While I was sitting in the blind waiting and hoping for more ducks to show up, I kept staring at the reflections in the water. With the warm morning light shining on the pond, it made for a very nice abstract photo...

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D Mark II, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM at 400mm, 1/320 sec at f/5.6. ISO 640. IS Mode 1. RAW processing and cropped in Adobe Camera Raw.

- Bill

We were just about to leave to walk the dogs when Anya noticed a commotion out on our pond. As it turns out, it was a pair of snapping turtles mating. I moved in as close as I could and took some photos as well as some video...

These things were absolutely massive - if I had to guess, I'd say at least 60 lbs each - and they definitely weren't very graceful bobbing around in the water. They did make some grunting noises that I tried to capture in the video, but they either weren't making the noises or the camera didn't pick it up well enough. I waited around until they finished and split up, and I was hoping to catch the female hauling herself out of the pond to go lay the eggs, but after some quick research, it appears that she won't lay the eggs right away (and in fact can carry the viable sperm for several years, so they can even lay viable eggs in years during which they do not mate). How's that for a fascinating bit of info?

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM (borrowed) at 400mm, 1/640th sec at f/8. ISO 800. RAW processing and cropped in Adobe Camera Raw.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM (borrowed) at 400mm, 1/640th sec at f/8. ISO 400. RAW processing and cropped in Adobe Camera Raw.

And be sure to check back this weekend for a special Mother's Day post... I don't want to ruin any surprises but it includes eight eyes and eight legs!!!

- Bill

Ok - as promised, I cropped a couple of the shots from my set with the bufflehead. As a rule, I generally try to crop as little as possible, but in this case it definitely does help to bring out some of the detail in the bird - especially the iridescence in its seemingly black feathers on its head.

This first one I shared yesterday...

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

As you can see, the exposure on these birds is tough with the bright pure white right next to dark jet black. Also, that first image has just hints of the iridescence showing up in the head feathers (see the slight purple hints at the top and bottom of the head?). This next one, however, shows it much more prominent!

Can you see that awesome purple and green iridescence showing through now? That isn't a trick of the camera or any kind of photoshopping... that is definitely how it was in person. Fleeting to see, but quite beautiful.

I also played around with trying different compositions with the crops - I go back and forth whether I like those decisions, but the increased size of the bird in the frame is definitely a nice benefit. For web viewing or possibly small prints, this kind of cropping is OK, but I still strive to get the shot just as I want it in the camera.

I tried to head out and see if I could get some photos of the hooded merganser that was on this pond yesterday, but the little bugger flew off before I could even get off the porch! I'll keep trying to get photos of these lovely migrating visitors, so stay tuned!

- Bill

So things are steadily moving towards spring (even though we did have more snow on the ground this morning) and we're starting to get our annual migrating visitors on the pond. One new visitor we've never seen on our pond before is a small black and white duck called a Bufflehead. While not the showiest of ducks, it made up for that by being at least semi-cooperative.

Most of the other ducks that visit during their migration as extremely skittish and fly off with any attempt to approach the pond. This little guy on the other hand didn't fly off, but he also maintained a very healthy distance. As you can see in the first shot, I just couldn't get close for any kind of close-up shot. He tended to maintain about a 200 foot distance (as you can see in the left most photo below) no matter how I tried to position myself.

So after about an hour I decided to try something to get him to move in a little closer. I texted Anya who was in the house and asked her to approach the pond from the other side. That worked perfectly, and the bufflehead split the difference between us and moved a bit closer so I could get at least slightly better photos...

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM (borrowed) at 400mm, Various exposures. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw.

These are all uncropped images, and I notice that they don't show off the nice iridescence that is the Bufflehead's one bit of flashiness. I'll try to remember to crop a few tonight for a bit closer of a look at that.

- Bill

Well, the Horseshoe Falls never really freeze (well, neither set of falls at Niagara Falls freeze completely, but there is much less ice build-up on the larger Horseshow Falls.

That doesn't mean it is any less impressive...

This first view I liked because of the ominous feel to it. The heavy mist, the hint of that huge boulder of ice at the bottom peaking through...

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II at 27mm, 1/250th second at f/11.0. ISO 100. RAW processing and cropped in Adobe Camera Raw.

And this one shows off a nice contrast of the fast rushing water and the ice coated cliff-side next to it.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II at 42mm, 1/500th second at f/11.0. ISO 100. RAW processing and cropped in Adobe Camera Raw.

These next two show off some weird igloo shaped mount of snow and ice sitting off to the one side of the main pool under the Horseshoe Falls. I have no clue how or why it formed like that, or if it is a typical formation. I was extra curious about the "tunnel" that seemed to be burrowed into it, and the enormous cracks running down its sides. Of course, there's no point of reference for size here, but it was massive. You can also see the churning ice down in the water... most of those pieces looked to be about the size of cars.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II at 21mm, 1/250th second at f/11.0. ISO 100. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II at 37mm, 1/250th second at f/11.0. ISO 100. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw.

And lastly, another overall shot just showing that absolutely impressive waterfall...

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II at 18mm, 1/500th second at f/11.0. ISO 100. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw.

- Bill

Ok, I usually don't go in for panoramic photographs, but Niagara Falls was really a subject that begged for the treatment. I was amazed with how simple Photoshop CS5 made stitching the images together. I'd tried panoramic images in the past and the results were always less than stellar, but these turned out nice... and literally all I had to do was point PS:CS5 at the set of images and it did the rest. All I had to do was decide how I wanted to crop the image after it was stitched together. I then had the challenge of getting my gallery website software to accept some pretty large photos (the biggest of which is over 70MP!).

I also don't know what the best way to display these is, but here goes...

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM AF at 10mm, 1/200th sec at f/16. ISO 100. Raw conversion Adobe Camera Raw, Composite image built in Photoshop CS5.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II at 53mm, 1/250th second at f/11.0. ISO 100. RAW processing Adobe Camera Raw, Composite image built in Photoshop CS5.

I'll see if I can come up with a better way to display these as they really are much more impressive if you can see them larger where the panoramic effects are really illustrated.

- Bill

Well, as I sit here I look out the window and I am quite literally in a cloud. The weather is warming up and everything is starting to melt, but the combination of warmer air and the foot of melting snow everywhere is combining to make everything a thick soup of fog. I can barely see the stand of trees across the way, but I can definitely see spring coming.

However, the other day, Anya and I played hookey from work to take a day trip up to Niagara Falls to see it while it was still frozen. Reports say they expect the ice to last into May, but we figured we didn't want to risk waiting that long, so with decent weather (no snow, and warmer temperatures) we took the drive up. We were rewarded with 35F temperatures and a blazing bright sun that made it feel even warmer. The sun did end up producing a challenge with the exposure (very harsh whites and drastic shadows), but I still enjoyed the day.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II at 30mm, 1/250th second at f/11.0. ISO 100. RAW processing Adobe Camera Raw.

I've still got a ton more photos to process, so definitely stay tuned and I'll try getting more up as soon as possible!

- Bill

We made a trip up to Presque Isle State Park this past weekend to look for Snowy Owls. Apparently we were too late for the owls as they are much harder to find in January, so we'll be trying again in December this year. However, seeing the lake frozen and everything looking like an arctic wasteland was kind of impressive (even if I am 100% sick of winter at this point and ready for spring).

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II at 49mm, 1/1000 sec at f/11. ISO 320. RAW processing Adobe Camera Raw.

- Bill

Ok - it has been quite a while since I've done a poll, so here goes...

Quick and easy one here - Which version is better? With the goose centered vertically or offset towards the bottom?

Centered
Offset

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM at 500mm, 1/1250 sec at f/6.3. OS Mode 1. ISO 800. RAW conversion and cropped in Adobe Camera Raw.

Cast your vote below!

- Bill

Here's a couple more shots of that Pied-Billed Grebe from the other day...

Thanks for stopping by.

- Bill