The Florida Bird Haven Myth
by admin on Mar.16, 2019, under Locations, Rants, Raves & Ramblings
It’s the middle of March, 2019, and I just got back from a 9-day trip to sunny Florida to photograph birds that I had never seen in person before. I’d been thinking about such a trip for years, encouraged by the photos and stories I’d heard and read from other photographers. I was excited about finally getting a chance to see and photograph Roseate Spoonbills, and Wood Storks, and Reddish Egrets, and other interesting species. Yeah, so many birds you can’t take it all in – birds, birds everywhere you turn, right there just feet away – so close you have to use short lenses….. Yeah, right! (continue reading…)
It’s A Wild Horses Autumn
by admin on Oct.25, 2018, under Locations
I seem to be logging a lot of wild horse time this Autumn. Just two weeks after the wife and I spent two days with the wild horses at Beaufort and Shackleford, I had the opportunity to join three other photographers for two more days with Seavisions Charters. For the other photographers… two from New York and one from Massachusetts, it was a first time visit with the wild horses.
Wild Horses After The Storm
by admin on Oct.07, 2018, under Locations
The wife and I headed to Beaufort this first week of October to try for some new wild horse photos, now that it’s been a month since Hurricane Florence pounded the coast and inundated eastern North Carolina. The wild horses of Beaufort and Shackleford Banks seem to have weathered the storm with grace, as they have for hundreds of years along the Outer Banks.
Surprises at the Bird Feeders
by admin on May.06, 2018, under Rants, Raves & Ramblings
This has been an eventful and surprising week at the feeders and bird bath so far this Spring. It started with a male Rose-breasted Grosbeak. For the past several years we usually saw one at the feeder once or twice in the Spring, stopping here on its migration from Mexico or Central America up to the Northeast and Canada. But this year we’ve not only had two male Rose-breasted Grosbeaks at once, but also three females at the same time. And not for a day, but for nearly a week now.
Wind, Sea and Wild Horses
by admin on Apr.22, 2018, under Locations
It’s late April, and finally winter has reluctantly released its grip, allowing some Spring-like weather to filter into the Carolinas. Though the temps were up a bit and the sun was out, a 20 to 30 mph wind relentlessly buffeted the coast for the entire three days of our trip to Beaufort and Shackleford Banks for some wild horse photography.
That didn’t stop the wife and I from our mission to get photos, but it did make the private charter boat rides across Back Sound as rough as what we get in the winter months around Beaufort and Shackleford Banks. (continue reading…)
Seeking Color and Fun in the Blue Ridge Mountains
by admin on Oct.06, 2017, under Locations, Rants, Raves & Ramblings
We’ve made two more trips to the Blue Ridge Mountains since the last post hoping to find more Fall color, but it was as yet a bit too early, even at the highest elevations. The photo at right is one of the best representations of color from these two most recent trips, in the 3rd and 4th weeks of September. The near ridge shows a good bit of color, while the more distant ridges had little or none. I’m not sure how this works. Perhaps it’s merely elevation differences, though there is no way to tell how the ridge elevations differ in this view. (continue reading…)
Winding Roads, Scenic Views and the Underground
by admin on Sep.11, 2017, under Rants, Raves & Ramblings
The photo at right is of Looking Glass Rock on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Obviously it’s not my usual feathery frocked subject matter – but still, this all started with a couple of “birds”. You see, I’ve driven a red Firebird for the past 23 years . . . actually two red Firebirds . . . a ’94 Firebird, then a 2002 Firebird. I recently sold the 2002 Firebird that I’d driven for the last 15 years, and brought home a 2018 Camaro. I was itching to get the new Camaro out on the road and try it out. Those twisted, winding mountain roads in the Great Smokies were calling to me. (continue reading…)
The Total Solar Eclipse
by admin on Aug.22, 2017, under Rants, Raves & Ramblings
As you can see, I haven’t posted since March. The Bluebirds weren’t very cooperative this Spring, and nothing new visited the feeders during the Summer. And with the oppressive Summer heat, I don’t get out for photography much. However, there was one thing I did some planning for…… The Solar Eclipse of August 21. I could have stayed home and viewed a 90+% eclipse, which is more than I’ve ever had a chance to see, but with the circle of totality within a 5-6 hour drive, I decided to go for it…. totally… or rather totality.
My wife took the photo below
with her tablet before totality.
With the news media warning what a traffic nightmare it would be to go anywhere for the totality, I did some thinking. I decided a more rural, less populated spot in the totality path might possibly avoid much, if not all of the crowd that was predicted. I found and downloaded a neat file for Google Earth that showed the totality circle as it traversed the US into South Carolina. With that handy tool I zoomed into Google Earth looking for likely locations with public access near the center line of the totality path and settled on a Walmart parking lot in Newberry, SC.
Looking Back at the Snow
by admin on Mar.24, 2017, under Rants, Raves & Ramblings
Well, it’s late March and finally I feel like there is little threat of any more freezing temperatures. So I decided to look back at the February snow and some of the photos I got of birds while those frozen flakes were coming down. Every year I try to get some new shots of birds in the snow to use for my Christmas cards. Looks like maybe this male Cardinal will be the one I’ll use when Christmas rolls around again. (continue reading…)
Just Eagles This Time
by admin on Nov.25, 2016, under Locations
This trip was two days at Conowingo Dam, with a third day spent looking for birds at E.B. Forsythe NWR in New Jersey and Bombay Hook NWR in Delaware. Ninety precent of Forsythe was closed for repairs to the wildlife drive, dikes and pumps. We found a dozen or so Brandt, a half dozen Black Ducks and a pair of Mallards, none of which were in suitable light for good images. We found virtually nothing at Bombay Hook NWR. That place has been a bust the past three times I’ve visited. I think I’m scratching that one off my list. (continue reading…)
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Welcome friends & fellow photographers
This blog is an extension of the CarolinaWildPhoto.com web site. Here I will chronicle my wildlife photography "adventures", both big and small.
Carolina Wild Photo Gallery – Some Favorites
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Photographing Wild Horses on
This informative article from CarolinaWildPhoto.com provides a photographer's perspective on which North Carolina wild horse locations might best fit you, your style, and your time. Learn what gear and clothing you should take, what to expect, and what's involved in accessing each location. Read this first and "know before you go".
North Carolina's Coast
Two improved bean bag projects
Greatly decreased weight is the big news with these two new designs for DIY bean bags. Read up on the Magic Bean Bag and the Butterfly Bean Bag version II articles with detailed instructions for making your own.
on CarolinaWildPhoto.com
