Sometimes the Answer is Right in Front of You

I’m always driving somewhere. It really is a mind numbing activity. Driving costs a lot and it takes so much of my time. It also adds to my carbon footprint. However, I don’t always need to drive for hours to take great images. Often I don’t need to look much further than my own yard.

This week Lori pointed out the colour of the leaves in our backyard. At this time of year the angle and direction of light is south of our house. It lights up a Norway Maple and much of the backyard is bathed with bright side light. Birds are eating and roosting at the bird feeder. I set up another stand with seed and a branch overhanging the seed. The birds land on the branch first and then drop down to the seed. This set-up lets me have control over the background and direction of light on my subject. I just sit in a chair and wait for something to drop by. The Northern Cardinals were too shy to pose. They flew in and land but would not stay long enough for a photo.

I did manage to get a shot of a Red-breasted Nuthatch with a brilliant yellow background.

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Also managed to get a female House Sparrow that dropped by.

House Sparrow

Of course I have shot many things in my backyard over the years including insects, birds and the occasional mammal.

Cicada

Cecropia Moth Caterpillar

Bumblebee on Goldenrod

Raccoon in Tree Cavity

Eastern Cottontail

Northern Cardinals at Nest

You never need to travel very far to get great images. Sometimes the best place is in your own backyard.

An Adventure

A few years ago, I was sitting around with a group of nature photographers after a great photo session at Point Pelee National Park. Dennis Fast was filling our heads with visions of "The North". Dennis is a fabulous photographer, very knowledgeable birder, and one of the nicest people I have ever met. His specialty is polar bears (see http://www.dennisfast.com). Earlier that day Dennis had been standing shoulder to shoulder with several photographers when he looked over at me and waved me to his spot. He stepped aside and let me have the best view of a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher sitting on a nest. Not many people would do that.

Blue-gray Gnatchacher - click for larger

Later as we listened to his stories about Northern Manitoba with its Polar Bears, Arctic Fox and Northern lights, we all wanted to go. I think it was Scott who suggested it first. "Hey, why not get a bunch of us fellow photographers together and we head to Churchill and beyond?" This was a few years ago but it has always stayed in the back of our minds - even Dennis continued to think about it. Last January I received an email from him about an opportunity to travel to the mouth of the Seal River in mid-November. Unfortunately this landed right smack in the middle of my teaching schedule. But thanks to a very understanding boss, I was allowed to find someone to cover my classes and go. (Thanks Jed!)

Once we were committed to this, I started to gather all the stuff I would need for such an adventure. Here is my list of the gear I will be packing:

Canon 1Ds Mark III camera
Canon 5D Mark II camera
Four: Extreme III 16 Gig CF Cards
Canon 500mm f4 lens
Canon 16-35mm f2.8 L lens
Canon 24-105mm f4 IS L lens
Canon 70-200mm f4 L lens
Extension tubes
1.4X Multiplier
Various Lee Filters
Gitzo GT3541Tripod with Really Right Stuff Ball Head
Spare batteries
Chargers for both cameras
MacBook Pro
500 Gig Lacie Rugged Hard Drive with Firewire cable and power cord
250 Gig Hyper Drive with power cord, Mini USB cable and charger
Nikon binoculars
Kiboko Backpack by Gura Gear
Snow Goose Down Parka
Ski Pants
Columbia Winter boots rated for -55C
Long Underwear
Gore-Tex Mitts
Fingerless Gloves with liners
All of this needs to be stuffed into one camera bag, a laptop backpack and a duffel bag along with my clothes and toiletries. Stuffed it shall be! I fly out on Saturday to Winnipeg. A few of us plan to work in Riding Mountain National Park for a couple of days before heading to Churchill and the Seal River on Tuesday. I can't wait!

More to come…