Bosque del Apache New Mexico 2022

December 04, 2022

Our trip to Bosque this year was really special for us since we did not visit the reserve last year due (due to the crane pool being taken out of service for maintenance). Last year would have been my eighteenth contiguous year leading photo tours at the reserve so returning this winter really meant a lot to me.

**Sony α7R IV Sigma 500MM F/4 DG OS HSM Sports 1/2000s at f/4 ISO 400 Manual Mode**

This backlit image was made at a secret spot at Bosque that was working for two afternoon sessions in a row. My wife and I were the only photographers that figured it out, while at the same time we could see a group of photographers down the road with side-lit cranes. I only discovered this image 3 days after returning to home to California. Special thanks to my tour participants for all of the nice moments and photo opportunities we were able to share together. I pan to post a full Bosque tour report here soon.

Eagle No-Fly Zone. Nikon D500 with Sigma Sports 120-300 f/2.8 at 220mm and 1/3200 sec. at f/7.1 with ISO 400 in manual mode and handheld. — *Eagle No-Fly Zone*. Nikon D500 with Sigma Sports 120-300 f/2.8 at 220mm and 1/3200 sec. at f/7.1 with ISO 400 in manual mode and handheld.

Eagles in Alaska Part 2

March 29, 2020

While disorder and confusion was taking over the lower 48 due to the Coronavirus, my tour participants and I spent two weeks safely holed up in a small photogenic corner of Alaska tirelessly photographing eagles. Frankly, I was glad to be in Alaska with all the surreal events taking place at home, but thankfully both tours finished right before any shelter-in-place or travel bans caused any issues returning home. With all that was going on, my group participants and I really enjoyed each and every minute of our time together on the tour. A special thanks to the people that were able to join our tour and make it all possible.

First light midair stall above Alaska. Nikon D500 with Sigma Sports 120-300 f/2.8 at 140mm and 1/2500 sec. at f/4.5 and ISO 400 in manual mode and handheld.

The real colors in the image above are impossible to reproduce accurately on a screen, I tried believe me, they were just too intense and saturated. Even though this image is not on the same level as the real-world , I can still see people saying the image is oversaturated, and that’s okay, I’m just thankful that I was there to share the experience shooting in this kind of light with the others in my photo group. Light just doesn’t get any better than this.

When I made this image my group and I had absolutely perfect conditions, eagles in beautiful light set against dark storm clouds with perfect winds! Realistically we could not have done any better with the conditions we enjoyed on both tours with bright diffused light almost everyday. Surprisingly we had enough light to routinely use 1/4000 of a second and higher at ISO 400. Take a look at the tech info below each image to the settings I used to make each image.

Eagle photobombing in Alaska. Nikon D500 with Sigma Sports 120-300 f/2.8 at 110mm and 1/1250 sec. at f/5.6 with ISO 400 in manual mode and handheld.

Portrait sessions are really fun when you have tame birds, like the one above, to work with. The sub-adult birds are especially cooperative and extremely easy to work around, for example, to make this image above I needed just 110mm to fill the frame. This image was a big surprise; I was working with a f/2.8 lens and I failed to check the DOF preview, so I honestly didn’t see the adult eagle on the right, when I made the image. Can you imagine my surprise when I processed the RAW file and the second eagle popped up out of nowhere!

Collision course over Alaska. Nikon D500 with Sigma Sports 120-300 f/2.8 at 120mm and 1/5000 sec. at f/5.6 and ISO 400 in manual mode and handheld.

This year we enjoyed more amazing eagle interactions than I’ve ever seen. It takes luck, a lot of patience and local knowledge to anticipate the action. But usually the results are easily worth the wait. The immature birds are usually more prone to react to show dominance and aggression, knowing this fact can really help you anticipate images like the one above. Some of the actions of the birds this year were hard to believe! Some immature birds switch from completely calm to kill mode in a just milliseconds.

Eagle warning call over prey in Kachemak Bay Alaska. Nikon D500 with Sigma Sports 120-300 f/2.8 at 300mm and 1/4000 sec. at f/4 and ISO 400 in manual mode and handheld.

You can’t beat perfect soft light, snow on the ground, friendly habituated eagles all around, and a couple of friends to share the experience. Special thanks to our local guide Gabe for going the extra mile for us everyday! My tours wouldn’t be possible without our teamwork.

Eagle sub-adults eye-to-eye in Kachemak Bay Alaska. Nikon D500 with Sigma Sports 120-300 f/2.8 at 120mm and 1/2500 sec. at f/3.5 and ISO 400 in manual mode and handheld.

The actions of some immature eagles are just outrageous. We almost couldn’t believe our eyes as we watched one eagle pounce on another without any provocation whatsoever. On the other hand, the actions of the adult birds were much more calm and calculated but still fascinating at the same time.

To make the image below I used a technique where I held the camera vertically by the battery grip. This method is a personal favorite of mine and it really works to help prevent inadvertent wing clipping.

Hard bank under perfect cloudy skies in Kachemak Bay Alaska. Nikon D500 with Sigma Sports 120-300 f/2.8 at 180mm and 1/5000 sec. at f/4 and ISO 400 in manual mode and handheld.

If you enjoy the images in this post, think about joining us next year. I’ve led no less than 42 eagle tours in Alaska and there are a lot of new group leaders offering similar tours now, but none have as much experience as I do leading successful eagle tours in this area. These new operators try as hard as they can to copy what we do, some have even hired the same local guide as I do. Do yourself a favor and don’t settle for a leader with less experience and local knowledge, as they will never be able to get you the same level of results that I can. I will be shooting with you, and my team and I will make sure you get the results you want. Compare the level of the images you see here to work from other eagle tour leaders to see the difference.

Join us in 2021, email me right away if you are interested or if you have any questions, you can also find more information here: https://www.robertotoole.com/eagle-tour

Nikon D500 and Sigma Sports 120-300 f/2.8 @ 195mm 1/3200 second at f/7.1 in manual mode and ISO 400 handheld.

Eagles in Alaska 2020

March 15, 2020

Even after 12 cancellations my eagle tour series in Alaska are finally taking place. Due to some of my cancellation replacements cancelling, neither tour is full, but the participants that made it up here have been treated to excellent conditions, and the forecast looks even better for the second group, I can’t wait to see what that will be like, but judging by what we saw last week, it should be epic.

Nikon D500 and Sigma Sports 120-300 f/2.8 @ 200mm 1/2000 second at f/3.5 in manual mode and ISO 400 handheld.

All the eagles we could possibly ask for are here, and with ideal weather and tides for the next week, the conditions should be perfect for the 4 participants in my group. Check out the blog later this week for another update from Alaska.

Dates for my 2021 eagle tours are available now, so be sure to let me know if you are interested in joining us next winter. There are 4 openings available for 2021, last time I checked, so act quickly and you won’t be disappointed.

Nikon D500 and Sigma Sports 120-300 f/2.8 @ 300mm 1/5000 second at f/5.6 in manual mode and ISO 400 handheld.

Sandhill crane flared landing on the North Loop at Bosque del Apache NWR, New Mexico, Nikon D850 with Sigma 500 Sports lens at 1/1600 s. f/4 in manual mode.

Bosque Del Apache Report 2019

November 19, 2019

After a very successful 5 day photo tour at Bosque del Apache in New Mexico, we are waiting for our flight back to Los Angeles at the ABQ International Sunport, AKA, the Albuquerque airport. I’m really happy to report that the shooting conditions and the management of Bosque this year, compared to last year, were a huge upgrade. Bosque has always been a great location for bird photography but over the years I’ve seen my share of ups and downs with the photography conditions. Unfortunately the conditions during the last few years, last year in particular, had major issues, but hopefully the turnaround this year is will continue into the future.

Sandhill crane fly by near the North Loop at Bosque del Apache NWR, New Mexico, Nikon D850 with Sigma 500 Sports lens 1/2500 s. f/5.6 at ISO 400 in manual mode.

Temps for the tour were in the 60s and 70s, with mornings around freezing with 3 or 4 cloudy photo sessions during the tour. The most productive locations were the north farm fields on the north loop and the Crane Pool (formerly known as the South Crane Pool). Bird numbers were good this year although the snow geese were more spread out than we like to see.

The most important change for this year was on the North Loop which is back to it’s normal route with access to the fields for front lighting in the morning. The conditions at the farm fields were excellent, with a nice mix of crops trimmed very close to the road. Last year the normal farm loop road was blocked with boulders and the road was rerouted to the back side of the farm fields which is great if it’s overcast with north winds, but murder for anything else. The ideal solution would be to open both North Loop roads, but that’s not my decision unfortunately.

Sandhill crane landing in the warm glow of fall colors, the farm field at the end of the North Loop at Bosque del Apache NWR, New Mexico, Nikon D850 with Sigma 500 Sports lens 1/2000 s. f/4.5 ISO 400 in manual mode.

The Crane Pool, formerly known as the South Crane Pool, continues to offer very good close-up opportunities for cranes as it did last year but, I still wish they would re-flood the North Pool. Having all the tourists, locals, bird watchers and photographers in one small area is less than ideal. RVs parked parallel in the early morning at the current Crane Pool can block the early AM light throwing a huge shadow on the cranes. Splitting the crowd up into North and South Pools would be much better experience for everyone, including the birds. As it is now, space for tripods at the pool and space for vehicles in the parking lot is going to be extremely tight for the festival until early December with the single parking lot, I’m glad I won’t be around to have to deal with it.

Sandhill cranes dancing in the first rays of the sunrise in the Crane Pool at Bosque del Apache NWR, New Mexico, Nikon D850 with Sigma 500 Sports lens 1/1600 s. f/4 ISO 400 in manual mode.

The biggest negative this year was the Main Pool, which is on the left after the toll booth. The pool was flooded and perfectly trimmed for photographers, a super job, but the only problem is there are zero geese visiting the pool and maybe a handful of cranes at the north end. The geese were overnighting somewhere in the back of the reserve and would fly into the Crane Pool most mornings instead of landing in the main pool. Hopefully the Main Pool photo conditions will improve later in the year.

Sandhill crane parachuting into the Farm Fields at the North Loop, Bosque del Apache NWR, New Mexico, Nikon D850 with Sigma 500 Sports lens 1/2000 s. f/4.5 ISO 400 in manual mode.

The photography this year at Bosque this year was fantastic, I’m already looking forward to leading my tour there in 2020, for more information if you would like to join us on our tour next year follow this link for more info: https://www.robertotoole.com/bosque-tour Special thanks to all my photo tour participants that made the tour possible, we had a great time and shared some nice moments and photo opportunities. See you at Bosque in 2020!

Immature sandhill crane at the northern Farm Fields, North Loop, Bosque del Apache NWR, New Mexico, Nikon D850 with Sigma 500 Sports lens 1/2000 s. f/4 ISO 400 in manual mode.

Eagle flaring at sea level with Nikon D850 with Sigma 120-300 Sports lens @ 155mm 1/5000th sec f/4 ISO 400 manual mode handheld

Eagles in Alaska Tour Report

April 05, 2019

We’re back from Alaska now and I have nothing but great results to report; lots of happy photographers and lots of digital memory used up on all three of our eagle tours. The winter weather in Alaska can be a challenge sometimes, but this year it wasn’t the cold that can be a problem normally. Temperatures were in the high 40s for the weeks that we were there. That should have been days of snow fall turned out to be all rain. As each front would pass the weather would finally clear giving us some excellent conditions that made us forget about all the rain.

This march was the warmest I have ever seen. How warm? I normally wear 2-3 layers to keep warm over the last fifteen years or so. This year? I wore only my outer rain layer and a cotton shirt. My inner fleece layers stayed in my suitcase.

Eagle banking with Nikon D850 with Sigma 120-300 Sports lens @ 160mm 1/30th sec f/10 ISO 80 manual mode handheld

Since I’ve been back, the reports are in, and my suspicions were true. Don’t send me any emails about climate change please; I am just reporting the facts. According to ACCAP, Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy, March in Alaska was the warmest March ever. Anchorage and Juneau had no measurable snow in March. One location in SE Alaska hit 70 degrees on March 19th, the earliest ever.

At least there is a bright side to the warm weather in winter. Harsher than normal winters mean a later spring and less food for brown bear cubs but with all the rain and spring coming early in March, this summer should be a superb year for bear cubs. Less rain and

Eagle top bank with Nikon D850 with Sigma 120-300 Sports lens @ 240mm 1/4000th sec f/4 ISO 400 manual mode handheld

Some of the participants were able to get excellent results shooting with only a 200mm lens and even that was too tight in some situations, they reported. Some people were able to burn through close to 1 TB of images over the 5 days of the tour. By the end of each tour everyone was tired and happy with more images than they imagined, and that’s really the most important thing of all so the tours were a big success.

Eagle at sea level with Nikon D850 with Sigma 120-300 Sports lens @ 250mm 1/30th sec f/5.6 ISO 100 manual mode handheld

Dates for 2020 have been confirmed and are filling already, but I do still have room for 1 or 2 more in each tour. These spots will fill soon, so email me if you are interested in joining us. There is a $500 discount if you sign-up before summer.

March 9-13th, 2020, 5 days $4000. Deposit $2000. 2 openings available

March 16-20th, 2020, 5 days $4000. Deposit $2000. 3 openings available

For more info follow click on the link to open a new page:

https://www.robertotoole.com/eagle-tour