Posted by bill meikle on November 22, 2006 at 11:29 PM
I was just down at Bosque and there are a lot of birds as usual, the cornfield that the snow geese use is cut close to the road so its possible to get interesting pics of thousands of geese taking off and landing very close to the road, like blotting out the entire sky!
Lots of other folks there too of course and several workshops including Art Morris. Later the birds might be further away, weather was good too.
Bill
http://www.billmeikle.com
Posted by Dan Walters on November 23, 2006 at 7:27 PM
Great image! I need to head down there.
Posted by Joseph Finn on November 23, 2006 at 11:15 PM
I really like this shot, well done.
Posted by bill meikle on November 24, 2006 at 12:29 PM
This is what the geese look like when disturbed (not by me!), actually the noise is the most amazing thing!
They pooped on my car too!
Bill
Posted by Mike Krehbiel on November 24, 2006 at 12:58 PM
It's an interesting year at the Bosque. They've changed a few of the ponds around. You're right about the crowds. I was there on 10/26 and was the only one there. I spent several hours with a few Western Grebes. Then I was there again on 11/10 and the crowds were amazing! We tried to get some similar closeups of the Grebes as I had gotten two weeks previously but the constant traffic (foot traffic in this case) kept them quite a bit further away. When I get home from work I'll try to remember to post a shot. Hope to get there this weekend again. Regarding Art Morris, he will be speaking at the Albuquerque Enchanted Lens Camera Club meeting this coming Thursday (11/30) if anyone is interested.
Posted by Rick Dunn on November 24, 2006 at 6:24 PM
Nice work, Bill. I really like the first one. The second one makes me think that you should really have an umbrella handy when shooting down there.
Posted by Mike Krehbiel on November 24, 2006 at 7:35 PM
Here's the shot of the Western Grebe from the Bosque that I mentioned above. I also posted a different Bosque view in the ESS gallery.
Posted by bill meikle on November 24, 2006 at 7:49 PM
Art Morris and his group were there and probably a bunch of other workshops. I've never seen so many 500/4 lenses, Gitzo tripods, Wimberly's, not to mention people, shoulder to shoulder on the flight deck!
Art seemed to have his group shooting the sunset crane landings just off the road near the first pulloff north of the reserve, but that's a secret OK, just between us!
Bill
Posted by Chuck Peacock on November 24, 2006 at 9:46 PM
Love the silhouette with both cranes and geese. The layers of hills (with morning mist?) in the background are a big plus IMO - neat effect.
Posted by Bill Pelzmann on November 24, 2006 at 11:45 PM
Art seemed to have his group shooting the sunset crane landings just off the road near the first pulloff north of the reserve
Is there still water in the ponds north of the reserve? I had heard they were planning to drain those ponds this year. Last January I found those ponds to be the best morning and evening locations.
Very nice silhouette shot !
Posted by bill meikle on November 25, 2006 at 11:12 AM
Bill, I think the ponds you are referring to are drained. There is water around the central drive and around the flight deck of course. Nothing North of that that I saw, I was only there one day though. I did take around 2000 shots! oops.
Bill
http://www.billmeikle.com
Posted by bill meikle on November 25, 2006 at 11:21 AM
Nice Grebe Mike. Lots of Pintail ducks around too, nice mature bald eagle, red tailed hawks, harriers, herons, coots.
Chuck it was a misty morning, very nice effect.
This shot shows the shoulder to shoulder on the flight deck, it was like this an hour before sunrise! Frost on the boards early on too!
Bill
Posted by bill meikle on November 25, 2006 at 11:39 AM
And this shot shows the hazy morning it was. There are more pics on my website, I had a great day and it was warm too.
Bill
http://www.billmeikle.com
Posted by Don Grall on November 25, 2006 at 11:56 AM
Nice shots, Bill. I'm leaving this coming Thursday for a few days down there. Will be camping in the back of my 4runner as usual.
Don
Posted by bill meikle on November 25, 2006 at 7:29 PM
Hope you have a good trip Don, it only took me about 8 hours to get there from Ft Collins but I only stopped once. Where do you park when you sleep in the car?? I'm curious. Campsites?
I learned a lot about how to shoot steady shots with long lenses, and about making sure the camera settings are as you want them before you start! Also there is no doubt that dawn and dusk are the best times, during the day the geese are pretty white and exposure is a problem. Finding a spot where the cranes land towards you is another challenge, have fun. We had clear skies and warm temps, maybe clouds would have been better,
Discussion
14 repliesLots of other folks there too of course and several workshops including Art Morris. Later the birds might be further away, weather was good too.
Bill
http://www.billmeikle.com
They pooped on my car too!
Bill
Art seemed to have his group shooting the sunset crane landings just off the road near the first pulloff north of the reserve, but that's a secret OK, just between us!
Bill
Is there still water in the ponds north of the reserve? I had heard they were planning to drain those ponds this year.
Very nice silhouette shot !
Bill
http://www.billmeikle.com
Chuck it was a misty morning, very nice effect.
This shot shows the shoulder to shoulder on the flight deck, it was like this an hour before sunrise! Frost on the boards early on too!
Bill
Bill
http://www.billmeikle.com
Don
I learned a lot about how to shoot steady shots with long lenses, and about making sure the camera settings are as you want them before you start! Also there is no doubt that dawn and dusk are the best times, during the day the geese are pretty white and exposure is a problem. Finding a spot where the cranes land towards you is another challenge, have fun. We had clear skies and warm temps, maybe clouds would have been better,
Bill