Tiny Stream

I started playing with slow motion video using my iPhone last summer and found it was a great tool to modify time in nature.  One of the pitfalls I see on Youtube is using slow motion throughout the entire video, decreasing its drama. This short video has two slow clips interspersed with normal footage. A Sony RX10ii was used with speed slowed 8x (1second=8seconds).

Green

Hold that thought! It will be a memory for a few months. Recorded at Seven Mile Creek County Park, Nicollet County. This park will be closed for the season starting next April. It may be the last color a visitor will see in the park for a long time.

A Little Variety

Yellow Warbler

After spending so much time sitting or standing waiting for action it was time for a change of pace. The warblers were constantly on the move and in the branches this morning.

Technical: manual focus, 500 mm lens, cropped

Snow Trillium and mittens

Snow Trillium and Oak Leaf

I photographed these snow trillium while laying in the leaves wearing mittens and long johns this morning. Apparently these beauties didn't get the message that is was cold. They are about a week later than most years and almost at peak. Photographed at Seven Mile Creek County Park, Nicollet Co., Minnesota

The Sky is Full

My wife has been telling me about the number of birds in the fields she sees on the way to work. This weekend I had a chance to see them and take a couple shots. I am amazed at the organization of flocks.  Who leads? Who gives the fly and land signals? 

Technical: 200 mm focal length on Canon 7D, cloudy white balance. Image chosen from several because corners of frame were filled more than other choices.

Breaking Free of Winter

Snow trilliums are the first woodland ephemeral to emerge, well before the often photographed hepatica.  Everyone is asking the question, "How late is spring this year?".  In my experience snow trilliums are usually done blooming at the end of the first week of April.  This one is at peak and others were just opening. Technical: focal length 20 mm at f29, slight crop.  The leaf gives a size perspective to the flower.