Before I get started on today’s blog, I need to apologize for a “blog error” that I recently made. Being new to the blog scene, I was not aware that I needed to keep my photos uploaded in my media section. I thought that once they were posted in the blog that they would always be there in that blog post. This is not the case. I removed them from my media section to make it easier to find the newly added ones, and they were subsequently removed from the old blog posts. So, if you’re reading through older posts and you want to see those pictures, please leave me a comment as to what post and I will go back and reload those pictures. Sorry for any inconvenience.
So, onward to Reelfoot Lake. What a trip! We were able to get a lot of good landscape and waterscape pictures, some amazing birds in flight photos, and much more. We identified two new species of birds for our collection as well: the Little Blue Heron and the Prothonotary Warbler. And then, there are these wonderful photos that I’ll start with today.
First, the Eagles. All I can say is, photography is a wonderful thing when the sun is bright, the subject is still and cooperating, and all of the camera settings happen to be just right. These photos are not cropped at all, they are all the original size. I’m not bragging (that much) but these are amazing. These are definitely getting a spot on my wall. I showed them to some of the people that I work with and they were all amazed and some said that they will be buying some of them on the wall prints that I can order. They are very reasonably priced and extremely easy to put on the wall, rearrange, or whatever you need to do with them. I actually had a dream last night that National Geographic saw them and wanted them too. I know, big dreams. I do have to be honest, though. These Bald Eagles were not out in the wild. Reelfoot Lake actually rehabilitates those that may have been injured in some way and they are kept in an outdoor safe area. Which means I kind of had a captive audience, but they still practically posed for me while taking the pictures. Again, the Nikon D7200 and Nikkor 200-500 lens combination was dead on the money.
The owl photos are also some of many that I took. We were driving out from a lake view spot, where Monica took some amazing butterfly photos – I mean like 5 different kinds of butterflies in one spot at the same time amazing – photos to follow soon. I saw something jumping around in the trees and brush, stopped the car and there he was: a Barred Owl. Again, it was like he wanted his picture taken. He turned his head sideways, looked right at me, moved into the light, it was almost easy. The only shot I didn’t get clear was when he took off. With all of the limbs and brush, I just couldn’t get focused on him as he leaped and used his powerful wings to beat the air into submission and fly away. The sound of his wings pushing against the air, defying gravity itself, was amazing.
I’ll finish up today with a shot of a Great White Egret as he was getting ready to land in the top of tree. It continues to amaze me how these wading birds with 4 to 5 foot wingspans manage to land in a tree with such grace and ease. Again, the sun was bright, so it made it a little easier to really crank up the shutter speed and freeze him perfectly for a another great shot.
I can’t say how much we love getting out in nature and just watching. Taking the photos and “winning” by getting the great shot you were hoping for is exhilarating, but just witnessing it: the sight, the sound, and the beauty of it all, that is the best part. Not to mention, being there with the one you love.
Reelfoot Lake is in the northern part of Tennessee. It averages only about 6 to 8 feet deep and was created by an earthquake a long time ago, and as the story goes, the Mississippi River actually flowed backwards into the depression left from the earthquake making the lake we can enjoy today. Nature does it again.
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RM Goldsmith Photography 