Nothing Special, Just Unusual

It was one of those situations where there were no other options to pursue. I was returning home Thursday from my almost daily morning photographic shoot when I spied a large hawk surveying a meadow from his perch atop a hay bale. I had the 300mm lens attached and decided to shoot a few shots before he flew, as these birds are quite skittish in this area.

I took a few frames and then tried to attach the 500mm, which was lying in the back seat of the Blazer, but I never got it mounted until he flew away. This is likely the same hawk that killed the rabbit in the previous post, as he was only a short distance from that spot.

Canon 30D: 300mmF4-1/500sec. f 5.6 ISO 200

This evening when I arrived at my favorite deer photography spot, I set the 40D up on a tripod and was standing a short distance away with the 30D and 70-200mm lens when one of the fawns came running up to the tripod for a close look at it. Again it wasn't a super pose as I would have liked to have captured a more inquisitive expression on its' face, but still I thought it was special to have the little fellow come that close to the photographic equipment. (Yes, the 40D has returned from repair for the second time and all systems seem to be functional!)

Canon 30D: 70-200mmF 2.8-1/160 sec. f 4.5 ISO 400

For more Camera Critters photos visit Misty Dawn.

Photographing Whitetail Fawn's-Jim Moore's Contest

One of my favorite activities is spending a summer evening relaxing, and photographing whitetail fawns.

Salty went along one evening last week and my favorite doe favored us by feeding quite near to us in the food plot.

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

She has a pair of what I call, " classically beautiful" fawns. Some fawns have ears that are too long to be in correct proportion for the most perfect look, or have blemishes from insect bites or skin problems such as mange, but these are perfect. They soon arrived to spend most of the evening feeding and interacting quite near to us.

Canon 30D: 17-40mm F4-1/60 sec. f8 at 40mm ISO 200

Soon the spots will fade and by late September most fawns will have a brown or gray coat, but for now they still have that bright eyed, innocent look, and a beautiful coat that helps them escape detection by predators as the spots help camouflage them when they are in a woodland setting.

Canon 30D: 300mm F4-1/250sec. f8 ISO 200

Also I'm a little late on posting this, but if you haven't heard already Jim Moore is having a "Name the Newt" contest on his web site for a chance to win a September Print of the Month. You can read about it here.

Jim says, "The contest is from August 1-15 only and I'd like to see a blogger win, but I'm not a judge for the name either."

Jim is a world-class photographer and instructor, specializing in stunning scenic photographs. Be sure and visit his website if you can.

I'm sorry I haven't been commenting too much lately or posting, but I am pursing a heavy program of video editing as I try to bring the film on Pennsylvania Elk to a conclusion.

Benezette Bull

Canon 30-D: 70-200mm F2.8L- 1/40 sec. f 2.8 ISO 1600

The village of Benezette, Elk County, is located along the banks of Bennett's Branch of Sinnemahoning Creek or River. It is in the core of Pennsylvania's traditional elk range and as such it is not uncommon to see elk in town. For whatever reason, they are mostly bulls, although I have seen cows on occasion.

The elk are usually seen in early morning, or late evening. On the morning of July 22nd, I took a quick trip around top as day was breaking. Fred, also known as Bull No. 36 was already leaving, but I found another bull feeding in a nearby lawn. This bull is quite a bit younger than Fred, but he is getting larger each year, while Fred is now declining from old age.

This bull is already an impressive animal, but he has the potential to get quite a bit larger if he remains in the no hunt zone during season, or does not otherwise meet with harm.

I used ISO 1600 to get a usable shutter speed, as it was still very dark.

Canon 30-D: 70-200mm F2.8L- 1/40 sec. f 2.8 ISO 1600

Keep checking back for more photos from July's trip.

Visit Camera Critters for more animal photographs.

Death At Dawn

I was a little later than usual heading out to look for deer on Sunday morning. Shortly after dawn I was driving down a narrow, winding back road when I say a hawk come fluttering to the ground through the forest canopy, and grab an unfortunate rabbit.

I stopped immediately. Ordinarily these bird fly from the near presence of a vehicle, but this one was determined to not leave his prey. I took some shots through the windshield of the vehicle, but they were not sharp.

Could I possibly get out of the vehicle and have clear shooting? Nothing ventured, nothing gained as the saying goes, so I made sure the camera was set properly and slowly edged the door open and then slid into the v between the door and the Blazer body and began shooting.

I would have liked to have been closer, but there was no way to do so. I cropped the photographs severely to get a reasonably close looking image.

Unbelievably I was also able to get the video tripod from the rear of the vehicle, attach the XL-H1 and get it in action. For a time I let it run while I fired stills with the DSLR.

Canon 30-D: 300mm F4 -1/125 sec, f5.6 ISO 1600

Canon 30-D: 300mm F4 -1/200 sec, f 5.o ISO 1600

The hawk fed on the rabbit until it had consumed enough of it that it was able to fly with the remainder and then went airborne, carrying it away.

One of the most memorable outdoor experiences I have witnessed was over.

These photographs support my answer to a question in a previous post as to why I thought there is a low rabbit population in our area.