My Birthday Treat

My birthday + Leaving Work Early + Baker Wetlands + One Camera + One Lens = A very enjoyable, low key birthday treat to myself!

Yes, gone are the days of tearing up the town with a huge birthday celebration - out all night drinking and headache in the morning. Well, maybe not completely gone as I'm sure I'll need a drink or ten when I hit 40 (yes, it's closer than I like to think). Anyway, this year, I managed to slip away from work a bit early and decided to explore the Baker Wetlands alone with my camera. It turned out to be a gorgeous evening and I had the entire area to myself as I didn't see another person for 3 hours. Yep, just me, my camera, and a single lens - my 70-300mm telephoto zoom. Obviously, with that lens my first line of thinking was figuring out how to get some wildlife photos.

This time of year Baker Wetlands is teeming with waterfowl, so my goal was to get near a pool and then wait to see if it became active.  But, geese and ducks obviously have better eyesight and hearing than I give them credit for because this plan never panned out.  I'm sure the fact that I wasn't wearing any camouflage probably didn't help my cause.  I managed a few pictures of some ducks that I spooked off one pool, but the results are nothing to write home about.  I did miss one really good opportunity when I quietly and meticulously duck walked (seems fitting) and crawled to within 15 feet of the edge of another pool that had a couple ducks in perfect position.  I made sure I stayed low behind the extremely thick cat tails and reeds with every move I made. Unfortunately, as I brought the camera to my eye, I had the stem of a cat tail right in line with the ducks. As I slowly reached forward to move it to the side the ducks busted me and that was the end of that.

After striking out with the ducks, I decided to slowly wander the area snapping photos of whatever caught my eye.  Having the 70-300 attached proved to be a nice challenge for getting interesting shots since it's not a lens I typically think of or use for landscapes.  It forced me to move a lot more with my feet to get the right positions for framing shots. Like anything else, photography takes practice and if you don't challenge yourself, then your shots become stale.  At least, that's how like to I think about it. As the evening's light quickly faded, I finally had to make the decision to head back to my truck.  It had been a truly enjoyable evening and during that walk back, I couldn't help thinking, "OK, 33 isn't that old!"

Enjoy!

A Wise One

It's amazing how something you know is there is so hard to find.  It's probably been 8 months or more since I last saw a Barred Owl.  Like I said, I know they're out there, but they're usually very good at blending in.  Maybe that's why they have the reputation of being "wise."  Yet, over the last 2 weeks I've seen a Barred Owl almost every day as I commute back and forth to work.  One morning, I saw three!  It's a welcome site to see one and it's something I never get tired of.

With this particular owl, I was on my way home after work and happened to be in the right place just as the light was getting good.  I quickly pulled to the side of the road, stepped out and starting shooting.  Immediately, I noticed a branch running right in front of the owl's face, so I ended up standing on my truck bed topper to frame a better shot.  I managed about 5 more frames and the owl quietly slipped deeper into the timber.

Enjoy!

Union Station

The day after Christmas my wife and I took our kids to Union Station, the historic train depot in Kansas City.  During the holidays a group of model railroad enthusiasts sets up an amazing display of model trains inside the building and the kids really enjoy seeing the trains and picking out all the details.  I think I enjoy it just as much!

Of course I brought my camera along for the ride and the majority of my pictures from that day are of my kids as they explored.  But, I also took the opportunity to step away from my typical nature/outdoor photography and tried to find other interesting photos.  I think it's always good to step outside your comfort zone and here it forced me to try to "see" the building differently compared to all my other trips in the past.  It's truly an amazingly beautiful building and it's a bit depressing to think that it came close to demolition at one point.

In between wrangling my kids and taking pictures of them, I scanned the building's details from the windows, to the chandeliers, to the marble walls looking for anything interesting.  Realistically, one could spend hours uncovering all the details contained within this huge building and it only makes you want to keep coming back for more visits.

Enjoy!

The Only Snow I've Seen All Winter (A Rare Meeting)

I arrived home Thursday evening with a single thought in mind - get Logan (my son) to wrestling practice.  So, as I scrambled to get both he and I ready to leave, my phone rang, but I ignored it and figured whoever was calling would leave a message if it was important.  Indeed, the caller left a message, but I didn't listen to it until later that night.  Turns out, it was a coworker telling me that I missed a great opportunity to photograph a Snowy Owl he had seen while scouting deer not far from the plant we work at.  I thought, "A Snowy Owl?  In Kansas?  He can't be serious."  I obviously needed to talk with him at work the next day, which I did.

My coworker explained what he'd seen and that the owl had flown out of a corn field and landed on an irrigation pivot station not far from where he was set up.  It was still hard to believe, but this coworker has a lot of outdoor experience and it would be difficult to incorrectly identify a Snowy Owl, especially since we have no snow - it would stick out like a sore thumb!  He also told me about a Snowy Owl that had been rescued a couple days earlier after hitting a power line on the south side of town.  "Get online, it's in the newspaper," he told me.  So, I did.  And, sure enough, there it was - a Snowy Owl in Kansas.

I decided to send the newspaper article to my wife and then I called her to tell her about my coworker's experience.  She proceeded to ask, "Didn't I tell you what my Dad said?  There have been several sightings in the KC area."  No, she hadn't told me, but I was getting more excited by the minute thinking of the possibility of actually photographing one of these owls.

Friday night my wife helped me do a bit of online research to determine a location that would provide the best opportunity to get close enough for a decent photograph.  After reading that some had been sighted near the Clinton Lake dam - an area I'm familiar with - I made the decision to be there at sunrise.

After spending the first 20-30 minutes of sunrise on the lake side of the dam, the morning was not off to a good start.  It was a lot colder than I expected (the temperatures this week have been extremely unseasonably warm) and I had forgot my gloves.  I snapped a few landscape photos, but could barely feel the shutter release button.  My decision to start on the lake side of the dam wasn't too good, either, because the dam and the shoreline trees shaded the early morning light and, therefore, the light wasn't too great.  Feeling defeated, I headed back to my truck to warm up and figured I could at least drive a road that loops from the dam onto the spillway side of the lake.  There the morning light would be better for some landscape shots I had in mind.

Luck finally arrived as I drove near the spillway, noticing a couple vehicles pulled off the road.  Looking closer, I could see some other photographers standing with their gear on tripods and I knew they had to be watching a Snowy Owl.  After slowly approaching, I began scanning the open field to the west and then scanned the face of the dam, but saw nothing.  Then, there it was, right in front of me, sitting on a signpost.

For the next 1/2 hour, I sat in awe watching this beautiful, majestic bird sit, quite peacefully, as myself and 3-4 other photographers snapped pictures.  The sound of camera shutters firing was almost constant the entire duration.  I'm still surprised how it seemed to ignore us as if we weren't there.  Every now and then the owl would turn it's head perfectly into the morning sunlight to display it's yellow, piercing eyes.  Those eyes are stunning!  Several gulls were in the area, also, and made the occasional flyover, at which the owl would briefly look skyward.  Finally, it took flight, gliding toward the face of the dam and it appeared to actually pounce on something as it landed.  Then it took flight again, flying to another signpost down the road.

At that time, I was really wishing I didn't have more things planned for the day.  But, I had to get back home and get ready for the day's events.  I honestly could've sat there all day watching because I know the chance of ever seeing one again are pretty slim.  But, those 30 minutes were pretty amazing!  The only thing I'd change is to have been in a better position when the owl took flight so that I didn't have guardrails in the background of my photograph - Oh well!

Enjoy!

Happy 2012!

Another year in the books and looking back I have to say that it was a pretty good year.  Of course, there is always room for improvement, but I'm quite happy with how the year played out.  My kids are all healthy and growing, my job is still very satisfying and keeps me more than busy, and my wife and I are a couple short weeks away from celebrating 7 years of marriage.  As my dad often tells me, "It sure beats the alternatives!" and he's absolutely correct.

I did mention the need for improvement and I have several things that I want to work on looking forward into 2012.  I'm very critical of myself (always have been) and I know I'm not perfect.  I assume I'm not the only person on earth who feels this way, but it does seem that more and more people are fine with accepting mediocrity and I simply refuse to do the same.  However, I don't want to sound like I have this huge list of resolutions for the new year because, in all honesty, I think New Year's resolutions are silly.  I mean, why should we only set goals at the beginning of each new year?

I won't go into all the gritty details on all the areas I think I need to make improvements, but I want to touch on a few that affect this blog and my photography.  First, after going back and reviewing old posts, I realize that I wasn't a very active blogger in 2011.  I think I averaged about two blog posts each month which, to be blunt, is pretty lame.  So, right away I'm going to strive to increase my activity.  What's the point of having a blog if it gets neglected?  If I'm going to do it, then I should do it right!  This leads into a question I've been asked a couple times in the past, "What do I want to accomplish with my photography?"  I really don't have a good answer.  I've explained that this is a hobby but there are times when it feels like more because I truly love taking pictures and sharing them with people.  Right now I'm content with continuing with what I've been doing because it's a lot of fun.  Hopefully, I continue to gain an audience and, with a little luck, maybe some greater exposure.

Concerning my photography, again, I never want to settle on telling myself, "that's good enough."  I continue to learn with each outing and I don't ever plan to stop learning.  I post a very small percentage of all the photos I take because I only want to post those that I feel are worth sharing.  As I look back over my last 5 years of photos I can definitely see improvement and I hope that trend continues.

Happy New Year!

Oldie, But a Goodie

It's amazing what you find when you're not really looking for anything.  Well,  I was looking for something - pictures of my youngest daughter - but, ended up finding this gem of a photo.  I remember taking it and I remember when I off loaded it from my memory card.  Then things got busy and it obviously got lost in the shuffle.  Considering I haven't been out shooting since Thanksgiving, I don't have much else to report or post.  If the weather holds up I'm going to try and get out sometime this weekend - my first days off from any type of work since Thanksgiving Day.

Enjoy!

Last 30 Minutes of the Day

The days are definitely shorter, almost too short.  Frustratingly short, especially when the weather is decent and the early-evening light is good and it seems like you're just a few minutes too late to get the picture you want.  I can't tell you how many times in the last couple weeks I've missed opportunities at some great shots, but I keep reminding myself that more opportunities will pop up.

Such was the case Thanksgiving evening.  We spent the early afternoon with my wife's family, stuffing ourselves with amazing holiday treats.  I planned on relaxing and catching some of the football games that were being contested, but that never really took form.  After getting back to our house and getting the kids settled down (Ainslee was melting down!) I noticed that some good late-afternoon light was beginning to take shape outside.  Whatever I was doing at that moment, I remember looking at my watch and telling myself, "Ok, finish this and get out for the last 30 minutes," and that's exactly what I did.

I grabbed my camera and headed out through the back pasture toward the creek.  This is a route I've taken several times and it never gets boring.  I like the challenge of seeing the same scenery, but trying to find different angles for pictures to represent everything in a different way.  As it turned out, the setting sun's light was extraordinary and, although there wasn't a lot of cloud cover, what was there offered great contrast.  This contrast really came to light when in these black and white images.  As the final light disappeared on the western horizon, I couldn't help grinning and thinking, "what a great 30 minutes!"

Enjoy!