Canada Geese

The geese had left a public pond and started feeding in an old field that used to be planted in corn. I was concentrated on the ones that were preening and stretching their wings in the afternoon sunlight when I looked over and saw three sitting down in the grass taking it easy...had to get the image ...beautiful birds!! Beautiful setting!!

King of the jungle!!

I captured this image of a beautiful African male Lion in captivity.
He used to be the man!!, King of the jungle!!, until an injury forced him to give up his reign as king. He was taken into captivity to be given medical attention and remains there because the caretakers feel if they released him back into the wild it would be certain death. He would no longer be accepted into the pride.

(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
"Lions live for ten to fourteen years in the wild, while in captivity they can live longer than twenty years. In the wild, males seldom live longer than ten years, as injuries sustained from continual fighting with rival males greatly reduce their longevity. They typically inhabit savanna and grassland, although they may take to bush and forest. Lions are unusually social compared to other cats. A pride of lions consists of related females and offspring and a small number of adult males. Groups of female lions typically hunt together, preying mostly on large ungulates. Lions are apex and keystone predators, although they scavenge as opportunity allows. While lions do not typically hunt humans, some have been known to do so.
Wild lions currently exist in Sub-Saharan Africa and in Asia with a critically endangered remnant population in Gir Forest National Park in India, having disappeared from North Africa and Southwest Asia in historic times.
The lion is a vulnerable species, having seen a possibly irreversible population decline of thirty to fifty percent over the past two decades in its African range. Lion populations are untenable outside designated reserves and national parks. Although the cause of the decline is not fully understood, habitat loss and conflicts with humans are currently the greatest causes of concern. Lions have been kept in menageries since Roman times and have been a key species sought for exhibition in zoos the world over since the late eighteenth century. Zoos are cooperating worldwide in breeding programs for the endangered Asiatic subspecies".

I could see the longing for the wild in this lion's eyes, a chance to relive younger days perhaps, as he lay gazing off into the walls that are now his home and safety from the outside world.

as the clouds roll in!!

Clouds can make some very beautiful shapes!!! They are a wonderful work of art from God, The master himself!

Mr Osprey finally shows himself !!

An osprey is capable of reaching speeds of about 40 miles an hour while flying. They are primarily fish hunters and will dive straight down into the water toward their prey, reaching speeds of nearly 80 mph! Just before hitting the water they pull up, plunging in talons first, the unlucky fish that ventured too close to the water's surface has no warning.


Finally!!! after a lot of long hours and hard work I finally managed to get him to pose for me close enough to get a nice composition. It happened about 4:30 Sunday afternoon...I waited for the rain to clear out and set up a about four hours prior to this. he made a high pass earlier circling the river for fish then left. I had all but given up hope and was preparing to leave for the afternoon when he came out of nowhere... I only had seconds to respond...wow!!! it was exciting!!!

White-tailed gossip!!

These two girls were feeding side by side then all of a sudden they looked to be involved in some sort of gossip. Their darker color is starting to come in for the winter-time.

New fall images from the smokey mountains!!!

Here is just a couple of the new images on the website in the Mountain Bliss Portfolio!!! Ck it out!!! click on the first photo...it will take you to the website light room...click on the photo again and it will take you to the portfolio that these photos are in.



This past weekend I was at Townsend Tennessee shooting the fall colors....the colors were not in peak yet....a little late this year..east Tennessee had a dry spell that caused a lot of it's leaves to fall before time but it was still breathtaking as always. There are a few more images from this shoot to come.

Smokey mountain shoot

couple of mobile pics from the trip so far.
Always beautiful up here...but this year it has been dry on the east side of Tennessee so the leaves are falling way too fast, there is not a lot of color popping at this time..two to three weeeks most all of the leaves will have fallen. Still I managed to get some nice compositions of sunset color on the mountains so far. Going back up the mountain to shoot the sunrise this morning...then off to Cades Cove..then down to North Carolina... then on the way home. Plans are changing quickly because off heavy traffic. We got caught up in a traffic jam for almost an hour yesterday afternoon headed to newfound gap...had to turn around.

Coastal images (weekend shoot)

These twisted limbs of trees which make up the awesome driftwood at driftwood beach is over 100 years old....amazing shapes...absolutely breathtaking to see in person... I captured this image late afternoon on Sunday.



Incoming tide brings the foam on the shore in this image.



I saw these footprints at low tide...shot them at an angle approaching the camera so that the (viewer) gets to see what the person leaving the footprints is leaving behind... per the Title; never looking back.



I was set up for these next images to shoot ducks coming into the pond... but the fog set in so thick that I was unable see, much less try focus on anything flying..so I made the best of the situation and captured what I think are some images the shows real "mood".

Weekend shoot ...Had a blast!!!

Back from the shoot this weekend....Three different Places!!!
Most of Saturday morning was too foggy to even think about shooting flying ducks...but I managed to capture the beauty of the fog over the pond where I was set up. This morning I busted two deer on the way to a ground blind or hide.. but saw a couple of turkey hens just after daylight...Driftwood beach this afternoon was nice...sky very clear ...not what I had hoped for but still managed to capture some nice images. hope to have these up in a few days!!!

Live Free or Die Free"

One of the most incredible and beautiful animals in the world, in my opinion, is the Grizzly or Brown Bear. These images were taken of a Grizzly Boar (Male) in a captive situation. After reading the comments this particular organization had to say about their love for conservation and the reason for having this bear in captivity I decided research was definitely necessary. This bear was said to have been orphaned by its mother, so it was brought to this location for it's protection. I do understand what they claim to be trying to accomplish. Better understanding animals helps us to better understand their needs, therefore leads to better habitat enhancement and conservation methods. But I have to ask...at what cost? Does it really help the animal to remove it from the wild for any reason? or is it better to let nature take it's course. They seem to have some legitimate reasons for doing this on very special occasions...but what about all the organizations...including some Zoo's who seem to be getting rich at the expense of an animals life or freedom to live wild. Who continue to expand because of new animals captured. There are organizations who do this except they release the animals back into the wild. They are monitored until they know the animal is able to live wild on it's own again. If you really care about wildlife take a few minutes to look into this. I am not trying to place blame here....just trying to get those of us who care to think about it...Please comment on this post..I would really like to know how others feel about this!!!

"Sunset After The Storm"

This sunset Image was taken Just after a heavy rain storm in South Carolina at a wildlife refuge which is home to many different species of coastal birds, ducks,and alligators.

weekend Shuffle!!

I plan to visit Skidaway Island Saturday Morning..this is somewhat of a scouting trip for white-tailed deer and Ducks that will be entering the ponds in the next couple of weeks. I plan to set up early next to one of the ponds to see if I can catch the deer coming across to the main forest. also to watch for any duck movement that might be starting in the area.


Sunday morning I plan to shuffle things around a little and sit in the blind on the pine branch properties for White-Tailed Deer.
Sunday afternoon I plan to be at Jekyll Island For a birding scout trip and landscape shoot.... BUSY WEEKEND!!

Equipment breakdown !!!!

Well I guess it was bound to happen... A first for me with Canon cameras. Shooting Flying wood storks next to a Bluff. Perfect set-up...perfect lighting....perfect weather...yep, my brand new Canon 7D decides to take the weekend off. First I noticed the AF went haywire...would not focus in AL SERVO with single AF point...then I did not notice until I put the raw images up in photo pro that even though I was shooting an ISO of 400 it looked like I was shooting 6400. GRAINY..lots of noise...not one single image from this weekend was salvageable. Camera is on its way to the Canon repair shop in Virginia, they said they will take care of the problem and have it back within a couple of weeks. looking forward to that. of course I have other cameras but the 7D is supposed to be a Auto focus king. it is a super fast camera..lightweight...and quiet. looking forward to getting it back on the job.