Species observed include: Fowler’s Toad, Southern Leopard Frog, Northern Green Frog, Northern Cricket Frog*, Common Bull Frog, Green Treefrog*, Cope’s Gray Treefrog, Eastern Narrowmouth Toad*, Spring Peeper, Wood Frog, American Toad, Northern Redback Salamander, Southern Two Lined Salamander, Spotted Salamander, Eastern Painted Turtle, Eastern Box Turtle, Northern Redbellied Turtles, Spotted Turtle*, Common Snapping Turtle (DOR), Northern Fence Lizard, Five-lined Skink, Ground Skink*, Southern Ringneck Snakes, Northern Black Racer, Northern Water Snake, Eastern Worm Snake, Eastern Black Rat Snake, Northern Rough Green Snake*, Eastern Smooth Earth Snake*, Southern Copperhead (DOR)*, Eastern Kingsnake, Eastern Garter Snake (DOR), Eastern Hognose Snake (DOR)*.  Here (DOR) indicates the only specimen found was roadkill and * indicates lifer.

While not a photography trip, I was able to get some record shots of some of the animals we found, including species I did not already have in my stock gallery.  The trip did remind me of how much fun field herping can be though, as well as how tricky photographing little quick reptiles and amphibians can be.  I’m out of practice and hope to do a bit more herp photography this month and next.

Here are a few photos of some of the new species I was able to add to my stock list:

Eastern Narrowmouth Toad*

Eastern Box Turtle

Rough Green Snake*

Fowler’s Toad

More to come!

A lot of times I just enjoy being out in nature, well all the time really.  Sometimes, it’s really a hassle for me to lug around my camera gear and stop and compose photos everytime I find something interesting.  Sometimes I just want to experience being outdoors, with no interruptions and no distractions.  Sometimes, when it comes to photography anyway, I get lazy.

This was one of those days.  It wasn’t particularly nice out, and nothing looks particularly pretty this time of year in New Jersey, at least when it comes to woodland landscapes.  I still don’t have a lightweight tripod for landscapes, and the thought of lugging my five pound all purpose Gitzo around the woods with me was very unappealing, especially when I was unlikely to find anything really worth photographing.  So I decided whatever trails I went on, I’d bring my trusty G10 (which I try to have with me 24/7 just in case) and nothing else, save my Camelbak, a trail map, and my ID and car keys.

I did want to do some photography though.  I’m one of those people who firmly believe there is natural beauty just about everywhere.  Sometimes its obvious, sometimes its discrete, but its always there, you just have to look for it.  Stokes is a very pretty place and I had all day until the sun set, so I was determined to do at least a little shooting, even if only because it had been a while since I picked up my 5D Mark II and I was beginning to feel a bit like a failure.

I drove around, G10 pointed out the window, doing a little of what I like to call “drive-by shooting” even though autumn was well past its peak and the foliage wasn’t particularly interesting to look at.  I like drive-by shooting because it produces some really unique, creative, and abstract images with minimal effort, and you can incorporate it into any trip without having to create special chunks of time to allow for the process that is making a photograph.  As it turns out, drive-by shooting is much more difficult when you yourself are driving and shooting at the same time.  You can’t really compose anything if you are looking at the road, and holding the camera and pressing the shutter with one hand while steering with the other is a recipe for disaster.  You’re likely to drop the camera out the window, drive off the road, or both.  Fortunately, the backroads at Stokes have stretches with good visibility, and my G10 is small enough that I can hold it in one hand, but the lack of a chauffeur really reduced both the safety and productivity of using the drive-by technique, so I soon changed my approach to getting shots for the day.

I began to stop the car at spots that had visual interest and shot from a stationary position, still inside the car, with the engine turned off.  I used the car window frame as a brace, leaning against it to get sharp shots without the extra effort of getting a tripod and setting it up for shots that would mostly end up in my Recycle Bin anyway.  Sometimes, the time it takes to repeatedly set up, manuever into position, and then break down a tripod for a couple quick photos of something you aren’t really “feeling” to begin with seems like a waste to me.  It’s not the physical effort I’m opposed to, and its the time factor.  Time is money.  Light is aways changing, animals are constantly on the move, and as a photographer who chooses subjects largely based on an emotional attraction to them, its not always worth it to me to invest a lot of time in something that only mildly excites me, especially when there is the possibility that something better is lurking around the corner.  In this case, I had a hike I wanted to complete before dark.  However, shooting from a car window isn’t particularly desirable and actually greatly limits your angles and composition, and therefore your creativity.  The truth is, whenever you can get out of the car (because you won’t damage the surrounding environment, flee your subject, or put yourself or your subject in danger), you probably should.  You’ll nearly always get better photos that way.

But who needs a sharp shot anyway?  One thing I really enjoy doing is all sorts of blurs and photos that imply movement by using slow shutter speeds and moving the camera during the exposure.  This is great for times when you are too lazy to set up the tripod, and using motion-exposure techniques can really inspire your creativity.  By eliminating the appearance of hard edges and concrete shapes, you begin to focus on different aspects of the photo like color, general form, and contrast.  Shooting this way is very much hit or miss, and the majority of your shots will immediately end up being deleted, but the process is fun and the results can be very interesting when everything comes together.

So, I took advantage of the dull, overcast light and set my camera for slow shutter speeds.  Then I played.  I walked around with my G10 a bit, whirling and shaking it during the longer exposures.  I got out my 5D Mark II, which gave me even more control, and did some vertical pan blurs and other funky shots.   I left my tripod in the car.  I didn’t need it.  This was about having fun.

Because I was hand holding my camera, I got pretty varied results.  With hand holding, no composition is ever exactly the same, and when moving the camera during the exposure, you will move it at different speeds and in different directions each time, even if you try to do the same thing twice.  That’s okay with me though, as I like the suprise of seeing what each shot holds on the camera LCD.

Here is an example of one of my vertical pan blur compositions.  These shot were taken one after the other, but as you can see they are very different.  When doing creative motion shots, it pays to take a lot of photos, as you never know which you’ll like best.  I’m curious, what do you think?  #1 or #2?

Many of the falls in this area of the Gap are surrounded by hemlock and pine trees, so it can sometimes be difficult to include a lot of fall color in the photograph to give a sense of the season.  Here I used a slow shutter speed, made possible by combining a polarizing filter and neutral density filter, to capture the pattern of the fallen leaves swirling in the water next to the falls.  By including the leaves in the frame, it becomes obvious to the viewer that this shot was made sometime in autumn.

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 17-40mm f/4L USM, warming polarizing filter, neutral density filter, tripod.  To order this print, purchase stock rights, or view other photos I have for sale, please visit my website at www.karipost.com.

This photo, of a bull elk crossing the Madison River in Yellowstone National Park, is probably my favorite from the whole trip.  On our first morning driving through Yellowstone, we came across a herd of elk grazing beside the Madison River on the west end of the park.  There were several cows and older calves, and this magnificent healthy bull watching over them.  The sun had just come up and there was steam rising from the river into the cold morning air.  Dave parked in a pullout along the road and we sat there and watched the herd for a long time.  It was actually really nice being able to just sit there and watch them and not worry about taking photos.

My absolute favorite thing about nature photography is nature itself.  There are often times when I miss “capturing the moment” but that’s okay.  Getting to experience all of the wonderful and magical qualities of nature is really what its all about.  As Dave and I watched, the cows and calves gradually started moving towards the river.  One smaller female dashed across the river quickly, while the others continued to make their way towards the water’s edge.  The bull followed behind at some distance, constantly on the alert.  Then, like in a wedding procession, the cows and calves formed a single file line and crossed the river one by one.  Again, the bull stayed back.  Soon it became clear to me that the bull was staying downwind of all of the other members of his herd.  If one strayed, he guided it back to the others by lowering his huge rack and directing the lone elk back to the group.  Behavior like this is so amazing to observe in person and by being able to observe the entire event, not just focusing on a distant subject in the narrow field of view of a 500mm lens, you can really appreciate how magnificent the wild, untamed world really is.

Of course, I wanted to capture a memory of this amazing event to share with those back home, so I did snap a few photos, and what do you know, this one kinda rocks (at least I really like it).  The wider angle of the lens on the G10 forced me to be careful of the surroundings and compose a shot that included the environment.  I love environmental wildlife photographs and in a setting like Yellowstone, the surrounding landscape can really add something to the photo.  Had I had my “serious” camera gear with me, its likely that I would have missed this shot altogether.

As a final note, I also want to comment on how rare it can be to find others who really appreciate nature and can sit there and just “take it in” along with you.  Many are content to just “see the wildlife” but to sit there, maybe for hours, just to observe an animal doing perhaps the most mundane of things and truely enjoy the experience takes someone kind of special.  Even among nature photographers I have rarely met individuals who can do that.  So I sure am lucky (and grateful) that the one person I got stuck with for three months found these exact experiences so valueable and was content to experience nature in a way that few can.

Canon G10, 1/80s, f/4.5, ISO 200, handheld.  To order this print, purchase stock rights, or view other photos I have for sale, please visit my website at www.karipost.com.

Canon 1D Mark II N, Canon 17-40mm f/4L USM.  To order this print, purchase stock rights, or view other photos I have for sale, please visit my website at www.karipost.com.

Also, a reminder that today is the last day of my 20% off print sale.  Orders must be placed by 12AM midnight Eastern Standard Time to qualify!

Okay, well this photo isn’t exactly new.  It’s actually from 2007.  I was visiting Great Falls National Park in Virginia to meet up with several photographers from NatureScapes.Net in hopes of photographing the falls and the Great Blue Herons that fish in the rapids.  The weather was rather dismal, but some kayakers were out on the Potomac River, paddling the rapids.  As we watched, we could see them scouting the area around the main falls and getting ready to go over.  We waited, and one by one, the kayakers tackled the 30 foot waterfall.

I have always enjoyed sports and active pursuits, and outdoor recreation and adventure activities are my favorite, as they combine my love of nature and desire to move.  Before I began focusing on nature photography, I mostly photographed high school and collegiate sports, and whenever I can, I like to photograph people doing outdoor activities.  I took advantage of being in the right place at the right time, and photographed each kayaker as they challenged mother nature.  The conditions were not the best, as it was very cloudy and late in the day, so I had to bump my camera up to ISO 800 in order to get enough shutter speed to get the shot.  Overall, I’m happy with the results, but I would love to go back and photograph more kayakers negotiating Great Falls in more ideal conditions.

Canon 1D Mark II N, Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM, 1/640s, f/4.5, ISO 800, full frame.  To order this print, purchase stock rights, or view other photos I have for sale, please visit my website at www.karipost.com.

This photograph, of the same sunrise as my previous post at Washington Oaks State Park in St. Augustine, Florida, is one of the new ones just added to my stock galleries.  Feel free to check out the others by visiting my New Images page.

To order this print, purchase stock rights, or view other photos I have for sale, please visit my website at www.karipost.com.

Canon 1D Mark II N, Canon 300mm f/2.8L IS USM, 1/1000s, f/2.8, ISO 200, tripod.  To order this print, purchase stock rights, or view other photos I have for sale, please visit my website at www.karipost.com.

In the original shot, the tail was extremely close to being clipped at the edge of the frame.  I had a couple of other shots in the sequence with a touch more room on the right side of the frame, but the poses in those weren’t nearly as good.  So I took a small piece of the background from one of those photographs and blended in onto this shot for the final image.  I prefer not to clone, composite, or otherwise heavily alter shots whenever possible, but sometimes I find it necessary to salvage a nice image like this one.  I didn’t have any other similar or better shots, and this is my first of the species, but I hope I’ll get more photographs of these cool sparrows in the future.

To order this print, purchase stock rights, or view other photos I have for sale, please visit my website at www.karipost.com.

Admitedly, I haven’t played around with this camera much at all since it arrived on my doorstep.  I did real through the manual quick and browse through all the menus and functions, I just haven’t really had the opportunity to take it out for a real test yet.  I did take my first photographs with it though, and I can tell I’m going to be happy with this little thing.

Two days ago, I was treated to the most spectacular sunset I think I’ve ever seen at home.  The colors stretched from one end of my house all the way around to the other, and the clouds kept changing, providing amazing shapes, colors, and textures throughout the whole sky.  Had I been in an area with wide open sky and beautiful landscapes all around, I would have had hundreds of different shots to choose from, as you could face in any direction and see something spectacular, and the light and clouds were vastly different from one end of the horizon to the other.  It was a feast for the eyes and soul!  But alas, I was not any place beautiful – I was stuck in my ordinary house on a suburban street with well spaced oak trees, asphalt, and aluminum siding everywhere I turned.  I thought about running to the school field in back of my house, but sunrises are usually so momentary and I was afraid the beautiful color would vanish before I got there.  So I did what any good photographer would do and I attempted to photograph the sunset outside my bedroom window, which overlooks the driveway and therefore faces the only open area of sky viewable from my house.

Here it is!  Wasn’t the sunset just beautiful?  As you may have heard, I destroyed the shutter to my beloved 1D Mark II N, and, having just got the 5D Mark II, I hadn’t charged the battery yet.  So I reached for my G10 and began composing shots out my window.  Thanks to all the trees around, there was only a small area of sky that was really photographable, but lucky for me, the sunset was so spectacular that the clouds and colors stretched well into my field of view.  I’m quite happy with this shot and definately glad I had the G10 ready to go in order to be able to capture this lovely sunset.

The G10 performed just fine, although I’ll admit I was really afraid I was going to drop it as it’s so small and doesn’t have a huge rubberized grip like my DSLRs do. It captured some awesome colors, and this file is big enough to be printed at 10×14 inches without any interpolation.  Because of its much smaller sensor, the G10 is way noiser than a DSLR and this image, taken at ISO 80, is visibly noisy.  In it, the noise shows up much more than it would on a more detailed shot because the subject is so smooth and the color transitions are so gradual.  I ran two passes of Noise Ninja on this shot, one after converting the RAW file and another after tweaking the curves and contrast in PhotoShop, and it looks just fine now.

I’ll play around more with the G10 and publish a thorough review of this neat little camera once I have done so.  I think it’s going to be good for what I’m hoping to use it for.  Of course it has its limitations, among them visible noise, limited focal range, and a 3:4 ratio sensor that will take some getting used to, but there aren’t many cameras out there that offer such incredible image quality and robustness in such a small and portable package.  I’ll keep you updated as to what I discover.

Canon G10, 1/30s, f/4.5, ISO 80, cropped slightly from 4:3 ratio to 5:7 ratio, handheld.  To order this print, purchase stock rights, or view other photos I have for sale, please visit my website at www.karipost.com.

Here’s a shot of a male bluebird in a tangle of branches.  The setting around the feeders where the birds would land was pretty cluttered, so it was pretty difficult to get a clean shot of them.  In this photo the branches frame the bird nicely and he’s giving me a sweet head turn, so I like it despite the busy background.

To order this print, purchase stock rights, or view other photos I have for sale, please visit my website at www.karipost.com.

I’ve been busy all day working on photography related things at the computer.  I’ve added five new bird photographs to my website, most from before my trip, including three new species (Worm-eating Warbler, Downy Woodpecker, and Red-tailed Hawk).  I’ve also updated my bio and stock lists, and added a FAQs page (accessible from my newly updated bio).  Check them out at www.karipost.com.

Canon 1D Mark II N, 300mm f/2.8L IS, 2x converter, 1/200s, f/5.6, ISO 640, full frame, handheld, natural light, minimal processing.  To order this print, purchase stock rights, or view other photos I have for sale, please visit my website at www.karipost.com.

Here’s my favorite shot from today, again processed on my laptop.  Here, an adult Common Redpoll perched on the top of a spruce branch we set up over the black sunflower seed spread on the ground.

To order this print, purchase stock rights, or view other photos I have for sale, please visit my website at www.karipost.com.

We woke up early this morning to drive to Lake Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge in northern New Hampshire in hopes of seeing some moose.  We found some fresh tracks in the area but didn’t see any moose, so we drove into nearby Maine to continue our search.  There, we found a flock of Common Redpoll, Pine Grosbeaks, and Evening Grosbeaks feeding on some sunflower seed left on the ground near a couple of feeders.  We parked the car nearby, using it as a blind, and photographed the birds from the vehicle as they perched in a nearby spruce tree.  After shooting for about an hour or so, when the birds were used to our presence, we set up a perch for the birds to land on so we could get some different shots.  All in all, Chris and I both got some awesome shots of Pine Grosbeaks and Common Redpoll, a new species for me.

This shot, of a female Pine Grosbeak, is probably one of my best from today.  I processed it quickly from my laptop, so please forgive me if it looks a little off.  Last winter, I was able to photograph Pine Grosbeaks feeding on crab apple trees in upstate New York, but it was very difficult to compose a clean shot of them in the tangled branches.  All of my shots of the females from last year had very busy backgrounds, so I’m more than happy to get a shot of one in these ideal conditions. 

After shooting at the feeder, we drove north up Route 16 past Errol, NH to search for moose, Boreal Chickadee, and whatever other cool species we could find before heading back to the motel.  As we we driving, Chris spotted a bobcat about 10 feet off the road trotting belly deep through the snow in a boggy meadow.  We quickly pulled over and Chris made a mouse squeaking noise to get the cat’s attention.  The bobcat stopped for a second and looked straight at us before continuing to the edge of the woods and vanishing in a tangle of spruce trees.  I have never seen a wild bobcat before.  We were pretty close and although the interaction lasted only a couple of seconds, the experience was just awesome!

To order this print, purchase stock rights, or view other photos I have for sale, please visit my website at www.karipost.com.

I’ve also uploaded three new landscape photos from Virginia onto my website.  This shot, of the Potomac River from Great Falls National Park in Virginia, is one I just processed today.  I used Photoshop to manually blend two different exposures, one for the sky and one for the rocks and river, to get the dynamic range shown here.  Blending exposures is a great alternative to using graduated filters, as they allow for precise control over the exposure and allow you to seamlessly blend the sky and foreground in scenes without straight horizons, like this one with the jagged rocks protruding into the sky.

To order this print, purchase stock rights, or view other photos I have for sale, please visit my website at www.karipost.com.

I like it.  It’s different.  Here I took an often photographed scene and isolated a single, overlooked part of it and made this simple, artistic image.  In it, water can be studied in all its forms, as vapor, as snow, as ice, as water.

I’ve added this photo and six other new images to my website stock gallery.  You can check them out by visiting my New Images page on my website.

To order this print, purchase stock rights, or view other photos I have for sale, please visit my website at www.karipost.com.

After camping out overnight, we woke up to find the snow still falling, and shooting conditions still less than ideal at Blackwater Falls State Park, so we hit the roads again.  Fortunately, the colder temperatures of the night had caused hoar frost to form on some trees at lower elevations, and we were able to find a decently well maintained side road to pull off on so we could get out and shoot the frost covered trees.  It continued to snow the entire time we were shooting, and when the snowfall got heavier, I used a faster shutter speed to freeze the motion of the falling snow and capture this frosty, snowy, winter scene.

Canon 1D Mark II N, Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS USM, 1/160s, f/8, ISO 200, tripod, processed on my laptop.  To order this print, purchase stock rights, or view other photos I have for sale, please visit my website at www.karipost.com.

The main attraction of Blackwater is its numerous waterfalls, which we had hoped to photograph surrounded by fresh white snow.  When we arrived though, we found most of the falls completely frozen from the extreme cold temperatures of the week before.  The main falls however, was only partially frozen and still consisted mostly of flowing water.  Chris and I carefully kept an eye on the weather, waiting for the wind to calm and snow to subside in order to photograph the falls.  Blackwater Falls is located in a gorge that forces air pressure upward and outward, so even the slightest breeze gets magnified and blows falling snow directly into your face and lens.  The snow, when it gets on your lens, can cause nasty water spots and ruin your shots.  As it turns out, the snow never stopped, making for difficult shooting conditions even though the falling snow, dancing down through the gorge and around the falls, was breathtakingly beautiful in person.

Despite the weather, Chris and I were able to get some really nice shots from our trip.  The one below, of Blackwater Falls, is one of my favorite and exactly the type of shot I was hoping for when we planned the trip. 

Composing this shot was difficult, as there is a manmade viewing platform to the immediate left of the falls from this angle, and access to the falls was limited to the walkways at the park.  Rock hopping, bushwacking, and cliff scrambling were mostly out of the question since leaving the walkways is prohibited in certain areas near the falls and the heavy snow made finding secure footing quite difficult.  I had to clone a small bit in the bottom left corner, where the snow covered railing protruded into the frame, but the end result, I feel, is well worth it.  I used a polarizing filter to help slow down my shutter speed and render the falls as silky smooth water, but decided not to use a neutral density filter so as not to have too many filters protruding out from the safety of the lens hood and into the path of falling snowflakes.  I hope you like it.

Techs: Canon 1D Mark II N, 17-40mm f/4, 0.3 seconds, f/20, ISO 50, polarizer, tripod, processed on my laptop.  To order this print, purchase stock rights, or view other photos I have for sale, please visit my website at www.karipost.com.

For tonight though, I’d like to show you a shot from last week.  Virginia has been in a cold spell, and although we haven’t had more than a sprinkle of snow, the cold has caused some beautiful ice to form in puddles and along creeks.  The ice can provide some good opportunities for close up photography, so last week Chris and I made a trip to Manassas Battlefield to photograph the ice patterns alongside a small creek.  This ice abstract is one of my favorites.

To order this print, purchase stock rights, or view other photos I have for sale, please visit my website at www.karipost.com.