Early morning train wreck.

Photography, Staten Island NY Comments Off
Dec 282008

The morning was spent at Conference House Park in search of birds that may have been blown in from the recent strong winds. As we were searching the park for birds we saw two news helicopters hovering above a short distance from us. We decided to check it out with a tip from Seth’s dad about the location. We headed on down to the Tottenville train station where there was a train derailment. Looked like someone on the service track went a tad too far past the barrier and ran the front train car off the rail toward the shoreline. Someone is gonna take some heat for that one.

After that eventful early start we headed on down to Wolf’s Pond to find a huge congregation on gulls, from ring billed, to greater black backed, herring, and even an Iceland gull. We had an intimate encounter with a set of two adult swans and the immature as well as a northern shoveler. The day definitely wasn’t panning out to be a good one for waterfowl with the cloudy skies. With some patience the sun was punching those clouds real hard and came to a point just enough where the color cast wasn’t making an appearance. With that short lived moment we got off as many photographs as we could.

We moved onto birding at the Gateway National seashore. We observed two Male Northern Harriers going at each other plus a great observation of a flock of about approximately twenty horned larks. Incredibly skiddish without a chance to get close with the current conditions and no snow on the ground. The day finished off birding at Millers field where we found a snow goose amongst about 200+ Canada Geese. On the way out Seth caught a glimpse of some snow bunting which were my first observation of them on the island. All in all a good day despite the crappy overcast conditions.

Derailed SIRR

You can see here the MTA officials trying to figure out how to approach the situation. The SIRT derailed and must have been one heck of an impact to get it to derail.

Gadwall

This was one of several split second images of the northern shoveler ruffling its feathers.

Swan

The adult pair of swans at Wolf’s Pond.

Posted by Jarred at 2:48 am Tagged with: , , , ,

Happy Holidays!

Holidays Comments Off
Dec 242008

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From all us here we wish you a Happy and a Healthy Holiday and New Year! I hope your gifts are merry and photorific!

*Our puppy was not harmed in the making of this photograph, annoyed sure, but not harmed. He was a gracious host through use of our many healthy treats :-D *

img1264-copyCan’t wait for Januarary 10th, Wyoming here we go!

Posted by Jarred at 12:01 am Tagged with: , ,

Left, right, left, left, right…

Photography, Staten Island NY Comments Off
Dec 182008

Dodging blows  in both directions could probably best describe the past week and a half. Any one try the soccer game in Wii Fit as you try to avoid getting knocked in the head with a cleat and hit the balls with your head? Yeah something like that.  As you may have noticed I missed my weekend post. All this mess and infrequency has tied back to an over two month old issue with Nikons frustratingly slow service department. Despite all of it I will bring frequency back very shortly with my D300 being rushed back to me shortly (we can hope.) Despite all of this I have taken out the old D70 and went shooting yesterday when the flakes started falling.

As soon as the inch that would fall that day began covering the urban grime; we headed for a local park. This park happened to be Clove Lakes. It is a popular park to walk through with dual large lakes with a stream connecting the two. Definitely a beautiful sight when a good snowfall starts to happen. The lake was accompanied by several male and female mallards. As well as what appears to be some hybrids that have mixed with loose domesticated ducks. There was a double edge sword of an issue with these ducks though. These ducks were so accustomed to humans that they would swim over to us. Not just that, but they would actually walk onto the land and look at us for food. Cute some might say, but it is also a bit tragic. The animals behavior has been altered and had now become dependent. So for the sake of the animal we hope these ducks will still be fed through the harsh winter months when people don’t venture out so often. The irony being that feeding them is the reason the ducks have gotten into this mess in the first place.

On the upside we did manage to snag some really fantastic black and white images. With the weather being an overcast sky, and the darkness of the trees my mind was screaming black and white. To add to the situation there was a great reflection in the lake adding to the strong verticals. I came home with 60 RAW frames ready to go to work in Silver Efex Pro. I started with a neutral setting and tweaked the brightness and contrast. Raising the brightness to bring rise to the highlights and contrast to make the blacks distinct from the gray. The use of the structure slider came in real handy. It provides a sharpening/contrast tool that really makes the image pop. One key item I find it also does is it can really bring definition to your skies. Especially when you feel the sky is flat and lacks the pixels that might just not be easily seen. The point system of being able to drop and effect specific areas is also a huge benefit to working on your photographs. Definitely a plug in that makes the ordinary extraordinary. That felt like a marketing quote…

>> Just remember it isn’t the camera that counts. It truly is the person behind it. <<

Clove Lakes Park B&W

You can really see how the reflection adds to the image.

Clove Lakes Park B&W

I personally like the focus on the depth of the forest. The white hill leads you away into the image but the reflection/shoreline brings you back.

Clove Lakes Park B&W

Just as we were headed back to the car these pair of mallards caught my eye. I used them as a structural piece to the image. It adds an extra touch to the water below. The reflection of the bridge is a great highlight of its arch shapes. Distinct lines and shapes help catch the human eye.

Lovely Domestic duck at Clove Lakes Park

This was one of the poor guys that was looking for food. Bred for human consumption, but left in the cold.

Posted by Jarred at 12:34 am Tagged with: , ,

Knowledge as a resource.

Photography Comments Off
Dec 072008

With all the expensive photography equipment and accessories sopping up our well earned money we tend to overlook a major resource. Biological Knowledge. Knowledge in the form of all sorts of great reading material. We have obtained all the necessary equipment, but not to learn how to approach our subjects in a manor as not to disturb them, but still gain that award winning shot. The key as Moose Peterson strongly expresses to his students is basic biology!

Many people say ok, but then ask how we can afford all of this on top of our already over reaching photographic budgets. Well an often over looked area is used books. Not just that rack at the library where books go for a quarter (not a bad place to start either.) Many of the big book sellers like Barnes and Noble or Amazon have used book sections or even popular auction sites such as Half.com (owned and operated by eBay.) They contain books new and old on all sorts of subject matter. You’d be surprised at just how cheap a decent copy of a book can go for even with the shipping charges.

When searching these websites keep two things in mind. The definition of what constitutes the condition of the book and also the seller they are coming from. The condition is really left up to how it can be described by the seller or how the website defines such terms as fair, good or like new. This leads to my second point about the quality of a seller. First check to see  their feedback and see how well he/she are rated from previous customers. Also keep in mind the amount of people successfully sold to. You can usually feel more confident with a high rated seller who as an abundance of successful sales due to the difficulty of reaching such a status. If you happen to find a handful of complaints make sure to see if the seller has responded. If the seller responds its much better to see they care and get both sides of a story to make your own judgments as what to do.

Once you have located a few good books and sellers it’s time to think about shipping costs. A good tip is to find a seller who is selling books of your interest and see if you can get as many well priced books from him/her. This will combine your shipping normally and lead to an even more incredible deal.

This process has helped me recently as I am headed back to Wyoming this winter in mid-January. When I set afoot onto these trips I want to be well prepared. This comes from being well read on the subjects you will be shooting. Whether it be their eating habits and finding the food resource to track them down, or a place that the flock or herd congregates in winter for protection. Finding out exactly why they do these things can also be very helpful to your writing and discussion of the animals. It helps to create a well rounded story to further draw in your readers/viewers.

I personally picked up four good ones I am excited to read:

Guide to Nature in Winter: Northeast and North Central North America
Animal Behavior: an Introduction to Behavioral Mechanisms, Development, and Ecology
National Audubon Society Regional Guide to the Rocky Mountain States
The Birder’s Handbook: a Field Guide to the Natural History of North American Birds

(not all bought from the places linked necessarily)

And a book I took out from my school library. Libraries can often order books for you and are a great resource to support. Plus it’s free.

Winter World by Bernd Heinrich

I am looking for guides that focus on winter activities and animal behavior. Even books that are more general such as a natural history guide to species seen when birding to general behavior of animals can be enormously helpful. The Handbook will help fill gaps in understanding a species past. While the behavioral book will help me better understanding their activities and how they correlate to the seasons.

Just the thought of fresh snow, utter silence, and lack of people….

…I can’t wait!

Starting January 10th I will be blogging our travels. From Grand Teton National Park, to the Elk National Refuge, Dubois, Wyoming, and much much more! Stay tuned!

(P.s. In celebration of our official first snow here in the big apple and beginning of the holiday season I have updated my blog with SNOW!)

Posted by Jarred at 4:42 pm Tagged with: ,
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