Just today a newspaper article in The Morning Call featured our Pennsylvania Elk Photography Experience. You can read the article here. This article includes some photographs of the elk taken by my colleague and friend, Dick McCreight.
We enjoy leading these photography experiences and always enjoy being out with our cameras and teaching. There is still time to sign up so consider joining us on an upcoming trip. You can find more information here.
One of my numerous hobbies is weightlifting. For me it all started back in high school when I was skinny as a rail and was playing football. The football field is no place for a skinny kid, so I started weightlifting to build some muscle and bulk. My parents taught me well and I was never tempted to do drugs. The weight room was where I learned how to lift weights properly and how to make steady progress only through hard work. The weight room I was privileged to work out in was in the basement of a good friend and it was a venerable playroom with free weights and machines galore! York Barbell was the equipment of choice and it didn’t hurt that we only lived about a half hour from York, PA where York Barbell was located.
Now, many years and pounds later, I am trying to recreate a York gym that is filled with the York weights and equipment. My home gym is kind of a working museum where many old memories are recalled as I lift the old weights to keep me in shape today.
Yesterday I was privileged to acquire a beautiful York weight set and bench. Here are a few photos that I took of them.
Yesterday I confessed to not being much of a birder. Well, here today is living proof. I took several photos of this duck at Chincoteague. I liked the appearance of this bird because it looks like its hair is standing up!
Can you identify this bird? If you can, please let me know. Thanks!
I readily admit that I am not much of a birder. Until a few years ago I photographed mammals and large mammals at that. This began to change about three years ago when I first visited Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. I began to photograph the big birds and enjoyed this location very much.
I slowly learned how to identify the bigger birds and even picked up a “Pocket Naturalist Guide” to help me in this endeavor. I learned the subtle differences between the Great Egret and the Snowy Egret. Slowly but surely I was learning more and more about birds.
This week I returned to Chincoteague. The trip began like many previous ones–photographing a few Great Blue Herons, a Great Egret, and several ducks. I even learned to distinguish the differences between the Mallard and the Northern Shoveler.
Then something unusual and exciting happened–I spotted an unusual and interesting bird that I had never seen before. It behaved in an unusual manner as it pointed its head to the sky and moved in a strange gyration that resembled the weeds blowing in the wind. I took a few photos and it was gone.
Later in the day I happened upon this bird again. Two men approached me and asked what I had seen. I tried to describe this particular bird and then showed them an image of it from my camera’s LCD screen. They excited and enthusiastically informed me that I had spotted an American Bittern! We found this bird again and took some more photographs.
I still am not much of a birder. I know, for example, that without the help of these two nice men I would have had a hard time identifying this bird. I might still not known what I had seen. But I am learning and growing to like birds more and more.
Here are a few images of the American Bittern I saw this week.
Over the past two days I have been in Chincoteague Virginia photographing wildlife at the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. This is my third trip in three years to this excellent location and it has quickly become one of my favorite stomping grounds. It was cold yesterday. Today is warmer but there is ice everywhere and some snow on the ground in spots.
Today I was fortunate enough to see several of the endangered Delmarva Peninsula Fox Squirrels. I actually saw seven of them. Here are two photographs that I was privileged to capture this afternoon.
This is one of my favorite times of the year.
The college football championship was just decided — Roll Tide! And now the NFL playoffs are in full swing with two wildcard games completed today. College basketball is in full swing and the NHL is playing, too. Isn’t this a great time of year?
Photographically I will be shooting some upcoming basketball games and this week I will be in Chincoteague, Virginia to do some bird photography.
I love this time of year!
I have taken a lot of sports action photographs in recent years. I thoroughly enjoy the challenge of trying to capture the excitement of the plays on the field! The challenge is obvious because many variables are involved. Will I click the shutter at just the right moment? Will the shot be in focus? Will the ball be frozen in the frame with the player?
Of course, there are some things the photographer can control. Watch the background to keep it as uncluttered as possible. Have your camera ready for action at all times. Keep batteries charged and memory cards ready. Position yourself in the best possible location.
Last night I spent some time going through many of the baseball photos I took this year. I wanted to create a portfolio of my best sports photographs. Then I posted the resulting portfolio to my website. You can see the Sports Portfolio for yourself. Take a look at these photos and let me know what you think of them. Do they capture the action? Do they tell a story? Are they any good?
The Christmas and New Year’s holidays along with some time away on vacation have kept me away from my blog. I am slowly catching up and enjoying every minute of it!
Time spent with family and friends are always welcome by me and when accompanied by special holidays and vacations how can one not be happy?
We did spend some in Elk County and saw 8 elk–all bulls! It was snowy and cold and not ideal for photography, but it was fun to be on the mountain again. The elk sure are beautiful creatures!
Oh yeah, and watch for this coming Sunday’s edition of The Morning Call newspaper for an article about “Pennsylvania Elk Photography Experiences.” I was interviewed on New Year’s Day by the reporter, Diane. We talked for almost an hour and a half! I thoroughly enjoyed answering her questions and am looking forward to seeing the article myself.
Much more to come soon!
The plan was to put the Christmas tree up but a lot of interesting distractions got in the way!
My son, James, and I started going through all of our trains and we got distracted. After all, we had track to lay, accessories to locate, and engines to test. There is nothing more exciting than watching a steam engine chug down the line with smoke circling out of its stack!
Lydia is not happy that we haven’t progressed to actually putting the tree up yet, but it is coming–I promise. So are some photos of our trains and the tree with its lights and decorations. Christmas is fast-approaching but we will be ready, I’m pretty sure.
Ever notice how life changes our best-laid plans? That’s been the story of my week, but I like trying to handle the curve balls that get thrown our way! This happens in photography, too. We plan and plan for a specific shoot–trying to imagine every possible thing that could happen. Then the big day arrives and something pops us that never saw coming. Learning how to handle these surprises is what makes us successful. The alternative is we let the surprises take over and we merely complain about them. No, this is not the approach for me. Deal with the surprises and unexpected trials that come our way. In the end, we will learn and be much better for it. Bring it on!
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