A swarm of honey bees clustered on the high branch of a tree next to the bee yard. my Dad had to recover the bees, so it was interesting to watch. They settled about 60 feet up in the tree. As my Dad got into position in the tree to recover them, I was able to get some good shots of the group.

I was challenged with the extreme backlighting and dense leaf cover, but I was able to make do with the flash and better beamer.

My Dad was able to recover the bees, and they are spending the night in a temporary hive. All in all, it was interesting to see the whole process.

I was never able to get super close to these birds, but they will be here for a while so I should get at least a few more opportunities.

Before I left I spotted this Warbling Vireo as it fed in the tree top. Another cool bird with a very soothing song.

My favorite lens in my collection is by far the Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 VR Micro. This lens continues to be an extremely diverse lens that has produced some great images! I love shooting this lens at f/2.8, but for macro work, I often shoot it at f/8 which is the sweet spot of this lens. The images are just tack sharp and really engage the viewer. When you have a very colorful flower such as the Clematis pictured in the above photo, you can’t lose!

A real simple click. Macro lens at f/2.8 and I’m set!

Give this a look. Imagine owning this beast!

The Ruby-throated Hummingbirds have returned today! My Mom first spotted a male and female at the feeder, and then I spotted the male throughout the day. I went out and changed the nectar in the feeder and just leaned on the railing under the feeder. The male showed up and fed right over my head for an extended period of time. Once he left, I went in to grab my camera to see what I could get. I came out to see the male doing its courtship display to a Chipping Sparrow, not a female Hummingbird. Was he confused or just practicing? Who knows! I got a halfway decent photograph which is shown below.

I can’t wait to get my lens on them in the morning light. Hope they arrive at your house soon!

I finally got around to finishing up the processing on the shots from Saturday. This was by far the best shot I got of the Piping Plover. The catchlight makes the shot. You can compare this shot with the previous one to see just how important that catchlight really is.

I had 13 photographers attend my Shorebird Workshop yesterday evening. We were all able to make some pretty good images, despite the gale force winds and lack of birds. What birds there were, provided us incredible opportunities. When we got out onto the beach, I searched the shorelines for any birds. I was able to find 1 Piping Plover foraging in a small area. To my surprise, I was able to approach extremely close. I was disappointed that I didn’t get a catchlight, but was happy with the shot anyways.

I then received word from the rest of the group that a group of American Oystercatchers had been spotted down the beach. I got down there and sure enough, they were there! There was a nesting Piping Plover in the area, so we couldn’t approach the bird with the best lighting angle. I was still able to get some good side lit shots.

I hope that everyone who attended enjoyed the experience!

I did a photo shoot with a jar of honey for my Dad’s Honey Bee presentation coming up next week. I had the idea to set it up with a honey comb background. We placed the jar on a container that was covered by a white sheet. I then placed two speed lights off to the left and right. They were both shooting through a diffuser. I positioned the lights so that the honey would glow at the ends of the jars. Overall, I am pretty pleased with how it came out.

I’m always looking for new ways to tell the story of the lives of shorebirds. They are by far my favorite critter to photograph, and also the most challenging. Sure, I like to get that tight, full frame image of them, but it is the wide images that sometimes tell the story the best. When I can’t get close to birds, I go for the environmental portrait. My favorite subject to do this with is the Piping Plover. They are usually very skittish and don’t let you get very close. I was only able to obtain full frame images of these guys once. Because they are so small I like to make them a small part of the frame to convey their size to the viewer. This technique plus many more can be learned at my shorebird photography workshop coming up in 1 week.