wildlife – Page 18

February 8, 2010January 14, 2013

Harbor Seal On The Beach (Photo of the week)

A harbor seal glances up after a rising tide awakens him from his slumber

I took this photo last week in Moss Beach, just north of Half Moon Bay. At low tide, harbor seals can sometimes be seen lounging on the exposed rocks, far away from the beach. However, I was here at dawn, and it was still about an hour away from high tide. I knew the rocks would be covered, and I was hoping I might see some along the beach. Unfortunately, the tide was in much further than I thought it would, leaving only about 20 feet between the sea cliff and the pounding surf.

Not seeing any seals, I decided to focus instead on landscapes. I set up my tripod at the base on the path going down to the beach. As I was setting up a shot, far in the distance down the beach I saw movement. This had to be the seals. I re-evaluated the tide situation, and figured if I gave myself a strict time limit, I should be able to make it down the beach and back before the tide rose to the bottom of the cliff (kids don’t try this at home). Not wanting to get stranded against a cliff and sucked out to sea, I gave myself 10 minutes to get a shot and get out.

I preset the camera controls and got my long lens ready, then did my fastest “stealth” walk I could muster. As I got closer, I saw there was one seal left on the beach, the others having gone into the ocean (I believe this was the movement I had seen when I was down the beach). He appeared fast asleep. Just then, a large wave came in and broke just below him, sending water underneath him, and waking him up. He only looked up once, but I was ready. I got the shot, and knew it was time to get out of there.

January 12, 2010January 14, 2013

Starfish and Mussels (Photo of the week)

A starfish sits among clustered mussels, Moss Beach, California

Photographing tide pools can be a lot of fun, especially if you are stuck with an overcast day when the scenery is less than dynamic. This starfish was photographed at Fitzgerald Marine Reserve in Moss Beach, just north of Half Moon Bay. Make sure to check a tide chart to see when there will be a low tide, giving you much more access to the pools. Required equipment for this type of outing includes a tripod for long exposures (this shot was 1.6 seconds) and a polarized filter to cut the reflections so you can actually see what lives in the tide pools. The photo below was taken on the same day, and is a good example of why polarized filters are necessary.

A starfish sits in a tide pool with anemones, Moss Beach, California

October 8, 2009January 14, 2013

It pays to be prepared

A river otter clings to a log, submerged in an algae-filled pond

“Chance favors the prepared mind,” goes the saying by Louis Pasteur. I wholeheartedly believe this is true – in fact, I would say that it is very uncommon to be lucky without being prepared. The image above demonstrates this belief.

Kerry and I were up in Mt. St. Helen’s National Volcanic Monument taking photos of the mountain and just being tourists. We were blessed with great weather and clear skies, so we decided to take a short hike out into the ash flow that wiped out the Toutle River in the 1980 eruption. I was primarily interested in gaining a new vantage point on the mountain for landscape shots, but as almost an afterthought, I decided to take a second camera body with a telephoto zoom, just in case we saw any wildlife.

Now, I almost never take a lens this big with me on a hike unless I’m going for the express purpose of setting up somewhere for a particular animal. The lens and body together was pushing over 4 lbs, so it’s not the most comfortable thing to sling over your shoulder. But the hike was only 2.5 miles, so I figured, “why not?”

About half way through the hike, we came to a medium sized pool of water, filled with bright green algae and surrounded by thick vegetation. Just as we were passing the water, two river otters burst out of the bushes and jumped into the pond. At first they watched us intently, to see what we were all about. Soon, however, they relaxed and began playing and eating clumps of algae. “Luckily” I had my second camera with the long lens ready to go, and preset to the correct settings for wildlife photography. Because of this preparation, I didn’t miss any of the action while I fiddled with controls. If I had not considered the “what if” possibility of seeing wildlife, and just stuck with my wide angle lens, I would have missed these otters completely.

So next time you’re headed out, think about all of the different situations you might run into. It might lead to bringing different gear, or just pre-visualizing a potential photograph you might be able to create. I am grateful for that extra moment that I paused to think – in this case, it certainly helped me get “lucky”.