Spring Migration Starting

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

Since the last post it has seemed like the world has changed. Covid 19 has taken hold and since I am working from home and basically self-quarantining for the time being I decided I would try and catch up and post some of my recent images. I know during my last post I had talked about wanted to make YouTube videos and I still do. After filming some test runs I realized how much work goes into editing the film. So I need to work on getting better footage, so I don't have to edit as much. With due time I am hoping to start producing good quality videos on my channel.

Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Sigma 150 - 600mm f/5- f/6.3, ISO 800, f/6.3 @ 1/1000s Manual exposure

Since my last post I have spent a lot of time out filming and photographing. Eagle season here is really coming to an end and with this pandemic I am not sure I am going to be able to travel to Maryland to go to the Conowingo Dam again. So, for now I will turn my focus to other waterfowl during the migration months here. Over the last month or so I have seen plenty of eagles due to them being on their nests. But I have not managed many good photos. However, I have been able to get some photos of many other species.

Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Sigma 150 - 600mm f/5- f/6.3, ISO 1000, f/6.3 @ 1/1000s Manual exposure

The first photo that I liked from my trips was a photo of a goose standing on the edge of the ice and reflecting nicely in the open water. I was quite happy with the image. I know that it is just a Canadian goose, so not the most thrilling subject but I just liked the way the image turned out.

Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Sigma 150 - 600mm f/5- f/6.3, ISO 1600, f/8 @ 1/1250s Manual exposure

While spending many hours waiting in eagle blinds for an opportunity that rarely came I did get some opportunities to photograph ducks and seagulls. The one day a common merganser came close to the blind and was fishing along the edge of the ice. I wish I could have gotten a little closer, but I will take what I can get. The seagull image was of the bird taking off the ice. I love the contrast of the image and the outstretched wings. I was also lucky enough to get an image of two seagulls flying together. They were circling together for some time, and I was happy to have gotten a decent photo.

Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Sigma 150 - 600mm f/5- f/6.3, ISO 320, f/6.3 @ 1/1250s Manual exposure

One of the days I got to the Bashakill Wetlands before the sun came up. I was lucky enough to spot the Mute Swan very early so I was able to photograph it during the golden hour while the sun was coming up. It turned out to be a weird morning because after the sun came up it quickly went behind clouds and started snowing. I probably spent about an hour photographing the swan and was happy with the way some of the images turned out. I always love the winter grass turning a gold color due to the early morning sun. Also, the swan was more of a soft yellow instead of the typical bright white.
I am looking forward to taking more trips soon.

Hopefully, the Covid 19 situation will end soon, and life will return to normal. Until next time, please be safe. 

Bashakill Wetlands and Mongaup River

Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Canon 24-105 mm f/3.5 - f/5.6 Lens, ISO 50, f/32 @ 4 sec Manual exposure

Last weekend I spent Saturday evening on a trail along the Mongaup River. I was trying to photograph the fall scenery as well as anything else in the woodland. I started by taking photographs of the Mongaup River, trying to capture the fall colors and some motion blur. The photo is more of a water motion blur photograph than a typical fall color photograph, but I was happy with it. Towards the end of the evening, I sat on a rock along the river and watched the sun go down behind the trees. The beautiful yellow rays of light were coming in through the trees, but I was unable to capture the true essence of the scene I was seeing.

Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Canon 24-105 mm f/3.5 - f/5.6 Lens, ISO 1600, f/5.6 @ 1/60 sec. Manual exposure

I was also very fortunate to find one lone mushroom on a log that I was able to photograph. I also liked the way that the photo turned out. I have not done much mushroom photography, but I think that I will try it more in the future.

Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Sigma 150 - 600mm f/5- f/6.3, ISO 1250, f/6.3 @ 1/400s Manual exposure

Sunday morning, it was a much darker dreary day. It was supposed to rain, and I wanted to get out before it started. So I went out to the Bashakill Wetlands at about 7 am.  I walked the stop sign trail where I had photographed the egrets the week before, hoping that I would see them again. I made it to the place where the egrets were, but they were not there. I decided that I would sit on the raised platform like the previous week, and wait to see what I could find. It was very peaceful because I did not see any other person at the Bashakill that morning. I think the weather kept everyone away. After about an hour sitting in the raised stand, I heard a Great Blue Heron. It came flying in and landed in front of me. I was lucky enough to capture a few photographs of it coming in. Then it actively was fishing in front of me for a while. I was unable to use my 1.4x teleconverter because of the lighting situation. But my Sigma 150-600 did an excellent job without it. It was fun watching the Heron fish for a while. Then I realized that it was getting agitated by something. Then I noticed something else behind the Heron in my viewfinder.

Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Sigma 150 - 600mm f/5- f/6.3, ISO 1250, f/6.3 @ 1/400s Manual exposure

Initially I thought it was a muskrat or beaver. But after looking closer at the picture, I realized it was some river otters. They seemed to be fishing in the same spot as the Heron. The one photograph shows the Heron staring right at the river otters. I had not seen river otters at the Bashakill before so, it was a great treat. I had sat in the stand for about 3 hours, and mother nature rewarded me for being patient. Even though it was a dark overcast morning, it turned out to be a great day. At around 11 am, it started raining, and I decided to call it a day.

Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Sigma 150 - 600mm f/5- f/6.3, ISO 1250, f/6.3 @ 1/400s Manual exposure

Overall last weekend turned out great, and I look forward to spending some more fall weekends taking photographs. Until Next Time.

Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Sigma 150 - 600mm f/5- f/6.3, ISO 1250, f/6.3 @ 1/400s Manual exposure

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. 

Water Like Glass

Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Sigma 150-600mm f/5.0 - f/6.3 DG Contemporary Lens, ISO 400, f/11 @ 1/250s Manual exposure

Last Sunday, my brother, and I spent the evening out at the Bashakill Wildlife Management Area.  It was still raining when we arrived, but it was starting to clear off.  Within about a half an hour, it finally stopped raining.  The Bashakill had some fog that was lifting and the sky was dramatic with storm clouds.  The wind was so still that the water was like glass.  It was truly stunning.  I did not have my tripod with me, but I did manage a few handheld photographs of the landscape.  We spent some time on several trails, but none produced any opportunities.

Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Sigma 150-600mm f/5.0 - f/6.3 DG Contemporary Lens, ISO 400, f/6.3 @ 1/500s Manual exposure

Most of our opportunities came on Haven Road and from the parking area north of haven road off Route 209.  From the parking area north of Haven, I was able to photograph some Canadian Geese in flight and a pair that was content with standing out in front of us.  The water was so still that it basically mirrored them.  So, I was quite happy with the photograph that I was able to get.

Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Sigma 150-600mm f/5.0 - f/6.3 DG Contemporary Lens, ISO 640, f/6.3 @ 1/500s Manual exposure

The landscape shots that came out the best, was a shot looking towards Haven Road.  The dramatic sky coupled with the late evening hours made the picture pop.  I was happy with the way the picture turned out.  The only thing that could have improved the shot, would have been using a tripod.  I would have been able to use a 100 ISO if I had brought my tripod with me, and that would have cut down on the noise.  I guess I learned my lesson from not wanting to bring my tripod.

Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Sigma 150-600mm f/5.0 - f/6.3 DG Contemporary Lens, ISO 1250, f/6.3 @ 1/400s Manual exposure

I also managed a photograph of some fungus growing on a log.  At the time, I was not thinking that the picture would turn into anything usable.  Once I got it back and onto my computer, I was surprised with the intricate patterns.  I wish that I had taken the picture using a macro lens to really pull out the detail.  But I only took the image with my Sigma 150-600 mm lens.  I do know where the log is, and I plan on making a trip back to see if I can get better images of it.

Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Sigma 150-600mm f/5.0 - f/6.3 DG Contemporary Lens, ISO 640, f/6.3 @ 1/400s Manual exposure

With sunset approaching we had to start heading for home, but before we left the Bashakill we decided to go back and check Haven Road one last time.  This worked out well, because one of the Mute Swans was right along the road.  I was a little worried that I would scare it off, but it did not seem to mind that we were there.  I did not get out of the car, so I assume that helped.

Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Sigma 150-600mm f/5.0 - f/6.3 DG Contemporary Lens, ISO 250, f/6.3 @ 1/400s Manual exposure

Due to its proximity to the road I was able to take a lot of pictures.  I must have snapped off over a hundred photographs in a matter of minutes.  It was not doing too much, except for swimming back and forth.  It also chased off the Canadian Geese that were around, but they just swam off, and they did not really fight or anything.  Overall the trip was great, and I really look forward to the next one.  Until next time.             

Great Days at the Bashakill

Canon EOS Rebel T1i camera & Sigma 150-600mm f/5.0 - f/6.3 DG Contemporary Lens, ISO 800, f/6.3 @ 1/500s Manual exposure

My brother and I took two more trips out to the Bashakill Wildlife Management Area during the last week and a half, both days turned out great. We decided to walk a section of the Long Path Trail, that we had never gone down before. It started on Haven Road and headed towards the boat launch. We always assumed that it was a trail that was more for birds and other woodland animals, because it starts off in a forested section. However, we were surprised to learn that after a brief section of forest, it opens up and parallels the open water of the Bashakill. 

Canon EOS Rebel T1i camera & Sigma 150-600mm f/5.0 - f/6.3 DG Contemporary Lens, ISO 400, f/6.3 @ 1/400s Manual exposure

Further down, the trail also has water on both sides of it. This made it an ideal spot to find ducks and waterfowl. To our surprise, this was the best trail we had ever been down for seeing ducks. We must have seen several hundred ducks. There was a variety of species, but for the most part it was wood ducks, ring neck ducks, and mallards. We also could see the Mute Swans that have been hanging around. The trail also seemed to be a hot spot for Downy, Pileated and Red Bellied Woodpeckers. We also spotted a lot of turtles and frogs along the trail. I did manage to capture a picture of a wood frog on a log. I wish that I had gotten lower to the ground to get a more appealing photograph, but I would have had to lay in mud to do it. I need to get some clothes that I can lay on the wet ground with, so I can take pictures like this.

Canon EOS Rebel T1i camera & Sigma 150-600mm f/5.0 - f/6.3 DG Contemporary Lens, ISO 400, f/6.3 @ 1/400s Manual exposure

With the temperatures climbing weekly I have been seeing a lot more reptiles and amphibians. I was very pleased that we only saw a couple of snakes. My brother says that I almost stepped on one, but I never saw it. During the last few trips, I managed to get photographs of wood ducks, frogs, woodpeckers, and squirrels. I had plenty of opportunities but I feel like I missed out on a few.

Last week, I purchased a lot of new equipment for my trip to Alaska. I figured before I went that I would upgrade some of my equipment, since a lot of my equipment is going on ten years old now. I purchased a Canon 6d mark ii with a canon 24mm – 105mm lens, and it arrived on Thursday last week. During Friday, I made sure everything was ready for the weekend. On Easter Sunday we got up at 5 am and headed out to the Bashakill. We arrived before 6 am, and I decided that I wanted to test out the video time-lapse capabilities of the new camera. Once we arrived, I setup my tripod with my new camera and lens combo and proceeded to set up for the time-lapse. It was simple to setup and before I knew it the camera was snapping pictures. I used the video time-lapse, so the camera would automatically compile the images into a video. I set it up to take 600 images in total, with a 2-second interval. So, it took 600 shots over a period of 20 minutes and compiled it into a 20 second, 4k video. 

Canon EOS Rebel T1i camera & Sigma 150-600mm f/5.0 - f/6.3 DG Contemporary Lens, ISO 800, f/6.3 @ 1/320s Manual exposure

I was very pleased with the way the test turned out, so I uploaded the file on YouTube. I am looking forward to taking more time-lapse now that I know how it functions. We were at the Bashakill for over 6 hours. We saw a lot of action during the morning hours, but as the day progressed the action slowed. I did not get to many opportunities with the new camera for photographs, but I am hoping soon I will be able to get out again and test it out. 

Canon EOS Rebel T1i camera & Sigma 150-600mm f/5.0 - f/6.3 DG Contemporary Lens, ISO 800, f/6.3 @ 1/500s Manual exposure

The photographs included in this post were not taken with my new camera. I hope that everyone enjoys the images and the video. Until Next Time.

Canon EOS Rebel T1i camera & Sigma 150-600mm f/5.0 - f/6.3 DG Contemporary Lens, ISO 800, f/6.3 @ 1/500s Manual exposure

Multiple Trips to the Bashakill Wetlands

Canon EOS Rebel T1i camera & Sigma 150-600mm f/5.0 - f/6.3 DG Contemporary Lens, ISO 400, f/6.3 @ 1/640s Manual exposure.

Two weeks ago, I took two trips to the Bashakill Wildlife Management Area with my brother. I was really hoping to see a lot of ducks and waterfowl that were still migrating through our area. We spent most of our time on Haven Road and on the trails around Haven Road. We were seeing a lot of different species of ducks. Mostly Mallards, Ring-necked Ducks, Wood Ducks, and Hooded Mergansers. We were also seeing plenty of Canadian Geese. I only managed a few photographs of the ducks because they were normally so far away. There were a lot of people on Haven Road walking around, so most of the wildlife kept its distance. 

Canon T1i camera & Sigma 150-600mm Contemporary Lens, ISO 800, f/6.3 @ 1/1000s Manual exposure.

After being there for over an hour, I noticed two big white birds in the water very far out in the distance. After I looked in my viewfinder I realized that they were Mute Swans. After about twenty minutes to my surprise, I noticed that they were flying towards us. They flew directly in front of me and then looped back around and flew back away from Haven Road.

Canon T1i camera & Sigma 150-600mm Contemporary Lens, ISO 800, f/6.3 @ 1/1000s Manual exposure.

I was using my Sigma 150-600 mm lens at the time, and I was hoping it would be the first time that I could test it out. To my surprise, I had a hard time focusing the camera on the swans when they flew by. I was quite upset because I thought that I just missed my best opportunity. After I had a chance to figure out what my problem was I realized that one of the slide buttons on the lens had been accidentally moved. So, the lenses operating system thought I was shooting on custom instead of the standard mode. I have not set up custom yet on the lens, so the camera was probably having a hard time focusing because the lens was not functioning properly. Some photographs were still good enough to include. I wish they could have been a little more crisp but I was still quite happy with the end result.

Canon EOS Rebel T1i camera & Sigma 150-600mm f/5.0 - f/6.3 DG Contemporary Lens, ISO 200, f/6.3 @ 1/400s Manual exposure.

I also managed to get a photograph of some Canadian Geese chasing each other. It was a long way off, but I will include the image slightly cropped in. I was also very pleased with the photograph that I took of a Red Wing Black Bird on a cattail. I really didn't think anything of the photograph when I took it but upon review of my images from those trips I was rather surprised. During those trips the Bashakill was great, and I was very happy that I was able to see everything that I did.

Canon EOS Rebel T1i camera & Sigma 150-600mm f/5.0 - f/6.3 DG Contemporary Lens, ISO 800, f/6.3 @ 1/400s Manual exposure.

We also took a shorter trip to Lake Superior State Park. I did manage to take some shots of ring neck ducks that were in the pond. They were doing their best to avoid me, but I did manage a few shots before they swam off. We also got to see a Bald Eagle do a fly over but I did not manage to get any photographs. 

Canon EOS Rebel T1i camera & Sigma 150-600mm f/5.0 - f/6.3 DG Contemporary Lens, ISO 800, f/6.3 @ 1/640s Manual exposure.

Overall the trips that we took two weeks ago were great and I was very pleased with the photographs that I was able to get. I hope everyone enjoys the photographs. Until Next Time.

Winter Eagle Trips

Photograph taken with canon 55 - 250 mm lens

During the wintertime, I did not get out as much as I would have liked.  However, I did take several trips to my favorite bald eagle areas.  In the beginning of February, I took off some days from work for my birthday, which gave me some opportunities to get out and take some photographs.  During my trips in February, the eagle counts were amazing.  I was seeing at least over twenty a day.  Several days there were at least ten or more eagles in view of my camera.   It was remarkable to see.  I had not seen numbers like that in at least two years.

Photograph taken with bower 650 - 1300 mm lens

  

Even with the high numbers, I did not manage many good photos.  At that point, in the winter I was still only using my Bower 650-1300 mm manual focus lens. So, photographing birds in flight was difficult, unless they were close enough where I could use my shorter lenses.  I did manage a shot through a hole in thick brush, of a pair of full mature eagles together on a branch.  The immature eagle photograph atop the post was an old photograph that I found on my memory card when I started the camera up for the first time in a year.

Photograph taken with sigma 150 - 600 mm contemporary lens

Towards the end of March, I purchased my new Sigma 150-600 contemporary lens. I had a few days off from work, and I took a couple of more trips out for eagles. The numbers were drastically lower than the prior month.  I was lucky if I was seeing more than five eagles in a trip.  The one day, I spent almost eight hours out and did not see anything within range.  I did take one photograph of an eagle sitting in a tree with the new lens, but that was about it.  (The photo is above)

Photograph taken with sigma 150 - 600 mm contemporary lens

I did not really get to test the auto focus lens on eagles this year. During the down times when I was not seeing eagles I did try to take some photographs of the smaller birds that were coming to feed at the feeders that are set up.  I did manage some shots of black cap chickadees and nuthatches.  I have included two of those photographs.  I am really looking forward to next winter's eagle season.  Hopefully, I will be able to pull off more action shots, now that I have a long range auto focus lens.

Photograph taken with sigma 150 - 600 mm contemporary lens  

Since my winter outings, I have taken several trips out to the Bashakill Wildlife Management Area, hoping to photograph waterfowl that are migrating through our region this time of year.  It has allowed me to get somewhat used to the new lens, and how it functions.  In the next posts, I will cover those trips, and then I will be caught up thus far.  Until next time.

Finding My Passion Again

It has been over three years since my last post.  I cannot believe it has been so long.  The last three years were probably the toughest years of my life.  I lost my grandfather, my aunt, and my father in less than two years, all which took a toll on me.  None harder than the loss of my father.  It was so sudden and unexpected that it really crushed me.  After his passing, I realized how little time I spent with him doing his true passion, woodworking.  So, I guess to help cope with my father's loss I spent a lot of my free time in his wood shop doing everything that he enjoyed doing.

Looking back at my life, I realized how much influence my father had on me.  Almost everything I enjoyed doing I learned from him, and we always did them together.  Since I was a child I remember getting my first Minolta film camera, and the two of us would go out and photograph wildlife together.  For probably 20 years or so, we were always going together to take photographs.  I guess without him I didn't have the drive to go out alone.  Also, with my new full time job, I didn't have the free time that I had before.  I believe that I had gotten used to staying home, when I was not working, and finding more things to do around the house.

Just before my father passed away, I had started growing some bonsai trees from seeds.  I had also bought some pre bonsai to work on.  I thought it would be something that I would enjoy doing.   Over the last two years, I have learned a lot about bonsai care, but I still have a lot to learn.  I have really enjoyed spending the time outside and enjoyed the process of bonsai.  Now, I have approximately  two dozen different trees, in a large variety of species.  None of which I would consider bonsai at this point, but they are a work in progress.  After some reflection about the past few years of my life, I realized that maybe this was my way of coping with the losses.  Either way, I have enjoyed working on my trees, and I don't see myself stopping anytime soon.  I have started a lot of seeds over this winter, and I am waiting to see if they will sprout.

From spending all the extra time outside caring for my bonsai trees, I realized how much I was missing being out in nature.  So, I charged up my camera batteries for the first time in over a year last fall and finally took a trip out to the local reservoir.  I saw some bald eagle's fishing, some geese, and ducks, and some other small bird species.  However, I did not get any pictures.  I was focusing more on macro photography at the time.  I wanted to photograph insects because I was seeing much more insects than anything else.  I did manage to get a couple of photographs of dragonflies and frogs.  I also photographed a lot of flowers and other subjects just to have something to photograph.  I did get some good shots, but it simply felt good to be back out taking pictures.

Since my trips in the fall, I did take some other trips out during the winter.  I just didn't post anything about them.  I plan on sharing some photographs from those trips soon.  I also recently took a trip out to the Bashakill Wildlife Management Area.  I will post more about that as well.  Soon, I will also be taking a trip to Alaska for the first time.  I am so excited to finally get to visit Alaska.  I have been wanting to go there since I was a child.  I've been preparing for the trip, and I purchased a new camera lens.  The sigma 150–600 mm contemporary lens.  So far, I really like it.  I have not had much time to test it out, but it is a vast improvement over my last lenses.  I look forward to getting more opportunities to use it.  I am also thinking about getting a new camera body for my trip.  I will keep you posted on that once I decide what I am going to purchase.  I am also looking to buy some other accessories.  As I purchase the equipment, I will probably post about it.

For this post, I decided to include some photographs taken since my last post.  As a reminder all the images posted on my blog have been reduced in size for storage purposes. I hope you all enjoy them.  Until next time.