Taking Flight (slow motion experiment)

 

This is an experiment in time as much as capturing the geese in flight. Except for the last clip everything was slowed to either half or quarter speed. In most cases the eye accepts half speed as real but quarter speed has very limited uses if the illusion of reality is to be maintained.

Snow Geese Blastoff (uncut)

 

Sometimes a video is needed to share the experience, something I have commented on before. To make the still shot work I think a sense of order must be distilled out of the organized chaos of 600,000 or more birds in flight.

Snow Geese at 16K

I just returned from Loess Bluffs NWR at Mound City, MO. and was surprised to learn yesterday's count was about 750,000 geese. However, the biggest surprise was quality of images shot at an ISO of 16,000, almost literally shots in the dark. I moved back to Canon after an experiment with Sony and this was its shakedown visit. Both shots recorded using auto focus.

ISO 16,000, 1/8 sec @ f5.6

ISO 16,000, 1/60 sec @ f4.0

Blast Off!

 

I spent a day with snow geese and put this together. It started in the fog well before sunrise and ended at sunset.  I could still hear them singing when I went to bed that night. Their singing will either drive you nuts or make you forget the world for awhile. Multiple cameras and lenses were used with two cameras simultaneously recording in the fog sequence.

Synchronized Stretch

There are exercise classes everywhere but this was a new one to me.

Explosion in the fog

I heard the geese in the dark as I drove into Loess Bluffs NWR.  The fog had a calming effect on them allowing me to make several trips from the car to set up two tripods and cameras. Another car coming into the Refuge spooked them and they headed off for the morning. This is a trailer for a one minute video that is in the works.

Spring bath

These geese were in a bathing frenzy after arriving earlier in the day.  The action lasted until the bald eagle in the nest above them decided it had had enough and swooped down to scatter them.

Lining up for landing

These geese appear to have coordinated their landing plans. However, the best of plans falls apart when they try to find a spot to touch down.

 

Loess Bluffs NWR

I spent the last couple days recording snow geese as they await better conditions for continuing their migration. Loess Bluffs (formally known as Squaw Creek) is an undiscovered secret and there were locals watching the birds but only a couple other photographers. I had a chance to play with still photography techniques during the midday. Birds arrived over 5 hours and eventually were within 20 yards of the dike.

Spring Blast Off!

The profusion and motion of birds overwhelmed the compression capabilities of Vimeo and YouTube so this link to Zenfolio gives the best representation of an up close blast off from Squaw Creek NWR this spring. I'm glad I didn't keep track of the number of hours trying to upload a technically acceptable film. I hope you enjoy: Blast Off!

Spring Sky

There may be snow on the ground but spring is here! This flight was over Squaw Creek a couple weeks ago. This weekend sandhill cranes were calling in the north Metro skies and Canada geese are everywhere. Owlets are almost ready to fledge. This image was taken while I was doing a time lapse of the clouds in the dawn light.

Spring at Squaw Creek

 I recently watched a course on filmmaking at creativelive.com and learned about different storytelling techniques. A light bulb was turned on with the realizaton that a nature story does not need to be told in a linear format. This format is aptly named the teaser format.

Wouldn't it be fun?

Would you rather fly like a bird or in a jet plane? The birds seem to do it effortlessly and without thought. If only we could try it, even if only for an hour.

A study in contrasts

There were several choices when photographing swans and snow geese. I could have shot the swans against a blue sky as they flew overhead, on the water, or taking off. Actually, I shot all of them but this image tells the story of a previously endangered species doing well as it flies over an over populated concentration of snow geese, a study in contrasts. I'm sure I could find more contrasts if I thought about it a little longer.

Migration Moon

This was the scene over Squaw Creek NWR as the moon was setting as snow geese were heading out for the morning. It was hard to keep the camera on the moon when thousands of geese were lifting off behind me. 

Technical: 500 mm lens, WB at 4000

Spring Migration

The spring migration of snow geese through Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge at Mound City, Missouri, is an unbelievable experience in both sight and sound. The spring migration tends to be shorter but with higher numbers of birds. This blastoff was between weekly counts but the last count was over 600k. Next week's count may be zero. 

Technical: 500mm lens on Canon 7D, uncropped.

The Rhythm of Nature

I like to add background music to enhance the rhythms of nature but the the rhythm of these snow geese speaks for itself and needs no improvement. I was mesmerized by their motion and rhythm as thousands of birds flew in unison. The flight took place in near darkness one morning at Squaw Creek NWR. ISO sensitivity ranged from 8000-16000, yes 16,000! Recorded with a Canon C100 using a 100-400 lens. White balance at 6000k.

Morning Blastoff

I see several possible titles for this image. "Waiting for my turn." and "Waiting for breakfast." along with a couple others. About 200 eagles were at the refuge and dining well on injured ducks and geese. I like the layers showing the different stages of flight in the morning blastoff. Shutter speed: 1/20 second at f22.

Leader of the Flock

I often wonder who goes first and why. The decision seems to be made a few seconds before lift off when there is near silence followed by an organized explosion of thousands of birds taking to the air. After lift off there seems to be confusion as the birds circle repeatedly looking for a place to land.

Technical: 1/15 second, ISO 1250. WB@5500

Snow Geese Landing

Only 8,000 snow geese were listed in the weekly count but warmer weather held promise for more birds. About a hundred thousand arrived on my first morning giving spectacular opportunities. This year flight shots were taken at a slow shutter speed, less than 1/100 second, in an attempt to convey the atomsphere of thousands of geese in the air. It was also a contrarian statement since geese are usually photographed frozen in space by a high shutter speed.