Humpback Whale Lunge feeding.

Humpback Whale Lunge Feeding

Humpback Whales spend the winter in the warm waters near Costa Rica and Hawaii. Humpbacks, including mothers with calves travel thousands of miles to feast on krill, and schooling fish in the Monterey Bay while they migrate north to their feeding waters in Alaska. They grow to be 45ft to 62ft (14-19 meters) long!

I missed quite a few good photo ops b/c for the first time in my life I got sea sick. It’s NOT FUN! I will go again but, I’m taking medicine before hand.

The images are not converted to Black & White. It was so gray out that they look black and white.

Nikon D700| Nikkor 80-200mm| Lexar Digital Film| Hand-held| Developed in PS CC 2015.5

More to come…

Insects of Point Reyes National Seashore

July 15, 2016Posted in Beetles, Birds, Birds in the Wild, Birds of North America, Butterflies, Insects, Photography, USA National ParksTagged Banded Birds, Beetles, Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Nikon, Photography, Point Reyes National Seashore, Skippers, US National Parks, White-crowned Sparrow29 Comments

I had pretty good luck spotting insects while hiking in Point Reyes National Seashore last week-end. I saw Butterflies, Beetles, and Grubs. Here’s a sampler. 🙂

I’m pretty sure this is a Skipper, but I can’t find anything that looks exactly like it in my books, or online so, don’t know what it is. I found it in Point Reyes National Seashore last week-end; July 9,2016. Anyone know what it is and what it is called?

Unknown Skipper or Butterfly?

Other insects I found while exploring different areas of the park were:

A ladybug, one of several I saw…

a green and black beetle called a Spotted Cucumber Beetle,

Spotted Cucumber Beetle

who was pretty hungry,

Spotted Cumcumber Bettle

…a Common Buckeye Butterfly

Common Buckeye Butterfly

…and a grub or grasshopper served a la carte to a White Crown Sparrow that is banded. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen a banded sparrow.

Banded White Crown Sparrow

Nikon Df w/28-105mm lens and Delkin Digital Film, and Lumix FZ200 w/ Lexar Digital Film- Hand-held

More to come…

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