Mexican Long-Tongued Bat

Ron NiebruggeArizona, Photos, Travel 1 Comment

Mexican Long-Tongued Bat
Mexican Long-Tongued Bat

About a week ago a bat flew within inches of my face! I assumed it was catching bugs attracted to my headlamp. Fortunately, a few days before this, I had read a book about bats in which the author mentioned that bats may fly close to your head, but don’t worry, they won’t hit you. I hope he is right! Now bats in the headlight beam are almost a nightly occurrence. So, I decided to put a camera setup at my hummingbird feeders at the same time I had one at the waterhole. The bats really hits the sugar water hard!

This was with an Olympus E-M1X, the 40-150 f/2.8 lens at 55mm and f/8, bulb mode for 14.82 seconds, a Cognisys Sabre trigger, two Godox flashes at 1/32 power and Phottix Ares II flash triggers / receivers.

The first couple of nights I was using my Camtraption triggers, but for some reason, was getting slight ghosting even with a single flash. The Phottix Aries II are awesome triggers, although I don’t usually use them at night since they will turn off after 4 hours of no activity. The bats come around enough, that this isn’t a problem.

Owl with Mouse

Ron NiebruggeArizona, Photos, Travel, Tucson Leave a Comment

Owl with mouse.

I normally wouldn’t share an out of focus image, but this is too cool not to share. I had my camera trap setup at the water hole when this bird swooped in and grabbed a mouse! I set my focus for the edge of the water, and because I was maximizing the stars, I had a fairly big aperture of f/4, thus limited depth of field. The bird was well beyond my focus point.

I believe this is a great-horned owl. We have a pair on the property, along with a pair of western screech owls. Based on the size, I’m thinking great-horned, but open to other opinions.

Olympus E-M1 II, 12-100 lens at 15mm at f/4, 20 second exposure, two Godox flashes at 1/64 power, Camptraption motion and flash transmitter / receiver triggers. Combining wildlife with the stars only works on near moonless nights where there isn’t ambient light.

Morning Mourning Dove

Ron NiebruggeArizona, Photos, Travel, Tucson 1 Comment

Mourning Dove
Mourning Dove, Desert Photo Retreat, Arizona.

A morning, mourning dove yesterday at sunrise. So close – just 14 minutes earlier a gray fox came in for a drink. Too bad the fox wasn’t just a bit later. Maybe it is just as well, as the rock in the center of the frame would have made me crazy. I had put it there in the dark to help with focus, but then in the dark forgot to move it off out of frame. 🙂

Hooded Skunk

Ron NiebruggeArizona, Photos, Travel, Tucson Leave a Comment

Hooded Skunk

A hooded skunk last night at one of my water holes. I think this is a surprisingly striking mammal. Hooded and stripped skunks are regular visitors to the waterhole every night. I often see them in person, and they don’t really pay me any attention. The spotted skunk (maybe even more striking) visits less often, and I don’t think I have seen one in person until last night. Last night, on my way to check on my camera, I ran across a spotted skunk twice! The first time it ran, but the second time is watched me from a crack in a large rock. Pretty fun. Surprisingly, it never visited the waterhole, so I still don’t have a good photo of one.

Alaska Magazine Cover

Ron NiebruggeAlaska, Lake Clark, Photos, Shameless Self Promotion, Travel 2 Comments

February 2021 Alaska Magazine cover.

I can remember devouring every issue of this magazine growing up, so having an image on the cover has extra special meaning to me.  It has been a few years since the last cover, so this is a real treat.  I’m honored!  Thanks Alaska Magazine!
  
This was captured early one morning on one of my Alaska bear photo tours.  We were the only ones out in the field that morning which is an extra treat.  We spotted the sow with two cubs from the lodge and made the short walk to them and had just got set up when one of the cubs climbed onto it’s mom’s back!  Plus, they were even facing the rising sun!  A memorable morning for sure.