Changing Blogs!!

Hi Friends!!
  I am in the process of changing blogs. please join me on my new blog.
My new Blog check it out!!! let me know what you think.  PS. please pardon the progress!!

Winter Ruddy Ducks!

   This shoot was too much fun!! I enjoyed photographing these ruddy ducks at the Savannah national wildlife refuge on new years eve. A little cool in the morning but the lighting brought some very unusual colors to the water.
These ducks were in there winter plumage and spent most of their time under the water eating the plant life which inhabits the bottom of the pond. I was set-up at this pond attempting to capture northern harriers in flight. Unfortunately, none came within range on this morning for a close shot.






Male Ruddy Duck in a ripple of pink and blues.



Female Ruddy Duck Swimming.


 Female Ruddy Duck with beautiful morning reflections.



Immature Cormorant in flight.

New Fine Art Gallery post!!!

Posted a new fine art gallery from the taking root gallery, called "Cypress fog" check it out and let me know what you think. The cypress fog gallery is now a limited print, fine art gallery.

Christmas Eve on The Beach!!

Tybee Island, Christmas Eve Morning. I made this photograph about 10 minutes before sunrise.
  It was a very cold and windy morning with the tide rolling in on the beach, leaving sea foam behind. A flock of pigeons kept wanting to be a part of this image but I had other plans and managed to keep them out of the image long enough to capture this shot. I had planned to capture the sun peaking over the horizon but was not able to because of a ship that rolled into the sunrise just as it peaked over the water.
  All sunrises are Absolutely beautiful, but on this morning I wanted to capture the essence of the bitter cold, clear, winter morning, from a little different angle than I have captured this beach before. I hope you enjoy viewing it as much as I enjoyed shooting it.
Let me know what you think!

Mobile Shots...Sands pond and the Ogeechee River

A Coke Bottle floats in Sands Pond Reservoir near Claxton,GA in Evens County. Funny thing is, the trash can was only a few yards behind me. Sickens me to see people who just don't care about our natural resources or local parks either. If you carry it in please carry it out, and if even if you didn't take it in but someone else did...take a minute and pick it up. I have too often traveled to what used to be a beautiful place to visit and photograph, only to find that litter has now scarred the landscape with countless cans, bottles, plastic and paper, thrown into the lakes and along the trails as if someone where expecting their mother to come along behind them and pick it up. Hey guess what!!! she's not!! so do everyone that cares a favor...pick up after yourself. I am sure that most who read this is as aggravated as I and would never throw trash away anywhere except where it belongs, but there are a lot of people who do it everyday.

Ogeechee River, Close to Pembroke,GA
Imagine this scene with cans ,bottles and trash...not pretty huh. Thank goodness the people that come here still care.

Green Backed Heron.

I was watching This green backed heron in flight on the other side of a pond that I was set up at, when all of a sudden he came straight towards me, I didn't pick him up in the viewfinder until he was right on top of me. When you get a lull in the action its easy to let your mind drift...he snapped me back really quick LOL.

Cattle Egret Overhead!!

While standing, watching, waiting, for the pair of bald eagles, this cattle egret flew overhead. The morning sunlight reflecting a soft gold off his wings was definitely a bonus.
Hidden by the marsh and switch grass, there were times that I became a landing pad..lol. Twice I had birds almost land on me before they even knew that I was there. Two wood-storks almost landed on my head before noticing that I was there.
It happened so fast that all I captured of this cattle egret was two frames..the one above and the second one that missed him altogether because I was shooting almost straight up.
This bird was in its winter plumage which is white, spring and summer their plumage starts to display yellow/orange colors on the head and breast area.

Morning Sunlight on a Lesser Egret in Flight

These Lesser Egret's, the smaller species of the Great Egret, are beautiful birds especially in flight, add a little early morning sunlight and you have a truly magnificent sight.
This bird flew right overhead just as the morning sun peeked over the trees.

"Into The Light"

Blue Heron in Early morning Flight

Blue Heron In Early Morning Flight #2

In case you haven't noticed, I have been on a coastal bird kick for about a month now.
I have been pursuing a pair of bald eagles for quiet some time and they seem to elude me on every outing. They are however, wild birds who have a very low tolerance to human presence. On this particular outing I was set up waiting for the eagle pair to make their magnificent entrance to the pond and while awaiting, a beautiful Blue Heron that was perched nearby, caught my attention.
The sun doesn't hit this particular spot until late morning so just as the sun started to shine through onto this beautiful bird, he took flight. I underexposed the image by a couple of stops and was able to create the blacked out background as I captured his astounding flight.
I Decided to use both exposures of this Bird Because they both show his beauty in flight so well. Let me know what you Think!!!

Autumn Stroll

A White-Tailed Doe takes an early morning stroll alone the edge of a algae covered pond in search for food. There were three other does with her that later came out behind her to feed. By that time the sun was beaming down directly upon them and there was no chance for an exposure that wasn't blown out.

Blue Heron sits a spell.

This Handsome fellow parked his rear end atop a pine tree on the opposite side of the pond from where I was set up, trying to capture the pair of bald eagles in action.
For the entire morning he stayed in this spot...just chilled and took it easy..more than likely he had already eaten his breakfast when he came in and perched on the pine tree. I love his colors..dark blue, blue/grey, and the flowing neck feathers.
The pine tops and pine cones seemed to make the composition complete.

Wood Stork Shows off his beautiful Wingspan!!

A wood stork shows off his beautiful wing span while catching a few rays of the morning sunlight at Skidaway Island. Savannah GA.

This is one of more images to come from this weeks bald eagle photo shoot.
This beautiful wood-stork came in just after daylight and perched on a dead tree to wait on fishing possibilities. when he flew in, the eagles had already left early and it was too dark to make an image. I continued to watch him as he put on a wonderful display while sunning in the morning light.
Unfortunately Mr baldy eluded me on every occasion. I was not able to capture the images that I thought would truly show the beauty of this gorgeous raptor up close and personal, but was able to capture images of other coastal birds in their habitat.
This pair of bald eagles are wild and not very tolerant of human presence,so it has been very hard to get into a position that will allow me to capture a really nice image of them. I still have a few tricks up my sleeve though..lol
I have been setting up and quietly getting into position on this pair every morning since Wednesday. Trying not to disturb their natural day to day routine, I sat up quietly before daylight at the bend of a large salt/fresh water pond where they have been roosting and fishing early in the morning. Two of the mornings were so cloudy that I was struggling to get enough light to get a decent image. One of the mornings they left the roost for parts unknown right at daylight, the last morning...same thing. I know that they were feeling my presence, so I decided not to continue on Sunday, I will give them the week and then try again in a different spot this coming weekend. The absolute worse thing that a wildlife photographer can do is to pressure an animal or bird into changing it's natural pattern of movement...when that happens you are too close.
More images to come!!

High Falls and Indian Springs late autumn images.

The intensity of the water rushing over the rocks and downstream really caught my eye in this image.


The Beauty and grace of this waterfall with surrounding forest color is what I was after here.


This watershed waterfall is water from Mcintosh Lake that flowed into a small basin.


Sheer power runs over this rock formation into the Towaliga River below.


All Three falls captured together with late autumn color accents in the background.


A more intimate view of a fall shows the beauty of the water patterns flowing over the rock formations.


Mcintosh Lake in Late afternoon sunlight with really nice clou formations.


Indian Springs Nature Trail in Autumn array. This image almost made me feel like I was wrapped up completely in the beauty of the forest.


I managed to arrive early afternoon for this shoot and the sun was still way too harsh to even think about shooting waterfalls, so Karen and I hit the trails at Indian springs first. The sun filtering through the canopy of the forest is always a beautiful sight to behold. and also allows for some great compositions. As the sun set farther in the west I was able to capture some really nice images of the falls at High Falls State Park in Jackson GA. If you have not visited this state park I would recommend doing so. It is very peaceful and different from most waterfall sights that I have seen that are in close walking distance.
I still have a few images that I cut as seconds that I may post later on. I will let you know if it happens..lol.
Please feel free to comment on these and all of my images. Let me know your favorites and what draws your attention to a particular image.

Almost There!!!

Look for images from the High Falls shoot coming soon!! I promise lol!!

High Falls State Park Trip!! (mobile shots)

Here are a few of the mobile shots and a video all taken by Karen on our High falls trip.
I am processing the images and will have them up as soon as possible.

White-Tailed Beauty

MAMA WITH HER FAWN. the fawn has lost all of her white spots they have now turned brown and faded. She will be mature enough to mother her own next year.


MAMA ON WATCH. Keeping a watchful eye as her young wanders away from her. Mom is not quite as nervous now that the fawn is now about 4 to 5 months old but she will still bolt alerting her young at the first hint of danger. I was on the other side of the pond in complete camo from head to toe, including camera, lens and tripod, but she still keep checking me out to make sure i wasn't a threat.


WAITING ON A WOMAN. This small rack eight-point buck came in shortly after the Doe and fawn left. The rut is in, and things are starting to get heated up in the woods of South Georgia. But here at Skidaway Island the buck to doe ratio is severely skewed towards the doe's so there isn't much of a rut in this area. As a matter of fact several people have even reported seeing newborns two to three weeks ago. that means the doe's will come into heat very late again.


CROSSING. This yearling doe decided to cross the pond instead of going around it. She crossed about 100 yards down from where I was set-up. I think this might be the one that came up behind me and spooked me lol...because it wasn't very long after she crossed until it happened.



This is a gallery very close to my heart. I have been a deer nut since I was knee high to a grasshopper lol. I have studied these animals for a number of years extensively. This gallery is a small part to make up the whole "The Elusive" Fine Art portfolio. I have been working on this for about a year now and when I have all the images that I want, the ones that will tell the story of this beautiful animal and its life journey, it will then be complete. Many, many hours of studying, stalking, patiently waiting, braving the weather, and at many times, not even seeing a single deer have helped and continue to help make this happen. I am looking forward to getting it finished so that I can share it with you.
Alot of the images in this gallery are of Doe's, I want to save the boyz lol until the portfolio is finished.
All of these images are of wild deer, most of which I was hunkered down in full camo for hours, and trying not to get winded in the process...one good sniff of human and seeee ya!!! they are outa there, off with their white tails a flagging all the while blowing and making a scene.

While I was set-up on one occasion, I had a doe sneak up right behind me and when I heard a noise and turned my head slowly she blew loudly and bolted...I think in that instance she spooked me worse that I did her lol.

Ducks a splashing!!!

Here we are!!! finally!! lol
Had a blast and was able to capture some great ..in the moment images of Hooded mergansers and a wood duck drake flying. They came in about 100 yards from me and I had to work my way towards them to get into range. I took video of the trip but because of technical difficulties(user error) I wont be able to show the footage...maybe next time. check out all of the duck images from this shoot at ducks

Hooded Merganser
Lophodytes cucullatus
Average length: M 18.1 in, F 17
Average weight: M 1.6 lbs, F 1.5 lbs

Description: The hooded merganser is the smallest of the three merganser species occurring in North America.
Breeding: Hooded mergansers breed from southeastern Alaska, central British Columbia and southwestern Alberta to southwestern Oregon, central Idaho and northwestern Montana; and from central Saskatchewan to Nova Scotia, south to Kansas, northern Louisiana and northern Georgia. Hooded mergansers prefer forested wetland systems, where they nest in tree cavities or nest boxes and lay an average of 9-11 eggs.

Migrating and Wintering: Of the three species of mergansers occurring in North America, the hooded merganser is the only one restricted to the continent. Forested wetlands, brackish estuaries and tidal creeks are preferred wintering habitats. Hooded mergansers winter along the Pacific, Atlantic, and Gulf coasts, mainly from southeastern Alaska to northern Baja California, and New England to Florida and west to northern Mexico. The majority of wintering hooded mergansers occur in the Mississippi Flyway.

Population: Hooded mergansers are most common in the Great Lakes region and current information suggests a stable, possibly increasing population in some areas. However, data on population size and status are tenuous due to the secretive nature of this species. Historically, populations likely suffered from habitat loss.

Feeding Habits: Hooded mergansers dive in fresh water to feed on small fish, crayfish and other crustaceans and aquatic insects.
Parts of Duck Information Used from DUCKS UNLIMITED

Duck shoot a wrap for this week!!

Here are some mobile pics of the duck shoot this weekend... I hope to have the images processed and up this week.
It was a very good weekend...lots of wildlife showed up at my location, got some great captures. The Hooded Mergansers were in the pond where I was at and white-tailed deer also showed up to lend a hand. beautiful mornings added to the compositions and mood...it was awesome! This is why I do what I do, for days like this weekend. Sitting in a tick infested swamp in 30 degree weather with a camera and tripod is most likely not on most peoples to do list. But when I reap the pleasure's of watching the sun rise over the water and treetops, having a bald eagle swoop down for the kill as it skims the water for fish right over my head, and watching as a doe cleans her yearling's face or Merganser drakes fight over a popular female in the group, I know that this is God's work and I am blessed to be in the moment...knowing that this is where I am supposed to be...priceless.

DUCKS!!!!

My crude blind set-up last Saturday and
Some mobile shots of last weekend.
I hope to be setting up on ducks this weekend.....pintails and a few woodducks are coming in at skidaway and harris neck....haven't decided yet where to go. This is a part of an ongoing duck portfolio that I am working on...I will be working on this and the elusive portfolio for a while .....getting great opportunity but not the moments I want to capture....patience. and hard work...lol

Cypress Fog Gallery is on the web-site!!!

Maybe one of my favorite color with fog images that I have captured to date!! The morning was perfect...cool, heavy fog rolled across the lake onto the colorful cypress trees...fog just makes compositions happen.