Our Certified Wildlife Refuge

Wildlife photography can be a wonderful way to use your camera equipment. It is also more difficult to accomplish than one might realize. However one way to break into this type of photography is to start in your own backyard and photograph song birds. What makes it even more enjoyable is to turn your place into a certified wildlife refuge through the National Wildlife Federation.

For many years now my wife and I have photographed the birds that inhabit our one little acre. We are blessed to live in the country and are surrounded by hundreds of acres of farming landscapes along with wooded patches, prairie remnant grasses and wildflowers. There are several ponds nearby along with a small flowing creek that provide sources of water. As a result we are regularly visited by all kinds of birds and other wildlife. Our one little acre stretches, about 400 feet, like a giant wedge from in front of the house all the way to a wooded area along the back portion where all kinds of trees, blackberries, wildflowers, deer, squirrels, bats, hawks, song birds, the occasional covey of quail, snakes, and other species visit.

It became clear early on that this one little acre, surrounded by all the supporting elements for a productive habitat, has become a fun wildlife refuge naturally in its own right. We have a water source, natural food plants, lots of trees and nesting locations, along with brushy areas, wood piles, and protective cover. We also have supplemented the natural habitat with a variety of trees and birdhouses to attract bluebirds and other colorful additions.

The National Wildlife Federation will provide you with a wildlife habitat certification as long as your location provides for the following:  Food sources, a water source, nesting opportunities, cover, and sustainable practises like not using chemicals. You can find out more information by visiting: https://www.nwf.org/Garden-for-Wildlife/Certify

It is easy and fun plus you will in a small positive way help the environment and that is something we all should be willing to do.

The Portable Reflecting Pool - A Great Way to Photograph Song Birds

Recently, my little one acre country yard was certified as an official Natural Wildlife Habitat. We really did not have to do too much to obtain that certification, just make sure we met the requirements for food, shelter, water, and a natural setting free of chemicals. Being surrounded by farm country and a wealth of natural habitat already, it is only natural we would have an abundance of critters roaming around. It was fun none the less to receive the official certificate.

My wife Kris and I always enjoy the birds that flock to the feeding stations and she has become quite the bird photographer capturing many creative and interesting images. Along with her, I will from time to time take a few images myself. One thing we do is place a few natural limbs and twisted root or driftwood remnants along the banister around the deck. With a few strategically drilled holes and using the natural flat surfaces, we sprinkle sunflower seeds and milworms which all the birds seem to like. We also hang balls made of twisted sticks and such with some sunflower seeds mixed with peanut butter smeared over them and also we hang a couple suet cages. Seems all the birds like those as well and both the limbs and stick balls offer a different photo opportunity.

One creative photography thing I recently tried was to build a shallow and portable reflecting pool. It is nothing complicated, just a basic frame with some white board tacked to the bottom to provide a solid surface. The white board then was covered with a large leaf bag to create a shallow pool that holds water. At one end of the pool I placed some rocks and a large piece of driftwood to give it a natural look. I also made sure there was enough flat surfaces on the limbs to sprinkle some sunflower seeds and milworms to attract the birds. In time I will experiment with the natural setting look and try different combinations.

When placed across the banister and filled with water, it makes an easy and simple reflecting pool. Oddly enough, the birds have yet to warm up to it. I suppose with it being something new introduced to the environment they seem a little spooked by it. It will take them a day or two to get accustomed to it. Even so, a couple of brave finches tried it out.

The idea with the reflecting pool is to allow for photographing the birds a number of ways and in varying lighting situations. Natural light of course is the easiest with the best being a bright overcast day which allows for soft even lighting and relatively fast shutter speeds. Dark overcast days will also work, but usually you have to bump the ISO up a notch or two to obtain a fast enough shutter speed to capture the birds clearly as they tend to hop around a lot. One thing I want to try is to add some artificial lighting to simulate a specific kind of light.

What I plan to do once the birds begin to use it more, is to place two speedlights on stands behind and to one side of the reflecting pond, both zoomed to their 105mm setting to focus the light onto a narrow beam, and on both I will place an orange warming gel to simulate a late afternoon sun backlight. Then I'll place another speedlight without any kind of gel on it in front and to one side, but also powered back just to add a bit of frontal fill light to capture that all important catch light in the eyes.

The trick then is to lure the birds onto the log with some tasty milworms and sunflower seeds and capture them along with their reflection. I am curious to see how this technique will add interest to the finished images.

The Story Behind the Photograph - The Spillway

A Photograph is a time machine for it can in an instant transport you back to a moment from long ago. Details about where and how and more importantly, why the photograph was taken, instantly come to mind. It is amazing when you think about it how such insignificant obscure details suddenly flood back into memory. The story leading up to the capture is often just as important as the image itself.

Continuing with the focus on The Story Behind the Photograph, we will take a look at the dramatic water flow falling over the old Okmulgee Lake spillway. What might otherwise appear as an ordinary photograph of a scenic location, tells a much more important personal story...a story reinforced by a personal loss. When I absorb the image of this torrent of water, a lifetime of memories flood my thoughts. This will be the last in the series and I hope those who may have read these stories were not only inspired, but stopped to take a closer look at the stories behind their own photographs.

                                          ****

My ancestral home is Oklahoma where the folks talk with their unique Okie drawl, and the landscape is as varied as almost any place around. There are prairies, pine covered rugged mountains, rolling mixed hardwood forests, muddy rivers and clear gravel bottom streams that meander across the state. Extremes of weather are the norm and Oklahoma experiences more tornado's per square mile than any place in the world. It's a distinction they would probably just as soon let some other place have for the most part, but the unpredictable and often destructive weather in the state is as much a part of life there as anything else.

Even though I now live in Kentucky and call it home, my life and times in Oklahoma still retains an important and powerful influence. Over the past fourteen years, as time allowed, my wife and I would return for a week or so almost every year to visit family and friends and of course I would pack my camera gear and spend as much time afield as I could. Places like the Tallgrass Prairie is a favorite location for photo adventures, but sometimes as is the nature of the Oklahoma weather, conditions would deteriorate to where making the drive up there is not practical. So it was on this occasion.

Oklahoma in general gets about 40 inches of rain per year across most of the eastern portion of the state and it progressively gets drier the further west you go. The problem with the rain is summed up by an old joke; yeah, we get 40 inches of rain every year, but it all comes in one night. Oddly enough, there is some truth to that old worn out joke. On this particular trip, Oklahoma was experiencing a rainy spell like I had never seen before. For days on end, it rained, hard at times. It seemed it just did not want to stop. So any trips to the Tallgrass Prairie were postponed as a result. Instead, I spent more time visiting my dad in the small town of Okmulgee, about 40 miles south of Tulsa. My mom had passed away a few years before and my brother had passed away about a year or so after that, so it was important I spent as much time as I could with him. He was 90 years old and pushing 91, but still got around pretty well.

Just west of town was the scenic Okmulgee Lake. Built during the depression, it has over the years developed a reputation of being a hidden jewel that few people know about except the locals. As a result of all the rain it was filled to capacity and the old rock spillway located at the northeastern end of the lake was putting on quite a show as tons of water flowed over its top. An artist must have designed the spillway because the way it was constructed, when there was a heavy water flow, there were protruding rocks and cracks and channels built into its face that forced the water into shoots and gaps creating a wonderful demonstration of a living and moving falling fountain.

One afternoon, I picked up my dad and took him out to see the spillway. Of course he had seen it many times before, but neither he nor I had ever seen it flowing with the power and energy it now showed. My dad was a photographer, in a way, with a long history of shooting film. He was pretty old school though, and digital cameras seemed a bit too complex for his 90 year old mind to grasp. But, he seemed fascinated with all the buttons and capabilities of my Sony A65 as I explained to him how it worked. When I would show him how I used Photoshop on my laptop, he was truly amazed. We had a good time standing in front of the spillway, but I could tell he was getting tired but I wanted to spend some time photographing this spillway moment.

It was a very dark, overcast day, but the low hanging clouds showed strong textures. It was still raining, hard at times, and the spillway flow seemed to just go on and on. I knew capturing this as a photograph would be a challenge because of the width of the structure was such, it was almost impossible to get all of it within the field of view of my 18mm lens, the widest angle lens I had. I moved around and backed up as far as I could without standing in the road. Being a dark overcast day worked in my favor as the shot required a long exposure which would give the flowing water a soft white appearance. I wanted to include part of the sky to capture the ominous feeling of the day,so I also used a 1 stop graduated neutral density filter to bring out more detail in the sky. Within a few minutes I had my shots, but before we left, I snapped a quick photo of him standing in front of the spillway. He always liked to clown around and on this occasion he struck an awkward pose and we both laughed at his silliness.

The Last Photo I took of my Dad

After we returned to his apartment, I downloaded the images onto my laptop and I showed him how I built the images from the raw digital files I had captured. He was again fascinated with the process, especially when I converted it into a black and white image, but he did not understand how any of it worked. His photography mindset was anchored in 1944 using an old 35mm Argus C3 rangefinder camera during the war. He still had one sitting in his closet, but never used it having graduated to a newer Minolta film camera a number of years ago. Even though he always retained a heart for adventure and the power taking pictures supplied to his life, he rarely took many photos any more.

We spent the afternoon talking about the spillway, the upcoming OU football season, his favorite television show, Bill Oreilly, and eventually headed out to get something to eat. We had a good day, but I had to return to Tulsa and connect again with my wife's family. A day later, on a finally bright and clear day, we made one more quick trip to Okmulgee and the spillway before we said good bye prior to returning to Kentucky.

He seemed frail and quiet while we walked along the front of the spillway and soon returned to the car as his legs were getting weak. After we dropped him off, he looked sad waving his thin arm at us as we pulled away from the parking area of his little apartment. It was like he sensed something, but I did not pick up on it at the time. Two weeks later, back in Kentucky, I received a call...he had passed away that morning, his heart simply gave out and stopped.

Most photographs I have captured generate a feeling of fun and excitement and so they should. When I take time to look at the spillway photo, my heart is always saddened for I know it was during that moment I was spending the last days with my dad. Today, I have his old Argus C3 and his Minolta film camera, they still work. They are precious tokens from his life.

All the family I grew up with are gone now, I'm the only one left, but I also have a time machine sitting inside several old large boxes. They are filled with a hundred years of photographs, and I can go back to visit the family captured on them anytime I desire simply by looking inside. I enjoy having a time machine.