Photographing a Parrot Clay Lick - 2
No trip to the Amazon would be complete without a visit to a clay lick. On our last trip to Ecuador we did just that and it was so cool. I had no idea that this sort of thing took place and even just hearing about it, it was hard to imagine. The story is…
Ecuador Photo Tour Trip Report 2018
Ecuador Photo Tour Ah Ecuador! From the cloud forest of the Tandayapa Valley to the foothills of Sumaco Volcano and into the depth of the Amazon, this was a fun trip! Seven intrepid travelers joined us for the main part of this adventure, while five continued on with us for the extension into the Amazon.…
Winter Photography - 1
Not sure if you have noticed it or not, but the weather around here lately has been, well… a bit challenging. Super cold and a bit of snow. This is when a lot of nature photographers move inside, stop shooting and work on images or do some other indoor tasks – big mistake! I would…
Light on the Land - 1
Certainly, no photographic journey to the Tetons would be complete without a sunrise visit to the iconic “Oxbow”. The Oxbow can be beautiful at any time of day but the light at sunrise can be especially spectacular. As all of you know, Landscape Photography is all about the light. So, we were all very disappointed…
Photographing Loons – A Visit with some old Friends - 1
Recently had a chance to visit some old friends… LOONS! Back in the nineties I spent nearly a decade photographing these amazing and interesting birds. Nicole and I went up for two weekends this June and early July and were lucky enough to be there the day the baby hatched. Loons live almost exclusively in…
Chance favors the prepared mind - 1
This is one of my favorite images from a recent trip to Tanzania. Shots like this don’t “just happen” well… sometimes they do, but more often than not they are anticipated and planned for. In the instance of this image, we had this herd of Zebra feeding before this beautiful African landscape, with a group…
Your Photographic Rootball - 1
Around here, Red-winged Blackbirds have been back for a few weeks, Spring Peepers fill the nights with their song, and before long, Round-lobed Hepatica will be pushing up through leaf litter. These are all signs that Spring is in the air here in Michigan. Spring is an exciting and busy time for most nature photographers.…
Realizing your Creative Vision - 3
The simple act of pushing the shutter button to make a picture changes the scene. When we make an image, the camera compresses our three-dimensional world into two dimensions. It freezes a single moment in time forever. Understanding this fact is the first step to becoming a true photographer. As photographers, we make many conscious…
Caterpillars Part 2 – Survival
Life is tough if you are a caterpillar. You are virtually a slow moving little bundle of protein, and on the menu for many creatures. I have heard it takes about 9,000 caterpillars to raise just one family of Chickadees! One of the things I find most interesting about these creatures are the many adaptations…