Looking through me

I've been in Yellowstone for the last several days recording aggressive elk behavior. The first night I got more than I bargained for when this guy ran onto the patio where about 20 of us were watching. The "sport" is watching him ram cars that stop to take his picture. One night he charged about a dozen. Needless to say recording aggressive elk behavior in the wild is a little harder to record, still working on that.

Big Sky Country

I just finished a long day in the car and am thinking about the countryside I passed through. The sky is indeed big  but the land has been filled. This shot summarizes my impression of North Dakota and Montana after a long day of driving. 

September Dawn

I went out to Cottonwood Prairie last week in hopes of catching early morning dew and ground fog. However, a light breeze and crystal clear skies greeted me. 

Technical: Sky brightness was balanced using both  3 stop and 5 stop graduated neutral filters. I tried to do HDR in Lightroom but did not bracket a wide enough range.

Morning Glow

Prairie color is getting scarce and the morning sun is now giving the best color. It can be rare to see, given recent overcast mornings and high temperatures. I closely watch the forecast and head out for ground fog and golden light if the dew point and morning temperatures are the same. If the wind is quiet an added benefit is dew covered spider webs.

Storm Clouds

I normally don't race out the front door to take a picture when my wife says "You have to take a picture of this." However this time I grabbed the first available camera, an iPhone, and shot this storm edge. It was a rare event to have good light and see the edge of the storm. We had wind but no rain with the event. There is something humbling watching clouds miles tall bear down on you.

Monarch Morning

I have a lucky break this summer capturing the monarch wake up routine. They perch on tall prairie plants, in this case a water hemlock, and are covered with dew until it burns off. As there temperature rises they begin to move in preparation for flight. Film is shown in real time (no slow motion), natural sounds, and background music by hartwigmedia.com. The final warm up took almost 5 minutes allowing a variety of camera angles.

Monarchs on a Stick

I had to share this shot in honor of the last weekend of the Minnesota State Fair. I have not attended it in at least a decade but always marvel at what is placed on a stick to eat. While these monarchs are safe from consumption, I like the analogy. 

Morning Bumblebee

This is another image from the foggy morning earlier in the week. A close up filter was used in front of the wide angle lens putting the lens about 3 inches from the flower. I don't use this technique very often but every now and then it helps get the message across.

September Morning

Mornings are changing. The yellows of August are fading. This is one of my favorite times of the year for prairie photography. It's much easier to get up for sunrise and the morning dew covered adds a special touch to images.

Technical: HDR using Lightroom 6.  In this image the light area at the junction is ground fog. If you want to upgrade to 6 but not interested in the creative cloud a perpetual license is available on the Adobe website. Click the upgrade button after entering the purchase page.

Heading South

The monarch migration has moved on. This morning there were about a dozen butterflies on the prairie where there were 3-4 dozen yesterday morning. 

Technical: Shot against a cloudy sky, White slider at 100 on Lightroom.