And the Rains Came

(November 30th) South Texas in the Rio Grande Valley region is a very dry place, the scrub bordering on desert. But I seemed to have arrived in time for a major rain storm. If the forecast is to be believed, the rain will keep up for two days straight. Rain is not really a problem for wildlife photography - a little bit of it is often great for soft light and the animals don't mind. But this deluge was hard, forcing most things to hunker down and the light was virtually non-existant. But I'm here, so I tried to take photographs at Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, a great spot right on the Rio Grande. This White-tipped Dove was one of the better images created.

I could tell the images were bad as I took them, and when I looked at the files my worries were confirmed. But still it was good to be out in nature and I did some some great birds. The ducks seemed unphased by the weather, and this male Gadwall was a fine example. Perhaps most importantly, I had an idea that I wanted to try out for tomorrow which was sure to be another downpour.

A Day of Raptors

(November 29th) After making the long drive down and staying at a great hotel on San Padre Island, I woke up early to drive out to Laguna Atascosa NWR. Last year I had great luck out at Laguna Atascosa - waterfowl, raptors, songbirds, tortoises, mammals, etc. I was planning on coming back a day, so my main goal was to make sure I found the best places to be. It was a little bit later and a heck of a lot drier than last time. What was ponds and marsh when I last was here, was now dry fields so all the waterfowl were out in the bay, but most of the other wildlife was present in abundance. I saw my first amphibian in Texas - a Rio Grande Leopard Frog - a new species for me. I also ran into several osprey, including this one who was eating a fish. It flew around for a short while when it saw me, then landed again on the mudflats to finish eating after it decided I was not a threat.

I headed to a small lake to see what it might bring. I wound up seeing a sight I had never seen before. I've seen some American Avocets before, but usually solo individuals or a few at a time. Here there was a large flock of around 50 birds. The whole flock was in a tight formation all feeding together - like an army on the march. A few terns were even following the group and diving after the fish they scared. Maybe it's a common behavior on their wintering grounds, but it was new to me.

As I drove around some more, I was in for a few treats. Laguna Atascosa is always full of Loggerhead Shrikes and these little spitfires are great fun to watch. One of the highlights was a White-tailed Kite. I noticed that the wind was really gusting and it was using the wind to pretty much hover as it scoured the land for prey. I moved up ahead of it and waited for the wind to bring it to me. When it reached me, it hovered directly over me at a pretty low height just watching me for a few seconds before continuing on its hunt. To me, it's one of our most pretty hawks.

There were more raptors waiting for me. An American Kestrel perched up nicely near the road, but in the wrong direction for the sun. I found a Harris's Hawk perched atop one of the large bushes. This bold hawk you can only find in Texas and Arizona. They seem to love Laguna Atascosa and I always see a few here. The light was great, but I didn't have the best angle on this hawk.

The best treat of the day was as I was driving back to the hotel. Just off the refuge I ran into one of the birds I was most hoping to find - the highly endangered Aplomado Falcon. This falcon has a wide range and is common down in South America, but it became extirpated in the U.S. back in the 1950s. It has been introduced in Texas and it is a great sight to see. Of course, I saw the falcon when there was virtually no light left as the sun was setting. With a little bit of flash magic and thanks to the falcon being extremely cooperative, I was able to pull off a few shots using the car as a blind. All in all, it was decent day of photography and I witnessed some wonderful things - in the length of this blog, I only had the opportunity to describe about a quarter of the wildlife I saw.

Down to Texas

(November 28th) Last year one of my favorite places to photograph was the Rio Grand Valley area. It was so productive and there were so many more photos I wanted from the area that I had to go back. South Texas has some of the most amazing birds, butterflies, and reptiles around. I tried to do it a little different this year. I timed it about a month later to hit what I heard was the peak in butterflies. Also, since Northwest/Delta no longer flies to Brownsville, I flew into San Antonio and drove down the coast. Part of the plan was to hit some new locations as well. The first stop was Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, famous worldwide as the wintering spot for the severely endangered Whooping Crane. Sure enough I saw a pair, but little more than specks about half a mile in the distance with no way to approach. As a whole, Aransas was a bit of a let-down with not much around when I was there. I did photograph my first Le Conte's Sparrow, but the pictures were very bad. My best shots were of an old favorite of mine, the Northern Mockingbird.

Aside from the cooperative mockingbird, I tried for a short time to photograph some secretive marsh wrens, but they mostly toyed with me. The rain started to come down for a while too. I found a mother American Alligator who was standing guard over a large clutch of maybe 20 or so young offspring. The little guys are quite cute and climb all over each other. For one brief moment the rain let up and the sun just barely peaked through, lighting up this juvenile. Considering I had a long 6+ hour drive ahead of me and that it was getting later in the morning and the wildlife was uncooperative, I decided to hit the road to Rio Grande Valley which I knew to be a sure hit.

Thanksgiving Means Feast, Fun, and Family

(November 26th) Thanksgiving is definitely one of my favorite holidays and one I cherish greatly. What can be better than spending time with family and eat some excellent food? Not much that I can think of. This year was relatively quiet with my parents and a great spread of food. That's one of my favorites, turnips, up front.

Crisp Fall Day

(October 18th) Today was a gorgeous day, so I headed out to see what I could find. Possibly there would be some migrating songbirds, but at least there would be some fall color. I struck out on the migrants, but there was a lot of color, mostly yellows.

There also was an odd thistle still blooming. Not quite sure if it had gotten the hint that snow would soon be here. Anyway, I took the opportunity to admire its thorny beauty.

Some of the trees were full of ripe berries. These would provide food for creatures in the upcoming cold months. For now they gave extra color.

The biggest surprise was a Eastern Garter Snake out taking advantage of one of the last days warm enough for it. It was in the darnedest of places and I was lying on my belly two feet away for the shot. I kept waiting for it to come out of the brush, but after all my waiting, it just turned and went in deeper. I would have liked much more depth of field, but the background got even more distracting as I pulled in more of the snake.

Not Much Time for Goodbyes

(October 2nd) I had come to the end of my trip to Phoenix City. I spent a total of two days and two half days here and had a great time. I was to have a long bus ride ahead of me, complete with a breakdown in rural China. But first I had one last morning in town. Most of it was occupied with buying souvenirs for family and friends and as usual bargaining for our transportation back - it didn't leave much time for taking pictures. I pressed the shutter about 25 times total. Considering I take at least two shots of everything and I have an itchy trigger finger, it wasn't much at all. We had some delicious noodles for breakfast and I started out with my favoirte food composition from the trip.

We did make a stop at one last museum. It was quite crowded in the museums today. Many Chinese touriests travel in big groups. They have a guide with a big flag and megaphone and the whole group wears the same hat or shirt. When a group or two come into one of these small buildings, it is immediately full. This building was filled with some amazing artwork on its inner walls. The kids didn't seem to notice though.

Inside the rooms, there were large collections of artifacts, sculptures, paintings, and calligraphy. I got a kick out of some of the stone figures.

In a brief moment between tour groups I was able to fire off a shot in the courtyards. Here there was a cart that is used by couples when they marry. I guess it is the ancient China equivalent of the wedding limousine. It was a sad farewell to my short stay in Phoenix City, but Fenghuang will always stand out in my mind as a beautiful mix of old and new China.

Phoenix City at Night

(October 1st) In the late afternoon, the light really began to come out in Fenghuang. About half of the town is on one side of the river, and the other half across the other side. There are two main bridges to cross, one is for foot traffic only. My favorite way to cross by far is not to use the bridges but these blocks that span the river. There are two sets of different height and you cross by moving from one to another. Of course there are often people moving in both directions so making space to pass adds to the fun. Some people get a bit nervous and can't make it across, but I had a great time and would make excuses just to cross.

With the pass we purchased to visit all of the museums in town, we also were granted passage on the river boats. Grabbing my camera and hoping not to drop in the river, I took a ride soaking in the gorgeous late light. Some of the buildings on the river had so much character.

As we took the trip, everyone was out on the shores. It seemed that as the Autumn Festival was beginning to start, all the tourists from China were filling up the town. Supposedly it would only get more crowded after we left. We even went by a few couples getting married on the riverfront. Some of the buildings that we past I was left wondering what they were for, but mostly just marvelled at.

As darkness came over town, the bustle just increased. Everyone was out shopping and eating and just having a good time. There are some places in Fenghuang that only exist in the night. The street near the foot bridge fills up in the evening with food vendors. They set up elaborate spreads of food. For many of them, you pick out what you want to eat and they grill it before you. The variety was baffling - from snails to fish to vegetables, many unseen by me before.

The same buildings which I marvelled at in the daylight, now had taken on a different persona altogether. They were brought to life by neon lights and red lanterns. I photographed the bridge I had shot in the daytime. I felt like I was seeing it for the first time.

The lights on the riverfront stretched as far as the town. Every building was in on the act. Because the river twists and turns some, there is no way to capture just how much there was - except maybe by air. But this segment captures a bit of the feel of how it stretches.

When there's light and water, there's also usually reflections. I had meant to photograph Fenghuang at night for most of the trip, but there was always little time before having to sleep. I regret that I didn't take more pictures of the city at night, but I really enjoyed taking the ones I did.

The Best of Phoenix City

(October 1st) Today started with an early start before the sun rose. The plan was to head outside of Pheonix City to visit a historical site for a couple of hours. You may not know this, but China actually has two Great Walls. The most famous one is the Northern Great Wall, built mainly to separate the Chinese empire from the Mongols. The Southern Great Wall is less known, but was also built by the Ming dynasty on its border. Here it was to keep the Ming kingdom separate from the Miao kingdom. Today I had the chance to see this wall. We got there just as it was starting to open (best for the light) and the locals were walking in, often from several miles away. They were coming to sell food, souvenirs, etc. They usually carried all this on their backs as they walked for miles. I rarely photograph people, but I had to take a picture of this young girl from whom we bought flower wreaths that she was making. She explained that because of the starting holiday the children were off from school and were helping the family.

One of the great things about the Southern Great Wall is that it is so far from everything that there aren't many people there - especially at 8 in the morning. There is a good amount of scenery around it as well, so I was pleased with some of the shots I took. Given the ageless nature of the subject and the weather, I opted for a black and white take on the wall.

Now the plan was to head back to Fenghuang after the wall, but plans don't always hold up. We had taken a taxi on the way out, but out here there aren't any taxis. So after talking to one of the locals, we struck a deal (deals were made for so much of my trip - hotel rates, buses, guides, etc.). The man would get us transportation on a bus back to town, but we would also visit another local attraction - a series of magnificent waterfalls. We took a motorbike-like like vehicle that had a passenger body build onto it and were handed off at various junctures to different people. We finally got to the waterfall area and no one was around. So we started to walk what looked like the path in. At first it was through fields like these rice fields that had been harvested and dried already.

The next portion was through fields that were strewn with trash and the 'river' was barely a trickle. We thought we had made a huge mistake. Luckily after a mile and a half it improved and we saw a few small waterfalls. In China there is nothing like safety protection. We walked straight down the side of a canyon cliff on a wobbly stair where the steps were made of 2 pieces of wood maybe two inches thick. While walking down this, you occasionally ran into people going the other direction and had to squeeze by on the narrow stairs. It was quite an experience. At the end of this, we were treated a view of the valley that opened up in front of us. After a hefty walk back and another adventure of transportation - this time on a bus in the heat that was stopped in a small town for farming concerns, we made it back to Fenghuang for a very late lunch.

With the late day sun, it was time to see some more of the town. I was captivated by the roofs and there geometry. I took many shots of just the eaves alone, but I think I like best the shots that work in the town as well.

Food Galore

(September 30th) Today had a very busy itinerary, but you can't start off a day like that hungry. A short walk down the river (everything in Fenghuang is centered on the river) turned up a little noodle restaurant. For the price of less than $2, I enjoyed a scrumptuous bowl of noodles which of course was very spicy.

After eating, it was on to walking around Phoenix City proper. Most of Phoenix City is comprised of narrow streets with shops lining both sides. Like many places in China, transportation is all by walking and the streets can get quite crowded. Here's a typical street when it's not so crowded. The architecture style of the buildings is very characteristic of Fenghuang and it will feature more prominently in some later photographs.

Fenghuang is quite a popular destination for Chinese tourists even if it is unknown to Westerners. One of the popular things to do is to visit the many museums in town. Most of the museums are homes that used to belong wealthy businessmen or magistrates of Fenghuang's past. The homes have since been converted into museums and artifacts and heirlooms line the insides. This is the outer wall of one of the museums we visited today.

The river is the focal point of much of the time. Historically it used to be that the less desirable spots in town were located along the river, but as the town became well-known, property along the river is now the most desirable. There are two main bridges over the river in town and this the smaller of the two.

Sometimes you take a shot and the details of the image really capture you. In this photo, the buildings and the water wheel are both extremely important and make the majority of the image. But it is the three small people in the foreground that balance the shot. Like most of Fenghuang, these people have come to the river to wash their laundry.

After staying in town through midday, we visited a nearby cave. This cave certainly wasn't as impressive as Yellow Dragon Cave that I had seen previously, but it's still quite an impressive feat. This time I was without a tripod, but still photographed a bunch. Like last time, you have a very fast moving guide that the group must keep up with.

After the cave, it was back for another meal. For dinner, we usually ordered a bunch of different dishes and consequently I got to taste many different foods during my trip. The vegetables used are great and make for a colorful (and spicy) plate. I feel like the food photos are getting a bit better balanced. By the way, that's tea in the background of this shot, not beer that someone thought it was.

Fenghuang

(September 29th) After two days of flying, it was another whole day travelling (this time getting to the bus station and taking a long bus) to get to Fenghuang. Fenghuang means Phoenix, and this picturesque town is situated right on the river. Phoenix City is known for a tranquil beauty and has featured in some famous Chinese literature and artwork. It is very far out of the way, and is virtually unknown to Westerners. I arrived fairly late, but this is a look out of my hotel room.

One of the trademarks of Phoenix City is the lights at night. I'll show some of the buildings on a later day, but there is also a tradition of lighting candles on small boats. The boats are then placed on the river to sail down. I'm not sure if this done throughout the year, or if it was a special treat for the Autumn Festival (which I arrived a couple days before).

This trip I decided to take some pictures of the food I ate. Back in the US the Chinese food looks and tastes completely different. So I wanted to give people a feel for what it is like. It is also some of the spiciest food I've ever eaten - and I love spicy food. My later attempts at food pictures were better, but I was so hungry that I couldn't wait to dive in. I almost forgot the mention, the food all over Fenghuang was incredible!

More Than 24 Hours of Travel

(September 28th) I had the lucky opportunity to travel back to China. The only downside to the trip is that you spend nearly two days travelling there. Just getting to the country takes so long, plus you cross the date line, plus usually you need to wait to the next day to take another flight within China. So while I'm in the airport in Shanghai it seems like a good opportunity to shoot some frames. I start taking some shots of the tropical fish in an aquarium. Even in China when people see someone with a big lens taking photos, they all want to join in. I hope their pictures came out better than mine - shooting through this aquarium glass left the shots too soft for my taste. But I did like this shot I took of two of the workers with a plane.

Yearly Tradition

(September 8th) Today I headed to Detroit. I don't often venture into D-Town, but the Inernational Jazz Festival is one of my favorite music events and it has become a bit of a yearly tradition for me to attend. Great music, good time of year, and the waterfront - a near perfect combination. This is the Renaissance Center, perhaps the most distinctive building in the waterfront area of Detroit today.

Shooting the International Jazz Festival is a great challenge - as a spectator you are far from the action of the main events. There's little light and you're handholding while shoulder-to-shoulder with others. I was quite pleased with the sharpness of the images I wound up with, even handholding a 200mm for 1/45s in some cases. Of course, the most fun was listening to the fantastic music. The highlight act that we saw was a big band performance. Some years the orchestra has been huge, this year it was a little bit smaller. But every year they do a phenomenal job and the crowd loves it.

One of the best things about jazz is the improvisation. It's there in the music, but it's there elsewhere too. The musicians interact with each other freely and naturally, and they interact with the audience in the same way - even during their pieces.

The musical side of the improvisation often takes the form of solos. During a solo, a single musician will take the reigns and exactly what is played is something that hasn't ever been played before. The rest of the group follows along and harmonizes with the musical ideas that the soloist gives. As always, the Detroit International Jazz Festival was a blast in 2009 - if you are ever in the area around Labor Day I strongly urge you to check the event out!

Making the Photo You Want

(September 5th) At first I thought making great wildlife photos was a matter of being in the right place at the right time and mastering all the technical skills. This really isn't the case though - the best photos are made rather than just happened upon. Today I was fortunate to make one of those photos that I like and it took quite some time and a little bit of luck. First of all, you have to have the animals well and where they'll be when. For shooting some of the shorebirds I wanted I headed to a great location called Pt. Mouilee and began lying in mud before dawn. This is so the birds will be accustomed to you and come quite close. You must also know the light. I know well where the sun will rise, so I made sure to lie in spot that the sun would rise in the right direction over the spot that the birds would likely be. Lastly, you need to have the composition visualized beforehand. For this shot, I knew I wanted to work into the image the Purple Loosestrife that you see here - a killer background in my mind.

You don't usually see flowers in pictures with shorebirds, so this kind of opportunity is rare one. Everything has to line up right. As I'm lying on my belly, the birds need to be in just the right spot, with the right body angle. A few inches to either side and either vegetation will be in the way or the background will be out of balance. In the end I was able to make a shot that I really like of this Lesser Yellowlegs. It's not perfect, but the image came together in a great way. In a sense, I started working on this photo a year ago when I learned much about the behavior and favorite haunts of the Lesser Yellowlegs during their fall migration through Michigan.

There were plenty of other shorebirds around to keep me occupied while I was waiting for the Lesser Yellowlegs shot to line up. There were many Least Sandpiers around, poking and prodding at the mud looking for food buried beneath.

Beauty is in the Details

(September 4th) Today started off with some excitement as a Red-tailed Hawk was right above me in a nearby tree. No good pictures came of it and the hawk flew off pretty quickly, but still being at the range was quite a thrill. After a little bit of shooting ducks and swans, I looked in some of the songbird locales. To my surprise I found a Downy Woodpecker eating some berries - not the food source you usually associate with them. The woodpecker flew right near me and gave me some great views. Most of the time you don't notice the color of birds' eyes, but many of them have colored eyes. The eyes of the Downy Woodpecker actually are a very dark red that you can see if the light is right.

No Gold for Me

(September 1st) When taking macro shots yesterday, I noticed that some American Goldfinches were feeding voraciously off seed from some flowers. Yesterday I had scared them away, but I decided to go back and see if they would be there again. Sure enough, they were but the only stuck around for a handful of seconds until a jogger scared them off for good. So I occupied myself with a some of the flowers nearby. I worked in some backgrounds like this one that had some color in them, but stayed clean.