Summer Mornings May Bring Diverse Photo Opportunities

Wildlife is most active in early morning and late evening during the summer months.  While both morning and evening are good for seeing wildlife, I prefer to be afield at the crack of dawn and usually have the best opportunities of the day from dawn until shortly after sunrise.  I am usually primarily looking for big game animals such as elk and the whitetail deer, and it is always  a special thrill to come upon an exceptional buck or bull elk.

Mature 10 Point Buck

As much as I enjoy big game photography and filming, I find that one misses a substantial part of the outdoor experience if they concentrate solely on a few species.  Good deer and elk habitat also supports  diverse wildflower, bird, and insect communities, and dramatic scenery. One's outdoor experience is much richer if they take time to savor the entire outdoor experience.

Early morning is especially good for flower photography as morning dew may make the flowers look fresh and vibrant.  The flower photos below were taken a bit later in the morning after the dew was gone, but still show the beauty that may be found in a summer meadow.

Purple Cone Flower

Gaillardia or Blanket Flower

Most meadows are also home to a wide variety of birds, and I enjoy filming them as well as enjoying the chorus of birds song that provides a vibrant sound track against which the drama of the natural world unfolds. I believe the bird above is a immature Eastern Meadow Lark, but I could be wrong.  I welcome correction if I am in error.

Immature Eastern Meadow Lark

If deer and elk have not left the meadows before sunrise, they usually do so before the rays of the sun become uncomfortably hot. They often return to feed sometime in the evening.  This may happen before sundown on cooler days or it may be nearly dark on the hottest one, but their is no hard and fast rule.

Whitetails Leave Meadows At Sunrise

From the tenor of this post it would be easy to infer that all is well in the great outdoors, but sadly this is often not the case.  In particular I am referring to the superb 10 Point featured in the first photo today.  Within the next few days, I plan to write about the problems this buck and others in the area he was photographed  deals with each day and the uncertain future they face.

Originally published at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.

Sky Watch Friday-Summer Brings Dramatic Scenic and Flower Photo Opportunities

Canon 30-D: 17mm-40mm F4 at 17mm ISO 200

One of my favorite summer activities is a walk in the backcountry on a clear morning. It is best to be afield before sunrise and in position to catch the sun coming over the mountains. The owner of this area does rent a portion of his farm to a commercial farmer and the foreground of the photograph above is an area that was sprayed in preparation for planting a crop, but for whatever reason, nothing was planted or if it was it did not grow.

The owner is however, a dedicated naturalist and makes certain that a significant portion of his land is undisturbed so that meadow wildflowers may be found in abundance.

I had the 100mm f2.8 macro lens along, but decided to forgo the inconvenience of changing lenses, as the wildflowers I found today were large enough to make pleasing images with the 500mm.

Both are members of the morning glory family and are considered weeds. They are undesirable when they invade ornamentals as they are vines that twist around host plants and "take over" thereby destroying the desired plants.

With that being said, both are beautiful wildflowers and are harmless in an area such as a natural meadow.

Wild Sweet Potato: Canon 30-D-500mmF4 1/400 sec f8 ISO 100

Hedge Bindweed: Canon 30-D- 500mmF4 1/125 sec f 11 ISO 100

A stunning sunset is always a fitting conclusion to a day afield!

Canon 30-D: 17mm-40mm F4 at 27mm 1/200 sec f8 ISO 200

For more sky watch photos visit Sky Watch at its' own website this week. I don't know quite how it works yet and I am posting early so nothing is up yet, but the other sky watcher's photos should be up by mid to late afternoon eastern daylight savings time.

Canadian Thistle

I had to post this to show "Salty" that on rare occasion I do photograph other things than whitetail deer, or elk. Actually I like all types of nature photography and think that few things look better than a good close shot of a flower. Many consider this a noxious weed and it is a problem for sure when it becomes established in a field that is being crop farmed . I think though that it also is an attractive photographic subject both in summer when it is blooming and in autumn when its' life is ended and its seeds have been cast to the wind.

Canadian Thistle