Bashakill Wetlands: Spiders and Great Egrets

Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Sigma 150 - 600mm f/5- f/6.3, 1.4x teleconverter, ISO 100, f/9 @ 1/400s Manual exposure

Last weekend I spent several days at the Bashakill Wildlife Management Area. Saturday was mostly an uneventful evening. I was there for about five hours and had nothing to show for it. I spent a lot of my time walking the trails and sitting waiting for something to come along. I was even there to watch the sunset. But it still was not a great day.

Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Tamron 90 mm Macro Lens, ISO 640, f/8 @ 1/400s Manual exposure

Several times when I thought I was going to get a chance at some wildlife action, people would always walk by. On the long trail, I thought I was alone, and I was trying to photograph some dragonflies and small birds when all of a sudden, a man on a bike with a dog came upon me. After they passed, I did not see anything more. So I walked back to my car and moved to a place where I thought I would be alone and would be able to watch the sunset on the marsh. I had been sitting in one place for about an hour alone. I was watching plenty of wood ducks fly by, but nothing came close enough. Then out of the blue, another group with a dog came upon me. They were startled because I was sitting still and they didn't see me until they were on top of me. It just was so frustrating that people kept finding me because after they start talking and making noise, nothing is going to come bye. So, I decided to pack it in for the night with the sun completely down.

Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Tamron 90 mm Macro Lens, ISO 160, f/8 @ 1/400s Manual exposure

The next morning my brother joined me, and we went back to the Bashakill. We arrived quite early, and there were a lot fewer people there. We started at the boat launch, and I was hoping that I would be able to photograph some migratory birds. Once I got out of the car, I realized that I was targeting the wrong animal. So I changed lenses to my Tamron 90mm Macro lens. In the bushes, there were a ton of spider webs with the morning dew in them. So I started taking pictures of them. Then I found one web with a spider in it. I am not sure what species it is, but it was a beautiful red color. I don't think I have ever photographed spider webs with dew in them, but I enjoyed a couple of the photographs that I managed.

After a while, we decided to move. My brother took me to a trail that was probably much less traveled. The grass was much higher, and there was not much of a path. Branches were impeding the tiny trail, and we had to duck and dodge to get through. But at the end of the trail, it comes to a section of the long path. To my amazement, when we stepped out on the long path trail, there were three Great Egrets in the marsh in front of us. I decided that they were a bit too far away after taking some initial photographs, so I put on my Sigma 1.4x teleconverter with my Sigma 150-600mm lens.

Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Sigma 150 - 600mm f/5- f/6.3, 1.4x teleconverter, ISO 125, f/9 @ 1/400s Manual exposure

Then we moved up the trail a bit and proceeded into one of the stands at the Bashakill. So, I was about 15 feet up in the air, which is not ideal, but it was better than being behind the dense brush. I decided to use exposure compensation of -1 to help not blow out the white bodies of the Great Egrets. It was the first time that I had ever done this. It worked out great. I managed to take probably a hundred or so photographs. I always seem to take more than needed to make sure they are coming out. It was approaching midday by the time we came upon the egrets, and they were not doing too much. It was thrilling to see them, because I don't see them often in my area, and I have never been able to pull off a photograph of them. In the past, I would always overexpose them. I was thrilled that I had finally captured some pictures of them.

Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Sigma 150 - 600mm f/5- f/6.3, 1.4x teleconverter, ISO 100, f/9 @ 1/400s Manual exposure

Overall the trips to the Bashakill were a success, but it took a lot of effort. I guess patience finally paid off, and maybe a little bit of luck. I look forward to the next adventure. I hope everyone enjoys the photographs. Until next time.

Going Through My Photographs

Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Tamron 90 mm Macro Lens, ISO 100, f/4 @ 1/400s Manual exposure

Over the last couple of weeks I have not had much opportunity to get out and take any photographs.  I have been getting home after dark most days and I have not spent a lot of time out in the wilderness.  I am hoping that tomorrow will be a good day, and I will be able to get out and enjoy the day, before heading back to work on Monday.

Since I have not taken many photographs lately, I decided to go through some of my photographs from earlier this year.  I found some that I was pleased with.  I am not sure why I didn't share them sooner.

While going through the pictures I found a Macro photograph of a dragonfly that I really liked.  It was really close up.  I wish that I had not cut off the rest of the tail, but I really like the way the wings are out of focus and lead your eye up to the right.  Also the wings have reflections of the beautiful yellow colors from the body of the dragonfly.  The green background being very out of focus also lends well to keeping the dragonfly as the clear subject of the image.  I just love Macro photographs of dragonflies.  It gives a perspective of a beautiful insect that most people don't get to see, and it brings out all the little hairs and every little detail. 

Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Sigma 150 - 600mm f/5- f/6.3, ISO 1600, f/6.3 @ 1/500s Manual exposure

The photograph of the geese family was taken on a lovely spring day at the Bashakill Wildlife Management Area near Wurtsboro New York.  I was laying on the ground when I took the photograph.  The geese were slowly walking up the trail in front of me.  I don't know what it is about this photograph but I really enjoy looking at it.  I love the way the grasses and brush just frame them.  The only thing that I think could improve the photograph is if they were facing me.

Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Sigma 150 - 600mm f/5- f/6.3, ISO 1250, f/6.3 @ 1/500s Manual exposure

A little later on during the same trip I came upon a painted turtle just basking in the sun.  Again I tried to get down as low as I could to try and get a different angle then I normally photograph at.  I did have a hard time focusing on the turtle's head.  Even in this photograph the focus was more on the shell.  But the blades of grass were coming up and making it hard to focus.  I love the shallow depth of field because it makes the turtle stand out in its environment.  It just could have been a little better if the focus was perfect.  But I still like the shot.

I think for the time being my best chances are probably going to be photographing a lot of macro insects and amphibians.  Also very soon the ducks and waterfowl will be migrating.  It may already be starting.  Then once the winter sets in I will probably spend a lot of my time photographing bald eagles.  I really can't wait to test my new camera and lens combo on flying birds of prey.  Until next time. 

Trip to the Hickok Brook Multiple Use Area

Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Tamron 90 mm Macro Lens, ISO 400, f/2.8 @ 1/250s Manual exposure

Since my last post the Arrow-shaped Micrathena Spider's have disappeared.  I am not sure if they just moved or if they are no longer alive.  It has been getting quite cold here at night and I am not sure what they do for the winter.  The trees are starting to change color already here and it just seems very early to me.
Yesterday I took a trip with my brother to Hickok Brook Multiple Use Area to see if we could catch any bass.  I brought my camera along in case I had any opportunities.  I have seen a lot of bear's there and I never have my camera.  The fishing was extremely disappointing.  We did not even have a bite.  Over the past few years it seems like this once great fishing hole has been completely over fished.  It is saddening to me.  I have very fond memories of fishing off the spill way, catching small catfish and bass.  I have not seen a catfish in there in several years, and the bass fishing has steadily declined also.

Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Tamron 90 mm Macro Lens, ISO 400, f/2.8 @ 1/250s Manual exposure

It was around 60 degrees or so when we got to the lake and there were a large number of bull frogs along the water.  I must have seen about 10 or so without really looking for them.  They just seemed to be every couple of feet.  Just sitting and waiting for it to warm up.  I did manage to take some photographs of them and I will post the one that I liked the most.  The photograph turned out to be a very high contrast image and I liked the way it turned out.  I also turned it into a black and white image and I actually like it better than the colored version.  Please let me know what you think in the comments below.

Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Tamron 90 mm Macro Lens, ISO 1600, f/16 @ 1/400s Manual exposure

Also while fishing I came across a branch full of caterpillars.  I am not sure what species they were. They may have been an invasive species,  but I really had no clue what species they were.  What I found really interesting was when you tapped the branch that they were on they would go from docile into a weird defensive stance all at once.  It was like they were one being.  They curled up into S shapes and stuck there legs out.  I figure they were doing it to ward off predators, but I had never seen anything like it before.  I did take a short video of it but I have not taken the time to look at it yet. I had a pesky yellow jacket who would not leave me alone while I was trying to photograph them, so I only took about 20 or so images.  All the photographs were taken with the Tamron 90 mm macro.

Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Tamron 90 mm Macro Lens, ISO 100, f/2.8 @ 1/400s Manual exposure

We did not see any bears this time around but we did see about a 200 pound Black Bear on the way home.  It was attempting to cross the road but it decided to turn around and run back into the woods.  I did not manage a photograph of it, and it vanished back into the brush.  Hopefully soon I will get a chance to photograph a bear.  I really had high hopes of photographing Brown Bears in Alaska and I think missing out on that opportunity has me really hoping to at least photograph Black Bears at home.

I have been very busy lately.  Last week I started to teach a college class in C++ programming, in addition to my full time job at the college.  So I have been spending a lot of hours at the college.  But labor day weekend finally gave me an opportunity to spend some time out enjoying the wilderness.  I am hoping I will get to spend some more time out soon, and winter will probably be here before I know it.  I cannot wait to really test my sigma 150-600 mm lens on bald eagles.  It should be a lot of fun this year.  Until Next Time.