nature

twilight raptor

fall 2019 ~ background mirrored in PS ~ happy halloween

White-tailed deer

January 2021 ~ Well into the blue hour, moved to leave my blind, reached for the door and just then, movement. Moments later this buck appears, gives me a lazy look and wanders off.

Barred Owl

same bird as my last post ~ he put up with me for maybe 20 min, this being my final shot.

Blue jay

December 2020 ~ for decades my father-in-law has been a birdwatcher, and his well stocked feeders can draw quite a crowd.

Red-breasted Nuthatch

December 2020 ~ just my backyard, but I enjoy these images almost as much as more exotic critters captured in far away places.

Cardinal

January 2021 ~ Colors this bright are a rarity in my backyard.

_RYN1256-Pano-Edit-Edit

Canada goose

og, rain and up to my neck in the swamp ~ makes two of us.

Coyote

2016 ~ 600mm out the widow of a moving car ?

Mule Deer

_RYN9894-Edit-2-Edit

Red squirrel

Nanook of the North

November of 2012, I spent 5 unforgettable days wandering the Churchill tundra with my father-in-law. The in-flow of fresh water from the Churchill and Nelson rivers, the current of Hudson Bay and the geography of Cape Churchill itself all make this place an ice manufacturing mecca. When ice means access to your favorite food, and you haven't eaten for months, you get in line early.

Cottontail

January 2021 ~ This is the "HELLO, feeders been empty all week" look.

White-tailed deer

one of a trio that puts on a brief, but regular sunset show.

Mallard

_RYN0437-Edit-Edit-Edit

American black bear

June 2010 ~ Gentle, particular palettes and oblivious to our presence were the things that surprised me the most during a morning shoot at the Vince Shute Bear Sanctuary. Food is scattered about a meadow on a regular basis allowing wild bears to be observed, studied and tracked. Sharing the meadow with 4 and 5 bears at a time was a thrilling, stressful and unique experience.

Chickadee

December 2020 ~Here's the bird setup the rabbit visited in my last post. The flash was lying in the snow behind and left of the chickadee. The strip of light was a happy accident, but the hard part was waiting for a bird to land in just the right spot.

Barred Owl

went out for backyard Bluejays... until I saw this cooperative gentleman. For nearly 20min he put up with me crawling around in the snow like a fool.

Yellowstone

Darth Duck

May the Fourth be with you. note the reflection😉

Gray Jay

Brown-headed Cowbird / Bison

April 2018 ~ with GB of bison images on my computer, you gotta try something different.

Common Loon

Grizzly

Black-capped chickadee

January 2021 ~ Spent some time with the backyard regulars ~ Always around, but never in one spot for more split second. Love these little ones.

Yellowstone

_RYN0980-Edit-Edit

Ruffed grouse

February 2021 ~ The cross look is for the grey squirrel who keeps running him off the feeder. Poor guy... Gotta fuel up for a particular frosty weekend. -20 to -30°F.

_RYN0090-Pano-Edit

Grizzly

spring 2018 ~ waited all day on this guy. Figured he'd return to finish the elk buffet lying on MY side of the river... I'm using a 600mm lens to keep my distance and my bear proof car as a back rest ;-)

Bison calf

aka Red Dog ~ 2014 ~ Happy belated National Bison Day (yesterday) ~ thanks for the reminder @sparky_stensaas

Trumpeter swan

April 2017 ~ maybe taken along the Gibbon river… would be so cool to have GPS data on all my photos. Even today my Z6 and D4s don't have native GPS capabilities. Someday.

Rough-legged hawk

my photo buddy & naturalist extraordinaire @sparky_stensaas and I built a quinzhee/photo hide back in 2011. While it sheltered us form the cold, and concealed our presence from most birds, the eagles were not fooled. Despite silence and stealth, several perched out of photographic range waiting on our departure. Thankfully, this rough-legged hawk was undeterred.

Common Merganser

December 2020 ~ Taken a couple weeks ago, and I just heard she’s still hanging on to a sliver of open water and putting up with frequent bald eagle attacks. Hopefully she’s not injured.

Black-capped chickadee

messy, but kinda like this one....

Common Merganser

December 2020 ~ Female merganser hanging on to a shrinking sliver of the Long Praire River. While they’re only partial migrants, this one seems particularly reluctant with several inches of ice on area lakes and many rivers. ~ The frozen edge made eye level shooting easy, but a couple hours prone on ice made for shaky shooting.

Bighorn sheep

April 2018 ~ Spotted this group of Bighorn rams slowly crossing a snow covered ridge. They didn't seem hurried, so my photo buddy @sparky_stensaas and I quietly climbed the road cut to get a view. Part way up a dead battery turned him for the car, but I continued, when this happened. I jammed my tripod in the snow and pinned the shutter, desperately trying to frame the action.

Wood ducks

Expected a Canada goose, a couple Mallards in the pond adjacent to my home. But look what I found!!! Was so excited when these three showed up. Literally 500 meters from my backyard.

Ring-necked Ducks

another shot from my afternoon curled up in the cattails of Crex Meadows.

Barred Owl

December 2020 ~ I really like giving wildlife some habitat within the frame of my photos. To get a clear view of this perch, I had to be quite close resulting in a tight portrait. To create some habitat, I shot 8 - 10 frames surrounding the owl, that which once stitched together, gave me a 136MP image. My aging computer didn't like it much, but I love it.

Chickadee

December 2020 ~ Wanted to make some pictures today, but couldn’t venture far. Went to the backyard with a 35mm, a flash, a long corded remote and a comfortable chair. After a few hours I managed this composite - Chickadee shot at f/8 and the background at f/1.8.

Sandhill Crane

Elegance and grace in the air, but a bit fumble and folly on land

American black bear

_RYN0726-Edit-3

Harlequin ducks

2014 ~ try as I might, never got the water blurred to my liking while keeping the birds sharp. so I cheated... blended images taken @ 1/125 sec, and 1/8 sec in PS

lack-capped Chickadee

yep, another one ~ a little diversity around my feeders would be nice?

Barred owl

Mountain bluebird

October 2019

Theodore Roosevelt NP

Black-capped chickadee

Last night's soggy snow didn't last long in today's sun. A balsam branch shoot through created the foreground blur with a little red branch bonus.

Evening Grosbeak

Cottontail

December 2020 ~ set up for birds but the neighborhood cottontail stopped by for some seed. Backlight is a speed light, its placement was to be out of view, but the rabbit filled much of the frame and I’m generally not a fan of tight wildlife portraits. So, once he left, I shot a pano of the scene and added the rabbit to the pano in PS. The flash ended up in the frame, but I kind of like it.

Trumpeter Swan

parting shot from a perfect day in Crex Meadows.

Blue Jay

more backyard birds ~ spooky these guys ~ thankfully they LOVE peanuts

Red squirrel

taken from my photo blind while I waited for “bigger game”. He was near minimum focusing distance, so I shot a panorama to include more of the snow and background color.

Polar bear

November 2012 ~ waiting on ice

Canada geese

Honker!

Canada Goose

low angle, backlight, cattail shoot through... gotta add some spice when the main dish is this bland.

Black-capped chickadee

haven't used my slide projector in years, but found a use for the screen today. When hit with a couple speedlights, makes a good B&W bird background.

Bison

DIdn't think much about this shot at the time, but processed, might be my favorite from the trip.

American Dipper

Oct 2019 ~ everybody's favorite bird. You just don't know it yet. ?

Black-capped chickadee

image the result of 5 shooting sessions, two different remotes, 700+ missed shots and ten very cold fingers ~ photo idea stolen from @sparky_stensaas

BWCA

Red squirrel

Black-capped chickadee

Cute, animated, and in my backyard, ABUNDANT. What's not to love ...

Raven

January 2021 ~ I put seed outside of my blind, but pretty sure I’m the one being baited in this photo. This one arrived with its mate, they perched above my blind and for several minutes filled the air with an array of clicks, croaks and soft warbles. At one point this one flew down, perched low and close. A minute later, his mate flew down to the seed and fed. With my attention successful

Black-capped Chickadee

Black-capped chickadee

January 2021 ~ Backyard trail cam captured a Grey fox and a Fisher!!! Set up and spent some time in my blind awaiting their return.... Got a chickadee photo I like.?