All posts tagged: Nature

Switzerland, August 12: Stormy — Redux

September 7, 2019
by Michael Scandling
comments 17
Inspiration / Landscape / Monochrome / Nature / Photo Log / Photography / Switzerland

August 12, 2019; Northwest of Locarno, Switzerland — September 6, 2019; Silicon Valley. It was a turbulent night. I awoke at 4:00 a.m. and stared at the ceiling, thinking, “it’s too dark.” But it wasn’t the ceiling I was thinking of. It was the image I’d just posted on the blog afew hours earlier. And there were other things too: Was the foreground too severe? Does it focus the viewer’s attention enough? The tones, tones, […]

Switzerland, August 11: Bucket-List Shot

August 28, 2019
by Michael Scandling
comments 31
Landscape / Photo Log / Photography / Switzerland

August 11, 2019; East end of Stellisee, Switzerland. Think of Switzerland and you think of the Matterhorn. Probably when you think of a mountain you think of something like the Matterhorn. The quintessential mountain. And this is the quintessential shot between two rocks at the end of the lake. The Stellisee is about ten miles — line of sight — from the Matterhorn. People line up to get their shot from this exact spot. This […]

Switzerland August 7: Wildlife

August 24, 2019
by Michael Scandling
comments 39
Nature / Photo Log / Photography / Switzerland / Wildlife

August 7, 2019; Brienz, Switzerland. Shortly after our arrival in Brienz, Oliver took a few of us on a walk to Wildpark Brienz. Two of the species shown here are native to Switzerland. One is not. Your guess. Chamois Common Blue Butterfly Blue Hairstreak Snowy Owl (Nikon D500, Tamron 100-400 f/4.5-6.3 Di VC USD zoom. RAW processing in DxO PhotoLab 2.3; Editing in Adobe Photoshop.)

Around the Neighborhood 3: Roberta

July 19, 2019
by Michael Scandling
comments 38
California / Photo Log / Photography / Wildlife

July 13, 2019, Back Deck. Roberta was born about two years ago and we’ve been watching her grow since she was a kitten. She comes around every six weeks or so, patrols the yard, and moves on. Sometimes she looks inside and watches us. More often she gives the house a wide berth. Last week she walked by about thirty feet away, heading for the steps on the deck. I grabbed the beast, confirmed that […]

Around the Neighborhood 2: Red-Tailed Hawk

July 17, 2019
by Michael Scandling
comments 28
California / Hawk / Photo Log / Photography / Wildlife

July 11, 2019, Just down the street. Red-tailed hawks have lived in my neighborhood for years but they have been stubbornly elusive when I’m out with a camera. One day last week I went out to get the mail and I heard hawk cries nearby. Several different voices. I looked up, into a tree and there they were. Three of them. I dashed inside and got the beast — eight pounds of camera body and […]

New Zealand Wildlife 4: Birds

June 29, 2019
by Michael Scandling
comments 17
Nature / New Zealand / Photo Log / Photography / Wildlife

July 1 and 2, 2018, Near Waipara, New Zealand. We were staying in a remote location near the Greystone Winery. Our trip was nearing the end and I was losing hope of getting a good shot of my favorite New Zealand bird: the New Zealand fantail — the Maori names being Pīwakawaka, Tīwakawaka, or Piwaiwaka. The trouble was, being insectivores, they were in constant darting motion playing “you can’t catch me,” which made them very […]

New Zealand Wildlife 3: Juvenile Delinquent Sea Lion

June 27, 2019
by Michael Scandling
comments 15
Nature / New Zealand / Photo Log / Photography / Wildlife

June 28, 2018, Otago Peninsula, New Zealand. This is a bonus post. A few minutes before yesterday’s shots were made, this bigshot chased us off the beach. Tony told us this guy had been troublesome at times and had chased several people away. He told us to run if he started chasing. Run fast. New Zealand sea lions can sprint 26 kmh. (16 mph.) My wife got the lead shot before he decided to mess […]

New Zealand Wildlife 2: Yellow-Eyed Penguins

June 25, 2019
by Michael Scandling
comments 29
New Zealand / Photo Log / Photography / Wildlife

June 28, 2018, Otago Peninsula, New Zealand. A one-day tour of Otago is like going to a gourmet restaurant, having the amuse bouche, and leaving — but there we were, and we were going to get everything out of our day that we could. Tony said it was very important that we get to the beach by 3:45. “Why?” “Because that’s when the penguins come home from work.” “Oh. Really? 3:45? Exactly?” “Within a very […]

Throwback Thursday: Through the Mists of Time

May 9, 2019
by Michael Scandling
comments 33
Landscape / Photo Log / Photography / Throwback Thursday / Waterfall

November 22, 2007, 2:03 p.m. Multnomah Falls, Columbia River Gorge, Oregon. We were visiting our sister-in-law’s sister in Portland for Thanksgiving. In that household’s tradition, complementing the turkey was a board of barbeque so nuanced that only years of practice can produce such a fine result. The feast lasted for hours. That plus a welcoming group of people would have been more than adequate, But I had more. In addition to the customary seasonal gratitude, […]

Point Reyes 3: Silence

May 4, 2019
by Michael Scandling
comments 25
California / Inspiration / Photography / Point Reyes / Seascapes

All you can hear is the breeze, the waves, the birds. Silence promotes calm. Calm brings about refection and realization. Recognized many times before but confirmed through repetition: Although there are those who try to create chaos in the world, it’s up to me to decide whether I want to respond in kind or to disagree with an automatic knee jerk and maintain my own conviction that the basic good in the majority of people […]

Point Reyes 1: Some Creatures Great and Small

April 30, 2019
by Michael Scandling
comments 40
California / Nature / Photo Log / Photography / Wildlife

Friday, April 26, 2019. Point Reyes Peninsula. One of the best things about living in the San Francisco Bay Area is that no matter where you are, you’re not far from nature. This is a place where you can finish your morning chores and still make it to Point Reyes for an afternoon of hiking and photography, have supper at the Inverness Park Tap Room, and be home at a reasonable hour. We went for […]