Before sunrise, the snow geese fly into one pond to spool up before the morning blast off.  Panning at slow shutter speeds blurs the backgound.

Image captured with D2Xs, AF-S 600mm f4 on Lexar digital media

The calm before….

The explosion!

There is nothing as amazing as the spectacle of thousands of snow geese exploding into the air at once. The chaos, the noise, the awe that never diminishes with each new visit to Bosque.

Images captured with D2Xs, AF-S 28-70mm on lexar digital media.

Sndhill Crane taking flight

Female Grackle posing

Snow Goose banking for a landing

I have to admit that I came to Bosque this year with some trepidation.  I had heard that the conditions werre terrible and it was not worth coming.  But, I had a safari to lead and so, come I did.   And, while the conditions are very different than those in the past I found Bosque to be as magical as ever.  It did take me a full day to figure out the changes and where to go for the best photography but, I am glad I came and very excited to share Bosque with my group next week.

Images captured with D2Xs, AF-S 600mm on Lexar CF card, I added a 1.7X for the Grackle

Departing Portland this morning on my way to Bosque del Apache we flew right by Mt Hood wih a fesh dusting of snow. What a send off!

After a day of snow flurries, overcast and very low solar activity we certainly did not expect to see the northern lights last night.  So, when we stepped outside and saw stars we immediately grabbed our gear and began shooting.  The lights looked like a rainbow across the sky and I though I’d try a pano.  This is a four image pano captured on a D2Xs with a 28mm 1.4 wide open at 30 seconds each.  The image was stictched together in Adobe Photoshop CS3 using Photomerge.  I just sat back and watched the progress.  I did a little bit of finishing the image and here you go.  This morning I learned that my sister-in-law had died last night.  God speed Debbie.