I set out the other week to photograph some fall colors, in doing so I learned one very important thing. Don't quit my day job. I live in a beautiful area and could not visualize any images, I apparently have no creative abilities. But then I already knew that. The first photo is a view of Huntsdale, Pa. from the top of Kings Gap, click the photograph for a much larger view.
Same bull again even taken the same day as yesterdays post except they caught my eye for a different reason. Some of you may have heard of Hartford Insurance. As a child growing up in the fire service they were big in making children's fire helmets with their logo on the front piece. It was always a large bull Elk. I had many different ones as a child and must have thrown them all in the trash at sometime. Now I wish I would have kept them. The first photos reminds me of them.
Wow! after all the Elk post from Benezette during the rut it is getting harder and harder to come up with something to type. This is the same bull taken the same morning just different poses and different backgrounds. Most of what I had been posting were close up shots but I came across these in my files that included some of the background and I was drawn to them so here they are. 
Like the Ruffed Grouse from last week, these are not the best of photographs but I wanted to post something other that Elk again today. Also like the Ruffed Grouse, these were taken while on Mason Hill Road but on the way up the hill. I had high expectation of seeing many whitetails and turkeys during my trip north for the Elk rut. Of course I only seen one flock of turkeys and a few whitetail does. On the bright side the Elk watching was pretty good. Before I forget this is Tuesday and that means visit Shane's blog for a new post.
These are a couple more shots from the walk I took a couple of weeks ago. I had to look these birds up so if I do not identify them correctly please let me know. I think the first bird is an American Wigeon and the second bird a male Common Loon. 
Keeping with what I have been trying to post lately and not post all Elk photos I will end the week with the Ruffed Grouse. It has been difficult to come up with other photos lately with nothing working out as planned. Last weekend my family and I had reservations at the Shenandoah National forest, we were hoping to photograph the fall colors and some whitetail deer. With the weather that trip got scraped. I do not have another free weekend to try it again until the middle of December. I tried going for a drive around here over the weekend but it was just raining to hard to get out of the truck with the camera. On Monday I set out again in search of wildlife and fall colors, my destination Kings Gap State Park. Well no wildlife and nothing in me was creative. I did take a few photographs but nothing I could really say I liked. I really want to get some good fall color shots I just keep coming up empty.
Sometimes when photographing wildlife I get like a horse with blinders on and forget about my surroundings. I took very few photos that included the landscape, I guess that is something I will have to work on. The top photo and video was taken on Test Hill, if you have watched Willard's Pennsylvania Elk DVD set he mentions this area and features a fight that was filmed here sometime ago. The video shows the bull digging around in the grass with his antlers, just like bugling this is always an impressive sight to see. With the amount of Pa. Elk post I have made lately, it is getting difficult to come up with something to say.
Hey it is Thursday, that means go visit Shanes blog for a new post.
More Elk bugling today, being music to my ears and many others I just can't get enough of it. Both taken on different days in different locations one early morning and one late evening both these Elk have one thing in common and that is bugling and trying to impress the cows. The photo was taken at almost 7 p.m. as light was quickly fading, to get the photograph I had to shoot at ISO 1000, 1/20 second at f4 with the D300 and the 70-200 2.8 with a 1.4 teleconvertor attached. He was one of eight bulls in a group with only a few cows that Buckwheat and I found by following the bugling.
The video is 23 seconds and again I must ask you to TURN UP YOUR VOLUME. While the video is a bit soft (sorry I didn't have my glasses on to manually focus) it is good in that is shows a bull close up bugling and urinating all over himself. Bulls do this because the urine scent on their bodies help the cows to identify different bulls and helps to keep the cows near during the rut. The scent may also induce cows to come into estrus in preparation for breeding. If I ever pass along bad information please correct me Willard.
You didn't think I could stay away from the Elk photos for too long did you? Both of these were shot on different days and in different areas but both were taken with the Nikon D90. As always TURN YOUR VOLUME UP, the video last 18 seconds and this nice bull does not disappoint when he lets out a great bugle. That is one of the most impressive things you will ever hear or see. It is sad to think we have to wait another whole year to enjoy it live again. After doing this photograph and looking through the D300 files I found I got a number of good shots of this guy on the mountain that evening. Don't forget most all of my photos get larger if you click on them.
Hey it is Tuesday go visit Shane's site for a new post.
Last month I took a day off work so my family and I could go to Dover, Delaware for the Nationwide Dover 200 race. We always have fun but we may never go again. It seems every time we go to Dover it rains and this race was no different. They did get the race in but it drizzled the last 25 or so laps and was pouring by the time we got out of the parking lot. 
First let me say if I misidentified this bird please step up and let me know. When I first photographed it I thought it was a type of sandpiper but after looking at it and checking my books it appears to me to be a Greater Yellowlegs.
The photograph was taken one evening late while shooting with Buckwheat. This young bull just layed in the meadow chewing his cud apparently uninterested that to his left was seven more bulls and a number of cows. To get this photograph I had to remove the 1.4 teleconverter from the 70-200 2.8 lens, lay flat on the ground and not do much zooming. I just wish my photos looked as good on the web as they do on my own systems.
The video was taken early Wednesday morning in some of the newly reclaimed area from strip mining. I really don't care to shoot in these areas because I do not like the green as it appears in the backgrounds and foregrounds, but sometimes you have no choice when that is where the action is taking place. The video last 18 seconds and as always I am going to ask you again to PLEASE TURN UP YOUR VOLUME. What you will see is two dominant bulls square off and lock antlers as they push each other down the other side of the mountain watch the screen to the upper left first and then to the lower right. The younger satellite bulls (much like some men) will come running in bugling as soon as the big bulls get out of site. These bulls know they do not have a chance with the cows and take advantage of any opportunity they get. They usually do not score as the larger bulls return quickly and run them off. Wow! what a great time it was.
Hey it is Thursday and that means go visit my son Shane's site for a new post.
I hope most of you are enjoying the Elk photographs and videos. I know I had so much fun watching and recording them and I am enjoying seeing them again and sharing them. Since I have been home and people have seen some of the photos and footage I have noticed more interest generated in traveling north to view the Elk. I was a guilty party until last August when my family made the trip to view the Elk. Until that point I traveled out west to photograph the rut. Why I didn't take advantage of a resource just over three hours away from me is mind boggling. I have now been up three times in just over a year and plan on going again over the winter in hopes of photographing the Elk in the snow.
The photo and video were taken on different days in different areas but represent the same subject. Young bulls sparring during the rut. Both were shot early morning in difficult lighting situations. The photograph was taken at 2000 ISO to allow enough light in and get the shutter speed fast enough to freeze the action (1/125 sec., f4). The video last about 27 seconds, PLEASE TURN UP YOUR VOLUME to hear the Elk bugling and the crashing of the antlers. I promise no funny business this time.
Back to the Pennsylvania Elk rut as promised. The photo was taken my first morning out, this young rag horn followed a cow in my direction thankfully turning and heading into the tree line before reaching me. I don't know what you think of the sharpness or quality of the photo but it was taken at 1250 ISO. Have you ever looked this closely into a bulls face when he was bugling?
The video was taken shortly after my arrival in Benezette. While not the best footage and by far not the best setting, the short 23 second video taken in the rain and shows one of the more dominant bulls trying to entice two cows to get involved with him (do you like the way I put that?) and a calf run up to a cow trying to feed. For you mothers out there you should be glad children are more gentler than calves. This was one of the first videos I have taken with the D90 and while I was far from an expert by the time I left for home I had learned allot and began taking much better videos. It looks like after only about six month of using the D90 it will be going up for sale very soon so I can upgrade to the D300S. If anyone out there wants a great camera with HD video features, the optional battery pack on the bottom and remote shutter release, all with less than 3,000 shutter releases let me know I will be selling it at a good price.
Hey it is Tuesday, you know what that means, a new post from Shane. He didn't get a post made last Thursday because the home PC was giving us fits again. About time for a new CPU here also.
Like I mentioned last week I will mix somethings in with the Elk rut photos and videos, so here is your one mixer up for the week. September 20TH on the way home from the Eisenhower farm WWII weekend I made a pit stop at the Army Heritage Center in Carlisle. They were having there 3RD Washingtonburg weekend. I only had a short time to run through the encampment as I had to get to work but I did manage to get in a few shutter releases. This years event was not as good as the first two but still worth attending. The period vendors were in attendance, General Washington was there but the military units were not there as in years past. I was told is was due to a scheduling conflict. No matter what the case this is a free event that is still very good and a must for any historian that lives in the area. I know if I am off work next year I will visit again. Guess what, Elk in the morning.
I am not the educator that Willard is and I have already spoken of the difficulty shooting in low light and fog, the long hours and people you shoot with so it will become more difficult for me to come up with comments on my Elk County posts.
The calf was photographed late afternoon about mid week. I used the 80-200 f2.8 on the D300 and the 80-400 f4-5.6 on the D90. Because of that most of the still were taken with the D300 and the video with the D90. Knowing I wanted to concentrate on video my last day I switched the lens around on the cameras. I just can't say enough good about the 80-200 2.8, it is awesome glass. Because of the speed I was able to capture this calf with great depth of field, none of the blurring was done post processing this is the way it was photographed, to me it adds dimension to the image almost making the calf stand out from the foreground and background.
The video was taken Friday morning in the rain. Please turn up your volume when watching. It only last 27 seconds but you hear bulls bugling in the area, the rain falling and this bulls distinctive bugle.
You just had to know I was going to stick with rut photos as much as I love wildlife. Photographing wildlife can be hours of fun, exciting at times and depending on situations even scary at times, Haney knows what I am talking about. It can also be very difficult, wildlife is most active in the early mornings and late evenings when lighting is not easy. In Elk country fog is a big factor many times and that also makes things difficult. Bob covered it in a post recently and he also got to photograph the bull that was stuck in the swing set in August the week before I got their. Coy who was there the previous week with his brother and he also covered the difficulties of photographing in fog and low light. I mentioned them both with links because you can visit there sites to view more Elk photos if you enjoy the wildlife.
Photographing wildlife can also take allot out of you. One must get up very early to be out and in place for first light. Many times you stay out until the sun goes down and the light is gone. All this takes place while hiking distances on rough terrain and up and down mountains and hills. The average person that visits Benezette during the rut photograph the Elk from the roads and that can be done but one learns little about the animal that way and never really sees them in their natural settings. This is all done while carrying heavy cameras, tripods, additional lens and camera gear along with whatever else may be needed for the days adventure. Many times meals are eaten from the tailgates of vehicles and the lack of sleep and constant activity begin to take there toll on you. I never nap during the day and even I passed out for almost two hours in my truck Friday afternoon to awake and find people, cars and Elk around me. I am not saying any of this to complain, on the contrary I love every minute of it. I am just trying to pass along to those that do not do this what it is like to photograph Gods beautiful creatures.
The photo was taken one early morning as we were trying to reach the top before the sun rose. If you are working to see the Elk and get into place the chance to get silhouettes occurs often. The video although not that good because it was shot at 2000 ISO along Dewey Road with tourist around gives one the idea of what lighting conditions can be. It also provides you the chance to see numerous bulls, cows and calves as they begin to leave the meadow to escape the people shooting their point and shoot cameras with flashes going off. Now I am not putting point and shoot cameras down I believe photography is a great thing no matter what camera you use or can afford, just be smart enough to turn the flash off. The video also gives you a chance to hear some of the sweetest music one can hear and that is the bugling of Elk during the rut season. The entire video only last 33 seconds, PLEASE TURN UP YOUR VOLUME, it will be worth it.
I mentioned yesterday that I took a trip north last week to photograph the Elk rut in Benezette, that post and all of last weeks were scheduled posts. For those of you that left comments and or have blogs that I frequent I will get to them. It was late Saturday when I got home and then it was off to the Hershey Bears game and then back to work Sunday morning so I will be catching up this week. 
On Sunday September 20TH Shane and I traveled to the Eisenhower farm in Gettysburg for their World War II weekend. Like always we had a great time learning about the weapons and expanding our knowledge on WW II. The reanactors are great, they are more than willing to share their knowledge and help out the visitors. This was the first time we attended this event but it will be on the calendar for years to come. We now must wait until January for our next trip like this and we can't wait. 
This is not the same mule deer from yesterday but I figured since I showed you one from the rear I would post one today from the front. This mule deer was also photographed last fall in Yellowstone, but no place close to yesterday's photo. Next week I hope to bring you some non wildlife photographs, so for those of you that are not big wildlife fans stick with me.
Looking through the photographs from Yellowstone to post it just seemed fitting that I use this shot. Like most people that like to photograph wildlife I have a large collection of butt shots. No it is not that I want to photograph their butts it is just that it is what you see most often. Like all I normally delete most of them but occasionally I keep a few. I kept this one from last fall because of the size of the mule deers rack. He really is a trophy buck and if he stays in Yellowstone and does not fall pray to any of the predators he will continue to grow and bring enjoyment to many others for years to come.
