The days may be short, but the light is beautiful! Another one from Seward.
Alaskan Sunset
Alaskan Sunrise
Well back in Alaska for a quick visit and to take care of some business. It sure can be beautiful this time of year!
More bats!
For my next night of bat photography, I attempted to get them flying right at the camera. This came pretty close. Next, I would like to photograph them from below, with the stars, and / or moon in the background.
Striped Skunk
A striped skunk at the waterhole the same night I was photographing the bats!
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
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
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
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.
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