Photo of the Week

April 6, 2015

A Photo Five Years In The Making

A double-crested cormorant stands very still next to a tidal slough

Believe it or not, I have been working on the photo above for the last five years. During that time, I have been heavily into bird photography, particularly around the San Francisco Bay Area. Along with many other water birds, the double-crested cormorant is a frequent visitor. Cormorants are a diving bird, and can swim long distances underwater looking for fish. When they are done eating, they will exit the water and sun themselves on a rock or pier with their wings spread wide. They will stand there frozen for minutes, feathers fanned out to the sun to dry themselves properly.

A double-crested cormorant fans its wings after an underwater dive in order to dry them in the sun

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When I first observed this, I told myself that this would be a easy species to get close to in order to get a frame-filling head shot. However, try after try, I failed to get close enough to one of these sun bathing birds to get a tight shot. Finally after many attempts, I managed to get my shot.

I found this cormorant in Redwood Shores, CA, close to my home. It was early morning and he had obviously been for a morning swim (and probably breakfast as well). I spent a very long time creeping up on him, inching my tripod legs forward and shuffling closer behind my rig. After many safety shots, I finally managed to get close enough to fill the frame with a beautiful head shot. My patience was doubly rewarded when he opened his beak (possibly to yawn?)

A double-crested cormorant opens its beak wide and cranes its neck

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After getting my shots, I quietly backed away so as not to disturb him any further. I was finally satisfied as I had my elusive shot. I’m sure I appreciate this shot much more because of the time and work that went into it, than if I had managed it on my first try.

February 11, 2015February 11, 2015

Palo Alto Baylands

While I usually don’t make location specific posts about birding, I did want to call out Palo Alto Baylands as one of the San Francisco Bay Area’s great birding spots. Located in Palo Alto right along the bay, it provides the birder with a variety of species, from water birds to song birds to raptors – there is always something interesting to see here. It even holds one of the best viewing areas for the elusive (and endangered) clapper rail. Here are a few photos of what I found there on a recent morning.

A song sparrow perches on wild fennel in the morning sun

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Song sparrows are one of three most common sparrow (along with white and golden-crowned) species seen at Baylands. The ubiquity of the house sparrow in the suburbs gives way to the song sparrow this close to the water. With common birds such as this, I try to create photos that go beyond just showing the bird, but also show some behavior or interesting background. In this photo, I liked the way the sparrow is tilting downward (he was eating from the wild fennel) – it creates more of an action pose.

A white-tail kite perches on a large branch

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Baylands has the occasional visit from a bird of prey. Kites are seen anywhere from the water up into the foothills, hunting large, open spaces. Other birds of prey I’ve seen include fly-overs by osprey, red-tailed and red-shouldered hawks, and norther harriers.

A female yellow warbler pauses briefly on wild fennel in the morning sun

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The smaller passerines get me excited because they are much harder to photograph than water birds or sparrows. The are small, fast, and rarely stay in one place for more than a few seconds. The most common warbler here is the yellow-rumped, but orange-crowned and yellow warblers are not uncommon. There are many many others, from chestnut-backed chickadees to bushtits – all of them equally hard to photograph. I loved the tonality of this image – the yellow on yellow really works here, blending the bird into her background.

A domestic goose swims through still water reflecting fall color foliage

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Palo Alto Baylands also has a man-made pond that attracts a wide variety of migrating ducks throughout the year. There are also quite a few year-round residents, including this domestic goose. Most of the resident ducks here are cross breeds of domestic ducks and mallards. But this pond is also a great opportunity to see migrants up close, including ruddy ducks, greater and lesser scaup, northern shovelers, american wigeons, and a variety of teals.

An american avocet stands in shallow water, catching the first rays of morning sun

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Finally there are the water birds. Habitat here includes plenty of tidal wetlands, so these species abound. All the usual suspects can be seen here, and there are good viewing angles in morning and evening. In this photo, the earliest morning light is lighting the feathers of this american avocet. In spring, there is a popular nesting area for avocets and black-necked stilts. Photographers line up to capture cute photos of hatchlings venturing for the first time out into the mud flats.

For birders there is always lots to see at Palo Alto Baylands. If you live near or are visiting the San Francisco Bay Area, be sure to put this on your list of bird spots to visit.

January 13, 2015

Gem And Max

Quite some time ago, I posted photos from a session I did with a kitten named Gem. Recently I resurrected more photos I took during a second session with Gem and her brother Max, when they were still kittens. Click here, or on any of the photos below to see the entire collection of Gem and Max, getting into mischief.

Gem stretches out on the couch, fast asleep

Max is caught in the action of playing around the bottom of a stool

While fast asleep, Gem is treated to some pets from above

Max drinks milk from a saucer and makes a mess

June 7, 2014October 3, 2014

Hiker And Halfdome

A backpacker stands on an outcropping admiring the view while Half Dome rises high overhead, Yosemite National Park

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I created this photo on a backpacking trip a few weeks ago. I set out with a couple of friends, Frans and Mark, and our three day plan was to hike along the northern rim of Yosemite Valley from Snow Creek to Yosemite Falls.

I knew our best photo opportunities would likely be on the first evening. Snow Creek is located along the rim of Tenaya Canyon, directly across from the face of Half Dome. I had been here once before, and ever since that trip I had been visualizing the photos that I wanted to create there.

Primary on my list was a shot of a backpacker with the face of Half Dome looming high above. Half Dome is most famously viewed from the side, as most photographs of it are taken from the perspective of Yosemite Valley. In order to be successful, this photo had to have a few specific characteristics.

First of all, I knew I needed to use a long lens. I wanted to render the backpacker fairly large in frame, but also render the dome as large as possible. This meant that I needed to be close to the hiker and stack the layers of depth on top of one another, so that both near and far subjects would be large in the photo. Had I used a wide angle, the dome would be much smaller than in my vision.

Secondly, I wanted to shoot this in late afternoon with clear skies to the west. When the sun sets, its light moves all the way up Yosemite Valley and strikes the face of Half Dome, giving it a warm orange glow. On this particular day, I could have done with some clouds to the south and east, so that I’d get a little sky interest, but I worked with what nature gave me.

One thing I didn’t think about beforehand was the fact that the plateau from which I was shooting would be completely in shadow. This meant that in order to properly expose the cliff face, the backpacker would be too dark to clearly see details. After some experimentation, I decided to go with high contrast and render the backpacker as a detail-less graphic silhouette. I think this works very well in the final image, as it creates more emotional impact for the viewer. Those who travel this nation’s back country can easily see themselves standing in the photo, experiencing a glorious sunset.

Mark and Frans graciously volunteered to be my models, and I ended up choosing this photo of Mark as my favorite. In order to add more of the scene, I took additional photos of Half Dome and stitched them to the first shot to create a panorama. This really completes the scene, showing the entire cliff from which Half Dome emerges. We had a great (and cold) three days in the wilderness, and as I suspected, the photos I took from Snow Creek ended up being my favorites.