Found this little guy on the train this morning... It is a Northern Dusky Salamander (Desmognathus fuscus fuscus).

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/250th sec at f/22. Canon Macro Twin Lite MT-24EX in ETTL mode. ISO 100. RAW processing and cropped in Adobe Camera Raw.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/160 sec at f/22. Image Stabilization on. ISO 100. Canon Speedlight 580EX II flash in eTTL mode and bounced through an ExpoImaging Rogue Flashbender. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/160 sec at f/16. Image Stabilization on. ISO 100. Canon Speedlight 580EX II flash in eTTL mode and bounced through an ExpoImaging Rogue Flashbender. RAW processing and cropped in Adobe Camera Raw.

- Bill

Anya and I made another trip out to Cuyahoga Valley National Park last week in hopes of getting some good fall foliage photographs, but sadly the trees out there were still green for the most part. I did take a number of shots at the Blue Hen Falls and put together a couple HDR images. In general, I've never been a huge fan of HDR because they usually have a very clear processed look to them, but I still give it a shot from time to time.

Take a look at this attempt (mouseover the images to display the larger version) and place your vote for which version you like best.

Single Shot
HDR with PS:CS5
HDR with PS:CS5 + HDR Efex

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM at 18mm, Various exposures at f/16. ISO 100. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw, HDR processing in Adobe Photoshop CS5 and Nik HDR Efex Pro.

- Bill

I need to go diving.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II at 53mm. 1/120 sec at f/14. ISO 160. Ikelite Housing and Port with dual Ikelite 161 Strobes in eTTL mode. Raw conversion and cropped in Adobe Camera Raw

If you're curious, that is a Goldentail Moray (Gymnothorax miliaris) from a trip we took to the Turks and Caicos a couple years ago.

- Bill

Ok - nature lesson of the day... baby turkeys are called poults.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM at 400mm, 1/500 sec at f/8. ISO 400. IS Mode 1. RAW processing and cropped in Adobe Camera Raw.

- Bill

So we technically should still see Cedar Waxwings in the winter, but it seems like the group that we had been seeing on a regular basis have moved on. They would come visit our pond just around sunset every night, so getting good sharp photographs was always a challenge.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM at 400mm, 1/250 sec at f/5.6. ISO 2500. IS Mode 1. Canon Speedlight 580EX II flash in auto mode plus Better Beamer. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw.

They usually didn't stop for very long, so I eventually decided to add my flash and Better Beamer. After a bit of that, I decided to see if I could catch one in flight...

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM at 400mm, 1/160 sec at f/6.3. ISO 1600. IS Mode 1. Canon Speedlight 580EX II flash in auto mode plus Better Beamer. RAW processing and cropped in Adobe Camera Raw.

I wish I would have used 1/250th of a second exposure on that to eliminate/reduce the motion blur more, but I'll have to try that next time...

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM at 400mm, 1/250 sec at f/5.6. ISO 2500. IS Mode 1. Canon Speedlight 580EX II flash in auto mode plus Better Beamer. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw.

- Bill

I know I've posted several other posts with probably better Green Heron photos, but I figured I'd share these as it appears our little family of herons that had been living on our pond have moved south for the winter.

Here's hoping they return next year to continue growing their family so I can get some more photos.

- Bill

So you might have asked yourself how I managed to get a "studio" session with a snake, and the answer is that in this case it was really easy...

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/250th sec at f/16. Canon Macro Twin Lite MT-24EX in ETTL mode. ISO 100. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw.

When you subject is the size of a quarter, it is really easy to take him into the studio for a photo shoot. The hardest thing about dealing with this snake was being concerned with his welfare - with how small it was, I really didn't want to inadvertently injure it.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/250th sec at f/16. Canon Macro Twin Lite MT-24EX in ETTL mode. ISO 100. RAW processing and cropped in Adobe Camera Raw.

Luckily, this little guy was full of character and was very cooperative, giving me a number of different poses and holding them while I repositioned to take the photos. I was able to use both the Canon 100mm and Canon MP-E 65mm macro lenses and get right up close to him without any issues.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/160th sec at f/22. Canon Macro Twin Lite MT-24EX in ETTL mode. ISO 100. RAW processing and cropped in Adobe Camera Raw.

After the studio session, I did take him out in the grass to hopefully get some more "natural" photos, but as soon as I set him in the grass, he quickly vanished into the grass and other than some fleeting flashes of him slithering through the grass I couldn't keep track of him. I was still happy to have gotten the chance to have the nice photo session with this little guy.

- Bill

I don't often get the opportunity to get "studio" photo shoots with snakes, but this guy was pretty cooperative. What he lacked in any kind of fancy pattern he made up for with expressive posing.

I experimented a bit with shooting without the flash and I really liked the results, but it was very difficult to get a clean crisp shot due to the slow shutter speed needed. I didn't want to push the ISO too far and start introducing too much digital noise, but I did manage to get one that I liked. The warm tones and the dramatic shadows really look cool. I still like the clean look of the subject against that nice clean white background, but the natural shot is nice too. I also with I could have got a few more shots with him sticking his tongue out, but alas...

I have a couple more to share from this session, but you'll have to wait till tomorrow for them.

- Bill

Don't remember the last time I posted some spiders, so....

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x Macro, 1/250 sec at f/16. Canon Macro Twin Lite MT-24EX in ETTL mode. ISO 100. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x Macro, 1/250 sec at f/16. Canon Macro Twin Lite MT-24EX in ETTL mode. ISO 100. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw.

- Bill

Ok - we'll take a break from all the birds today. Here's a couple of one of the muskrats that live on our pond.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM at 400mm, 1/250 sec at f/8. ISO 800. IS Mode 1. RAW processing and cropped in Adobe Camera Raw.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM at 400mm, 1/250 sec at f/8. ISO 800. IS Mode 1. RAW processing and cropped in Adobe Camera Raw.

- Bill