More From Benezette...

Last week a posted a black squirrel from Benezette and mentioned that we photographed more than just Elk. Here is the proof, we also photographed insects and other things you will see in the future. The one lens we do not own is a macro so we shoot items like this by getting further away and using the big lens. The first photo is Shane using the D90 that he always uses with my newer lens and tripod that I got earlier in the year. I think he really likes using that set up.

Speaking of Shane today's is Tuesday and that means a new post on his blog so please stop by and visit it.

Pennsylvania Pump Primers...

These photographs were taken at the 35TH annual Pennsylvania Pump Primers along riverfront park in Harrisburg on Saturday July 11 of this year. Each year antique fire apparatus parade from the Pa. Farm Show arena to here and pump from the river for the day. It is always a good time and for me like old home week. I enjoy the rigs but the day is really a chance for me to see and talk with old friends, and talk I do. This year I had the privilege of meeting up with an old friend from Cincinnati, Bill Strite. I hope he had a good time and maybe we can do it again another year.

Okay I do not know what to expect from these. We had never calibrated our monitor and recently we had to get another one so we figured it was time to do so. At the end it gives you a chance to see the present and the way it was. I was amazed at the color cast it showed the system had. Is is right now? Beats me, I do know that when I look at photographs on my blog now I see the color cast. These are the first photographs I did since it has been calibrated, they may not be easy to tell because I applied an art filter to them. Unfortunately not all of my upcoming post are post calibration either, like tomorrows it was done before the calibration. You know the more I do this the less I seem to know and the worse I get.

Black Squirrel...

While in Benezette this summer we photographed more than just Elk, we also photographed this black squirrel. He was one of two that we seen, the other was much darker making very easy to tell it was a black squirrel. But he was so far away that the photos were not very good and we were able to get much closer to this guy. I remember as a kid traveling to Clearfield County to hunt turkey's and black squirrels with my grandfather and a friend Richard Davis. Richard got one and we never got a shot off on the ones we seen. These guys were the same way, not as approachable as grey squirrels, when they seen us they were gone.

More Gettysburg...

Yes I know I just posted from Gettysburg and I said I need to do some battle photos, but I made this post just minutes after that one. The first photo is of Custer and no I am not old enough to have taken the original photo of him that I used in making it. This was only my second effort in adding two photographs together so it is still a learning process. It didn't turn out quite the way I wanted but the photo I took of Custer wasn't the best in the contrasty area. The second photo is of one of the horse drawn ambulance drivers. He was in a shaded area that made photography much easier and you could tell he has had his photograph taken many times.

Please stop by Shane's blog today for a new post.

Elk Video's...

Today I am taking the easy route and posting videos from our trip to Benezette in June. They are short and there is some audio, turn up your vlume and enjoy the sounds of birds and elk. That video was shot early one morning in the dense fog, still photography was pretty much non existent that morning so I took a few videos. The second video is of "Odie" eating breakfast one morning along Winslow Hill. I think he was proud to display his new necklace. I hope these videos work, since some of the changes to blogger they come up unavailable to me on the preview screen but they seem to work the day the scheduled post appears.

Confederates And Their Horses...

Today's post is a few more photographs from the anniversary event at Gettysburg over the 4TH of July weekend both are confederate soldiers and their horses. Maybe I will get some battle photos processed and posted soon. The best part of this busy schedule is I prepare these photos and make the post when I can, sometimes weeks in advance so when the post shows up they are almost new to me also.

Big Meadows And A Lens Test...

This post is about the whitetails in SNP Big Meadows and the 200-400 f4 lens test. The first photograph was shot with the 70-200 f2.8 lens at 300 mm with the conversion factor and then cropped in during post processing. The second photo was taken after I changed lens to the 200-400. It was shot at 600mm with the conversion factor and then cropped in much more than the first photo. If you look closely at the upper right of the first photograph you will see the doe and fawn. These photographs were taken at 7 p.m. while the sun was still high from a tripod with a remote shutter release. What do you think, it is fairly sharp for the focal length and cropping?

Don't forget to stop by Shane's blog for a new post today.

Back To Benezette...

After posting a few of these photographs from my wildlife trips I find it hard to come up with something to say. The two calf's were part of a larger herd that had nine calves in it and were from the same shoot as the calf photo posted here on June 29TH.

House Wren...

This is one of the many house wrens we have nesting around our house. This one had a nest of little ones in a gourd bird house in our red bud tree. These guys are fun to watch and listen to except for 4 in the morning when we are trying to sleep.

Please stop by Shane's blog today for a new post.

Stay Away From The Bird Seed...

This little fellow hangs out at my house often, I think he watches me fill the bird feeders then he goes to work filling his cheeks with seed. He was kind enough the other day to stop in a good location for me to photograph him. Take note to the front claws with the sun hitting them. They are small but they look like they could scratch you pretty good. Click on the photo to make it large. And yes this photo was taken trough as window of our house, I think it is time for more Windex.

Gettysburg 147TH Anniversary...

On Saturday July 3Rd my family and I traveled to Gettysburg for the 147TH anniversary reenactment. Growing up just over the mountain from Gettysburg I have always been a huge Civil War buff. Attending the reenactment was one thing I always wanted to do but because of vacations, work or something else this was my first chance. Yep you guessed it now I am hooked and my wife and son enjoyed it also. We pre orderd tickets and went the extra cash for the grandstand seating, am I glad we did. It was hot and dusty but hard to complain when we were only watching and these men were doing it in wool. Both photographs were processed differently the first one, confederate Calvary was made to look like a tin type and the second one, federal infantry was made to look more like a Don Trione painting. The sun was high and harsh making shooting difficult but then everyone else had the same problem. You can expect to see more photographs from this event.

Playful Bucks, Early Morning Sun...

These playful bucks enjoyed putting on a show for me in the early morning sun at Big Meadows in SNP last month. I recorded many images of these two most of them back lit. There lies the problem for me, I know back lit photographs can be good, I just do not know how to post process them. This is one attempt, tell me what you think good or bad. Do you have any suggestions for me when it comes to post processing this type of photograph? Don't forget if you click on the photo it will get larger.

It is Thursday already so please visit Shane's blog for a new post.

Could You Please Step Back A Little...

Text for the blog photographs have been hard to come by lately. But then again with only around 20 or so different people looking each day I have not really been into doing the blog much anymore. It is funny I just left a comment on another wildlife blog recently that if they keep posting I will keep looking, this person also has considered no longer blogging. I have decided to continue with the blog into the fall, if the numbers pick back up then I will continue, if not I will stop blogging or only do this once or twice a week.

Today's photo comes from my recent trip to SNP, it was taken in the Big Meadows at 8:14 p.m. This fawn really did me no favors as it walked right up to me within arms length. I enjoyed the close encounter but was unable to photograph him at that close distance. Mother came along and nudged the fawn into moving away from me. It was a special encounter for me, one I will never forget.

Please visit Shane's blog today for a new post.

Odie Eats Breakfast...

Willard Hill can correct me if I am wrong but I believe this is the bull named Odie. These were taken early in the morning as Odie ate his breakfast. Note the velvet on his antlers. This is one of the things I was looking to photograph on my recent trip to northern Pennsylvania.

Playful Fawns...

Back to the SNP trip today. During the time I was in SNP I encountered 40 to 50 deer each day. Some were bucks and as many as five or six fawns. While there I seen no turkeys this time but I did see a black bear. Sorry no photos of it, he was in the woods and they were to thick to photograph in, he also wanted no part of me and my camera. I was told that there was a sow and two cubs in the camp grounds and that they would let me in to take a few photos and then leave. I quickly headed in that direction only to be informed by a ranger that they just moved the bears out of the area so it would be safe for the campers. Like always I should have been there 10 minutes ago.

These two were captured in the Big Meadows, they were photographed at 600 mm and then cropped in to make the photograph. I shot almost exclusively with the 200-400 vr f4 lens and was pleased with the outcome. Willard Hill mentioned in the comments on my first post from here about the glow. This and other photos I will be posting from here have a warm glow to them, it is not a color cast that I would correct but the way thing look in the big meadows in the early morning or late evening sun. These playful fawns were so much fun to watch, they play like a puppy or kitten jumping and running and weaving in and out of mothers legs. I hope you enjoy the photos as much as I enjoyed seeing it in person.

Reading Air Show, Take 2...

Wow! it is hard to believe I only made two post from the Reading Air Show and WW 2 weekend, and they were not even what I normally post. And I guess these are not what you would expect either. I didn't get the photos I went there planning on getting, it was a hectic day, we got started late because of work and had to be back early because of boy scouts and in between we wanted to meet the real veterans of WW2 and talk with the 45TH Infantry Division about joining up. Had we just had more time we may have come home with our uniforms and other items. I do not know what attracted me to these two subjects, I guess the second one was a no brainer as the colors and subject just stood out. The other may have been the foot ware, or the tattoo but I tend to think it was the line running up the back of the stocking. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed taking them.

Hey it is Thursday again, so please visit Shane's blog for a new post.

Life Begins In Elk Country...

Yesterday I made a post about my recent trip to SNP to photograph whitetail deer two weeks ago, last week Shane and I made the trip to Benezette for three days to photograph Elk. In particular we were looking for bulls in velvet and calves. We had a great time, wildlife was only out a few hours each day because of the summer heat and photographing was not easy but we found what we were looking for and bring back many good memories if not photographs.

Many good photographs were missed by me for one reason or another. Some because I was allowing Shane to use the tripod for his shots. A 200-400 lens just doesn't work well in low light hand held. Others were missed because of my own decisions, right or wrong I made them and as usual I got angry with myself. One morning we had 21 elk, six were calves, one was a small spike and the rest were cows in a field. It was foggy that morning so I had the ISO set high, the photos show considerable noise. On this occasion it was late evening after s thunderstorm and the light was bad. Not wanting to turn up the ISO I shot at a shutter speed that was so slow if the elk moved at all the images were blurry. Yes I was angry at myself again, maybe I should have turned up the ISO a little more. Those are decisions I need to make to get the shots. The more I do this the more I learn. One of these years maybe I will get it.

To give you an idea of how this shot was captured it was taken at 8:22 p.m. after the storm so it was darker than usual at this time. The camera setting were ISO 400, 1/25 at f4 at 600 mm and then cropped in some. The photo is not as sharp as I would have liked and hind sight had I bumped the ISO up to say 640 I could have gotten the shutter speed up more and had little noise. Live and learn I guess. I hope these turned out okay, I have been having computer problems and by the time you see this post I should have a new monitor and have it calibrated. More from this trip and the SNP trip in the future.

Please stop by Shane's blog today for a new post.

The Beauty Of June In SNP...

I mentioned last week on a post that I took a two day trip to SNP. It is a great time of year for whitetail photography as the bucks have antler growth and are in velvet and the does have dropped their fawns. The downside is that the shooting is only good for about two or three hours a day just after sunrise and right before sunset. That leaves allot of time in between with nothing to do. I tried shooting at other times but the lighting is very harsh and the contrast in sun and shade is just terrible. Most animals are not out at that time either.

Some of the other problems encountered at SNP compared to the rut and winter is that there is many more people and traffic at the park. When you mix tourist with point and shoot cameras to wildlife experience is means missed opportunities and wandering why on earth they would try to pet a wild animal or allow there children to do it. The other difference I noticed it the deer are spooky compared to winter. The does keep the fawns hidden and the bucks do not want their photographs taken. I still made the best of the trip and enjoyed it very much. How could I not after seeing such beautiful wildlife like this. I will do it again this summer and can't wait for the rut. More on the actual trip in a later post, I have to save something to say or I will be left speechless.

The Bears And Fans Celebrate...

Last week I made a post about the Hershey Bears and I mentioned that they were having a celebration the day after their Calder Cup clinching win at the Giant Center. Well like last year we attended and like last year we did not wait in line to purchase shirts or hats. We also got out early because we already had every ones autograph and didn't need to wait in lines to get them. My guess is the team will change drastically before next season so I do not expect to be doing this again next year. Maybe it will be the Caps turn to hoist a Cup. I love summer but it will be a long time before I get to watch hockey again, I miss it already. I would take the time to tell you who these players are but I know if you are a HB hockey fan you already know and if you are not then your probably do not care.

Please visit Shane's blog today for a new post. Hey a week without birds, who would have guessed that, maybe next week I can post some new big game photos.

Shane And Our New Toys...

I mentioned last week that Shane celebrated a birthday on June 13TH (he turned 14). One of his gifts was a World War 2 Russian sniper rifle the Mosin Nagant. The day after we took a trip to Cabela's to look at handguns and I purchased a gift for myself the Walther's P22. It was a hard decision as a couple other pistols were in the running. Not wanting to see the guns grow old and dusty we headed to the range for some target practice. The P22 was allot of fun to shoot, we do need to adjust the laser site and the Mosin was just as much fun. I will admit the Mosin has one heck of a kick to it. I think we will be spending many more days at the range with these and some of our other weapons.

A Mid-Week Visit To SNP...

Last week I went to Shenandoah National Park for the first time in the summer. In fact I had never been to SNP before the rut last year but since then I have been to the park four times. I went to the park in hopes of photographing antler growth on the bucks and fawns. Of course I would have been more than pleased with some black bear, turkeys and bobcats. The plan called for three days and two nights but that changes to two days and one night. It was a successful trip and I probably should have stayed the extra day and night. More on this trip in the future. I will leave you with these two young bucks playing in big meadows last Thursday morning.

It is Tuesday so please visit Shane's blog for a new post.

Reading WWII and Air Show...

The weekend of the 4,5 and 6 was a busy weekend for Shane and I. We attended to Reading World War 2 and Air Show at the Reading airport before heading to Hidden Valley Scout Camp for the Order of the Arrow ordeal. One of these years we will not have multiple events on the weekend of the Reading show and we will be able to spend all three days there. If you like WW2 history this is a must attend event. There is over 1,000 re-enactors along with vintage aircraft and veterans from the war including the real men from the "Pacific" and "Band of Brothers". With a little luck Shane and I will be participating in the event with the 45Th Infantry Division next year.

The Fight For Food Continued...

Well you can see I did something right this time. The settings were correct and the Egret set off after the Bittern again causing it to fly. I got the Egret and swung the camera to get the Bittern as he took off. I manages five or six of the Bittern in the seven or eight feet he traveled before heading back into the tall grass. The Egret gave up and the Bittern staid hidden, rest assured I left a happy man after looking at the LCD.

Next week will be some new photos, maybe not as much wildlife but some Hershey Bears and Shane with his new toy. But then who knows maybe there will be some new big game photos to post also.

The Fight For Food...

A couple of months ago when I got back from Florida and began posting photographs of birds I mentioned briefly an experience I had with two birds and the fight for food. I seemed to forget to post them. I will start with three photos today and finish with the best on Friday. I wanted to post more I just do not have the chance to get them worked up and posted so maybe I will revisit it on a later date.

I noticed this American Bittern setting on the edge of one of the ponds during one of my trips through Viera Wetlands. I got this photo before he decided it was time to fly. I watched closely as the bird traveled away from me to try and go to the place he landed. After a short time I got to the area and began looking around when suddenly this White Egret came up from the tall grasses and began flying. It was at that point I noticed the American Bittern come pout of the same grass and begin to fly with a frog in his mouth. Not knowing when they would fly again or if they would I set the camera up on the Egret and made adjustments for a darker bird in hopes of capturing the Bittern. In turn that blew out some of the details on the Egret. I was fine with that as long as it worked on the bittern if he decided to take off with his catch.

Come back on Friday to see if I planned correctly or if I screwed up again.

Bears Win! Bears Win!

I just could not pass up the chance to make a post about the Hershey Bears. Monday night the Bears beat the Stars 4-0 to clinch their 11TH Calder Cup championship and first on home ice since 1980. I thought I should make the post now because if they wait 30 years to do it on home ice again I may not be around. The Bears had the best season in the AHL's 74 year history. They set many records from win streaks at home to most wins to the first to come back from a 0-2 deficit to win the cup. It was special to be part of the celebration but something seemed to be missing. I think it is because we have been in the finals four of the last five seasons and it was our third cup in that time period.

Just my luck, I spent time researching point and shoot cameras (something small) over the weekend and purchased one on Monday so I would have it to photograph some of the game. If you remember we can not bring cameras into the arena that have removable lens. After setting down and pulling out the small camera I was informed that late afternoon the Bears announced that you could bring real cameras to the game. So there I set with a point and shoot and the D300 with the 70-200 2.8 at home. Just my luck I guess. Last night the Bears had a celebration open to the public so you may see a few more photos soon. Hopefully the video will work, I have been having problems since the blooger changes in the last week.

Blue Heron And Chick...

More from my spring Florida trip, these were taken at Viera Wetlands. This Blue Heron and chick were nesting in a tree in one of the ponds. This was the best chance I had to photograph a heron chick in the last two years. Unfortunately my best video found the delete button, just because it makes a good vertical photograph does not mean it will make a good vertical video. Yes that is right I video tapped the heron and chick vertically. After downloading the card and viewing the video it donned on me that the video will be displayed horizontally. I never claimed to be the brightest candle on the cake. The video last 20 seconds and shows the adult fixing the nest while the chick moves about.

Since I do not post on the weekends and I skipped yesterday this is a couple of days late BUT, Happy Birthday Shane. On Sunday June 13TH Shane turned 14 years old, he is out of middle school and will be going to High School next year. My how time flies. I think he had a good birthday and I feel certain he liked his gifts. Speaking of Shane's don't forget to visit his blog today for a new post.

Juvenile American White Ibis...

Juveniles are largely brown with duller bare parts; they are distinguished from the Glossy and White-faced Ibises by white underparts and rumps. Over all both sexes look alike.

Black-crowned Night-Heron

This is the Black-crowned Night Heron I photographed the same day as the Yellow-crowned Night Heron. For as much time as I spend at Wildwood Lake I had never seen this bird there. After photographing the Yellow-crowned I thought I would make a quick trip around Wildwood lake in search of a few more photographs, I guess I made the right decision for a change. I wasn't far from the truck when I spotted this bird on a log. He allowed me the chance to set up the tripod and get some photos.

Please stop by Shane's blog for a new post today.

Eastern Phoebe...

The most familiar flycatcher in eastern North America, the Eastern Phoebe nests near people on buildings and bridges. It can be recognized by its emphatic "phee-bee" call and its habit of constantly wagging it tail.

In 1804, the Eastern Phoebe became the first banded bird in North America. John James Audubon attached silvered thread to an Eastern Phoebe's leg to track its return in successive years.

It is Tuesday so please visit Shane's blog for a new post.

D-Day, A Day Late...

Picking a photograph for today's post was very difficult for me. With yesterday being D-Day I wanted to post something World War II related. Over the last week I recorded many images that could be used for this post from five WWII veterans that marched in the Shippensburg Memorial Day parade, to the real heroes from band of brothers or the Pacific to the re-enactors portraying WWII soldiers at Reading this past week. But when it was all said and done one person came to mind, Jake "McNasty" McNiece. Jake was one of the Filthy 13 and sort of the unofficial leader. Jake wrote a book called the Filthy 13 that I purchased at last years show. It was one of the best books I have ever read and even though I met him and some of his fellow soldiers from the "13" last year this year I just had to shake his hand again and thank him. He is an amazing person, it is veterans like him that can choke a fellow up when talking to him.

For those of you that do not know, yesterday was D-Day. The largest amphibious invasion of all time, with 175,000 troops, 195,700 Allied naval and merchant navy personnel in over 5,000 ships. Some of the beach's taken by these men were Sword, Juno, Gold and Omaha beach.

Back to Jake, he was a fighter a drinker and had a total disregard for the rules, but he was a soldier. He never rose above the rank of PFC until his discharge from the Army when he obtained the rank of Sergeant. The face paint and hair cuts on the 101st Airborne on D-Day was Jake's idea. Jake completed four combat jumps in World War II including D-Day, during Operation Market Garden.

Thank You Jake and all other Veterans.

Tricolored Heron...

The tricolored heron is about 22 inches in length and has a wingspan of about three feet. It has slate blue feathers on most of its body except for a white chest and belly and a rust-colored neck. It has long yellow legs, a white stripe that runs up its neck and long pointed yellow bill. The bill turns blue during breeding season. Males and females look alike.

The tricolored heron wades in the water in search of prey. It mostly eats fish but it also will eat amphibians, insects and crustaceans.

The tricolored heron is also known as the Louisiana heron. It sometimes wades in deep water when looking for food and all that can be seen of it above the water is its body.

Please stop by Shane's blog today for anew post. I do not know what it will be but he has been on an aircraft roll lately, and guess what he will be shooting more this weekend.

Harrisbur Blue Jay...

This Blue jay was photographed at Wildlood Lake in Harrisburg a couple of weeks ago. No sense in saying anything else, no one has been reading this or the other blog lately anyways.

The Heron Trifecta...

Saturday morning I pulled off a Heron trifecta in Harrisburg. I have only been photographing birds for a little over a year now so sometimes I am a little slow on local birding. That being said I finally went to a local park in Harrisburg that was said to have nesting pairs of Yellow Crowned Night Herons. I arrived and quickly began to scan the area for the Herons, I was searching trees as I was told that there was numerous nest and that you could not miss them. With all the leaves I never seen a single nest but I did locate on Yellow Crowned feeding alone in the grass. Not knowing if I would get any photos by taking my time getting out of the truck and putting the camera on the tripod I began firing aways from the window with the D90 and the 70-200 f2.8 attached. The second photograph of the heron with the worm was from that encounter. I found a place to pull over and and got the D300 with the 200-400 f4 attached out and set up. He was kind enough to allow me to get a few photographs before flying away (the first photo came from this set up). Two other times I seen the yellow crowned fly by but this area is not open and has many trees so you do not get the chance to see them soon enough to get set up for flying shots.

These birds are considered endangered here in Pa and in New Jersey. Apparently one has been nesting here for years and recently one began nesting in the Lancaster area and just this year on in the York area. I hope to try and photograph them a few more times this season.

The trifecta occurred when I photographed a green heron in a tree at this location and then later in the morning I photographed a Black Crowned Night Heron at Wildwood Lake. All in all it was a good morning for birds.

Don't forget to stop by Shane's blog for a new post today.