Steve Ting Nature Photography

I spent a couple days at the Kern River Preserve earlier this week. It is considered the hummingbird capital of the west coast. It is a very nice nature preserve and a great location to view Hummingbirds.

I used a four flash set up to shoot the hummers. Three on the bird on one on the background. The reason so many flashes are used is that the power on the flashes can be turned down providing for a very short flash duration. This enables the camera to freeze very fast action. Some photographers use as many as 6-8 flashes for this type of set up. The shutter speed on the camera is relatively slow ~ 1/250 of a second. However, the camera only captures the brief moment illuminated by the flashes.

Below is a male Black-chinned Hummingbird. To see a larger photo of this bird and other photos from my hummer shoot please visit this phlog post.

Our state bird and a bird I’ve been trying to get photographs of for several years. There are many nest boxes for this species that have been put up near the Truckee area. I’ve spent the last two mornings photographing this beautiful species. Below is a photo of an adult male, for more photos please visit yesterdays and today’s phlog posts.

The photo below is of a male Hairy Woodpecker bringing food back to his nest hole. When I found this nest hole I was excited to photograph it, but the background is in dappled lighting all day which makes for a terrible background. To solve this problem I put “fake” background up using a green colored cloth hanging on a stand. Since the nest hole is shaded in the morning and gets direct harsh sunlight the rest of the day I chose to shoot the nest in the morning with both the nest and the background shaded. I had to use two flashes – one on the bird and one on the background to get even lighting.

To see a larger photo and several others of this bird please visit today’s phlog post

There are several area’s in Nevada where Snowy Plover’s nest. I visited one of these areas yesterday and was happy to find at least 8 birds present. Challenging birds to photograph, they are constantly on the move and are very small, which means you have to be pretty close to get decent images.

Snowy Plover’s are considered endangered and their habitat is dwindling.

Below is a photo of one, for more photo’s please visit this phlog post.

The Calliope Hummingbird is the smallest North American Hummingbird. They breed in several locations locally. I photographed this handsome fellow at Galena Creek Park. There are several different methods used to photograph hummers. This photo was taken with a relatively simple method using a single flash combined with a Better Beamer. The Better Beamer is basically a magnifying lens that doubles flash output. To get enough shutter speed to prevent motion blur the flash must be in High-speed sync mode.

To freeze the wings generally requires a multiple flash technique using between 3 to 6 flashes.

A larger photo of this bird can be viewed at today’s Phlog post

The photo below is of a male Dusky Grouse, displaying his colors hoping to attract a female. Several years ago the Blue Grouse was split into two different species, the Dusky Grouse and the Sooty Grouse. The Dusky Grouse is generally found north of the Sooty Grouse. I photographed this bird in Grand Teton National Park, while hiking around Grand Viewpoint. I didn’t find him till around noon, which of course meant the the light from the sun was terrible! Too harsh and too high of an angle to get a decent photo. Fortunately, there were some clouds in the sky, so I waited till the sun was covered by clouds and was able to get this photo.

For a larger photo and more photos please visit my May 15 Phlog post

My wife and I spent most of this last week in Yosemite. A beautiful place with lots of hiking and photo opportunities. The weather was not the greatest for hiking, but it did make for some unique photo ops. Below is a photo taken after it stopped snowing for a bit. Upper Yosemite Falls is visible in the background.

The next day we took a hike up to the top of Upper Yosemite Falls. A pretty steep hike (a bit over 2700 feet in elevation gain). Unfortunatley, the clouds were not very cooperative and we were unable to get any views of the Falls or Yosemite Valley from on Top, but we did have a good feeling of accomplishment. I truly doubt there are many people willing to do that hike in the snow!! Below is a photo of Michele and I near the top. Made the Nut Brown Ale taste even that much better that evening over pizza.

For more photos from Yosemite please visit my Yosemite Phlog post.

Some bird species have started the northerly migration to their breeding grounds. Yesterday I found a small group of Mountain Bluebirds in Washoe Valley on their way to their breeding territory. They will most likely only stay a day or two and continue on.

Here is a photo of a male.

Many nature photographers put their camera away when the sky is overcast. This is unfortunate because the soft light from an overcast sky combined with fill flash can make for some great photo opportunities. The high dynamic range of many birds and the bright colors are often best photographed in soft lighting.

Below is an example take this morning. A Western Meadowlark taken at ISO 400, f/8.0 at 1/300. Fill flash set manually to half the distance to the bird.

Later this afternoon there was a juvenile Cooper’s Hawk terrorizing the birds at my feeders. I was able to get a shot of him flying in.

To see larger sizes of the above photos please check out today’s phlog

Considered a pest by many the Eurasian Collared-dove was introduced to North American in the Mid 1970′s. It has quickly spread across the continent, and is now present year round in many areas. Until this year I rarely saw this species in Washoe Valley, though this year I have at least a dozen coming into the yard to feed on the seed I put out for the Quail.

It is unknown at this time if this species will cause any harm to the present ecosystem. Below is a photo of one of the birds that has been coming into the yard. For a larger photo please visit this phlog