New Mexico Adventure 2018

Festival of the Cranes and Other places in New Mexico.

I flew to Albuquerque and after picking up my rental car I drove to Santa Fe. As soon as I arrived at the hotel it started snowing. At first it was just flurries but soon turned into larger flakes. I headed down to the Old Town area to look around. On my way to find some dinner I noticed there was a break in the clouds which made way for a fiery sunset amidst the continuing snow.

Monday morning I awoke to a blanket of snow with a layer of ice underneath. Once I was able to clean off the car and get a cafe mocha, I went back to Old Town. It was fun walking around in the snow and not too many people first thing. I visited the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum and the Loretto Chapel which is know for its spiral staircase.

Tuesday morning I headed south to Socorro for the Festival of the Cranes. Windchill in Santa Fe is 3 degrees so heading south is a good thing. Stopping in Bernardo first to see if there are cranes and other birds.Other than the sandhill cranes, I also spotted a bunch of Gambel's Quail, Says Phoebe, Kestrel and a red tailed hawk.

I checked into the Holiday Inn in Socorro then drove down to Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge where I would spend the next five days. After getting the obligitary souvenirs, I drove the refuge to look for birds. There were tons of snow geese and sandhill cranes. The festival starts on Wednesday with workshops and classes.

Wednesday I arrived at the crane pool early even though my first workshop wasn't until the afternoon. The temperature was around 9 degrees so the cranes were partially frozen into the ice. They usually leave as the sun comes up to feed in the corn fields. They were a little late leaving due to the ice layer. My afternoon workshop was supposed to be about waterfowl but the ducks were not in abundance like last year. They were spread out and in ponds that were not as easy to photograph. We ended up back at the crane pool for the evening fly-in.

Northern Pintail in Flight

Sandhill Crane coming in to roost.

The second day of the festival I did a class with Mollie Issacs. We met at the refuge bus stop at 6 am before going out to the flight deck for sunrise with the snow geese.

Road Trip to Rockport, Massachusetts and York, Maine

Sunrise at Motif #1 - Rockport, Massachusetts

I had five days planned to travel around New England after a visit to see my Dad. Unfortunately the visit turned into a Memorial Service after he passed away peacefully on September 8, 2017. After wrapping up details with my family I headed north to see some fall color and visit the coastal towns I have never been to. Rockport had always been on my bucket list so that was my first stop. It was very warm for October in New England so the fall color was lagging behind.

Rockport is a very picturesque seaside town with the small harbor filled with boats, lobster traps and seaside shacks. A local told me that the Harvest super moon was the same night I was there. After having the obligatory lobster roll for dinner, I headed down to the end of the town for a view of the full moon.

The next day I continued north to Maine and stayed in York for three days. This is the southern most part of Maine but gave me a chance to see some spots I had never been to before. Of course, lighthouses are always a great photo spot. The closest lighthouse was Nubble Light. I was able to visit several times with different light. Close by was a great ice cream stand.

The next day I travelled north to photograph Portland Head Light and then Pemaquid Point Lighthouse. The weather was starting to turn bad at Pemaquid but took the opportunity to shoot it from several different angles. I never quite got the shot with the lighthouse reflected in a puddle. Seems it had been fairly dry and not too many puddles. There were tourists crawling all over the rocks at both lighthouses making it difficult to get a  photo.

Pemaquid Point Lighthouse

Portland Head Light

On my last day before returning to Connecticut to fly home it was very foggy and rain was forecast. I think it was the remnants of one of the hurricanes passing through. But, the fog was great for shooting the small harbors around York. So I "made lemonade" and got some interesting shots.

Badger Island Lobster Shack

South Carolina and North Carolina Road Trip

Fulfilling a bucket list item of a trip to the Outer Banks,  I found a workshop led by a local Outer Banks photographer. He specializes in landscapes and wildlife so I thought it would be a great one. And as it turned out it was awesome. We did nighttime, sunset and starscape photography. Throw in a once in a lifetime solar eclipse and it was priceless. Before the workshop I made stops on the drive up. My first stop was Georgetown, South Carolina. This small town has a historic waterfront area with shops, restaurants and shrimp boats. It is also close to Pawleys Island that is very scenic but not very tourist friendly. There were tons of old wooden docks that went out into the sawgrass but no place to park close by. There was also a pier but once again no access unless you are staying a particular  resort.

The second leg of the trip took me to New Bern, North Carolina. This was another historic waterfront town including the famous Tryon Palace. Unfortunatley a rain storm came in so I spent a bit of time sitting at the waterfront in the car. Thinking I would go back early morning before heading to the Outer Banks never materialized since we had heavy fog that morning.

Before arriving at Nags Head, I made a stop at Roanoke Island to look around and check out the Manteo Lighthouse. I planned to go back later for a sunrise. The workshop actually started Sunday evening. We met at the hotel and loaded up gear for our first stop to shoot sunset at Bodie Lighthouse. The nice thing about this lighthouse is that the grounds are open all the time. Once it was dark enough we worked on shooting the milkyway. It was very challenging working in the dark and getting the right settings. My lens was not fast enough to limit the amount of grain I got with an iso of 3200 to 6400. After the workshop I went back and tried shooting with a 1.8 35mm lens. Although my range of view was limited, it was more successful for me. I also went early to get focused before it got dark. Before I attempt another milkyway, I will get a better lens by renting one or purchasing one.

This was taken after the workshop with the 35mm 1.8  lens.

The second day of the workshop had a bonus of a Solar Eclipse. It was about 90% on the Outer Banks but totally awesome. We headed down to the end of Hatteras National Seashore looking for birds but none to be found.

Frisco Pier on Hatteras Island

After dinner we went to Frisco Pier for sunset and then starscapes. This pier has been partially destroyed by storms but makes it much more interesting. This pier was a little easier to shoot since there was some light on it from nearby beach houses. The next stop was a small beach boardwalk in a very dark location. With the help of a little light painting the boardwalk was more visible. On the way back to the hotel we made one more stop at Bodie Lighthouse. By this time the bugs were more than fierce and tiredness was setting in. I knew that when I kept shooting wih the lens cap on. Actually that is easy to do when it is pitch black.

I stayed two more days after the workshop to see more of the Outer Banks hotspots. The next morning with not enough sleep I went down to Nags Head Pier for a so so sunrise.

Nags Head Pier

After a stop at Duck Donughts for some of the local favorites and some coffee, I drove to the Currituk Lighthouse the Whalebone club, and Duck. On the way back I stopped at the Wright Brothers National Monument so see where aviation got its start. For sunset I returned to Bodie Lighthouse. After the light was fading I had my place for the milkyway chosen and my focus was set and taped down I waited for it to get dark. The milkyway started to show up about an hour after sunset. I had to wait for all the tourists to leave. The wind was strong but that made the bugs tolerable. One other photographer showed up on the tower so I wasn't all alone with the critters. More photographers showed up later who were light painting the lighthouse with no regard for other people who were there. Many of the long exposures were ruined by their actions. But I did manage to get a couple of shots where the sky was clear and the light pollution was minimal.

Manteo Lighthouse

Colorful Beach Houses

The following morning I went over to Roanoke Island hoping for a decent sunrise. The sun rises to the side of the lighthouse and wasn't very impressive. You take what you get. After some more Duck Donughts I went back out to Bodie Lighthouse. This time there were too many tourists so I left. In the late afternoon I went to Jockeys Ridge State Park which is the largest and highest sand dune on the east coast. It is quite a hike but worth it because the view is amazing.

Folly Beach Pier

Magnolia Gardens Live Oaks

Old Sheldon Church Ruins

John's Island Shrimp Boats

I stayed in Charleston for two nights on my way home. I shot the sunrise at Folly Beach Pier and then stopped for some pics of the shrimp boats. Magnolia Plantation and Gardens was next on the list. Having been there in the springtime when the azaleas were in bloom, it was not quite as spectacular. I was fortunate to see a barred owl near one of the ponds. The swamp garden was interesting but the birds were scarce. Wrong time of year for it, I guess. Before heading back to the hotel I stopped at the infamous Angel Tree. It is quite impressive but difficult to get a great photo between the contrasty light and the multitude of tourists. I gave up on going to Botany Bay and Boone Hall. I will save those spots for another trip. Charleston is actually not that long of a trip so maybe in the spring I will return.

Swallow-tailed kites

Black Skimmer Nesting Colony

Reddington Beach

Reddington Beach

Time for Breakfast

The juvenile skimmers learning how to cool off.

A chick venturing out.

Fun Day at the beach shooting the Black Skimmers and juveniles. It was challenging to get the flight shots and the skimming action.

More Swallow-tail Kites in flight

The highlight of a morning trip to Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive were the Swallow-tailed kites. There were upwards of two dozen of them soaring and hunting near the sod farm. Shooting above your head can be challenging so I was just concentrating on the shape of the birds. I wanted to have the wings out stretched and the forked tail feathers visible. The fact that I caught some of them eating their meal of bugs was a bonus. The image with the visible insect was pure luck. We found a few least bitterns, green herons, juvenile black crowned night herons and some other common species.