Exposed wood of the Crocodile bark tree shows the intricate art created by the boring of the tree by the Bark beetles. The Black rumped flamebak is looking to feed on those beetles by drilling the outer shell of the bark tree.
From a secret hillside accessible only by 4 wheel drive, no crowds, no people, no traffic just a small group of us. Our planning was to try to find an isolated fairly inaccessible spot and avoid the huge crowd that arrived in Spain for the eclipse. Due to the fires there is a lot of haze but it was just great, our small viewing party had an amazing sight to be behold. Aside from the haze things could not have been better. Nikon Z8 Nikon 600 mm and Z8 20 mm Z lens running two Nikon Zs.
The smoke from fires and haze amplified the colors, good for wide angle, but it reduced seeing and resolution of telephoto, and gave an orange cast to many images. Discussion before the event.
Home in Anchorage after the eclipse, time of year for bear hunt in the predawn, when the bears come down to the creek looking for salmon and if one is very quiet it is possible to get images of these bears. This is Anchorage, not the wilderness and the bears try to avoid people as they have unhappy interactions. There are maybe 100 black and brown bears in Anchorage and one of the best spots to find them is predawn at Potter Marsh, an urban park as they prowl Rabbit Creek looking for fish. These images were captured with a Nikon Z8, 135 mm F 1.8 Plena at quite high iso 5000, it is that dark when the bears are out. You can see in one of the photos the bear knows I am there and the game is up, and the bear moves off to avoid being seen
This sister and brother Eagles (right and left) are 2026 hatchlings now grown up and giant. Captured with a 135 mm Nikon F1.8 Plena lens @ F2 and a Nikon Z8. Mom and Dad are flying about nearby but this pair needs to learn to fend for themselves. The bald eagle parents stop feeding them to encourage them through hunger to fly off, for the first time from the nearby nest. Once out and about the parents do start eagle school alternately showing them how to eagle and then leaving them to work it out while staying off a discrete distance. I have been watching the parents do this year after year for a few years now. Potter March in Anchorage AK.
EMH2025 wrote:
This sister and brother Eagles (right and left) are 2026 hatchlings now grown up and giant. Captured with a 135 mm Nikon F1.8 Plena lens @ F2 and a Nikon Z8. Mom and Dad are flying about nearby but this pair needs to learn to fend for themselves. The bald eagle parents stop feeding them to encourage them through hunger to fly off, for the first time from the nearby nest. Once out and about the parents do start eagle school alternately showing them how to eagle and then leaving them to work it out while staying off a discrete distance. I have been watching the parents do this year after year for a few years now. Potter March in Anchorage AK.
EMH2025 wrote:
From a secret hillside accessible only by 4 wheel drive, no crowds, no people, no traffic just a small group of us. Our planning was to try to find an isolated fairly inaccessible spot and avoid the huge crowd that arrived in Spain for the eclipse. Due to the fires there is a lot of haze but it was just great, our small viewing party had an amazing sight to be behold. Aside from the haze things could not have been better. Nikon Z8 Nikon 600 mm and Z8 20 mm Z lens running two Nikon Zs.
The smoke from fires and haze amplified the colors, good for wide angle, but it reduced seeing and resolution of telephoto, and gave an orange cast to many images. Discussion before the event.
EMH2025 wrote:
This sister and brother Eagles (right and left) are 2026 hatchlings now grown up and giant. Captured with a 135 mm Nikon F1.8 Plena lens @ F2 and a Nikon Z8. Mom and Dad are flying about nearby but this pair needs to learn to fend for themselves. The bald eagle parents stop feeding them to encourage them through hunger to fly off, for the first time from the nearby nest. Once out and about the parents do start eagle school alternately showing them how to eagle and then leaving them to work it out while staying off a discrete distance. I have been watching the parents do this year after year for a few years now. Potter March in Anchorage AK.
