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. 

Alaska Time-lapse Video

During my last post I had mentioned that I had been working on putting together a video of some time-lapse that I had taken on my trip in Alaska.  I finally put them together and got them uploaded.  It took much longer than anticipated, but I am very happy with the result.

Ultimately, I decided that I should not be posting videos on my person account.  So I created a YouTube brand account where I could post everything related to my wildlife photography blog.  I decided to keep the name the same as my blog: Aaron Smith Wildlife Photography.  I had to re-upload my previous video to the new account and upload the new one as well.  From now on I will post all my videos on the new channel.

The new video is a compilation of time-lapses that I took on the cruise ship in Alaska.  I had taken a few time-lapse sequences in the evenings when we were leaving port cities.  Because it was a moving ship, they seem much faster than the previous video I had taken.  You can also see when the ship speed was changing and also some movement up and down due wave action.  So, the time-lapse's were very different than my previous time-lapse when the camera was completely still.

I had planned on doing some wildlife photography during last weekend but I did not really get many photographs.  Then this week came and went like a whirlwind, and I took a trip to Maryland to see my sister.  So I have not had to much time to photograph anything.  But while I was in Maryland I did visit a historic gardens area and there were more butterflies their than I have ever seen in one place.  I did not have a lot of time once we arrived but I am hopeful that I captured a few good shots.  There were also a lot of beautiful flowers and plenty of bees.  I am hoping to post more about those photographs once I get a chance to look them over on my computer.

I hope everyone enjoys the time-lapse sequences from my trip.  Until Next Time.