I Keep Going Back!

Over the last three years, I've gone numerous times to the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge just outside of Brigham City. I have gone at least twice each of the last few years to observe the fall and spring migrations that stop along the wetlands that surround the Great Salt Lake. It has a tremendous diversity of birds. Sparrows, Water fowl, raptors... it's an amazing and peaceful trip. Well, of course my camera is ALWAYS co-pilot on trips to the refuge. I do have to say that it has gotten easier to shoot and I better understand the surroundings, the wildlife and even my camera.

I used my Nikon D300 (which I hope to replace with newly-announced D600) and also used my Sigma 120-400mm f/4.5-5.6 zoom lens. I've written about it before, but I think it's worth mentioning again. It does have an image stabilizer in it, but I feel that it performs a lot better with it off. I feel like I get a higher number of sharper images, which is what I want when I'm investing a lot of time and effort into such an endeavor.

My tips for getting good photos here? Drive along the tour route slowly. Keep your eyes peeled! Get out and walk around quietly. Talk to the rangers at the visitor center and on the refuge. Sit and wait, let the birds come to you. Additionally, use the Web site, and call ahead. Find out when the birds are active... when they're moving around and looking for food. This is usually going to be early morning, but you get dramatic lighting and a lot movement. Nothing new... but it does work.

Panorama with my 50mm

For the last several years, I have been delving into the world of panorama photography. The main lens I have used has been the Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 . This is an amazing lens, and you can get broad-sweeping panoramas with it at 14mm. However, lately, I have been using my 50mm f/1.8 . While I have been very unhappy with this lens' performance in a studio setting, it has served me well in landscape photography.

Below are a couple of the panoramas that I recently shot with my 50mm lens. Immediately below is a petroglyph that can be found on the McConkie Ranch outside of Vernal, Utah. I was just several feet away when I snapped this panorama. It's a 60-photo, 49-degree (FOV) HDR panorama. Just a side note: It's a quick trip to the ranch from Vernal, and it's a great place to see ancient rock art, if you're into the natural history gambit. I am.

The next pano I shot was of Independence Monument, located in Colorado National Monument. This gem of park can be found just outside of Grand Junction, Colo. While I was a few feet away from the rock art, I was several hundred feet back from the rock monuement. Both are panoramas but the distance from camera to subject make for a dramatic difference in the photo composition.

To see what I use to shoot my panoramas, go... here!

Photographer's Deja Vous!

I took this photo of Norwegian speed skater Mikael Larsen at the Olympic Oval in Kearns, Utah, on Jan. 21, 2012:

Apparently, three years earlier, I took this photo as well (cue the Twilight Zone theme):

Same skater, skating for the same country, shot by the same photographer, using the same equipment... only the date has changed!!