November 28, 2018 — Baylands, Sunnyvale, California On Thanksgiving morning — a year ago — she and I took a walk on the levees to see what we could see. I had The Beast (Nikon D500 with 200-500mm lens — all eight pounds of it) in case we saw birds. And we did. I posted it on my brand new blog. The past Thanksgiving we took the same walk with the same camera. And again, […]
November 27, 2019 — Santa Cruz Mountains, looking west Wind Advisory. Surf Advisory. Storm Advisory: Signs pointed to good for photography. Taken on the way back from the coast. The coast itself? Stay tuned. (Nikon D500, Tamron 100-400mm f/4.5-6.3 Di VC USD. RAW processing in DxO PhotoLab 3.0; Editing in Adobe Photoshop.)
November 10, 2019 — Wright’s Lake, California Whatever it is, it feels no pain and it never cries. It spends a lot of time reflecting. What do you do when you go out on your first shoot in several weeks and you’re not satisfied with your take? You crop ruthlessly and improvise in post-processing. (Nikon D500, Tamron 100-400mm f/4.5-6.3 Di VC USD. RAW processing in DxO PhotoLab 3.0; Editing in Adobe Photoshop.)
December 8, 2018 — Point Reyes National Seashore Mr. Red Tail sat on a rock about fifty yards down a ravine, in perfect view but with his back to the camera. I waited. And waited. With scant warning he took flight, heading out to sea before turning a tight one-eighty and coming right at me. No. Not at me. At his next perch. He picked his spot. Flared. And grabbed his rock. He gave me […]
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, […]
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 […]
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.)
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 […]
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 […]
…different take on the same original image. Some images lend themselves to many interpretations. I’m sure the rose herself had no idea she was so adaptable. (Nikon D850, AF-S Micro NIKKOR 105mm f/2.8. RAW processing in DxO PhotoLab 2.3; Editing in Adobe Photoshop.) More fine art photography at www.amagaphoto.com
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
August 24, 2009. Chase Lake, New York. I arose early in hopes of capturing some loons. No loons. Mist. (Canon 40D; Canon EF 24-105 f/4L. Editing in Adobe Photoshop.)
A volunteer poppy at Filoli, easily as arresting as anything in the manicured gardens. Thanks to Oliver for the push. Not motion this time, but depth. (Nikon D850; Nikon 28-300 f/3.5-5.6G Zoom. RAW processing in DxO PhotoLab 2.2; Editing in Adobe Photoshop.) More fine art photography at www.amagaphoto.com
