Thundering Hooves

This year's New York State Fair champion of the 8 Horse Hitch was the Grandview Clydesdales from Huntington, Indiana.

The six and eight draft horse competitions at this year’s New York State Fair had standing room only crowds in the Coliseum arena. There were many teams of Percheron and Belgium draft horses but only one team of Clydesdales. The Grandview Clydesdales were an immediate fan favorite with their stately manor and flying white hairs about their lower legs. Weighing from 1,600 to 2,000 pounds each, a Clydesdale eight horse hitch makes a rhythmic thumping sound as thirty-two hoofs hit the ground in sync. The driver controlling from up high on the wagon being pulled. Trotting, walking, stopping and backing up for the judge, the driver puts his team of giants through their paces.

Out of thirteen 8 horse hitch teams, the Clydesdales brought home the blue ribbon to the jubilation of their fans.

Turkey Visit 2

Wild Turkey hen herding a group of poults (as young turkeys are called) outside my home.

My blog buddy, Bob of rveWong’s Weblog, had a recent visit of wild turkeys. At the time, I had seen a large group but did not have my camera handy. I enjoyed watching them and hoped I would see them again. Early last Saturday morning my daughter alerted me to the fact the turkeys were back. Since I had been preparing for the wedding I would be shooting later, I had my camera ready this time. Not great photos as I was shooting through glass and the turkeys did not get as close as Bob’s.

The third hen of the group was the last to walk by my house and was a bit uneasy.

The reason for the hens uneasiness. Our newest family member, Gus the cat, was eyeing her from a window ledge.

Sunset Safari

A male African Lion posing during the Sunset Safari at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, New York.

The Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, New York, hosts Sunset Safaris on Tuesdays during the month of July each year. The zoo closes at 4:30PM each day. By attending a Sunset Safari you get back into the zoo from 5:30 to 8:30PM.

Along with viewing the zoo animals, there is live music performed by local bands and special pre-ordered meals available. On the evening of my visit, the band was all about music from the 1970’s which brought back memories.

This is a good time of the day to see animals who mostly sleep or are inactive during the heat of the day moving around as the air cools with the setting sun. In particular, the African Lions were very active and playful inside their enclosure. The two sisters were taking turns stalking their brother. A bit of rough housing would ensue when one of them would punce on his back.

In between bouts, they would relax and even pose for the visitors watching and photographing them through the glass.

Shooting through glass is challenging. You have to be careful not to get reflections of yourself and other people near you. I get as close to the glass as I can and shoot straight on.

I was informed by the zoo volunteer the lions are triplets. They also have a tendency to roar around 8PM each night but decided not to on this evening. I’ll have to wait to capture a roaring lion photo on some other day.

If you have a nearby zoo which has evening hours or a program such as a Sunset Safari, grab your camera and enjoy an evening with some real animals.

A Lioness takes a break from stalking her brother but still keeps an eye out for another advance during the Sunset Safari at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, New York.

5 Star Photo: Sam the Eagle

Patriotic Eagle

If you own any kind of photo management software, you are aware of the star rating system where you rate your photos from 1 to 5 stars. This system is as individual as us photographers. I only use 1 thru 4 stars and save 5 stars for my computer’s screen saver. They might not even be the best of my work. They are photos I am proud of or I just like a lot.

Above is Sam the Eagle from The Raptor Project taken at last year’s New York State Fair. Sam is always perched fittingly in front of an American flag. One of my 5 Star Photos.

Happy Birthday, America!

Celebrating 233 years this Saturday, July 4th.

Reining Horses

I have been photographing horse shows at the New York State Fairgrounds indoor horse arena called the Coliseum for the last 15 years.  I’ve never been happy with my results.  Having to resort to slow shutters and panning or use flash which wasn’t very flattering to the rider or horse.

Last weekend I attended the Central New York Reining Horse Association Show with a friend’s Nikon D700 camera and my Nikon 70-200VR f/2.8 lens.  If there was any doubt in my mind this will be my next camera, it is totally gone now.  I was able to set the shutter speed to 1/500th of a second and get great exposures with ISO ranging between 2000 and 6400.

Reining horses are famous for their sliding stops like this one (ISO was 3600 here).

Reining horse digs into the dirt at the CNY Reining Horse Association Show in Syracuse, New York.

The Nikon D700 has a fast continuous shutter mode and 3D auto focus tracking so I caught this sequence of one of the riders coming in for a stop (ISO ranged between 2000 and 4000 through this photos).

Reining horse sliding stop sequence.

View 76: Red Wolf

Red Wolf in the Rosamond Gifford Zoo, Burnet Park, Syracuse, New York.

An endangered Red Wolf looks out at me from his enclosure at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, New York. Rosamond Gifford Zoo is part of the Red Wolf Recovery Project to insure a viable population in hopes to introduce more wolves back into the wild.

Endangered Species Day

Back in 1973, Congress passed the first enactment of the Endangered Species Act. While there had been a couple of other versions before 1973, this is the one which brought real protection and gave the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service a way to designate species as endangered or threatened. This allowed for ways to protect and manage these species and their habitats for the betterment of themselves and for Man.

However, while this posts celebrates a day of wisdom and foresight of Congress and the people of the Unitied States back then and today. The places where animals and plants are not endangered or threatened use the term management very loosely when it comes to a couple of species: wolves and harp seals. One killed because of a precieved threat and one for its fur. Really, is anything a threat to mankind other than itself? Do we need to kill any animal for fur?

Why are Alaskan Wolves Under Siege?

I guess wolves are so plentiful and dangerous in Alaska as to allow the use of snares and poison gas in and around the dens of the pups. It’s not enough to chase wolves to exhaustion using airplanes and then kill them with high powered rifles? Wolves might take a few trophy caribou, moose or deer from hunters they say. I suggest if you think that to read Farley Mowat’s account of studying wolves in his book, Never Cry Wolf. For wolves are no match for healthy prey and must rely on the weak and infirm to stay alive. This is nature’s way of keeping healthy and viable populations in the wild.

Harp Seals are beautiful creatures and are no threat to overfishing the waters in the Atlantic Maritimes of Canada. They are also owners of warm and highly sought after fur. The annual “hunt” is brutal and inhuman and unneccesary.

I understand management principles in wildlife biology. I studied them when I went to the College of Envionmental Science & Foresty in Syracuse, New York, where I earned my degree in Forest Biology and Wildlfe Management. These two species, the wolf and the harp seal, are not being “managed” but are being used for the sport of killing and for greed. Both are unacceptable and unneeded in the 21st Century.

To help stop these and other atrocities against wildlife, I ask you to support such organizations like the National Wildlife Federation, World Wildlife Fund and Defenders of Wildlife. Happy Endangered Species Day!

Curious Deer

Whitetail Deer can be very curious. When I pulled up to a viewing area in my car on the Wildlife Drive in the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge last week, this doe wandered over to see what this strange looking thing was with a long, black single eye looking out of it.

Whitetail Deer in the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge.

Song Itch

Song Sparrow scratching an itch on his perch in the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge.

Last year, I shared the song of the Song Sparrow. This year I not only enjoyed the Song Sparrow’s singing but a real life moment. As the saying goes, when you get an itch, scratch it.

View 68: Great Blue Heron

A great blue heron takes flight in the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge on Friday, April 10, 2009. Photographed from the Wildlife Drive on the Main Pool right from the driver's seat of my car.

I’ve been watching Great Blue Herons around central New York for over 40 years. In all that time, I’ve never gotten any good photos of one. Sure, I have some of them sleeping, resting, hunting or flying. None are very sharp or close or interesting.

This changed last Friday as I enjoyed a beautiful sunny morning at the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge. An actively hunting Great Blue Heron wandered to my location taking no mind of my parked car with the Nikon 80-400VR lens extending out the window. I got many, many photos of him standing still or moving slowly as he delicately stepped through the cold water of the marsh. When he looked like he was ready to launch, I was lucky enough to capture his leap into the air trailing water droplets as he moved on to a better fishing spot.