Tree trunk Thursday.

Yep, I’m just making up stuff now. I posted an image of this scene, but much wider a week or so ago, but I wanted to show how I “worked” the scene because I saw so many compositions within compositions. When we first pulled up to the scene I had the Tamron 50-400mm lens on my Sony a6700 as I wanted to isolate some of the Aspen trunks against the frosty trees behind it. As I moved left and right I saw this composition and had to capture that tree in the foreground as my anchor element, then lead the viewer’s eye through the scene to the gap in the trees in the back left. It was at this point I also realized that I also wanted to do some minimization of the trees and include more sky, so I went back and grabbed the camera with the Tamron 25-200mm lens on it. I’ll share some more of the images in later days. For this image I used my Tamron 50-400mm lens on a Sony a6700, at 57mm(85mm equivalent using the APS-C sensor), Manual Mode, f8, shutter speed of 1/500th of a second, ISO 500, handheld. #withmytamronmirrorless #withmytamron #tamron #tamronlenses #tamroncreates #tamronamericas #tamroncreativecollaborative #TamronImageMaster #tamron50400mm #BearWoodsPhotography #aspens #gtnp #grandtetonnationalpark #winter #winterinthetetons #snowyaspens

Wintery Wednesday.

Again, not a real thing, but I’m just having fun with titles. Our group for our Winter in the Tetons was treated to an epic sunrise one morning, wasn’t even a Wednesday, and part of that treat was to see the full moon setting to the south of Mt. St. John with the pink clouds and fog rolling by. I was torn constantly to do closer images of this scene, but the larger scene was so pretty I didn’t want to miss it either. I can’t emphasize enough how great it was to have the new Tamron 25-200mm lens on the camera. I could simply pan right or left, zoom in and out, changing the composition quickly without worrying about changing lenses and risk getting debris on the sensor. I am so really loving this lens. For this image I used my new Tamron 25-200mm lens, at 133mm, on a Sony a7RIVa, Manual Mode, f11, shutter speed of 1/8th of a second, ISO 100, Leofoto tripod and ballhead, f-stop Gear Kashmir AIR backpack, #withmytamronmirrorless #withmytamron #tamroncreates #TamronLensesUSA #tamron25200mm #newtamronlens #tamronultrazoom #newtamronemount #TamronImageMaster #leofototripods #fstopgear #fstopgearkashmirair #gtnp #grandtetonnationalpark #winter #winterinwyoming #snakeriveroverlook

Talon Tuesday.

Again, not a thing, but it is today. I know your next question/statement is “Ravens don’t have talons”! But they do, even though they are not raptors, they are corvids, but their claws are so large and strong, they are considered to be talons. So there. These 2 did their best to convince me to feed them as well, but as discussed in an earlier post, not going to happen. I would rather them be safe and not risk it for them or others. These are 2 regulars to the Snake River Overlook, and all you have to do to see them is wait long enough and they will eventually show up. Ravens are extremely smart and beautiful, and these 2 are really gorgeous birds. For this image I used my Tamron 50-400mm lens on a Sony a1 at 400mm, 1/60th of a second, f8, ISO 100, handheld. #withmytamron #tamronamericas #TamronImageMaster #tamronpro #tamron50400mm #gtnp #wyoming #wyomingwildlife #BearWoodsPhotography #naturephotography #ravens #birdphotography #ravensofinstagram

Moose Monday.

I know, that isn’t really a thing, and if it were, I could only do it for a couple more Mondays before I was out of images. Anyway, seeing and photographing this majestic Moose in the snow was really cool. I will admit it can be very frustrating to photograph in the heavy snow like this in autofocus, and switching to manual focus might be needed, but when it is sharp, it is rewarding. We had 3 different camera systems out there in our group, Canon, Nikon, and Sony. I know my Sony system did really well, and probably locked on about 95% of the time to the antlers. I found that once focusing was achieved that releasing the focusing button saved on the camera trying to refocus or track, as long as the Moose stays on the same plane. The nice thing is if everything goes wrong and you get no images, you still got to watch a majestic Moose walk through the Sage Brush in the snow! For this image I used my Tamron 50-400mm lens on a Sony a6700, at 400mm(600mm equivalent using the APS-C sensor), Manual Mode, f8, shutter speed of 1/1000th of a second, ISO 640, handheld. #withmytamronmirrorless #withmytamron #tamron #tamronlenses #tamroncreates #tamronamericas #tamroncreativecollaborative #TamronImageMaster #tamron50400mm #BearWoodsPhotography #Moose #wyomingwildlife #gtnp #grandtetonnationalpark

Rolling fog.

The morning we had an incredible sunrise offered a variety of opportunities, first it was fairly clear, then the fog rolled through, before opening up to brilliant warm light. It was such an awesome scene as the high clouds lit up pink, with the white to blue fog rolling in below. It seemed to be different every morning, and even minute to minute. I was able to use the new Tamron 25-200mm lens to isolate smaller areas of the scene, then simply change my zoom length to take in the entire scene when it dictated a wider view. This lens is such a game changer for travel and landscape photographers. The ability to quickly change compositions with the focal lengths is incredible, especially on breezy mornings like we had. I didn’t have to worry about anything, like snow or dust, blowing in and getting onto the sensor. It is changing the way I pack for my upcoming trip to Iceland as well, I went from the need to bring 4 lenses down to 2 for my full frame cameras. It is amazing to me how much the extra 3mm added to the versatility of the lens! For this image I used my newTamron 25-200mm lens, at 49mm, on a Sony a7RIVa, Manual Mode, f11, shutter speed of 1/4th of a second, ISO 100, Leofoto tripod and ballhead, #withmytamronmirrorless #withmytamron #tamroncreates #TamronLensesUSA #tamron25200mm #newtamronlens #tamronultrazoom #newtamronemount #TamronImageMaster #leofototripods #gtnp #grandtetonnationalpark #winter #winterinwyoming #snakeriveroverlook

Caws and Grunks.

Weird title, right? I was trying to find what the sound a Raven makes is actually called, and I left with questions, but also lots of answers. Ravens can make over 30 different vocalizations, and each of them mean something different. They do sounds for warnings, socialization, and well in this one’s case, disappointment. It was wanting a handout really bad, but I struggled with the idea of feeding it. I know I have bird feeders at home to supplement the birds diets, especially during the winter months, but feeding wildlife in the National Parks is prohibited. The problem with feeding them is that they are large birds, and can be aggressive, but for their own safety they can approach a vehicle but be unaware of another vehicle and be hit. So for their own safety, and the safety of other visitors in the Park, feeding is not allowed. This one is lobbying for the policy to change. For this image I used my Tamron 50-400mm lens on a Sony a6700 at 400mm(600mm equivalent on the APS-C sensor), 1/1000th of a second, f8, ISO 1600, handheld. #withmytamron #tamronamericas #TamronImageMaster #tamronpro #tamron50400mm #gtnp #wyoming #wyomingwildlife #BearWoodsPhotography #naturephotography #ravens #wyomingwildlife #birdphotography #dontfeedtheravens

Headed to the roost.

On Monday night I photographed the birds flying into their roost, a sandbar, for the evening. I did my best to capture them against the color of the sunsetting behind them. I wasn’t looking to capture detail in the bird, just a clean silhouette against the color. I tweaked the color a little to make it more warm in appearance by adjusting the temperature in Lightroom to get my desired effect. For this image used my Tamron 150-500mm lens on a Nikon Z8, at 500mm, Manual Mode, f8, shutter speed of 1/1600th of a second, ISO 2000, handheld. #withmytamronmirrorless #withmytamron #tamron #tamronlenses #tamroncreates #tamronamericas #tamroncreativecollaborative #TamronImageMaster #tamron150500mm #BearWoodsPhotography #wheelerwildliferefuge #decatural #sandhillcranes

Judgmental Sheep.

I can’t think of many things that are more humiliating than being judged by a Bighorn Sheep. Recently while in Wyoming for our workshop, and on our scouting morning before we had to make pickups of our folks we stopped by the area where the Bighorn Sheep hang out. I wasn’t really dressed for impressing the sheep as I was dressed more for comfort. It wasn’t long before this Ram started copping an attitude and got a rude judgmental look on his face. When he approached other Rams and they began to snicker I decided it was time to leave. It took me an hour or so to get over the humiliation and to regroup my efforts for the workshop. Nature can be cruel. For this image I used my Tamron 50-400mm lens on a Sony a1 at 259mm, 1/1000th of a second, f8, ISO 2500, handheld. #withmytamron #tamronamericas #TamronImageMaster #tamronpro #tamron50400mm #nationalelkrefuge #wyoming #wyomingwildlife #rockymountainbighornsheep #bighornsheep#BearWoodsPhotography #naturephotography

Sandhill Cranes, Earth Shadow, and Deer.

Yesterday morning at the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge was, well simply put, magical. I had missed this view on Monday as traffic in Huntsville slowed me down, but I got out early on Tuesday to capture it. I wanted to capture the Cranes as they woke up and started moving while standing on the sandbar with the Earth’s shadow as I call it, which is the area where the umbra and prenumbra intersect. The blue area of the sky is shadow of the Earth, while the pink area is the approaching sunrise. What could make it better? 5 Whitetail deer walking into the frame! This is a 6 frame panoramic image combined in Lightroom, then I removed a few channel markers in Photoshop. It was truly a magical moment! For this image used my Tamron 150-500mm lens on a Sony a1, at 224mm for 6 frame pano, Manual Mode, f8, shutter speed of 1/250th of a second, ISO 3200, Leofoto tripod and gimbal head. #withmytamronmirrorless #withmytamron #tamron #tamronlenses #tamroncreates #tamronamericas #tamroncreativecollaborative #TamronImageMaster #tamron150500mm #BearWoodsPhotography #wheelerwildliferefuge #decatural #sandhillcranes #earthshadow #umbra #prenumbra

Coming in for a landing.

I needed to head over to Alabama for something, and decided to make a day of it by heading to Wheeler Wildlife Refuge in Decatur, AL to photograph the Sandhill Cranes. It was really nice hearing and seeing so many birds. Cranes fascinate me as they seem big and gangly but there is a certain amount of grace about them. Taking off and landing is always neat to watch, especially the landings. They look like big jets lining up their approach, landing gear down, and then “gracefully” touching down. For this image used my Tamron 150-500mm lens on a Sony a6700, at 500mm(750mm equivalent using the APS-C sensor), Manual Mode, f8, shutter speed of 1/2500th of a second, ISO 250, handheld. #withmytamronmirrorless #withmytamron #tamron #tamronlenses #tamroncreates #tamronamericas #tamroncreativecollaborative #TamronImageMaster #tamron150500mm #BearWoodsPhotography #wheelerwildliferefuge #decatural #sandhillcranes