Competition Photos

 Deeks Out
This was an interesting photo.  My son and I were up on this lake (as I recall it was Jackson Reservoir)  I do recall it was just above Centennial (Goodrich) where that movie was filmed.  A friend of mine owned a duck club on Jackson with a very nice free standing residence and all the luxuries of home and then some.  I took this photo as the sun was coming up and the sky was as you can see.  We had pitched the decoys out and were waiting for the early flights to appear.

Mallards landing
Needless to say I love the ducks.  To see them pass overhead and then return and drop from the sky into the water just makes your heart skip a few beats.  I got lucky with my timing pressing  the shutter button.  I wasn't sure what I had until they came up on the LCD Monitor.  I didn't have to do very much in Elements.  I like optimizing my camera so I can do just a little sharpening and adjust the lighting a bit.  My shutter speed was just enough to stop the wings.

 Steller's Jay
I really loved this photo and have entered it into competitions.  The judges don't see it the way I do.  That hap[pens occasionally.  I am not going to give up.  I am going to rework the head a bit and see what else I can do to influence the judging panel.  I may try a little dodge and burn of the background to make the jay stand out better.

 Great Horned Owl  I have been lucky in that I have had a few to these beautiful creatures visit my back  yard.   I love

photographing owls and hawks.  Most of the time they'll hang around almost all day waiting for a dove, quail or grackle to swing by.  Soon enough they're enjoying a fresh meal.  The 1st owl that visited me was on Christmas Day 2006.  He had chased a quail under a bush and ended up with a thorn in his eye.  I didn't notice it until I blew it up on my computer.

I don't know what I could have done about it.  I sure wasn't going to try and catch it.  I don't think he has been back either.                                                                           

                  

                          

 Rock Lake Loons      This has been my favorite  photos ever since it won a "acceptance" in a International Competition.  I had a feeling that it was going to do well and I wasn't disappointed.  My good friend Steve Budnik and I were pounding the water for muskies.  Fortunately I had my camera along to shoot photos around the lake.  It was that late afternoon  light that we all love to see.   

I had my 100-400 mm telephoto lens on and I nailed it on the depth of field.  Not bad for hand held in a gently in a rocking boat.                                                                                  

 Desert Bighorn Ram This is now my very favorite photo.  My wife and  took a trip to Boulder City, NV to shoot some sheep.  When I printed this ram last weekend I just about fell over.  In my opinion he is just perfect.  I haven't entered him in any competitions yet.  There is something to be said here.  Although I enter a few competitions 2-club, 2-state and 4-5 International competitions.  However, my biggest thrill comes from what I am satisfied with.  I'll admit sometimes you get lucky, but the more I shoot the better I do.