This Week at the Lake – 22/52

/5 Comments/in , , , , , , , , , , , /by

I’ve got a good variety of shots this week – HDR, black and white, wildlife, flower, textured……. All kinds of good stuff!

Despite extremely hot temperatures (heat index at least at 110 2 days!) I was able able to get to the Radnor Lake 3 times this week.
I went Monday on my lunch break. It was very quiet that day, I didn’t get much other that this:


Still on the shallow depth of focus and the black and white kick!

On Tuesday I went before work and was able to catch this amazing sunrise from the shore of the lake

Yes, the lake really is very green – it’s the duckweed that is growing throughout the lake

After the sunrise died down, I headed out along the lake trail. Here is what I was able to capture:


I followed these two around for a while but could not get any better shots of the fawn. I got really close at one point but it was so dark that my shutter speed was around 1/20. I’m just not steady enough to get a clear shot at 1/20. I may need to invest in a good ball head tripod….

Finally by Friday it cooled down a lot – so I headed out on my lunch break. I didn’t see any wildlife, so I started taken some “random” shots:

Also found some wildflowers along Otter Creek Rd

On the way back to the car I got a shot of this butterfly and I wanted to try textures again (Last week’s lead shot was a textured butterfly photo also)

Also, while I was just about back at the car, this little woodpecker landed very close

Thanks for looking!

Check out all the previous weeks by Clicking HERE

Don’t miss a week! Subscribe to this blog and you will receive an email every time I post something new!

Murfree Springs Wetlands – The Night Herons

/1 Comment/in , , , /by

I’ve decided to try to post more series, my last post was the start of my Back Yard Fun series (that one for Humming Birds) — So here’s another series I will start – photos taken at the Murfree Springs Wetlands, at the Discovery Center in Murfreesboro.

Most everyone already knows how much I enjoy Radnor Lake, another spot I visit frequently is the Discovery Center in Murfreesboro (much closer to home!). There’s a playground there so the kids love it, and there are always Ducks, Herons, Birds, Dragonflies, Flowers….. All sorts of things for a photographer to shoot.

In this post, I’ll feature the Night Herons. All the shots were taken this summer:

Back Yard Fun – Humming Birds

/3 Comments/in , , , /by

I have so many pictures that I don’t really know what to do with! I’m going to try to make a few more posts here for some of my “Random” shots. This is one series I’ll be posting over the next couple of weeks – Back Yard Fun. Because there are so many, I’ll break it up into groups

This first group is Humming Birds. We are lucky enough to have several humming birds this year (I’ve counted as many as 4 at one time). They’re pretty easy to get close to. I usually just pull out a chair and sit and wait. They always show up soon!

Here are a few:

This Week at the Lake – 21/52

/1 Comment/in , , , , , , /by

A very short week for me – I was traveling for work during most of the week. Unfortunately I was only able to visit Radnor Lake for 30-40 minutes on Friday.

I tried some different processing on the shot above, including adding textures. I think it turned out alright but I’m hoping for a much better week next week!

Here are some others I got:
This guy seemed to want his picture taken

A macro lens would be fun to use with these guys! There are tons of them at Radnor

My obsession with shallow DOF continues! I’ve also been converting more to black and white lately

Probably my favorite from this week – I like the simplicity and the light on the leaves.

So that’s all I managed in the short time I was there.

Thanks for looking!

Check out all the previous weeks by Clicking HERE

Don’t miss a week! Subscribe to this blog and you will receive an email every time I post something new!

This Week at the Lake – 20/52

/0 Comments/in , , , , , , , , , , /by

A little something different for my main post for Week 20. The first black and white photo that I’ve chosen to lead off with. I really liked the light and shadows in this – and of course I love that shallow depth of focus (dof). It may not be as popular as some of my others but it really clicked with me for some reason, probably one I will print.

Here are the other shots from Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday:

Monday

Help needed in identifying this bird! Please tell me if you know!
EDIT – Thanks to Matt Hansen for the ID! This is a Yellow Billed Cuckoo

For this one, I was really trying to get a “Deer in the Woods” look, not just a portrait. I think it turned out alright, something I will continue trying to get

Wednesday

Thanks to the nice couple on the bridge who helped my identify this as a Green Heron

Thursday

Friday

Wow, lots of photos this week!
Thanks for looking!

Check out all the previous weeks by Clicking HERE

Don’t miss a week! Subscribe to this blog and you will receive an email every time I post something new!

This Week at the Lake – 19/52

/4 Comments/in , , , , , , , , /by

Hope you like the new look here! I’ve been wanting a wordpress template that would put my photos on an all black background and I’ve finally found it! I think it looks much better now….

Week 19 has come and gone. This week I visited Radnor Lake on Wednesday (noon), Thursday (noon) and Friday (early morning).

Wednesday I used my lunch break from work to go to the lake. Usually when I do this, I have to set an alarm on my phone to tell me when to head back to the car. Well, on Wednesday, I was walking around shooting, finding owls and deer, off in my own little world. I remember thinking to myself “seems like I’ve been here a while but I must have more time – my alarm hasn’t gone off yet!”. Shortly after, I suddenly realize the phone is not in my pocket! I headed for the car as quick as I could. Finally I got to the car, there was my phone buzzing away! I had been there for about an hour and fifteen minutes (would still take almost fifteen minutes to get back to the office)! Yikes! Luckily no one was looking for me and I didn’t really miss anything important, I don’t even think anyone noticed…

The skies were great that day so I wanted to get a good lake-scape
This is the same spot that I got the images from for Week 13 and Week 16

I then headed to where I normally see the owls and sure enough…
(I think he’s trying to hide from me 🙂 )

(These are all the same owl)

Also while standing there (waiting for my alarm to ring!) I saw this fawn and her mother cross the path

On Thursday I headed to the lake despite the HOT temperatures (and made sure I had my phone with me)
It was so hot I decided I was not going to walk far or stay long. I parked at the west entrance this time and headed up the lake trail. I didn’t go very far and I came across another owl – I had never seen one in this part of the park before

On Friday, I was able to go early in the morning – getting there just after 6am. I was walking along the lake trail and had made it quite a ways without getting many pictures. I saw lots of deer but nothing was coming out right for me. It was so dark this morning because of hazy/cloudy skies that almost everything I took was blurry. The shutter speeds were 1/20, 1/40 (even at 800 ISO).

I was walking along the path and I heard a bunch of birds being very noisy. There was a small tree nearby with a canopy of branches right on the side of the trail. I ducked under the branches and looked up – there was a Barred Owl that was no more that 10 feet away! I took a couple shots before he was spooked by some people walking.
This is only at 70mm – quality is not that great because it was very dark under the tree. 1/20 shutter speed at f2.8

He flew to a nearby branch where I got a couple more shots before he left

I then started back towards the car. On the way back I saw another Doe with a Fawn. I did everything I could to get a decent shot of these two but nothing seemed to go right. I followed/stalked for at least a quarter mile.

I then watched them emerge from some brush and there was a second fawn. I don’t think it belonged to this doe because she walked off with the other fawn and this one stayed. He came very close to me at one point.

He then wandered off and I headed to the car.

Thanks for looking!

Check out all the previous weeks by Clicking HERE

Don’t miss a week! Subscribe to this blog and you will receive an email every time I post something new!

This Week at the Lake – 18/52

/1 Comment/in , , , , , , , , /by

Moving right along! Week 18 already….

I visited Radnor Lake on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.

Monday I was off work, so I took the kids to the zoo, after which we picked my wife up from work and headed to the lake. My son loves riding his bike so we brought it with us:

The kids enjoyed themselves, we were able to find deer, squirrels, birds, turtles and we even saw a couple owls!

On Tuesday I stopped by before heading to work. Along the path I found a fawn with, I presume, her mother

Heading back to the car, I got a flower shot. A Rose of Sharon, growing near the house on the dam walkway

The next day I again got to go before work. Arriving at 6 am I wandered up to the spillway bridge to take in the view of the lake from there. Noticed this Lightning Bug on the bridge railing

That’s some major depth of focus! Achieved by using a long focal length (180mm) and a wide open aperture (f2.8)

Further down the path I got another black and white deer portrait

This deer was walking along the path with everyone else!

Thanks for looking!

Check out all the previous weeks by Clicking HERE

Don’t miss a week! Subscribe to this blog and you will receive an email every time I post something new!

Cades Cove Round Two – The Wildlife

/2 Comments/in , , , , /by

Cades Cove Round One was for landscapes, Cades Cove Round Two is for wildlife! I was absolutely amazed at the amount of wildlife we saw in just the few short hours we were there.

This Week at the Lake – 17/52

/1 Comment/in , , , , , , , , , , /by

This Week at the Lake - 17/52
Can you believe that?! ( I paid her $20 to walk there!)

This was a great week at the lake. The weather has cooled some and it was so nice. I had Monday and Tuesday off work, Monday I went to Cades Cove and we came back home Monday evening. Since I already had Tuesday off work, I went to the lake! I got there about 6:15 am and was able to walk the entire loop – something I haven’t done in a long time.

I had a feeling I was going to see the same sun rays I saw in Week 15. I was right, as the sun started coming through the trees, the rays began to shine down. I spotted a few deer nearby and decided I was going to sit there until one crossed the path. It took about 20 minutes, but finally one did. I was shooting away as she watched me the entire time she crossed! I was so excited, I kept checking the viewfinder the rest of the hike to make sure it really happened!

Further along the trail I came up on some more rays:

I did see an owl that morning but could not get a good shot of him before he flew off.

I was sitting on the side of the road watching a Great Blue Heron when this little bird flew up. I’m not sure what type of bird he is and he didn’t stay long.

The Heron I was watching started flying away so I tried some in-flight shots. I followed him all the way back around to the spillway trail. Every time he flew away he just flew further down the trail so I met up with him again and again. I’m sure he was tired of me!

I had made the full loop now and saw that people were filming a commercial there were packing up (they were setting up when I first got there). They had a car waiting and Governor Phil Bredeson came walking out to get in.

You never know what you’ll see at Radnor Lake…..

Wednesday was so nice so I decided to go to the lake during my lunch break. I spotted this fawn sleeping on the edge of the lake

I sat and watched him for a while and he got up to stretch and laid back down.

I went on my lunch break again on Thursday. It was quiet there, I didn’t see much but it was still so nice. I did get this little bird just singing away…

On Friday, I was meeting the Nashville Photography Meetup Group Downtown at 7pm so I had some time after work. I headed to the lake and was able to walk the entire loop again.

A distorted self portrait 🙂

This deer was busy eating the duckweed

Here is a deer that came walking up to me and got so close! This shot is only at 100mm

This Week at the Lake – 16/52

/2 Comments/in , , , , , , , , , , /by

A similar shot to start this week off as last week – but I really liked it!

My week at the lake started on Tuesday, I set the alarm clock for 4:45 am so I could make it before work. The problem I face with that is that it’s too dark to really get any wildlife photos. I was able to get the sun coming down Otter Creek Rd:

And then I tried to get a shot of the mist/fog rising on the lake with the sunrise:

Also that morning I met big time Ashville, NC wedding photographer Corey McNabb. He was on his way back from a wedding in Memphis and stopped to get some bird photos at Radnor. We looked for the owls but were not able to find them that morning. Check out his site, he’s got some great photos.

Next I went Thursday morning. Thursday was a great day to watch the owls but again, it was so dark because it was early I couldn’t get any good shots. I saw 3 younger owls and one adult. I watched one of the younger owls pretend to hunt in the creek bed, picking up sticks and tossing them aside, fun to watch!
Here is one decent shot of a younger owl:

Thursday is also when I got the top post, with the sun rising just over camera right.
Also got this bird photo that morning:

Since the owls were so active in the morning, I went back at lunch hoping to still see them. I only saw one then but he was too far away.
I’m not sure what type of bird this is but he was very cooperative, posing for me while I was looking for the owls:

I also spotted this doe and fawn:

On the way back to the car, I got this: