12. March 2010 by Friedhelm.

I photographed this bird yesterday on my daily exercise walk. I saw the bird first sitting on the fountain with a truck in the background. I decided to take my chances and walked around the bird until I found a contrasty natural background. One of my photography teachers always told me that the first consideration for a great image is the background. I follow his advice and I got rewarded with many great shots. Camera setting: focal length 200mm, f5.0, 1/800sec., ISO 200.

Enjoy and have a great day!

Posted in Wildlife, Carmel | Print | No Comments »

5. January 2010 by Friedhelm.

Andrew Molera State Park is located about 20 miles south of Carmel on Hwy 1. You have to walk about a mile to get from the parking place to the coast. The hike is well marked and there are many subjects on the way to photograph. Bring a long lens and you will not be disappointed by the coastal birds. Camera setting: 400mm lens, f11, 1/100sec, ISO 400, tripod mounted.

Enjoy!

Posted in Wildlife | Print | No Comments »

20. December 2009 by David.

With the budget crisis in California and the Federal Government the Merced Wildlife Refuge has employed some of the natural residents of the area to help enforce the rules and regulations.

Keep Clicking

Dave

Posted in Wildlife, Merced Wildlife Refuge | Print | No Comments »

12. December 2009 by Friedhelm.

The last few days were a challenge for me. First it was bitterly cold and then it got rainy. I took my exercise walk in between rain storms yesterday morning and discovered this bird on a tree. It was overcast, high fog and all looked gray in gray. The perfect weather to get depressed, in other words. On the bright side, the light for photography was very soft and great for outside portraits. So I took a portrait of this crane using a 200mm lens, tripod mounted, f3.5, 1/500sec., ISO 100. Enjoy and have a happy week-end!

Posted in Wildlife | Print | No Comments »

6. November 2009 by Friedhelm.

I photographed these Tule Elk at the San Luis Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is locate near Los Banos in central California. These beautiful animals were almost extinct. The state built this refuge and there is a small herd of about 20 animals. I was lucky. The Elk were relatively close to the fence and I got this beautiful shot.

Enjoy!

Posted in Wildlife | Print | No Comments »

13. October 2009 by Friedhelm.

Yesterday I was scouting out two protected areas around Los Banos in Central California. While I was driving on the dirt road I saw a group of birds on the right side. I was afraid they would fly off but they stayed and that gave me the opportunity to photograph them. Camera setting: F 5.6, 1/4000 sec ISO 400 hand held.

Enjoy

Posted in Wildlife | Print | No Comments »

23. August 2009 by Friedhelm.

I was driving in Yellowstone when suddenly in front of me all the cars stopped. I could not believe what happened next. This fellow walked down the street. Luckily I had my camera ready. I just opened the window and got this image while the Buffalo walked by my car.  As David already pointed out: Always have your camera ready to go! The unexpected might happen!

Happy photographing!

Posted in Wildlife | Print | No Comments »

15. August 2009 by David.

While most of his friends had flown off to the warmth of the California Coast this is one of the few seagulls that remained at Mono Lake. He seemed unfazed by the brisk/cool winds that were buffeting him and even less concerned about that guy with a camera. Not at all camera shy, this one.

This is an edited, though only slightly, RAW file. This type of file holds much more information than your standard Jpeg. If you have the option and a good editor, like the one from Canon, you’d be surprised at the depth of your images. In the jpeg file (I shoot both right now)  the sky was much less defined with very limited contrast.

Keep clicking

Dave

Posted in Wildlife | Print | No Comments »

4. August 2009 by Friedhelm.

I needed a break from architecture. Visiting my sister in-law’s family I discovered a butterfly bush with lots of butterflies. They were buzzing all around and it was hard to get one in focus. Finally I was lucky and got this beautiful shot. I used extension tubes and a 80-400 lens. The advantage of using a long lens for macro photography is that you can photograph from a distance rather than being an inch away from the subject. I was about two - three feet away from this butterfly.

Happy photographing!

Posted in Wildlife | Print | No Comments »

19. July 2009 by David.

Though everything around was pretty dry this spider web was able to catch the morning mist at Point Lobos State Park (which might be closed because of the State budget crisis).  I liked the sky and contrast of the tree behind the web itself. The owner of the web wasn’t around but if you look closely in the lower right you can see the pantry is stocked.

Keep clicking

Dave

Posted in Wildlife, Carmel | Print | No Comments »