Category: Photo Stories

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White-tail Kite Fly By

A white-tailed kite perches on a tree stump, surveying the landscape around it
A white-tailed kite perches on a tree stump, surveying the landscape around it

A little while ago I visited Arastradero Preserve in Palo Alto, CA in order to get some photos of some of the white-tail kites that live there. And I was certainly not disappointed. I climbed a large hill in order to get above some of the trees on which they perch while they are not hunting. I quickly saw one of the kites and slowly made my way toward its tree.

A white-tailed kite perches on a tree branch, surveying the landscape around it
A white-tailed kite perches on a tree branch, surveying the landscape around it

With my eye glued to the view finder, I had my lens tight in on this bird, capturing shots of it flying up and back to various branches on the tree. Suddenly a dark form darted by just above the kite. Luckily, my photography training was to shoot first and ask questions later, and I capture a single frame of what I later saw to be another kite flying at the first one.

A male white-tail kite flies past a female, which reacts to his close proximity
A male white-tail kite flies past a female, which reacts to his close proximity

I quickly realized what was going on, as the male came in for another pass, this time reaching his target, and landing on top of the female.

A male white-tail kite approaches a female from behind and mates with it
A male white-tail kite approaches a female from behind and mates with it

The male quickly mated with the female, and just as quickly flew away. And before you ask, yes I do have photos, but hey, this is a family friendly blog!

A male white-tail kite approaches a female from behind and mates with it
A male white-tail kite approaches a female from behind and mates with it

I’ve never seen this before or since, and I definitely know that I wouldn’t have been able to capture these shots if I hadn’t already had the female framed and in focus. Sometimes you just get lucky….

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Sunrise At Hanalei Bay

In the moments before sunrise, the sea washes a beach clean in Hanalei Bay, Kauaii
In the moments before sunrise, the sea washes a beach clean in Hanalei Bay, Kauaii

One morning on last fall’s trip to the island of Kauai, I woke before dawn and drove out to Hanalei Bay to capture day break with the backdrop of the dramatic green cliffs to the south, with a long exposure of moving waves in the foreground. Usually with long exposure shots, I like to feature a non-moving object somewhere in the foreground to act as sort of a sharp, visual anchor. Juxtaposed against smooth flowing forms of movement, these anchors can help keep the viewer centered in reality. However, in this case there was nothing along the beach to help me, so I used the line between water and sand to lead the viewers eye into the photo.

Compounding the difficulty of this shot was the fact that my tripod was placed in soft sand (usually I try to find some kind of rock, but again none was available), and every 30 seconds or so the legs would start sinking into the sand. That kept my exposures about half what they normally would have been in this light (around 15 seconds), and not all of my shots were usable, because every once in a while a larger wave would undercut the tripod legs, resulting in a blurry photo.

But in this light (pre-dawn), all of the subtle color differences of the cliffs came out, showing the complex contours of the mountains. This was only possible with low contrast light, giving me full control over localized contrast in post. Once I was fairly sure I achieved my desired shot, I made to way onto the pier and waited for the sun to rise, providing high contrast side lighting to the cliffs.

Green mountains covered with waterfalls rise from the shores of Hanalei Bay, catching the first rays of sunlight, Kauaii
Green mountains covered with waterfalls rise from the shores of Hanalei Bay, catching the first rays of sunlight, Kauaii

This is a very different photo, at a much shorter shutter speed (as I had plenty of light after sunrise). Here I used a telephoto to make the largest mountain the star of the show. Here we see sail boats lined up along the beach in this tropical paradise. If you look closely enough, you can see one of the hundreds of waterfalls making its way through the clefts in the mountainside.

Soon it was time to pack it in, head into town, and enjoy a coffee with my wife. Truly a great way to spend vacation!

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Fall Season Hoodies

A male hooded merganser swim through calm water reflecting the colors of fall
A male hooded merganser swim through calm water reflecting the colors of fall

No, this is not a Gap or Old Navy ad – I’m talking about Hooded Mergansers in colorful fall color reflections! Hooded Mergansers are one of my all time favorite ducks (and those who know me know how much I love ducks!) I photographed this mating pair recently as they swam through a narrow channel bordered by deciduous trees, their leaves turning red and gold.

A female hooded merganser sleep on the surface of calm water reflecting the colors of fall
A female hooded merganser sleep on the surface of calm water reflecting the colors of fall

One difficulty photographing in this kind of light is making sure the main subject (the ducks) and the surroundings (water reflections) are well balanced in brightness. Especially difficult with Hooded Mergansers is the male’s bright white head feathers contrasting with its black face. Trying to capture details in the black feathers while holding detail in the white takes not only the perfect exposure, but also the right amount of front lighting. This is one species that doesn’t do well in backlighting.

A female hooded merganser sleep on the surface of calm water reflecting the colors of fall
A female hooded merganser sleep on the surface of calm water reflecting the colors of fall

As usual, I tried to photograph at a very small angle of declination to the water surface. However in this particular channel, the slope to the water is very steep, and impossible to place the lens only inches above the waterline, which is my preference. (And no, I didn’t want to climb into the water!) Therefore, I had to raise the rig high enough so that I could sit behind it and see through the viewfinder. It is times like these that I think about getting a right angle viewer for my camera. That would allow be to sit above my camera on a slope, instead of behind it, bringing the lens closer to the level of the water.

A male hooded merganser swim through calm water reflecting the colors of fall
A male hooded merganser swim through calm water reflecting the colors of fall

At any angle, and in almost any light, these are beautiful birds. For more photos, be sure to check out an older merganser post.

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Yosemite Cloudscapes

Clouds build over the northern mountains of Yosemite National Park. In the summer, afternoon thunder storms are common, often lasting less than an hour.
Clouds build over the northern mountains of Yosemite National Park. In the summer, afternoon thunder storms are common, often lasting less than an hour.

Recently I made a short overnight backpacking trip to the Ten Lakes region of Yosemite National Park. The trail to Ten Lakes starts at Highway 120 and heads north, into the Yosemite high country. Unfortunately, the sunrise and sunset weather conditions were not optimal for my particular location. With a large cliff to the west of my camp site, I was more or less blocked from the setting sun. Sunrise came with blue bird skies – definitely not what a landscape photographer is hoping for!

However, some of the best atmospheric drama came from the typical afternoon cloud buildup over the high peaks. As my group reached Ten Lakes Pass, we were greeted with a large cumulus buildup, and distant showers, providing a dramatic topper to a never ending mountain range to the north.

There was such detail in the cloud textures that I began thinking instantly of Ansel Adams, and the magnificent work he created on similar afternoons in the high country. I began thinking in black and white, centering my composition on the clouds, and using the mountains as nothing more than to give the photo a sense of place. The stark blue sky above the clouds was turned black by applying a strong orange filter (in post processing of course!), which rendered the isolated cloud bursts below the clouds in lighter grays.

Storm clouds are bottom lit from the setting sun
Storm clouds are bottom lit from the setting sun

That evening, I watched the sun settle with bland ambivalence behind the ridge line to the west. It was not quite yet true sunset, but my world was thrust into shadow. Dark, colorless clouds spotted the sky, but I couldn’t tell if the western horizon was free of cloud cover or not. Just as I was about to give up and pack the camera, the bottom of the clouds lit up in a surreal magenta. With nothing to anchor the shot, I began creating cloud abstracts, loving the way the sun colored the bottoms of the clouds, leaving the upper clouds dark and mysterious.

Although I took many other landscapes on the trip, nothing spoke to me like these two cloud images. I was satisfied returning with these two images and happy memories of being out in the wilderness.

Copyright 2017 Hank Christensen