Dunes

Roseate Spoonbills in a sea fog

By Mia McPherson, on January 9th, 2013%

Roseate Spoonbills in a sea fog – Nikon D200, handheld, f7.1, 1/180, ISO 400, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 250mm, natural light

One very foggy May morning I came across a small flock of Roseate Spoonbills in a tidal lagoon at Fort De Soto’s north beach and photograph them for about 15 minutes before they flew off to find food. The fog muffled the sounds of the waves of the Gulf of Mexico rushing onto the shore just beyond the sand dunes you can see behind these two birds and the fog felt great on my skin that very warm morning. The adult Roseates were mostly resting but the juvenile pictured above began to preen while I laid in the tidal mud observing and photographing these large, pink wading birds.

Photographing in fog presents challenges in determining exposure, aperture, shutter speed and ISO, for this image I used a lower ISO because I wanted as much detail as I could achieve and while that gave me a low shutter speed the juvenile Roseate wasn’t moving quickly and that helped to get sharp images. This image did have a small amount of Noise Reduction applied to everything except the preening juvenile Roseate Spoonbill to smooth out some of the noise I could detect prior to post processing.

Mia

More Roseate Spoonbill images

Red Fleet State Park, Utah

By Mia McPherson, on May 28th, 2012%

I recently visited Red Fleet State Park in north-eastern Utah near Vernal and came away with a few landscape images that I liked.

Red Fleet State Park, Utah

The area got its name from three Navajo sandstone outcrops that look like ships. There is the 750 acre Red Fleet Reservoir for people who like fishing and recently dinosaur tracks have been found within the park boundaries.

Red Fleet State Park, Utah

I’m nuts about the geological formations found with Utah and I truly enjoyed seeing the petrified sand dunes covered in Junipers.

Red Fleet State Park, Utah

I was disappointed by only seeing a few birds, I saw Mountain Bluebirds, a Chipping Sparrow, Robins, European Starlings, a Western Kingbird, a few sparrows I didn’t ID and my FOY Bullock’s Oriole. I really didn’t get any images worth keeping. Maybe it was the wrong time of the year, I’m not sure. There is a Uintah County checklist on UtahBirds.org.

Red Fleet State Park, Utah

Even though the scenery is beautiful I was also disappointed that there are no pullovers and barely a shoulder from the main road to the park entrance and signs that stated “No Stopping”. If Ron hadn’t been driving I wouldn’t have been able to take three of these four images. Just telling it how I see it but pullovers would allow people to safely take images of the scenery and scout for birds and animals.

If you don’t mind camping in crowded campsites this would be an excellent location to camp, fish and only have a short drive to nearby Dinosaur National Monument situated in both Utah and Colorado.

I haven’t been to Dinosaur National Monument since 2003 but I remember it as very well worth the time to go there and see the Quarry Visitor Center, the scenic drives of Tour of the Tilted Rocks and Harper’s Corner Road. The petroglyph and pictograph panels are amazing and the drive to Josie Bassett’s cabin was delightful. I suspect the entire Monument area can be quite birdy due to the varied habitats and the Green and Yampa Rivers. Information about the birds found there provided by Wasatch Audubon can be seen here. Featured birds include Greater Sage-Grouse, Dusky (formerly known as Blue) Grouse, Gray Flycatcher, Say’s Phoebe, Pinyon Jay, Black-throated Gray Warbler, and Green-tailed Towhee.

I should go back and explore the Dinosaur National Monument area soon because it fascinated me.

Back to Red Fleet State Park, I enjoyed my visit there and the lovely scenery.

Mia

Sand Dunes – Two Scenic Images

By Mia McPherson, on May 11th, 2012%

While looking through my archives a few days ago I came across two images, one of sand dunes at Fort De Soto County Park in Florida and the other of sand dunes on Antelope Island State Park in Utah. I remember that I took both images because I loved the sky, the vegetation on the dunes and how they both make me feel so connected to these two locations that I am deeply attached to.

Sand Dune at Fort De Soto in early morning light – Nikon D70, handheld, f6.3, 1/160, ISO 200, Nikkor 70-300mm VR at 70mm

I created the image above while walking Fort De Soto’s north beach early in the morning of July 20, 2007, the sun had crested the horizon and had just begun to light up the dunes. Although Fort De Soto has many dunes covered with beautiful Sea Oats, in this image I liked how the Sea Purslane hugged the dune and how the tips of the plants seemed to glow with the early morning light. The sunlight had not yet lit up the surface of the Gulf of Mexico but had started to light up the tops of the storm clouds hanging in a bank off of the coast.

When I look at this image I can smell the salty air, the sand under my feet, the breeze ruffling my hair and the warmth of the sun’s rays warming my back.

Fort De Soto County Park is one of my favorite locations to photograph birds, scenery and clouds. More of my thoughts about Fort De Soto can be read here ”My Love Affair with Fort De Soto“.

Sand Dunes on Antelope Island State Park, Utah – Nikon D200, handheld, f11, 1/500, ISO 400, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 18mm

I was camping on Antelope Island State Park when I photographed the image above the evening of March 30, 2011. I thought the sky was captivating with the swirly, layered clouds against the warm tones of the sand and the yet to green up Sagebrush and Rabbitbrush that grow on the oolitic sand dunes there. So very different from the dunes at Fort De Soto but they are equally appealing to me.

Antelope Island State Park is another of my favorite locations to go to photograph, it seems I always find something to catch my eye and tug at my heart there. I recently did a three-part series of articles I titled “Wild and Wonderful – Antelope Island State Park” on the scenery, the wildlife and the birds. I could not fit it all into one article.

Just two simple images from two different locations that whisper “home” to me.

Mia