Shorebird Love

Ron NiebruggeAlaska, Chugach, Photos, Travel 9 Comments

Shorebirds, Copper River Delta, Alaska.

Shorebirds, Copper River Delta, Alaska

This flock of shorebirds nearly formed the shape of  a heart.  I captured this last spring and saved it thinking it would be a perfect post for Valentines day – not realizing it would fall on a holiday weekend.  So I thought I would post it today.  It wouldn’t take too much PhotoShop work to make it into a perfectly shaped heart, but I prefer leaving items as seen.

Actually, this tight formation of fast flying birds making constant direction changes was the result of an attacking predator.

Peninsular Desert Bighorn Sheep

Ron NiebruggeAnza-Borrego, California, Photos, Travel 8 Comments

Peninsular Desert Bighorn Sheep

Peninsular Desert Bighorn Sheep, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.

We spotted and photographed these guys yesterday afternoon in Borrego Palm Canyon.  I have read some estimates that place the population of the subspecies of Desert Bighorn at only 280 animals.  I look forward to photographing these guys amongst the desert wildflowers.

2010 Desert Wildflower Predictions

Ron NiebruggeAnza-Borrego, California, Photos, Travel 11 Comments

Sand Verbena, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.

Sand Verbena, yesterday in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.


These are the first wildflower blooms of the season  in a year that should soon have a bountiful display of flowers!  Don’t rush down here yet, they are still a couple of weeks out – I found this little spot a few years ago, and it is always the first area to bloom around here, and this year is no exception.

This is looking like it will be a great year for wildflowers as this region has seen lots of rain!  The nearby Ocotillo Wells State Vehicular Recreation Area had the wettest month in recorded history this past January.  The local wildflower experts were saying the final ingredient for an excellent wildflower year would be February rains – well we received a fair amount of rain Tuesday night – the second such storm this month.  So in short, it is safe to say this  will be an excellent year for desert wildflowers!  The only thing that could get in the way now would be the over growth of an invasive species like mustard.

Despite the rain and the predictions, I had to see for myself – and of course do a little photography.  🙂  Well things are very green!  Lots of shoots just starting to rise in many places – thick patches of Lupine and Desert Gold were the most obvious, but there is a wide variety of plant-life that just further confirms my anticipation.

I believe the desert wildflower bloom won’t be limited to Anza-Borrego, the hills  North of Palm Springs are also very green.  I went for a run in the back-country East of Joshua Tree and had to deal with a number of small stream crossings – in places I have never seen water flowing before.  It is pretty exciting.

We will be based in Borrego Springs for the next month or so, but I hope to chase the bloom around the area as it progresses, and will provide updates here on the photo blog.  The California Wildflower Hotsheet, along with its corresponding Yahoo forum is another great resource for wildflower updates during a good year like this one.

Finally, this might be a good time to mention that I only have two spots left for my two Anza-Borrego photography workshops. 🙂

This photo:  Canon 1Ds III, 100 macro lens with 25mm extension tube, f/25 at 1/25 a second.

On the Road Again!

Ron NiebruggeAnza-Borrego, California, Photos, Travel 4 Comments

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.

I scheduled this in advance as right now we are in the middle of flying and driving between Alaska and Anza-Borrego, our base for the first month of this trip.  After Anza-Borrego we have a few options, but most of them involve Arizona.  I’m hoping it will be a good wildflower year.  It sounds promising!  I will report on the conditions once we are there.

Mt. Alice

Ron NiebruggeAlaska, Chugach, Photos, Travel 12 Comments

Mt. Alice, Chugach National Forest, Seward, Alaska.

Mt. Alice, Chugach National Forest, Seward, Alaska.

This is another recent photo of Mt Alice at sunset captured this past December.  Maybe I should just call this the Mt. Alice photo blog because I post so many photos of this beautiful mountain.  🙂  Really, the subject matter here should be taking a dramatic change soon once we hit the desert and begin chasing wildflowers.

Arches iFotoGuide App

Ron NiebruggeEquipment, Miscellaneous, Moab, Utah 3 Comments

Arches Photography guide application for iPhone and iTouch.

Arches Photography guide application for iPhone and iTouch.

Well I must admit I am a reference material junkie!  I have shelves and shelves of books – guide books to National Parks, birds and animals, plants and wildflowers, animal tracks, geology…  The list goes on and on.  Not only do I have a bunch of book here, but I also keep many more in our trailer, and we usually send a box back and forth depending where we are traveling.  Unfortunately, they take up a ton of space and weight.

I also have to admit that I’m hooked on apps for my iTouch / iPhone – I have an iTouch.  Maps, weather, depth of field calculators, even Northern Light predictions all on this tiny device, it is amazing!

So, when I heard that a couple of friends, Dan Baumbach and Bret Edge had created an Arches National Park Photography Guide iPhone application, well I thought that was ingenious!  What a great idea – I could easily travel with all this information right in my shirt pocket!  A perfect marriage of information and technology.

Dan recently provided me a copy to review, and I gotta admit I love the product!  This application actually has a lot of advantages over a hard copy book because it is able to link to current information in real time such as weather forecasts, along with providing links to websites for local restaurants, hotels and campground – what a great resource!

The app is also packed with all kinds of useful information on Arches National Park, information useful to photographers such sunrise and sunset times along with an interactive map and information on backpacking, wildlife and wildflowers.  But the real meat to the application is the information on the different photo locations within Arches.  This information includes photos, maps, descriptions on how to get to the location, even the GPS coordinates.

It just so happens that I have spent a fair amount of time in Arches over the last two years, and have been to all the locations described in the app, and found the information accurate and concise.

The application cost $4.95 – much cheaper then most printed guides, and more valuable.  They have many more iFotoGuides planned for the future.

Full Moon Over Resurrection Bay

Ron NiebruggeAlaska, Chugach, Photos, Travel 22 Comments

Full Moon over Resurrection Bay, Seward, Alaska.

Full Moon over Resurrection Bay, Seward, Alaska.

This was last night’s beautiful full moon rising over Mt. Alice.  The bay was as calm as a lake!

Manual exposure of 10 seconds at f/8 and ISO 400.  Canon 1DsIII and 24-105 lens at 47.

Photo Tour – Workshop Update

Ron NiebruggeAnza-Borrego, California, Photos, Travel 8 Comments

Wildflowers, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.

Wildflowers, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.

I have been hearing lots of great reports from the Southern California deserts especially Anza-Borrego – the area has received a lot of rain and it is sounding like it could be a good to great wildflower year!  I’m excited, and will start posting updates on the current conditions in Borrego in a couple of weeks.

I prefer the soft, gentle marketing approach and hate to resort to the hard sell car dealer like approach by saying you better sign up now before it’s too late, but – you better sign up now before it’s too late.  🙂  Actually, the second weekend is now full, and I only have a few spots left for the first weekend.  The permitting process will prevent me from offering any more, and will likely prevent other photographers from throwing together last minute tour / workshops.  To learn more, check out:  Anza-Borrego Photo Workshop.

With summer a ways off, there is a little less time urgency with my Alaska Photo Tours, although I only have one spot left for the private boat Kenai Fjords photo tour, and only two spots left for the Bear and Puffin photo tour – and recently, I received a number of inquires on the bear tour.   And space is available for our private boat Prince William Sound tour.

If you have any questions about any of the tours, drop me a quick email, or give me a call.

This commercial break was sponsored by Niebrugge Image, now back to our regularly scheduled blog entries.