Dalmatian Pelican Tour Report 2017

January 23, 2017

Shocking news was waiting for me when I arrived in Greece ahead of my tour this year, the 400 dalmatian pelicans that were there busy feeding a few days before had gone missing. The tour location was blasted by a historic storm that plunged the temperature down to -12 C or 10 degrees F freezing the surface of the lake, our main location, and blanketing it with snow. Minus twelve degrees C may not seem like a lot to you but this area has a humid subtropical climate and last time the locals saw the lake freeze was 2001 and before that, 1975! One local woman in her 90s she that had not seen that much snow and temperatures that low since she was a child.

The situation seemed almost impossible but in my 12 years of leading tours the lake freezing just gets added to the list of natural events that I have had to work around over the years. This list includes more than one volcanic eruption resulting in a photography stopping ash cloud, more than one tsunami warning from the harbor master has kept our charter at the harbor, and even a tornado warning (not just a watch) causing major headaches on a workshop!

Luckily on the first day of the tour large holes had started to appear in the ice and the birds were starting to return, from about 50 on the first day to at least 100 birds by the end so the photography opportunities turned out to be pretty solid but not as it should have been due to the ice leaving our charter boats frozen in place. Photographing the birds skidding on the ice and swimming through and breaking through thin ice was a bonus. Many thanks to my tour participants for being very understanding about the situation and for our host Nikos for working non-stop to make the best of the situation.

Each year hundreds of dalmatian pelicans spend January and February feeding on small bait fish to fatten up before they nest on the lake in spring. These birds once numbered in the millions but the worldwide population has declined to only about 3,000-5,000 breeding pairs. Thanks to the efforts of the management authority of the lake the birds have been very successful here with over 200 fledglings in 2016.

If you are interested in joining us in 2018, without all the ice of course, please follow this link for more details about the tour: http://www.robertotoole.com/dalmatian-pelican-tour/

Bosque Fall Color Tour Report

November 16, 2016

This year was unusual to say the least, instead of the 18 degrees F that we saw last year, which is about normal, we had daytime temps close to 70 degrees F and morning lows were around 40 degrees. The downside to the unusually high temperatures were insects. The mosquitos would crash into your car windows as soon as you pulled up at the crane pools and go for blood when you stepped out to shoot. The upside to the warm temperatures (and lots of rain) were green, reddish, and orange growth everywhere that looks great in images, and none of the normal dead brown grass you normally see everywhere at Bosque this time of the year.

Crane and geese numbers look decent this year and coyote and bobcat sightings were way up and just about everyday. We had an interesting coyote and bobcat confrontation near the flight deck!

My group and I all had a great time with some memorable shooting sessions. Thanks to everyone that made it over to spend time with me. Even if this is my 12th year in a row going to Bosque, I cant wait to get back there next year! Registration for 2017 is open so check out more info here:

http://www.robertotoole.com/bosque-tour/

These are my favorite images from last week, the colors this year were just unreal and nothing like I have ever seen before at Bosque.

Featured

Alaska Brown Bears 2016

August 16, 2016 in Alaska, Bear, brown bear, Tour, Travel, Travel report, Workshops

2016 Year End Wrap-up

Cubs wrestle in the meadows at Hallo Bay. Katmai NP Alaska, NIKON D500 and SIGMA 120-300 mm f/2.8 Sports lens @ 250mm, 1/1000 sec at f/3.5, manual mode, ISO 280. Image Copyright 2016 Robert OToole Photography.

After leading my three tours this year in June, July and August I feel really lucky to have been able to see and experience so many amazing moments in Katmai and even manage to capture a few alongside tour participants.

One of the highlights this year had to be wolves. We had multiple sightings at just about every spot we visited. The wolf in this image had no fear of humans and crossed in front of my group so close in fact I had to zoom out to 270mm just to fit it in the frame! This wolf hung out at Geographic for a few days just doing laps looking for stranded salmon or photographer's backpacks, whatever was available first.

Cub chomping on it's sibling at Hallo. Katmai NP Alaska, NIKON D500 and SIGMA 150-600 mm

Overall this year the action was great but it seemed like every spot we visited the opportunities for cubs seemed to be almost non stop. The most interesting action was with adopted bears and their new or at least temporary families. I have seen this kind of behavior a few times in the past but for some reason it was common this year making it hard to keep track of what was gong on in some cases.

At Hallo anytime is the best time for playing. Katmai NP Alaska, NIKON D500 and SIGMA 120-300

Sports lens @ 300mm, 1/1250 sec at f/3.5, manual mode, ISO 250,

The amount of time the bears spend playing varies in direct relation to how calm and cool the bears are. Light overcast with drizzle are always my favorite conditions for bear photography.

Out of all the spots at this river mouth this bear decided it wanted to sit on our gravel bar. Geographic, Katmai NP Alaska, NIKON D500 and SIGMA 120-300 Sports lens @ 300mm, 1/2000 sec at f/4, manual mode, ISO 400. Image Copyright 2016 Robert OToole Photography.

The bear photography opportunities really have been excellent over the last few years in Katmai so you should think about joining us next year, you wont regret it. My 2017 small group photo tour dates are available with a two spots left on each of the August tours, for more information follow this link for more information

http://www.robertotoole.com/workshop/brown-bears/

Shoot me an email, Robert at Robert OToole Photography.com, if you have any questions.

Alaska Bear Tour Report

July 21, 2016 in Alaska, Bear, brown bear, Tour, Travel, Travel report

Photographing Coastal Brown Bears in June

After finishing up my first two bear tours of the season, I am glad to report that June and early July were really good with a surprising number of bears at both Kukak and Hallo bay. I feel lucky to have been able to lead tours to locations like this with so many bears in mostly good weather with tons of action, so thanks to my trip participants for making this possible.

Mother bear at Hallo with lupine in the background. Katmai NP Alaska, NIKON D500 and SIGMA 18-300mm Contemporary

As soon as mother bear stopped and looked up I grabbed a Sigma 18-300 C travel and stopped down to f/14 to extend the depth of field for sharp Lupines and mountains in the background.

The Weather June can be a little slow after a harsh winter and spring but this year that was definitely not the case with so many bears and cubs out in force. Technically June, July, August are about equal in terms of rain but this June was a little wetter than normal this year with one tour losing a couple of days two to non-stop rain before recovering with beautiful cloudy skies and lots of great shooting.

Yearlings spending their morning sparring. Katmai NP Alaska, NIKON D500 and SIGMA 120-300 mm f/2.8 Sports lens @ 300mm, 1/1250 sec at f/3.5, manual mode, ISO 320. Image Copyright 2016 Robert OToole Photography.

Cloudy overcast mornings are typical for June in Katmai and as you can see in the image above not only is this kind of light not a problem with modern DSLRs but these conditions are preferred. Water droplets create lots of nice details with saturated colors and the cool temperatures mean more bear activity. Full sun on the other hand creates lots of issues with sharpness due to heat waves and dry chalky glacial mud everywhere and the heat in the middle of the day really slows the bears down.

Two yearlings having breakfast in the meadow. Katmai NP Alaska, NIKON D500 and SIGMA 120-300 mm f/2.8

The Bears

The number of bears and mothers with cubs around this year was just fantastic. At Hallo we had at least five mothers with cubs, Kukak had 12 bears around one morning. For some reason spring cubs were not around early this summer but there were lots of yearlings to keep the photographers really busy.

Two yearling cubs from different mothers rough-housing. Katmai NP Alaska, NIKON D500 and SIGMA 120-300 mm f/2.8

At Hallo we had the pleasure to see three mothers with adopted cubs. I have seen this before in years past but no this many at once. It was reported that there was a total of 5 mothers with adopted cubs this year a Hallo! This is always really interesting behavior to see and photograph.

Cub hopping over driftwood. Katmai NP Alaska, NIKON D500 and SIGMA 150-600 mm

Sports lens @ 190mm, 1/1250 sec at f/8, manual mode, ISO 280,

When this cub started running at me and I wanted to record that exact moment it would be in the air over the logs in the foreground so I locked on to the bear's head with 3D AF and carefully placed the mountains in the top of the frame and D500 and 150-600 sigma sports lens precisely tracked the bear perfectly.

The D500+150-600 S is one serious image maker with the best Image quality I have seen from a crop sensor body. I even managed to make a few frames up to ISO 5500 that looked fine without any noise reduction. The Nikon D810 is still my favorite overall camera but the D500 really makes a lot of sense for wildlife photography. Now that the D500 is out the D4 or D5 pro bodies slide further down my recommended equipment list for wildlife photography. For the price of a new D5 you can pick up a D810, D500 and a new Sigma 150-600 sports lens and still have money leftover for some new memory cards.

Chubby cub and mother bear. Hallo bay, Katmai NP Alaska, NIKON D500 and SIGMA 120-300 mm f/2.8

This year my bear tour schedule was split into 3 separate weeks in June, July and August and so far my experiment is really paying off.

Tour size is limited to 4 participants so there will always be plenty of time for personal assistance and instruction from the leader.

Each and every day I will strive to put you in the right place to make the very best images possible. Your image making will always be a priority over my own. My second goal is to make sure you return home safe and sound with images that are better than expected.

Mother and cub bonding. Kukak, Katmai NP Alaska, NIKON D500 and SIGMA 120-300 mm f/2.8

There are two islands that I know of where shy mother bears take cubs to live for extended periods. This always works out great for photography and this year was especially good on one island that ended up with two mothers with cubs!

Mother and cub stare down right before the pounce. Katmai NP Alaska, NIKON D500 and SIGMA 120-300 mm f/2.8

In Katmai biggest source of stress for a mother bear with a cub large adult male bears so an island is a solution that offers sanctuary from other bears and at the same time creates and ideal set up for photography.

Cubs having fun being cubs on bear island. Katmai NP Alaska, NIKON D500 and SIGMA 120-300 mm f/2.8

My 2017 small group photo tour dates are available with spots still available on all tours, for more information follow the link

here:

http://www.robertotoole.com/workshop/brown-bears/

Shoot me an email, Robert at Robert OToole Photography.com, if you have any questions.

Eagle Tour Report 2016

April 22, 2016 in Alaska, Bald Eagle, Bald Eagle Workshop, Tour, Travel report, Workshops

Unforgettable Experiences

This season of eagle photography in Alaska, my 11th straight year, was full of amazing experiences and opportunities I will never be able to forget. My tour participants really made it all possible so a big thanks to everyone that joined me in Alaska this year.

The Weather The weather really has been a big issue world wide over the last couple years and in Alaska things have really been affected by climate change with a lot less cold days and a lot more unusually warm days but the amazing thing is that the eagles could care less. Actually it seems like there are more eagles and this year it seemed like there were more sub-adult eagles than ever. Lots of eagles, pleasant weather, beautiful habitats and five other keen photographers in your group, what more could you ask for?

Storm clouds and perfect morning light is an exceptional combination and a dream opportunity for any nature photographer. Kenai Peninsula Alaska, NIKON D810 and SIGMA 120-300 mm f/2.8 Sports lens @ 240mm, 1/2000 sec at F5.6, manual mode, ISO 500. Image Copyright 2016 Robert OToole Photography.

Thanks to the constantly changing weather in this part of the world the five days of the tour will usually offer shooting conditions from clouds, to rain, to sun and everything is between, sometimes all in one day! This year the only weather phenomenon we missed was a snow storm, otherwise the weather couldn't have been better.

The Eagles

Flared eagle, Kenai Peninsula Alaska, NIKON D810 and SIGMA 120-300 mm f/2.8

We had an great number of eagles this year for each tour. Even after all these years I still find it amusing when first timers on my tour cant hardly believe their eyes when the eagles just show up when we arrive, going from 2 to 25 in a few minutes and up to 50-75 or even more within an hour of arriving.

Inverted dive, Kenai Peninsula Alaska, NIKON D810 and SIGMA 120-300 mm f/2.8

The first day of the eagle tour can be really hard for new people as there can be so many eagles coming from all directions that concentrating on getting a good image can be difficult. But after the shock of the first day the amount of quality images increases exponentially! After a few days you will learn to recognize and predict the eagles actions, like the inversion above, and things really start to get easy.

Eagle rock, Kenai Peninsula Alaska, NIKON D810 and SIGMA 120-300 mm f/2.8

Two participants were able to bring the new Nikon D5 on the tour and I was able to try them out a couple of times. I think the auto AF fine tuning and touch screen were useful, the additional speed and high ISO capabilities at least for eagles were also nice but nothing groundbreaking over the D4S as far as I am concerned.

Hard bank Kenai Peninsula Alaska, NIKON D810 and SIGMA 120-300 mm f/2.8

The Sigma 120-300 f/2.8 Sports lens was the perfect lens for the action again this year. After a few years with this lens I don't really see myself going back to a prime 300/2.8 again. The flexibility of the zoom with the speed of a prime lens are just too good to be true making it one of the best low light wildlife lenses out there.

Eagle paradise, Kenai Peninsula Alaska, NIKON D810 and SIGMA 120-300 mm f/2.8

There are not that many places out for wildlife photographers that offer almost unlimited opportunities that are not degrading over time with almost no pressure from crowds. I feel lucky that I have been able to visit a place like this to share it with other photographers thanks to my tour participants for making it possible. If you have ever dreamed about shooting eagles in a natural environment think about joining my tour, you wont regret it. I

strive to put you in the right place to make the very best images possible and your image making will always be a priority over my own.

Tour size is limited to 4 participants so there will always be plenty of time for personal assistance and instruction from the leader.

The 2017 workshop details have available here:

http://www.robertotoole.com/workshop/bald-eagles/

Shoot me an email, Robert at Robert OToole Photography.com, if you have any questions.