outdoor photography

Gateway Arch I've driven by the Gateway Arch on I-64 before, but I've never actually visited the park, which is called the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial.  My colleague and I will be conducting interviews here in St. Louis tomorrow, so we we decided to drop by the park to see it up close.  I have one very profound thought to share about the experience: that's one big arch. It was pretty cloudy, so I thought it might be fun to accentuate that with some HDR work. Gateway Arch Gateway Arch Gateway Arch Gateway Arch

Long-billed Curlew Long-billed Curlews have to be one of the most fascinating birds around.  I mean, just look at these guys--the large size (for a shorebird), the enormously long bill, and the curve of it.  It's shaped just right to get down  into sand and mud to grab burrowing shrimp and crabs. Watching them hunt for food is pretty great as well.  The plunge their bills into where their food has burrowed and twist their necks all around to get at their prey. Long-billed Curlew Long-billed Curlew Long-billed Curlew Long-billed Curlew Long-billed Curlew Long-billed Curlew

Boyce Library Canon Powershot S100 HS (Three image HDR with Photomatix) Today I'm in Louisville, KY conducting interviews at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary for work. When we finished our interviews, my colleague and I decided to record some B-roll of the campus, and I walked around with my point and shoot and took stills of the campus. It's a pretty campus, and it was nice to hear Song Sparrows singing with the American Robins while we walked about the campus. The weird thing is that there are all these buildings obscuring my view of trees and birds. At any rate, here are some point and shoot photos of the campus. These are all hand held, so most of the HDR shots had to be aligned in Photomatix. For one shot, I was able to use a bench to steady the camera so I tried using the in-camera HDR feature, which works pretty well, but it only gives you a JPEG image.  It's more work, but I became convinced today that Photomatix does a better job of HDR. Boyce Libra...

Cascade Falls, Avalon Area May 22, 2009 In the year or so before we moved to Florida, I found this wonderful group of cascades in what's called the Avalon of Patapsco State Park just outside of Baltimore, MD.  I visited this area three or four times before moving, and every day was different.  Obviously, the main differences here have to do with the amount of recent rainfall, but I still found it a helpful reminder visit the same place more than once.  "You never step in the same river twice," says Heraclitus.  His philosophy of change may teach photographers a lesson too.  May 22, 2009 This was my favorite day at the Avalon area, I think.  Cascade Falls in particular looked wonderful.  There was enough water to see the cascading water, but not so much that the water overpowered the rocks. Below Cascade Falls, Avalon Area May 22, 2009 Sept 4, 2009 Obviously we hadn't had much rain on this day, so I was somewhat disappointed by so...

Swallow-tailed Kite A couple days ago, I went to Central Winds.  It was a pretty slow morning, but I did have fun photographing a Swallow-tailed Kite that was flying over the trees near the lake and pond.  Swallow-tailed Kites can be a little bit of a challenge to photograph in flight--not only are they all black and white, but shadows can cause significant contrast between the lit and shady portions of the white feathers.  Occasionally, though, they bank in just the right way to get a significant portion of the bird in even lighting.  Here's a couple of photos that turned out. Swallow-tailed Kite

Bobolink This morning I drove out to Marl Bed Flats this morning. I was hoping to see a Long-billed Dowitcher that was reported here a few days ago.  I didn't find him, but I did find a lot of other birds.  I was surprised to see about 100 Bobolinks.  These are the first I've ever seen, so I was pretty amazed to see so many. Bobolink Bobolink Bobolink Bobolink Bobolink I also saw many other birds there.  American White Pelicans and a Red-winged Blackbird on posed nicely for photos. American White Pelican Red-winged Blackbird These pretty flowers were also blooming, which a friend identified as Sensitive Briar. They're so pretty I might have to return with my macro lens. Sensitive Briar

Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L It may surprise you that I believe Canon's 180mm macro lens to be the best macro lens for nature photography. After all, a few years ago, Canon released a new macro lens, the EF 100mm f/2.8L.  It's smaller, lighter, cheaper, auto-focuses faster, has a wider maximum aperture, and it even sports a new hybrid form of image stabilization. And, whatever differences there may be in image quality, they are probably imperceptible in real life situations. So why would I recommend the the 180mm f/3.5L over the 100mm f/2.8L? Well, I should concede that the 100mm f/2.8L is probably the better lens for some people.  Those needing IS will likely benefit from it; those who would also use this lens for portraits and other uses may also have good reason to opt for this lens over the 180mm f/3.5L.  But I'm concerned here with using this lens as a macro lens for nature and wildlife photography--flowers, insects, spiders and other small things in nature.  There...