Birds

A Visit to San Diego Zoo Safari Park

March 10, 2016 by Earthwatcher, posted in Bird Photography, Birds, Earthwatcher, Fujifilm Cameras, Photography, Wildlife

With an impending trip to Kruger National Park in South Africa, this year is shaping up to be a year where I concentrate on wildlife. My love has always been more intimate landscapes, so I truly enjoy the opportunities to shoot wildlife in the context of a landscape. Last weekend, I had the opportunity to visit the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, an 1,800 acre wildlife sanctuary that displays animals in large open enclosures where they can roam and exercise. Though the animals are the highlight, it is landscaped beautifully and is well worth a visit. I hope to get back sometime and spend more time photographing both the landscapes and the wildlife.

On this visit, it was overcast and rainy. Even so, the wildlife was out and active. I hope you enjoy these images from my visit.

Larger images of these and other wildlife can be seen at my Birds, Wildlife and Insects gallery on my website: http://www.earthwatcher.us.

San Diego Zoo Safari Park, MAR 2016

Wildlife in Carson Valley, NV

March 1, 2016 by Earthwatcher, posted in art for sale, Bird Photography, Birds, Earthwatcher, Fujifilm Cameras, Photography, Wild Horses

Long Eared Owl, Washoe Lake State Park, NV, FEB 2016

This past weekend, a few of my friends and I did a wildlife shoot in Carson Valley, near Minden, NV. Our guide was John Humphrey, a local wildlife photographer (www.akawolf.com). He provided us with access to private lands that we would not have had access to ourselves. It was a beautiful morning and we got plenty of interesting opportunities to shoot. Hope you enjoy these images.

Great Horned Owl

Bald Eagles in Nesting Tree — Bald Eagles and Nest, Minden, MV FEB 2016

WIld Horse — Part of a Band of Wild Horses, Minden, NV FEB 2016

Great Horned Owl Chasing a Magpie — Great Horned Owl Chasing Magpie, Minden, MV FEB 2016

WIld Horses — Part of a Band of Wild Horses, Minden, NV FEB 2016

Wild Colt Nursing — Nursing Colt, Part of a Band of Wild Horses, Minden, NV FEB 2016

February 21, 2016 by Earthwatcher, posted in American River, American River Parkway, Bird Photography, Birds, Earthwatcher, Fujifilm Cameras, landscape, landscape images, landscape photos, Photography, Waterfowl, Wm Pond Park

I am not typically a bird photographer. When I do shoot birds, I try to take them in the context of their environment, trying to answer the questions: this is who I am and this is how I survive. Living in the Sacramento, CA area affords me the opportunity to shoot migrating winter birds but, I find I really like to go back to the usual suspects – herons, egrets, Canada geese and mallards, hawks. Learning about them, observing their behavior gives me a lot of pleasure.

The last week or so, I’ve had the added pleasure of trying out my new Fujinon 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 lens and 1.4X Tele-converter. Its a great lens but its been more than a year since I shot with a long lens so, I made a few depth of field mistakes. Oh well, I guess I just need to go out and shoot more.

Anyway, here are a few images I shot. I hope you enjoy them.