krnaturalphoto's Blog 
In wildlife photography there are two traits that are very beneficial to ones success. A wildlife photographer often benefits from having patience. It is often necessary to sit and wait for long periods of time for your subject to happen upon your location or you may have to wait for a bird you inadvertently startled to get used to your presence and come back. It i also important to persevere. One may have to endure some rough weather and uncomfortable conditions to get the desired shot but if you want the shot that is what needs to be done.
Recently I was lucky enough to benefit from both of those traits in my own photography. I Will admit that I am not the most patient man by a long shot. Perseverance is a little bit more up my alley, but I am also working on that as well.
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Yesterday was quite a frustrating photographic venture. When you set out to take photographs you are bound to miss a great shot every now and then. Yesterday it felt like I missed every great photo op. I went to the lake and walked around this little path that passed between the lake and a pond. It was pretty overgrown which made it difficult to see anything much around me until I was right up on it. So I knew I was going to have to react fast to anything I saw. Even knowing this and being prepared did not help me. I stumbled upon a pair of bittern along the lake shore and scared them off without getting a single shot. Twice a belted kingfisher landed on a tree branch not more than ten feet away directly in front of me and in perfect position but saw me and took off before I could get a shot. A green heron was wondering around the pond area but kept taking flight before I even saw it. There were numerous small birds flitting around of which I missed many shots. So it was quite a frustrating day. I would love to be able to chalk it up to equipment failure or miss fire, which I think it may have been on a few occasions, but for the most part it was likely operator error. I simply was not on top of my game. I was not quiet enough, patient enough, or fast enough to get the shots I was presented with. It is a learning experience every time I go out into the field. I did get some nice shots but also missed some possibly remarkable ones. So in circumstances where I fail more than I succeed I try to at least bring away a bit of learning and new knowledge. And even though I missed the photos I still was privileged to be able to go out and see these amazing animals up close and witness their behavior.
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Sorry that there has been such a long delay since my last post. Many things that came up that kept me away. One of which was a very good thing. I completed and submitted my first article and photography for publication in a magazine. My work will be published in a regional NY magazine, Life in the Finger Lakes. This is a magazine that I have enjoyed reading frequently so if you have the opportunity to pick one up please do. Not just so that you can see my work but so you can see all of the other great articles and photography that appear in this magazine. I have been out taking many more photographs lately and I think I have a lot more great images to share and hopefully find publications for them as well. I am hoping to work with Life in the Finger Lakes magazine more in the future. This is the second item I have worked with them on. I also had an article published in their e-newsletter and on their website.
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I frequently visit the same locations over and over again. I also frequently visit these same sites at the same time of the day repeatedly. Taking this into account it is amazing that I also am able to see a wide variety of wildlife at these sites even though I am always at the same place at the same time. When I go to these repeated locations I often find that some of the same animals are always there. I visit a stream near were I work every workday on my lunch which is at almost the same time every day. There are always mallard ducks and grackles congregating in different areas around the stream. I frequently take time to photograph some of these specimens. Even though they are always around they may be displaying different behaviors each time I am there. Every so often I am treated to a photographic treat. I will be walking along the stream and I will see something that I do not usualy see or have ever seen here. Today down at the stream was one such day. I was fortunate enough to be walking by as a female hooded merganser was swimming up the stream with her chicks. I had only seen hooded mergansers once or twice in my life so I was quite surprised to see them in this location right in the middle of town. The chicks were already pretty good sized and some of them were diving under the water and catching food. It was a nice surprise and I was able to sit and watch them and photograph them for most of my lunch break. I have not checked the photos yet, but I think I got at least a few excelent shots.
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This past weekend was quite a fortunate one for me. I had a great time. I was able to get out in nature and enjoy myself quite a bit. I was able to experience nature first hand both at home and at local nature sites. It was a great time as a nature lover, birder, and photographer. I went hiking two days during the weekend. The first day I went hiking I was able to see a pair of yellow bellied sapsucker at their nest cavity. I was actually able to see the male emerge from the hole and land on a nearby tree. This was a first for me as I had never before seen a woodpecker at an active nest cavity. I could not tell if there were young inside. I did not hear anything to indicate there was and the adults were not bringing food to the cavity. I was able to watch them flit around amongst the nearby trees. It was quite an experience for me. This also resulted in me being able to get the best photographs to date of yellow bellied sapsuckers that I have ever been able to take. I look forward to visiting that spot again. That same day at home I noticed a pair of Baltimore orioles flying around our yard. After watching them for a while I determined that they kept returning to the same place over and over. I walked over to where they were going and discovered that they are building a nest high up in one of our aspen trees. This is the first active nest of Baltimore orioles I have ever seen. It will be nice to have a nest close by to observe over time. I was also able to get some nice shots of the orioles.
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I just saw a nice photo of a person holding a hawk durring study that was being conducted. It reminded me how amazing it is to be able to have direct involvement with wild animals. Anyone who has had the oportunity to work with wild animals through scientific studies or other contact knows what I mean. I recently had the oportunity to rescue a sharp shinned hawk from a place it had gotten stuck. I was able to hold it and get it un stuck. Then it sat perched on my hand for a few moments before it took off and flew out into the night. It was one of the most memerable experiences of my life and I will never forget it. Has anyone had a similar experience.
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Looks like today will be a good day to make progress on the “work” of photography. At least that is how I have come to think of it because that is how it has been explained by other professional photographers like Moose Peterson. The “work” of photography is all the stuff you have to do other than actually taking the photographs in order to make your business run. This means contacting editors, organizing images, sending mailings, and all of that other fun stuff. Days where weather or other circumstances do not permit us to be out in the field or actively shooting are good times to get caught up or even ahead on those other business aspects of being a photographer.
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I am saddened as I learned late last night that another 100 year old tree along the Chemung River has been cut down. This tree had some special meaning to me as a photographer. For at least the past four years every winter I have been photographing a peregrine falcon. This falcon visits Elmira the same time of year every year and in the same location every year. The tree that was felled yesterday was his favorite perching locations. You could see him perched high in the tree as you drove over the bridge. It is in the location that I would frequently watch and photograph him. There were also other trees along that section of river which he liked to perch in. However, those trees are also being removed. There are other trees nearby but farther from the water that I have occasionally spotted him in. Hopefully he will like using those trees as much as the others and will continue to grace us with his presence. The trees are being removed in the name of safety as a measure of flood control. I hope that it was in deed a necessary measure although I have not seen any concrete evidence of supporting this. I am looking into it. I hope that I am wrong. It is impossible to replace 100 year old trees. I would hate to think they were cut down needlessly.
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As a part time photographer that still has a day job it is crucial to find time to get in some photography as often as possible. One way I do this is by using my lunch breaks to make some images as often as I can. I have been fortunate that my last couple employers have been located in areas where photographic oportunities abound. Today I was able to take a five minute walk over to six mile creek in Ithaca, NY and sit along the stream and watch as the birds flew around at look for instances to take photographs. There were many grackles at the creek. I watched them as they hopped among the rocks. I was quickly able to anticipate when they would hop and try to get to the next rock with a few quick flaps of their wings. I focused on these instances as prime photographic oportunities.
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Well here things go. I am now starting a blog. I would have never imagined I’d be doing this a few years ago. However, I have found become increasingly passionate about what I do and increasingly comfortable with technology. So it only made sense to combine my passion with the technology that is readily available. Thus the creation of this blog. In this blog I will discuss just about everything and anything that is related to photography and/or wildlife and nature. If you have any thoughts or comments I would love to read them as we begin this journey together. I hope you all enjoy reading my thoughts.
