Jake Peterson’s Blog

It’s that day again, the one day of sunner i always don’t like facing. I have to go back to school. My drive back up to Montana has begun. That’s right as this post goes up i’ll be on the road away from my vacation. I didn’t plan this out beforehand otherwise i would’ve chosen a better shot. This was just a quick one i grabbed from this monring. It’s been one hell of a summer. Too many trips to chose a favorite and very little time sitting on my butt. I began this summer saying it will go by way too fast and here i am at the end of it saying, it went by too fast. I met a lot of nice people over these last few months, and even  made few new friends. Thanks go out to all of them that helped made this summer fun. Along with them, a thanks to my family who made so many things happen, and an apology Mom cuz i know you’ll cry when you read this. Next post will be coming from Montana, whatever that might be.

Images captured with D2Hs, 17-55, on Lexar UDMA Digital Film

Well im not as fast as dad is when it comes to this, of course I’ve said those words before too. This week is a little crazy right now, reality is hitting home again. Here’s a little recap from this past weekends fun. A nice thunderstorm came through the Sierra’s giving us some really nice light and clouds to play with.

I’m not very good at landscapes never understood the way they work out the best. Kinda funny considering im a wildlife photographer and landscapes are a natural part of that field. Oh well ill get it right in the end. Anyways here a couple shots that i liked for u to enjoy.

Images captured with D3, 24-70, on Lexar UDMA Digital Film

Wow! After all the days of looking for the shorebirds that migrate through, hearing the reports of the sightings, and getting skunked walking the shoreline, we finally found some. A small flock of Least Sandpipers came to the shores on front of us and i got some clicks. Every time we go out there we see them but boy are these guys skiddish. Well they were out munching there way through the water, surrounded by millions of Brine Flies. All those dots you see behind the bird are the flies. Along with the dots, those black lumps in front are also Brine Flies.

It was one of those mornings where the light was great and so was the reflections in the water. Reflections are a big part o the photograph when shooting shorebirds. They can make the image interesting when it would normally seem dull. I like the reflections because of the great color of the sandpipers. The color pattern on the wings and back are just great with the light and what could be better but to show the reflection of that color. Two more great finds at Mono Lake, how many more treasures will be discovered i wonder.

Images captured with D3, 600f4, TC-14e, on Lexar UDMA Digital Film

I’m sure you’re tired of hearing about the birds at Mono Lake but that’s all i have to talk about right now. Dad had another private tutoring session which means another drive down to the lake. It’s the one spot that can produce results almost consistently with different subjects. A rather interesting surprise was upon the shores when we got there. The Sage Thrashers and the House Wrens spring kids had fledged. Instead of the usual 1 or 2 thrashers, i saw at least half a dozen individuals. Each way i turned i saw another. Funny enough, for all the individuals around only one stuck long enough to get a good shot of. But, since i blogged those guys the other day i thought i would share another fellow.

On one of the tuffas were five House Wrens. 2 parents and 3 fledgelyings. These two images are both of the kids. The adults weren’t great looking because they, like all birds, are starting to molt. The kids on the other hand are adorable because they haven’t molted. Well the kids bounced the rocks for a while, getting fed from the parents and chasing the Brine Flys. It was amusing to watch the little guys. I had never gotten this close to wrens without them flushing so that alone made it a good day.

Images captured with D3, 600f4, TC-14e, on Lexar UDMA Digital Film

The sparrows weren’t the only guys fluttering around the bushes that we were interested in. Since the beginning of the summer the two of us were trying to find the Sage Thrasher to photograph. We knew they were at Mono Lake and delighted in torturing us with being seen but unable to shoot. The two males and female decided to cooperate today and we finally managed to get a decent shot.

This one bird posed for us in the one spot where we actually had a decent background and light to work with. It posed for us for about 2 mins and then flew off with the other thrashers. For the those two mins though, we were able to get a couple nice clicks off. Somehow this shot with the sage, which is about 3/4 of the image, just seems to fit this bird better then if it were a portrait or a clean shot. Green always does make birds look good.

Images captured with D3, 600f4, TC-14e, on Lexar UDMA Digital Film

Dad and i went down to Mono Lake again in search for some of the rare birds that have been spotted migrating through. It seems to be one of our normal practices to go down to that beach after a stop for coffee. Well the beach was a little more active then seen in the past few weeks but still wasn’t great. The gulls weren’t even cooperating with us, let alone the White faced Ibis. Since the pickings were slim, we decided to move opposite directions to see what we could find. A Northern Harrier flew by but didn’t stick, neither did the sandpipers.

I headed down the beach to where Dad was and discovered that he had found a spot where the sparrows and the thrashers seemed to really like. These little guys are the Brewer’s Sparrow that live in the sage. A good amount of them were flying around, so i planted myself in the group and waited for them to come by. Dad eventually moved up to where i was and we spent the morning photographing the little guys.

Images captured with D3, 600f4, TC-14e, on Lexar UDMA Digital Film

After the disappointing mourning at Mono Lake, we decided to head to another one of our favorite shooting spots to see if our luck is any better. Instead of heading up the usual route, we went up another road that we had not gone up before. It was a four wheel drive dirt road that was new to us. It went up to an are of the hillside covered with Aspens that in the spring time would be great for birding. We got to the top of the mountain and looked out to see everything from Conway Summit to the south entrance to June Lake. But that wasn’t the only thing we saw.

Behind us were some old buildings, upon further exploration we found an old mine. The sierra’s are filled with these kind of buildings, finding them is always fun. Well the structure itself was kinda cool but the images that it produced wasn’t the greatest. The light just wasn’t right. It nice discovering a new place, it made the day less disappointing. We carefully headed back down the mountain.

Images captured with D3, 24-70, on Lexar UDMA Digital Film

For the last couple of days i have baan busy working on the house. Part of me coming home is working on the house, which is good cuz i needed a summer job.  Anyways this past weekend Dad an me went out to Mono Lake to try and find some shorebirds to work with. Well we looked at the marina, the county park and then the boardwalk. Well there some birds but none that we could get to. It was kinda disapointing. This Desert Cottontail was sitting there along the boardwalk in the low light so we thought we should spend a litte time with him. He posed for a little bit then we moved on.

Images captured with D3, 600f4, TC-14e, on Lexar UDMA Digital Film

That’s right i’m going back to Texas in June 2010! This past May i had the privelege and awesome opportunity to go to Texas to photograph birds at a two private ranches that have been setup to accomodate photographers in their quesst for photographing birds. If you uwant to see what im talking about you can go to my or Dad’s blog from this past may and check out the whole story. This here shot of a Curve Billed Thrasher adult and a kid thrasher was taken this past May at Capmos Viejos which is one of the spots we will be going, along with Dos Venadas Ranch. I say we because Moose and I will be instructing this fun filled event. If you think you’re interested in capturing some great clicks, meating some new people and getting a few more good stories then check out this workshop. If i got you hooked or at least intrigued by this place then you can go to this page that has all the information you need to know.

Images captured with D3, 600f4, TC-14e, on Lexar UDMA Digital Film

I’m taking a little break from the hummers. My shots are improving as far as direction of the light when photographing them but I’m starting to find a new challenge with background control. The hummers keep landing in places with either to many branches so it looks like there heads are being poked are they are at an angle that just doesn’t. So i thought i would blog again about these guys. They are too are something i’m working with and some improvements have been made since my last post. Last time i used a rock as the center for them to be on. I found out that this wasn’t right. Since most of these guys can be found in the forest in and out of fallen logs, that was the scenario that had to be setup. I looked around the house and with some help from dad we found this one. This stump has more character and works much better when bouncing light off it with a flash.

The top shot is of a Panament Chipmunk and the lower is a Golden Mantle Ground Squirrel. Both are kids, they have been in the yard all spring and are funny little guys. Normally i don’t photograph the golden mantle’s because as they age they get fat, go figure that one. It makes them less attractive and just kind of boring. The kids are much thinner and have a better look to them. The trick however to this log is having the seed where you can’t see it. If it’s in the shot then it looks captive or fed. But a good log with holes in it to put the seed in, will mask the attention and it will go unnoticed. This isn’t a new trick, it’s just a good one. The squirrels have no problem getting to the seed and it isn’t in the shot bugging me.

Images captured with D3, 600f4, TC-14e, SB-800, on Lexar UDMA Digital Film