Inspiration often comes in special moments, as Crowfoot, a Blackfoot warrior observed:

“What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset.”

Our Team has watched the little shadows run across the grass on distant shores. The light we have found is shared here to encourage you to find an adventure of your own.  Much like Team Member Melanie as she considers the morning light.

Click on Photograph to see the Original Version

Since our first post, we have gathered articles from 40 counties and six continents from readers like you, who have found special moments and inspiration from their journeys.

We wish to thank all who have contributed their work here during 2010. We look forward to the coming year and new articles from those who share our passion for travel and adventure.  Please contact us if you have a travel adventure you wish to have published here, we are eager to share what you have found.

We wish that you find light in your life during the new year, that you have good health and prosper.

Thank you for visiting with us.

Please enjoy a slide show we have prepared from some of our images from the year 2010.  The slide show takes a while to load, so bear with us.

Our best regards,

Claire, Melanie, and Bill —   The PTR Team

Please view our photographs in the larger/original versions.  The originals are sharper and provide more detail.

By Melanie - Click on Photograph for the Original Version

By Bill - Click on Photograph for the Original Version

Getting to these areas is very difficult unless one hires a car or has personal transport provided by a friend.  If visiting from other than the United Kingdom, it is best to fly into Inverness and rent a vehicle there.  Best airports for International travel are Glasgow and Manchester, then a commuter flight to Inverness.  Avoid completely flying into London Heathrow!

The Cairngorms National Park

Why Go?

The Cairngorms National Park is the largest in Britain, covering 3,800 square kilometres of scenery. The photographer will find stark and elemental drama and pockets of beauty so entrancing that you will find it hard to put down your lens in even the most bleak of conditions.  The park offers  a vast array of choices of things to do and see.  For the travel photographer landscapes abound and there is opportunity for some wildlife photography for those who have the patience. Family members without cameras are well catered for with activities including walking, climbing, canoeing, mountain bike rides, golf, dog sled and reindeer visits. For the bleak days Aviemore and the smaller surrounding villages have a number of indoor attractions including a cinema. Visiting in the winter opens up new possibilities for the photographer and the adventurer as it generally receives the highest snowfall in Britain.

By Bill - Click on Photograph for the Original Version

How To Get There?

From Inverness take the A9 heading to Aviemore then B9152, then B970 to the park.

From Glasgow take A9 north to Aviemore then B9152, then B970 to the park.

Where To Stay?

The Cairngorms area offers a wide range of accommodations.  The PTR Team chose to rent a self-catering house which the Team highly recommends.  Large and accommodating, the house is on two levels and offers four bedrooms and three baths.  The location makes it easy to access many areas and its wide open view gives you the opportunity to inspect the sky and make your own weather forecast. Red squirrels frequently visit the garden as do, we believe, deer.

By Melanie - Click on Photograph for the Original Version

Torridon and the Torridon Mountains

Why Go?

Torridon village is on the west coast of Scotland, 100+ miles north of Fort William and 80 miles west of Inverness. Situated in an area well known to climbers, photographers, wildlife enthusiasts, hikers, and countless visitors from around the world, the surrounding mountains rise almost vertically to 3500 feet from the deep sea lochs. Far more remote than the Cairngorm area it is suited more to those who want isolation and have the ability to create their own entertainment. There is a large hotel with a popular public bar, and a youth hostel within walking distance. The village shop stocks a wide variety of products including fresh fruit, vegetables, meat and dairy products. It also doubles as a cafe with home made baking and a very good cappuccino.

As the Team approached  Bill was stunned by the Torridon Mountain range. “This place is perhaps the most beautiful area in all of Scotland,” he said.  “It puts the Isle of Skye to shame.”

By Bill - Click on Photograph for the Original Version

How To Get There?

Post Bus connects with the train from Inverness, which arrives at Achnasheen around 12PM (except Sundays and local holidays). Local Bus also meets the train which arrives at Strathcarron around 12:30PM.

For car access, follow the A896 from either Kinlochewe or Shieldaig to Loch Torridon and take the narrow road on the north side of the [sea]loch.

Where To Stay?

Torridon has limited accommodations.  Best to rent a self-catering house.  Our choice was rather spectacular with a fantastic location and a very accommodating owner.  We highly recommend Badarroch House!  With four bedrooms and two baths, a very large living area and set high above Loch Torridon, the house offers a large group the perfect haven for a travel photo holiday. Have a look inside:

By Bill - Click on Photograph for the Original Version

Places To Go For Photography

The Cairngorms and Around

Melanie first visited this area about five years ago on a dedicated photographic holiday with Wildshots ( now Northshots). Unfortunately the weather that particular week was particularly dire, but the potential was definitely there. Many times, since, it has been an area that has beckoned as the PTR team members have driven past/through the area on the A9 when the colors have turned to copper and gold.

By Melanie - Click on Photograph for the Original Version

We visited only a fraction of the area and based ourselves mainly round our ‘home base’. This is an area characterized by lochans, valleys and forests that are a delight to the eye at this particular time of year. Amongst the places we visited and would recommend were: the Rothiemurchus Estate including Loch an Eilein, Glen Feshie and Uath Lochans, Loch Morlich, the Glen More Forest Park, Loch Garten and the Highland Wildlife Park. We had a longer drive out one day to Glen Affric and made the wise decision to revisit on our onward journey to Torridon.

By Melanie - Click on Photograph for the Original Version

Torridon and Around

This is an area that needs no introduction to those who love the mountains and beaches of Western Scoltand. This vast area has an unending array of subjects for the outdoor photographer ranging from long sandy beaches to Munro high mountains, from forgotten ruins to idyllic cottages, from raging rivers to peaceful lochs. Both landscaper and wildlifer will be happy.

Again, amongst the places we visited and would recommend are: a drive along the road from Torridon village to Lower Diabaig, (several opportunities to stop and take in the delights that the drive has to offer), Sheildaig, the Applecross Peninsula, Glen Torridon (taking in the walk around Loch Clair and Loch Coulin), Loch Maree and the drive out to Redpoint past Badachro. An interesting ‘bad weather’ option was a visit to Inverewe gardens.

By Melanie - Click on Photograph for the Original Version

From Torridon the drive to Loch Clair offers spectacular scenery.  A car park off of A896 at the loch offers one the opportunity to walk the trail along the loch.  Splendid views of Beinn Eighe can be found along the way.

By Melanie - Click on Photograph for the Original Version

Likewise, the drive west from Torridon along the same route to Shieldaig is an absolute delight, offering some of the most spectacular scenery one can find in Scotland.  From Shieldaig there is a walking trail along a peninsula that extends into Loch Torridon.  A bit difficult in some places, the trek leads to some wonderful vistas of the loch and the Torridon Mountain Range.

By Bill - Click on Photograph for the Original Version

Highlights

A visit to Glen Affric in Autumn sunshine on the drive over to Torridon.

The walk around Loch an Eilein, which we did twice, for the incredible array of texture, colour, light and detail.

Coming across the Autumnwatch Land Rover and team as they were filming at Loch Garten on a beautiful sunny evening. their presence made up for the lack of cloud in the sky!

By Bill - Click on Photograph for the Original Version

Coffee and cakes whilst watching a myriad of birds at the Inshriach Alpine Nursery.

Bill’s expression of delight as we drove down Glen Torridon for the first time and picture perfect reflections of Ben Alligan and Liathach in the head of the loch.

Melanie’s joy at photographing a woodshed at Badarroch House.

By Melanie - Click on Photograph for the Original Version

Along Loch Torridon, the walk from Shieldaig to Camas Ruadh offered magnificent scenery and perfect light for the Team.  Here Melanie found both rainbows and fabulous landscapes!

By Melanie - Click on Photograph for the Original Version

Leaving the house one morning at Lower Diabaig to see the first snow of the season on the mountains.

Watching Melanie do Wildlife Photography with a wide angle lens and Lee Filters.

By Bill - Click on Photograph for the Original Version

Hearing the stags roar both day and night. Near the hamlet of Torridon, Bill found a Red Deer Stag bellowing away during rutting season.

By Bill - Click on Photograph for the Original Version

We broke the return journey and stayed in the Kings House Hotel for one night. The night before we were a little slow to see the moonrise and not quite in the best place to capture it.

By Melanie - Click on Photograph for the Original Version

The following morning we were lucky to see it before it set behind the Big Shepherd of Etive, a special and a great highlight of the trip.  Here we found two interpretations of the same location and time.

By Bill - Click on Photograph for the Original Version

By Melanie - Click on Photograph for the Original Version

Lowlights

Leaving the house near Dulnain Bridge one morning in mist and thick frost and arriving in Glen Affric to total grey!

Waiting, and waiting and waiting for the mist to lift at Loch Gamhna  only for it to lift when we were too far away to get back. We were in sore need of coffee and heated car seats!

The Bealach na Ba route into the Applecross Peninsula being closed for roadworks.

A distinct lack of dramatic sunrise/sunset opportunities – blame it on the weather.

Having the zippers malfunction on both our Lowepro Mini Trekker backpacks! (Note that both are over seven years old.)

Not packing a good heavy duty jacket — it was very cold, and we sometimes walked in hail.

Hearing that Badarroch House is For Sale

Having to leave – - -

What to Photograph in Bad Weather

Expect bad weather in Scotland.  There will be days of rain, sleet, and hail.  Many days will offer nothing more than gray skies and heavy overcast.

Some suggestions:

1.  Photograph details.  Flowers, leaves, mushrooms, textures of wood or metal, old buildings both inside and out, sea shells, rocks, water moving across a rock, etc.  The opportunities are limitless, just use your imagination and concentrate on finding details that you might walk by in good weather.  This includes finding a place to photograph inside.  Churches, museums, cafes, people (ask first), pubs, etc. Here is an example:

By Melanie - Click on Photograph for the Original Version

2.  On gray overcast days the light is often diffused and offers one the chance to capture depth and details without harsh sunlight blowing out highlights.  Here is an example photograph made on an overcast day.

By Bill - Click on Photograph for the Original Version

3.  Shoot through a car window.  You may need to adjust white balance and watch your exposures, they tend to be under.  But you can find some dramatic stuff while riding in a vehicle, don’t try it while driving.  You can shoot in the rain easily with an open car window by moving to the opposite side of the open window and using a telephoto lens. Here is an example:

By Bill - Click on Photograph for the Original Version

4. Look for rainbows.  Rain always means that a rainbow will appear, particularly in the early morning and late afternoon when the sun is less that 45 degrees in the sky.

By Melanie - Click on Photograph for the Original Version

5. Be creative.  Here Melanie moved her camera whilst using a slower shutter speed.

By Melanie - Click on Photograph for the Original Version

Our Equipment

Melanie:

Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III with 16-35mm f/2.8L II, 24-105 f/4 L and 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L lenses. Lowepro AW mini phototrekker bag, selection of Lee ND grads, polariser and Singh Ray varible ND filter. Velbon carbon fiber tripod with Manfrotto 322RC2 head.

Bill:

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon EOS 7D, with 16-35mm f/2.8L II and Canon 70-300mm DO.  Polarizer Filter. Lowepro AW Mini Trekker Bag.  Gitzo carbon fiber 6x tripod with Manfrotto 484 ball head.

Resources

Maps:

Ordnance Survey maps both 1:50 000 and 1:25 000.

Use the solo maps provided by Route Buddy Atlas on your iPad.  A wonderful tool which will show your current location, allow you to add waypoints, will record your tracks, and will search maps for specific names of places.  All of Scotland is available for $42 at 1:50 000.  Maps are available for the USA as well and more are constantly being added.

Books:

Aviemore and the Cairngorms, 40 Shorter Walks by Paul and Helen Webster

Cairngorms Walks (Pathfinder Guide)

Walking Wester Ross by Mary Welsh and Christine Isherwood

Wester Ross and Lochalsh, 40 Coast and Country Walks by Paul and Helen Webster

Websites:

Cairngorms National Park Website

Torridon at Wikipedia

The ritual emerges early in the trip: Leap into the truck, slam the doors and spend the next few minutes killing all the mosquitoes which have followed you in.

We’re headed up the Dempster Highway, the most northerly highway in Canada and one of only two highways in the western hemisphere that cross the Arctic Circle. It winds 743 kilometers from its junction near Dawson City in Yukon Territory, crossing the continental divide three times before it reaches Inuvik in the Northwest Territories. Except for a few kilometers of pavement at each end, the road is a gravel challenge; the Dempster is not for the ill-prepared or the faint of heart.

Dawson City

The first morning gets off to an ominous start. I’m traveling with Ben, my father-in-law, in a big one-ton 4×4 truck pulling a fifth-wheel trailer. The mosquito killing begins and when I swat one (gently, I swear!) against the inside of the windshield, it cracks. Must have picked up a rock chip somewhere.

As we leave pavement just north of the junction, I’m acutely aware of our isolation. There is very little traffic on the road and it’s almost 370 kilometers before we’ll come to any services. We have a full tank of fuel, three spare tires for the trailer and one mounted spare for the truck, plus an extra tire. Mechanically, I’m hopeless if the truck breaks down (I could change a tire) but Ben is a farmer used to fixing his way out of problems like that.

But the anxiety gives way to awe as we climb up North Fork Pass where we traverse the magnificent Tombstone mountain range, part of the Ogilvie Mountains. The clouds hang low this morning as we stop at the viewpoint and we can’t actually see Tombstone Mountain itself.

Tombstone Mountain

Past the viewpoint a sort of eerie silence descends upon us. I’ve never seen landscape like this before. We travel up a wide valley with very little vegetation and soft, round gray mountains on each side. There’s a low cloud ceiling and it looks like it will rain. We move up the valley, but there are no vehicles and I start to feel perhaps we are leaving the planet Earth.

While the views make one feel very small and alone, my other eye is on the rain clouds. Before we left Dawson, we had heard stories of the weather up the Dempster. The service station at the junction had seen a steady flow of vehicles coming in with flat tires for repair. Someone had a friend at the Department of Highways and learned that it had been raining for the last three days and that the highway was quite a mess in some sections. The unspoken message was: Are you sure you’re ready for this?

It took 20 years to complete the Dempster. Construction started in 1959 but wasn’t finished until 1979. The challenges of building a road through permafrost are enormous and this accounts for some of the potential for mechanical problems. The road is constantly being maintained and in some sections the road bed is shale which can be very hard on tires.

Blackstone Uplands

Blackstone Uplands South

So now, as we move through the Blackstone Uplands, I’ve got one eye on the scenery and the other on the clouds, hoping the rain will stay in the mountains. We come to the northern edge of the uplands plateau and start to climb into the Taiga Range toward Windy Pass. Again, the scenery is like none I’ve seen.

Much of this area is in Beringia, one of the few sections of North America not glaciated during the last great ice age. The mountains are round, gray limestone lumps with virtually no vegetation. The only erosion they’ve ever seen was by wind, water and frost fracturing. We reach Windy Pass summit and the view today looks very much like it would have when the first people crossed the Bering Strait and arrived in North America.

Windy Pass

We’re aiming for the campsite at Engineer Creek to stop for lunch, but somehow we miss the entrance. You’d think that with almost no side roads for hundreds of kilometers, you wouldn’t have much trouble recognizing one when you see it. But it’s difficult to turn this rig around so we carry on up the road a little ways until we find a small turn-out by the creek. Just as we’re getting lunch organized in the trailer, a highways water truck comes along and the driver tells us we need to move so that he can back down to the creek to pump water into his tank. He tells us we can pull into the maintenance yard just up ahead.

Ogilvie River

After lunch, we’re following the Ogilvie River up its valley, then up Seven Mile Hill along the edge of the Eagle Plain escarpment. The hill rises 300 meters and we cross the continental divide for the second of three times before we get to Inuvik.

The remoteness of the Dempster means that there is not much traffic, but we meet a group of motorcyclists headed back down south. This is a popular way to do the Dempster and we’ll see many more motorcycles before arrive back in Dawson.

Finally, we make it to Eagle Plains. This oasis of civilization in the middle of the wilderness consists of a gas/service station, a hotel and restaurant, an RV park, a highways maintenance yard and huge gravel parking lot in front of the whole works. It’s not exactly pretty but we need fuel and coffee. Eagle Plains was deliberately placed here at the half-way point as a service center. The site was chosen because it sits on bedrock and the buildings could be constructed without the need of driving pilings through permafrost as is the case with most northern communities.

With human and vehicle fuel tanks full, we push northward again. It’s not long before we arrive at the Arctic Circle monument. At this time of year (we’re crossing the Arctic Circle a few days before the summer solstice) the sun never sets below the horizon. In fact, it’s very disorienting. In the evening, your body is waiting for a visual cue that it’s time to go to bed, but the sun is still blazing in the sky. You look at your watch and discover that it’s 11:30 PM. No wonder you’re so tired.

Arctic Circle Monument

Arctic Circle Richardson Mountains

This evening we’re sharing the little campsite by the Rock River with a half-dozen other travelers and unimaginable swarms of mosquitoes. Because of its sheltered location at the bottom of a small valley, the Rock River boasts a forested area of fair-sized trees. But as we leave the campsite the next morning and climb out of the valley, the effect of altitude and latitude become apparent as the trees give way to tundra.

The other thing that changes as we climb toward Wright Pass through the Richardson Mountains is the weather. It was sunny when we left the river but within a few kilometers, the clouds start appearing low, dark and gray. But, for some reason, the apprehension I felt about rain yesterday isn’t there today. In fact, the low cloud seems to compress all the sound and fear out of the world. I don’t even really hear the truck as we climb up to the pass. Tundra spreads out all around and the mountains are low and not far away. Neither of us speak; we’re so awestruck by the view.

We reach the summit of Wright Pass which is also the territorial border between Yukon and the Northwest Territories. We stop to take our photograph at the border but the light is dim. The clouds are so low you can almost reach up and touch them. The wind is howling, but there is no rain. To the northeast, there is sun on the horizon.

Descending from Wright Pass

Wright Pass

From the pass, we descend down toward the Peel River and the vast valley of the Mackenzie River. We’ve been on the road for over an hour without seeing another vehicle headed in either direction. We pass a highway construction crew working on a section of the highway and eventually come to the Peel River.

The Peel is the first of two ferry crossings. In the summer, you cross the river by ferry. In the winter, you cross an ice bridge built up on the frozen river. During freeze-up and break-up, you don’t cross at all.

Peel River Ferry

This morning, there is only our unit and a semi-trailer on the ferry. The crossing only takes five minutes and we’re on our way to Fort McPherson, the first real settlement on the highway. I want to make a stop here because I’ve become fascinated by the infamous story of the ‘Lost Patrol’ of the Royal North-West Mounted Police, the predecessor of today’s RCMP. In the winter of 1910-11, a patrol of four police officers led by Inspector Francis Fitzgerald, set out on dogsleds from Fort McPherson for Dawson City. Although this was an annual event, it was the first time that the patrol had traveled in this direction; normally they went from Dawson City to Fort McPherson.

The result was a disaster. Enduring winter conditions that saw the temperature drop to -65 Degrees F, the men lost their way in the Little Wind River, a tributary of the Peel. Running out of food (at one point they started to eat their dog teams), they eventually gave up and tried to make their way back to Fort McPherson but all four died on the Peel River only 25 miles from their starting point. Their bodies were eventually recovered by Inspector W.J.D. (Jack) Dempster, the man for whom the highway is named.

The Lost Patrol is buried in the cemetery of St. Matthew’s Anglican Church in Fort McPherson. The sun is shining as Ben and I wander through the graves and a local native elder comes up and introduces himself as Frank. He shows us the graves of his grandparents, buried next to the Lost Patrol. For over 50 years, his grandfather, John Firth, had been a clerk at the Hudson’s Bay Company post here. In fact (as I later learned) his grandfather’s dog team was used by Dempster to recover the bodies of the Lost Patrol. The poignancy of the story comes crashing through the years when you’re standing there in the sunshine so far removed from that frozen winter a hundred years ago.

Fort McPherson Lost Patrol Gravesite

Back on the road and it’s about half an hour to the second ferry, this time crossing the mighty Mackenzie River. I grew up on the west coast of Canada and thought I had seen big rivers: the Fraser, the Columbia. But I was unprepared for the scope of the Mackenzie. It drains one-fifth of the fresh water in North America. They say that when the ice comes out of the river in the spring, the water level can rise 80 feet in 15 minutes and the cliff on the south side of the river near the ferry landing displays the scars of ice flows.

Today, the water is moving fast and strong, carrying a steady flow of broken trees and branches. There is no dock because the river would simply take it away, so the MV Louis Cardinal pulls up and beaches itself on the gravel landing. It empties its load of vehicles heading south and then we board for the short crossing. The ferry has to work hard against the current, but eventually we land on the other shore.

Mackenzie River Ferry

From the other side, it’s only 126 km to Inuvik and the end of the road. Since we are now traveling pretty well at sea level in the heart of the Mackenzie Delta, the terrain is fairly flat. The delta itself is about 75 km wide and 200 km long, full of winding channels and ponds; but traveling up its east side you don’t see much of it until you get to Inuvik.

Pulling into the campground in Inuvik we congratulate ourselves on surviving the trip (remembering that we still have to drive back).

Inuvik Igloo Church at Midnight

Logistics

Since this is a driving trip, the first planning will likely involve how to get a vehicle to the junction of the Dempster Highway. There are a couple of alternatives. The first is the self-contained option for those with a motor home or camper, however, this means getting yourself to Dawson City, probably via the Alaska Highway if you are coming from the south.

Another option is to fly to Whitehorse, YT and rent a vehicle, preferably a 4×4 truck or something equally heavy duty. This option adds about 536 km (one way) to the trip, but there are not many services in Dawson City. Air North offers regular passenger service to Whitehorse from Vancouver, BC and Edmonton, AB.

An indispensable travel planner is The Milepost, a guide to all the highways in Alaska, northern British Columbia, Yukon and the Northwest Territories. Updated annually, it provides detailed information about services and points of interest along every kilometre of these highways – don’t even think about making a driving trip in the north without getting a copy of this guide.

Dawson City is a funky and historic little town at the confluence of the Yukon and Klondike Rivers. In 1896, gold was discovered in Bonanza Creek, a tributary of the Klondike triggering one of the biggest gold rushes in North America. Gold is still mined in the area and there are many interesting artifacts from the past that will help you understand the industry. Plan to spend some time in Dawson at either the beginning or end of your trip.

Inuvik is on the east side of the Mackenzie delta and has about 3300 residents. There are four hotels and the Happy Valley Territorial Campground (open June 1 to Sept 1) is a good place near the center of town for motor homes and RVs.

———-
Bruce Pollock got his first real camera in 1973 and has been learning about photography ever since. He works with 35mm and large format film cameras and is working hard on his Photoshop. He lives in Victoria, BC and thinks that travel and photography are a perfect marriage.

http://www.telus.net/pollock/moonrise

When I became serious about nature photography subject matter was an issue.  A close friend introduced me to bird photography.  Photographing birds is an awesome challenge.  Just getting close enough to capture details is difficult.  As well, stopping actions of birds requires that one develop good eye hand coordination.

Good equipment is essential to photographing birds.  Two fundamentals are important.  First, a camera that can capture five to 10 frames per second.  Second, a telephoto lens that gets one close enough to the subject and can focus quickly.

Stanley Goes Fishing

My first year or so was frustrating.  I began with a point and shoot camera digital camera.  I could not afford shooting film, it was too expensive to process.  So, I waited until the technology evolved.

Oyster Catcher Morning

Click on Photograph for a larger version.

So, let me focus, if you will, on some fundamental aspects of doing bird photography.

1.  Getting close.

Birds have wondrous details but to capture the details one must get close enough to capture the most fine ones.  How?  Observe behavior.  It is fundamental.  One must know what an animal’s territorial imperative is.  That is, at what distance can one get to an animal before it flees?  I learned from an early age, having grown up in a Florida swamp, that all animals have a defined distance that determines whether it will stay put or run away.  I also learned that each animal has certain behaviors that may allow one to get closer.  For example, if a bird is feeding as opposed to hunting, one can get closer.  The bottom line is to never approach a bird directly, let the bird come to you, or move parallel with the bird until its behavior means that it is focused on something other than you.

Gannet Love

Click on Photograph for a larger version.

In the photograph above, the two birds were occupied in courting behavior.  As such, my presence was unnoticed by the birds and I was able to get very close to them without disturbing the action.

Some of the world’s best photographers use blinds.  And, they often use heavy tripods and specially designed equipment for mounting heavy and very long telephoto lenses.  Others, myself included, often shoot from vehicle windows.  Vehicles are good blinds.  But, all in all, the real challenge of bird photography is to shoot hand held.

2.  Work on eye/hand coordination.

This came natural to me, having extensive experience shooting rifles from an early age that grew through the years of my military service.  Yes, rifle marksmanship can aid in good photography skills.  When asked how one might develop such skills, I have always responded by suggesting that one practice photographing a basketball thrown by a friend.  I know it sounds crazy, but it works.  Back yard practice following the basketball with your camera and lens will help develop your eye/hand coordination.  Such is fundamental to stopping a bird in flight.

Headed Home

Click on Photograph for a larger version.

In the photograph above I was able to stop the action of a Puffin in flight because I both observed the behavior of thousands of these wonderful creatures and learned to anticipate what they might do next.  As well, I was panning with the bird.  Course, I must admit, that for every shot of a Puffin in flight that I caught in focus and sharp I have 100 shots that were out of focus.  Puffins are swift fliers and they are erratic in movement.  It ain’t easy.

3. Be prepared for the unexpected.

Birds are active creatures.  As is all wildlife.  Action will occur, it is simply a matter of time.  If one is prepared with the proper exposure and correct camera settings, who knows what you might capture?

The Toss

In the example above, I was fortunate to observe the Anhinga swimming in a lake so I kept my camera pointed in the area where the bird was feeding.  Anhinga’s spear fish with their beaks then surface and often shake the fish loose by moving their heads upwards, thus tossing the fish in the air.  It is a behavior that I have observed hundreds of times.  I was fortunate to have been prepared for this shot.

Anticipate what might occur around you.  As in this example of a Swallow on a railing that I photographed in Alaska.  I was looking for a Moose, I found a Tree Swallow.

Tree Swallow on Railing

4.  Think about composition.

Composition is fundamental to photography.  An ordinary shot can become something quite unique through creative composition.

Ibis World

Click on Photograph for a larger version.

Likewise, depth of field can produce interesting results.  This shot would not have been successful if I had used a different aperture.

5.  Capture the Critical Moment.

Photographs of birds are much more interesting if one is able to capture the critical moment, as in this example of an Oyster Catcher with water droplets.

Droplets in Time

Click on Photograph for a larger version.

Here, observation of the bird’s behavior paid off.  I knew that the bird would raise its head and that water droplets would fall.  All it took was repeated shots each time the bird raised its head to get this one shot with the droplets falling.

6. Go where the birds are.

I love to travel and I often go to specific places to photograph specific things.  If one wants to photograph Bald Eagles, Alaska is the place to go.

Ad Lucem

If one wants to photograph exotic birds, a trip to the Galapagos Islands is a great place to visit.

Red-billed Tropic Bird

Click on Photograph for a larger version.

Or, if you want something really special, try your backyard.  You never know what bird might stop by to say hello.

Backyard Hawk

In my view, bird photography is a great way to improve your overall photographic skills.  Like any endeavor, thinking about what you are doing is critical.

And too, sometimes we just get lucky.

Happy shooting.

Christmas Hawk

Click on Photograph for a larger version.

]]> http://www.phototravelreview.com/travel-photography-tips-photographing-birds/feed/ 2 http://www.phototravelreview.com/the-slovene-high-level-route/ http://www.phototravelreview.com/the-slovene-high-level-route/#comments Wed, 11 Aug 2010 13:11:39 +0000 Bill http://www.phototravelreview.com/?p=1722 Continue reading →]]> By Justi Carey and Roy Clark

A rucksack, camera and 550km of mountain trail – The Slovene High Level Route.

This is the second guest article by Roy and Justi and it helps to celebrate the publishing of their second book :
Trekking in Slovenia – the Slovene High Level Route by Justi Carey and Roy Clark.

“The outdoor life appears intrinsic in Slovenia’s culture, not only for many local rural
livelihoods but also for their recreation and great sense of adventure. For such a small
country it has a fantastic wealth of waymarked trails that crisscross every county and
over 300 manned mountain huts and valley refuges can be found strategically placed
along the routes. “

The PTR team have a special affinity with Slovenia following two trips there and this book and country come highly recommended to anyone who loves mountains and walking. This article, especially written for our photo travellers, touches on some of the trials and decisions photographers following the wilder paths have to face.

As well as having the more well known long distance trails that pass through the land, like the European E6 and E7 and the Via Alpina, it also has another, known mostly only to Slovenes themselves – the 550km long Transverzala or Slovenska Planinska Pot. This is a trail that crosses the country’s high ground, from Maribor in the north east to Ankaran on the Adriatic coast in the south. It takes in the Pohorje hills, the Kamnik-Savinja and Julian Alps, the Karavanke range that forms the natural border with Austria, the Bohinj mountains, many central lower hills and eventually passes through wild maquis and scrub as you approach the coast. When you realize just how passionate the Slovenes are about mountaineering and trekking, it doesn’t come as a great surprise to discover that the Transverzala was the first long distance route to be established in any of Europe’s alpine countries. Like all Slovene mountain trails, it is waymarked with the characteristic ‘target’ sign and also with a number 1.

It was a challenge to be taken up and being given the opportunity to write the first English language guidebook for the route was definitely an added bonus. One of the most enjoyable parts of the challenge for me was to get the best photos I could for the guidebook. As with our first book, the goal was to get descriptive shots that showed important sections of the route, cols and passes, path junctions, hut accommodation etc., but, as always, I was hoping for those magical elusive moments when good light and spectacular mountain scenery combine and a lone walker is highlighted on a summit ridge, adding scale and perspective – rare moments indeed when you have to keep walking to get the route done and meet publishing deadlines – you don’t have the luxury of being able to have a short walk and a purely ‘photos only’ day out!

I was not so concerned with getting useable shots in the high mountain sections – the Julian/Kamnik-Savinja Alps and the Bohinj hills offer enough drama and beauty for most folk with an interest in photography – but I had my doubts about the lower hills on the southern section of the route. Many of the southern hills are below the tree line and I wasn’t sure how I could make shots of forest paths and hill tops (where any available view would likely be of more endless tree tops) interesting. This proved to be the case for some sections, so I concentrated more on flower images and macro shots of butterflies when time allowed. Fortunately though, the route also travelled through scenic villages and passed many places of interest – like the UNESCO World Heritage site of the Škocjan caves.

As usual, I was trying to be selective with which camera kit to take/leave out – but even more so on such a long trail which involved more consecutive nights spent in mountain huts than was necessary for our last book about the Julian Alps. I used an old Nikon FE, as its low weight, solid construction and simple functions make it a good outdoor choice, complimented with some sharp primes, 50mm, 35mm and a 200mm in the high mountains. On the more featureless southern sections, I swapped the 200mm for a 100mm Macro. I took my smallish Gitzo (1.7kg) tripod with me for most of the route but swapped this for a more basic aluminium and plastic job to try and reduce the weight on the longer sections. I use a tripod a lot for setting up delayed timer shots, with myself in the picture when no-one else is around to add scale to the shot. Occasionally I took a small flash unit for hut interiors and fill flash. This was to be my last serious outing using 35mm film camera and lenses. I’ve always liked the excellent vibrancy and colour of good slide film and even the anticipation of picking up the results of your efforts from the developers, but this year a few ‘incidents’ left me looking forward to next year when I’ll be working with digital. Some examples being – having a few rolls of supposedly fresh film being developed with a strange magenta colour cast, the usual trials of loading film on exposed summits, but one of the worst moments was going to the developers to collect a week’s worth of film for a particularly remote section of the walk, only to find dozens of slides of a child’s christening! Fortunately disaster was averted and the proud parents of the child returned my slides to the developers, but only after six weeks of very anxious waiting and hoping.

For photographers looking for dramatic mountain shots, the Julian and Kamnik- Savinnja Alps won’t disappoint.  The Karavanke is a more gentle range – still high hills, but wonderful for grassy, flower covered slopes, and they also give great views of the higher ranges. One particular section, south of the main peaks, is a long escarpment high above the town of Ajdovšcina, known as the Gora. Its diversity of flowers, wildlife and interesting geology is stunning. It is also an area that appears to mark a strong change from an Alpine climate to a Mediterranean one.

Further south again, as the coast is approached, the scenery becomes less dramatic but there is plenty of scope for wild flowers, butterflies and sunsets over the the Adriatic Sea – the routes final destination. The Slovenska Planinska Pot is a beautiful route in a beautiful country, demanding in some sections, gentle and easy in others, where peace and solitude can be found, particularly in some of the less frequented southern sections where you may be more likely to encounter a deer or even a bear rather than people.

Links

The Julian Alps of Slovenia, Europe – walking and trekking the first book in this series.

Trekking in Slovenia – the Slovene High Level Route – Europe

See the first PTR article here.

Cicerone travel guides.