Reelfoot Lake - Hidden Gem of Nature

I just returned from a three day photo trip to Reelfoot Lake in northwestern Tennessee.  This remote and little known area consists of a State Park and a Wildlife Management Area that straddles the border of Tennessee and Kentucky.  This was not my first trip to Reelfoot but my previous trips had been in the summer and I never realized the tremendous population of birds that make Reelfoot their winter home.  The most notable of the birds is the American Bald Eagle.

The weather has been very mild this winter and I expected pleasant days and cool nights.  Naturally, as soon as I arrived the temperature dropped and the wind and snow started...

It is really amazing how cold it is with 32 degree temperatures and a 15 MPH wind off the lake.  There just are not enough clothes to keep the wind out!

After a night of freezing cold, wind, waves and blowing spray, beautiful ice sculptures formed along the banks of the lake.

Reelfoot Lake was formed by the earthquake of 1811 - 1812 when a large depression was formed near the Mississippi River.  A channel opened and the river flowed into the depression to create the lake.  Over time the channel filled with sediment and Reelfoot Lake was born.

The lake is very shallow and surrounded by Bald Cypress.  Navigation is so difficult that the locals developed special boats with protected motors to prevent damage on the hidden hazards under the surface.  The fertile waters and the Cypress forest that extends out into the lake provide the perfect habitat for all types of wildlife including fish, reptiles, insects, and birds.

The winter population of ducks and geese is estimated to be 150,000.

This flock had about 30,000 geese in it.  It is truly a spectacular experience to be close to this many birds.  The sounds are incredible and when they take flight, they create a roar that fills your head and almost shakes the ground like the earthquake that formed the region.  This is a MUST SEE event.





The geese are awsome but to me the stars of the show are the Bald Eagles.  There are about 20 pairs of year round residents that nest at Reelfoot but, in winter, Reelfoot Lake has more Bald Eagles than anywhere in the United States outside of Alaska.  The winter population is usually 300-400 Eagles.

Typically, eagles begin to arrive at Reelfoot in October and they peak in February but this has been a mild winter so the population was lower this year and the eagles have already begun to move back north, following their food.  Even with the lower population I saw about 25 eagles on my first day of shooting and 16 on the second day.

Eagles have a life expectancy of about 40 years in the wild and they mate for life.  They reach maturity in 4-6 years and it is not until that time that they get their iconic white head and tail and yellow beak.  Juvenile eagles have dark heads and tails but they are the same size as an adult.

This pair of immature eagles took a Snow Goose and now the fight is on to determine who gets the largest portion of the meal.

The primary food for a Bald Eagle is fish with live or freshly dead fish making up about 80% - 90% of their diet.  Small animals including waterfowl make up the remaining 10% to 20%.

A Bald Eagles wingspan is 6 to 8 feet and they typically weigh 6 to 8 pounds.

When they reach maturity and mate, the female will return to the general area of her maiden flight to build a nest and make a home.  The eagles may set up permanent residence at that location or they may migrate, returning each winter to the nest.

Nests generally start at about 5 feet in diameter but each year the returning eagles add to the nest.  Nests of 8 feet across and 12 feet deep are not uncommon.  These nests can weigh over 4,000 pounds!

Once the female lays her eggs, the pair will take turns on the nest until the eggs hatch.  The eggs are never left alone during this period.

Young eagles are ready to fly and leave the nest at 10-12 weeks and at that time they are the same size as the adult.

Photographing eagles requires patience and a LONG lens.  Eagles in the wild do not tolerate humans well and it is very difficult to approach close enough to get frame filling images without scaring off the birds.

Some of these images were captured with a Nikon 500 f4 lens on a tripod but in many cases the action and opportunities happen so quickly that there was no time to set up a tripod.  Many of the images were captured handheld with a Nikon 80-400 IS lens.  (Thank you AP)

Most of the images in this blog were cropped about 50% to bring the eagle into better view.  Fast shutter speed is very important so I do not use a polarizer.  I shoot in RAW format and at the camera's native ISO of 200 to get the best possible image quality.

This close-up portrait is of an eagle recovering from an injury at Reelfoot Lake State Park.

The Bald Eagle became our national symbol on June 20, 1782.  We almost lost these magnificent creatures in the 70's due to unregulated and ignorant use of pesticides.  Fortunately, they are making a strong comeback at Reelfoot Lake and other areas and currently have been removed from the endangered species list.

Trumpeter Swans - Central Arkansas

Arkansas is right in the middle of a major migration flyway for Swans, Geese, and Ducks.  Snow Geese  are plentiful and flocks of 10,000 plus are fairly common but Trumpeter Swans are rare and not a widespread visitor to Arkansas.  In researching areas to photograph waterfowl, my wife ran across a wildlife area in central Arkansas called Magness Lake Wildlife Refuge.  Magness Lake is privately owned but open to the public.  It is near the town of Heber Springs.  We decided to visit to photograph the swans.

The story of the Magness Lake swans is that many years ago the swans were blown off course by a storm and they landed in Magness Lake.  They stayed and wintered there and have been returning ever since that first winter.

When we arrived at Magness Lake we found a flock of about 75 Trumpeter Swans and a large number of Ring-Necked Ducks.  There were 15-20 people viewing the Swans and feeding them cracked corn.  The Swans were very acclimated to people and were very close so getting close-up images was easy with any lens in the 200mm range.  Unfortunately, the viewing area was at a spot where the ground dropped off about 3-5 feet plus the property owners had installed a fence that was about 4 feet high to keep people out of the water.  The result was a high shooting angle so most of the images were of swans and water.  Not too many options for backgrounds unless you shot swans that were at a distance out in the lake.  The other side of the lake was an open field so again, the background options were limited and generally uninteresting.

They are beautiful birds but the limited shooting options resulted in rather uninteresting compositions.

After a couple of hours of waiting for anything to happen, a bird to land or take off, light to change, a fight to break out, ANYTHING!!, I figured out that these birds were pretty content and well fed. 

I got a break when one of the locals mentioned that there were several more lakes where swans and other birds were wintering.

As soon as I learned about the existence of the other lakes, I packed up and began a search for more photogenic locations.  Good move!  It turns out that there were two other lakes and both had swans and ducks with no barriers to the birds and much better backgrounds.  The birds were still somewhat acculimated to people but they were much more active and as it got later in the day the birds became even more active.

As the light began to get lower and warmer, the birds became more vocal.  There was a steady breeze and I noticed that a group of birds was gathering in a corner of the lake that was downwind.  They became very vocal and as a group they started bobbing their heads in unison.  It looked like they were getting ready to take off so I got ready for the event--just in time!

What a magnificant creature!  These birds, while honking at the top of their lungs, began to run across the water into the wind.  They quickly left the water, flew low over the lake, gained altitude and circled over the lake again before flying off to points unknown.  Over the next hour most of the flock of about 75 birds flew off in small groups.

The birds that stayed behind were aggressive in staking out space.  I left around dark and at that time there were still 20-30 swans at the lake.

If you ever have an opportunity to visit Arkansas in winter, the Heber Springs area is worth a visit to see the wintering Trumpeter Swans.  The two lakes were I got the best images are also privately owned.  I photographed the birds during two visits and on the second visit I met the owner of the lakes.  He is very generous in sharing his property with the public and allowing open access to the swans.

Night Photography

The average photographer hangs up the camera and heads for the house after sunset and the real amateur often gives up before the sun goes down.  Take your photography to a new level by working after dark!

Actually, night photography is lots of fun and can result in some very interesting images.  No special equipment is required, just a camera, lens and tripod.  A fast lens is nice but not really essential.  You really don't even have to pump up the ISO and I highly recommend that you DO NOT use the "night photography" preset that is offered on some cameras.  Just open up the lens and leave the white balance set to "auto".  You may be amazed at the interesting results you get in the mixed lighting situations that exist at night, especially in cities.

Returning from a recent nature photography trip to south Florida, I stopped in St. Augustine and ended up staying for three nights.  St. Augustine is a very interesting city with lots of history, an old fort that is beautifully preserved, and a downtown area that is beautiful and very nicely lit at night.  It offers great opportunities for night photography in a safe environment.  The city has added lights to trees and buildings that create many opportunities for interesting compositions.  To make things even better there are lots of downtown motels and B&B's with reasonable rates and lots of good restaurants.  Need I say more???

Just one of MANY interesting places to stay during a visit to St. Augustine.  No special exposure setting was required for this shot.  I just put the camera on a tripod, set up was aperture priority and I let the camera meter handle the exposure.  White balance was set to auto.  Exposure was f4 for 2.5 seconds.




A short walk of about 2 blocks put me into the main historic area of St. Augustine with beautifully lit buildings, motels, museums, city parks, restaurants, and people enjoying the mild February evening.  On this evening it was warm enough to dine outside.

This is one of the public parks in the city.  As you can see, they have gone all out to make the city attractive and inviting.

One of the big draws for St. Augustine is Ghost Tours.  In this image I got a shot of three ghosts strolling through the city park.

Exposure f4 for .6 seconds.  With this shutter speed, anything that moves will blur.



There are two special effects in this image.  The exposure for this was f11 for 8 seconds.  The 8 second exposure caused the water to blur and actually smooth out as the movement painted itself on the sensor.  The second effect is the star pattern around the point light source of the streetlight.  Even the smaller lights on the trees have a star effect.  This effect varies depending on the design of your lens so you will need to experiment.  As you stop a lens down, strong point light sources will diffract along the blades of your lens aperture creating a star pattern.  You cannot see this in the viewfinder, only on the final image.

In post processing you always have the option of being creative with the color balance or you can be more realistic.  In this image I made it more realistic by cooling the color temperature to bring it closer to what the scene looked like to my eye.  Notice the two ghosts in the sidewalk?

This image was exposed at f13 for 13 seconds at 13 after the hour on the 13th of the month.  I hope it's not unlucky!

Don't put up your camera at night.  There are many great opportunities to make interesting images at night and if travel photography is interesting to you, night photography gives you a chance to add some unusual images to your show that most people are not used to seeing.

Myakka River Shooting Adventure

Myakka River State Park is about 20 miles inland on Florida's west coast near Sarasota.  There is a large lake surrounded by wetlands and forest lands that teem with wildlife, especially in winter.  It is a favorite wintering location for wading birds, Sandhill Cranes, songbirds and a wide assortment of other animal life.  Mild winter tempertures also attract rare and elusive creatures like photographers, including me!

On this trip I camped for several days and photographed each day around the lake.

I had numerous sitings of deer, turkey, and other 4 legged creatures.

The animals are somewhat acculimated to people but they certainly are not tame and in order to get close enough for a good photo you must approach with caution.

A long lens is a must and a tripod is very helpful.  I shoot with an older Nikon 500 f4 that does not have vibration reduction.  This is a tripod only lens and I use a heavy Gitzo with a Wembley Gimble head.  I often shoot wildlife handheld with a Nikon 80-400 VR lens.  This lens is a little slow in focusing but the VR feature is great and it allows me to catch fast action that is almost impossible to catch with a tripod mounted camera and lens. 

(Thank you AP for the loan of the Nikon 80-400)




The best action at Myakka is around the lake shooting the wading birds.  One of the stars of the show is the Roseate Spoonbill.

While the Roseate may be one of the stars, I enjoy working with the Black-Necked Stilt.  They are very graceful birds and beautiful in flight.  They are small birds perched atop very long legs and they tend to be in small groups.

Myakka River is a great winter photography location!  I hope you get a chance to visit there soon.

Photographing Birds - Light is the Answer

On a recent trip to the Everglades I was getting some great action shots of wading birds feeding in the shallows.  The birds were very active, taking off and landing and dancing around as they worked for their supper.  The action was good enought to keep me shooting until late in the day.

Sometimes action and animal behavior is enough to carry the image.  In this case the Great Blue Heron wading through the shallows makes for an interesting image.  The Lily Pads in the water add some interest and it's a good thing because the water is just plain boring.

The action of the Snowy Egret taking off adds some interest to this image but again the water is dull and the background is a little distracting.

A funny thing happened about an hour and a half before sunset.  The light changed, it got lower and suddenly I was picking up reflections in the water of the light from trees and foliage on the shore.  This added a whole new element to the images and transformed the dull water into a magical backdrop for creating my images of birds.

When light reflects off of an object into water it picks up the color from the object it reflects from and transferres that color to the water.  The results can be dramatic and can add an element to your images that takes them from average to exceptional.

Light was reflected from green foliage on the shore.  It painted the water and created a unique background to showcase this Tricolored Heron.

Suddenly that dull background takes on a dimension that can add excitement and interest to your images.

Getting good images of birds is really demanding.  First you have to find the bird and get close enought to it to make an image.  Then you have to nail the exposure and usually you cannot trust your meter to deliver optimal results.  Catching the perfect moment of action is critical AND the background and surroundings of the bird are also very important to a successful image.  No wonder my shooting average is only about 1 in a thousand!

Hope this advice helps you the next time you have an opportunity to shoot wading birds.  Get out there and make some images!!

Exposure - White Birds in Bright Sun!!!

On a recent trip to the Florida Everglades I was presented with great opportunities to photograph wading birds.  There was a great variety of birds including Roseate Spoonbills, Herons of all types, Cranes, Pelicans, and the list goes on....  One of the most fun to photograph was the Snowy Egret.  They are very active feeders, dancing in the shallows in pursuit of fish and putting on a grand show for any photographer lucky enough to be in the area.

I returned from my first day of shooting and was surprised and disappointed with the number of images that were overexposed.  The most noticeable overexposure was the plumage of white birds in direct sunlight.  Many of my Snowy Egrets were solid white with no detail in the feathers even though the water and background was acceptable.  I shoot with a modern camera (Nikon D300s) that has thousands of images to reference against and a very sophisticated metering system.  WHY were so many of my exposures off the mark??

Lets start by thinking about how the meter in your camera works.  Cameras have reflective meters that read the light that is reflected off of objects that we photograph.  These meters are based on 18% reflectance, they see the world in shades of light intensities from black to white, and they attempt to place the exposure for your scene at middle (18%) gray.  This system works beautifully most of the time but what happens when the subject is not 18% reflectance as is the case with a white Snowy Egret?  Even worse, what happens when the scene is very high contrast with a dark background that makes up a large part of the scene while the white bird is in direct sun?  Even with the best camera meter, what happens is often overexposure of the highlights.  Here is a look at the varied conditions that you encounter when shooting Florida's wading birds.

This is a white Wood Stork in bright sunlight against a dark shadowed background.  The bird is really a very small part of the image and your built-in camera meter will often get the exposure wrong.

In this scene the water is reflecting some light but is much darker than the bird.  This is another situation where it is very easy to blow out the highlights of sunlight on the bird.

In this situation the water has a range of reflected light from very light to very dark.  The bird is in direct sun but also has a shadowed side to the camera.  Very difficult light for the meter to get a correct exposure without your intervention.

So what can you do to get the best possible exposures?  You have a range of options.  Lets look first at the tools you have to work with and then at the options and the pros and cons of each.

Histogram - Almost all modern digital cameras have a histogram that graphs the range of tones in an image.  With this tool you can spot blown highlights and adjust exposure.  While there is no correct shape for the graph, you can see when highlights are being clipped when the graph spikes on the right side.  Check your exposures and if you see clipping adjust the exposure using exposure compensation until the graph snugs up to the right without touching the right side.

Highlights Warning - Many modern digital cameras have a highlights warning feature that causes the preview to blink in areas that are overexposed.  Turn this warning on and check it frequently when shooting in difficult light.  When I am in changing light this is my preferred method of setting exposure.  I shoot in aperture priority mode and check the highlights warning anytime the light changes or my subject moves into different light.  I adjust exposure using exposure compensation.

Incident Light Meter - An incident light meter reads light directly so it is not fooled by the reflectance of a subject.  If you are in the same light as the subject you can use this type of meter to take an accurate reading of the light.  Measure the light with your handheld incident meter, put your camera on manual, set the exposure and start shooting.  As long as the light doesn't change and your subject stays in the same light your exposures should be good.  When using this method on white birds I usually shoot at 1/3rd to 2/3rds stops under the recommended meter reading to preserve details in the highlights.  When I am in consistent light this is my preferred method of setting exposure.

Bracketing - Almost all cameras can be set up to auto-bracket and this is an option when working in difficult light.  I consider this a last resort approach for photographing birds or any other type of action subject.  I always shoot action in high speed shutter mode in an effort to catch the best moment of action.  If I am bracketing, the camera will capture three images as quickly as possible but probably only 1 will be a good exposure.  I lose 2 out of 3 chances to capture the moment.  It is much better to get the right exposure and then have 3 out of 3 chances to get the best moment of action.

OK, you are in a good location and the birds are active.  You have a plan to nail the exposure even though the light is difficult and you are getting consistently good exposures.  How do you take your photography to the next level?  We will talk about light and backgrounds in my next post......

Discovering the Everglades

January is a great time to visit the Everglades.  It offers a welcome relief from the cold and it is a beautiful place to spend a few weeks with a camera.  I have been visiting the glades in winter for the past three years but I am only beginning to understand the nature of this unique place. 

Contrary to my uninformed belief, the Everglades is a very wide, shallow, slow moving river, not really a swamp.  The word "swamp" brings up images of dark water, mud, quicksand, snakes, alligators, and all types of menacing creatures lurking in the water and ready to spring out and eat you.  In fact, the Everglades water is crystal clear and it rests on a slab of limestone.  A walk through the sawgrass of the glades reveals that the water is knee deep and the bottom is firm with a thin layer of plant material covering the bare rock.  Yes, there are snakes, alligators and thousands of birds but you are in more danger driving to the Everglades than you are in walking through the sawgrass and cypress domes.

The sawgrass prairies are a unique and beautiful place.  The Cypress trees look dead but in fact they are dormant during the winter months.  In spring they will grow new leaves.  They also look small and young but many are 100 years old.  The Everglades is a nutrient deprived environment so life is very difficult there.  These trees struggle to survive, rooted in only a few inches of decaying plant material.

A few inches of change in elevation makes a great difference in the habitat.  In places where there are depressions in the limestone floor the water is deeper.  Cypress trees growing in these depressions get more nutrients and can grow taller creating Cypress domes.  These domes are easily recognized because the trees on the outer edges are short and the trees get taller toward the center or deeper part of the domes.  During the dry season, winter, these domes become the last refuse for wildlife as shallower areas begin to dry up.

Walking through the sawgrass and entering a Cypress dome opens up a whole new world.  Even in winter there is an abundance of both animal and plant life.  The trees are filled with Bromelids and many varieties of air plants and orchids.  They are not in bloom in winter but they are still colorful and they provide homes for many small creatures and a food source for birds and other wild animals.

This Red-Bellied Woodpecker was working hard to find insects and lizards that make the air plants home.  I watched him work for 20 minutes and he was very well rewarded for his efforts.

I was lucky enough to see many varieties of birds including owls and hawks in my visits to the Cypress domes.  As the water goes down, alligators move into the domes and build nests in the center or deepest part of the dome.  During my visits the gators were just starting to move in and I saw two that were staking out territory for the upcoming dry season.  We mutually decided to leave each other alone.





The Cypress domes themselves are reason enough to visit the glades.  I leave you with a few images of the interior or the domes. 

The domes are great in winter but I want to return when the orchids are in bloom.  July is prime season for the orchid bloom.  I wonder if they make air-conditioned mosquito suits?

Photographing birds in the Everglades is challenging but with so many targets you can be sure to get many subjects to work with.  My next post will deal with photographing birds and working to get correct exposure in direct sunlight.