Wildman's Best

[Wildman]

Quail getting a drink at the pond.

[Wildman]

Coyote making his morning rounds across our back property.  Can you spot how well his coat blends into the chaparral?




Here he pauses to watch what our dogs are doing (going crazy behind their fenced yard)



Finally, Raven spots his arch nemesis, Coyote and the whole flock starts their dive bombing runs.

[Wildman]

[Surfer_Dude]

These are always great Wildman! Keep them coming.

[Wildman]

Thanks.  It gets harder to find the time to get out and shoot.

[Wildman]

Luke, the Haflinger and our elder drafts, Katie and JC gather before dark and feeding time.  They wait for the sound of the wheelbarrow being loaded with barley.

[lynnc]

Wildman, that is an incredible photo - I think it is one of your best. (Of course being a horse lover, I would think that!)

That needs to be published.

[gypsywolf]

You are so right about that. I love ALL the horse photos. They are always so reflective of the calmness your horses evoke. I want a copy of the that calendar.

[Wildman]

Thank you both.  I should get to that.....ironically, this photo was a cull as it was way too dark and was a millisecond from the delete key.  I was able to bring enough out to make something usable.

[lynnc]

Hope you don't mind - I  saved it as my desktop!!  The lighting on the mane just makes the photo.

(My husband will have to live without the B2 as our desktop photo - he sees them all the time at work anyway!)

[wwpt]

 
  Those are really great pictures , Wildman.  Put me down for a calendar or two.
  
  I always admire that barn also when going through Onyx and Weldon...You ever stop and read some of the headstones in that old graveyard? Do yourself a favor and read that National Highway Marker at the Jct of Hwys 178 &14 that tells about Walker Pass...definetly one of the most interesting of all the markers I've read. Another good one at the top of Walker Pass, also.

[Wildman]

Thanks, I will do that.

Feel free to use for desktops.....glad you enjoy the photos.  One of the other things I keep meaning to do is a DVD with photos and a desktop/screen saver that rotates through the photos.  One of these days...

This is a bird that has been facinating me all week.  I have never seen one before and this one stood out with his fearlessness and a very erratic up and down flight from the branches to the ground.  Like a Chickadee, he is very friendly and not afraid in the slightest.  I looked it up and I think it is a Western Peewee but I can never tell from the darn photos in the books.  This is the first time I have observed one here in the chaparral.

[Wildman]

When I watched Tanker 910 work continuously on the Butler II Fire in Big Bear, I was amazed at his size and the relative grace with which he maneuvers through the air.  Simply amazing and very useful on this fire.

[lynnc]

Wildman,
Last Sunday (during the fire) we were down in West Cajon.  We saw three of these tankers heading up West Cajon within a couple minutes of each other.  We were wondering if they had to go somewhere to refuel?  It seemed odd that all three of them were heading out at the same time.  Any ideas?

[Wildman]

They were probably just getting into the "mix" at the fire after refueling or refilling retartdant at the old Norton AFB-San Bernardino International.  The tanker base is there.  The tankers have to join a pattern around the fire and it takes them quite a ways to get lined up.   The big DC 10 refills in Victorville. 

At one point during the Butler II fire we had 16 air tankers assigned to us.  That gaggle of aircraft all coming back from refilling is more then likely what you saw.

[PinonMesaJon]

I use the 28-135mm for some of the birds that allow me to get close but 90% of the animal shots are with the 100-400mm. 

So, are you using the 28-135 for the hummer shots?
What aperature and speed is typical on these shots?

[Wildman]

It depends on where and which area I am shooting.  Most of my hummingbird feeders are near a window and often, I can use the smaller lens.  If I sit down in a chair for a while, I can be very close to the feeders and the hummers. 

The 100-400 mm is definitely the workhorse.  Depending on the time of day, I will shoot with the speed at 250+.  Obviously, the more light means the faster I can shoot.  I sometimes will bump up the ISO setting to allow for speeds over 1000 and stopping all of the action.  You may have noticed, a majority of my shots are at very low apertures ..... whatever the meter will allow me to shoot.  I have found that, for my style of photos, only the subject is in full focus and the backgrounds are blurred or out of focus.  Someday, I will learn to work with subjects from here to infinity.

[Wildman]

Water and owls...that's this upload.  The first is a stream in the Bishop area that I like.



Water droplets on grass....I really like the way the droplets magnify the surroundings.



Finally, this photo was at the upper range of limits.  It was almost dark and these two Great Horned Owls were sitting in a tree at the back of our five acres
on the hill.  We hear them most every night calling to each other.

[Wildman]

The Hummingbird feeders have been a popular place....both during the hot spells and during the cold snap.  They sound like a bee hive out there.

[Wildman]

This little falcon would sit and wait until the pump would come on for the pond and then bath in the little cement creek.  He did it several days in a row.  He also flew after the Quail like an F-18 fighter jet....weaving and bobbing after them through the trees.



From the archives..... an Egret lands next to another in a wildlife refuge in central California.