Latest Dispatches Archives

Florida wild wading bird rookery offers easy access

April 27, 2009 by John L. Dengler

I recently took advantage of Allegiant Airlines cheap fares from Springfield to Orlando to work on my bird photography techniques, get some shooting hours under my belt with my new 600mm f4 lens and conduct a real world test of traveling with new equipment in anticipation of more extensive and demanding travel scheduled for later this year.

Gatorland is a tourist attraction on the southern edge of Orlando near Kissimmee. It oozes tourist kitsch all revolving around alligators. Watching alligator feeding or wrestling is definitely not my cup of tea, but what they do have is the largest and most easily accessible wild wading bird rookery in east central Florida. The rookery is on the outer edge of the park and serves as the 10 acre breeding marsh for Gatorland’s alligators. According to the Gatorland website, “Literally thousands of native Florida birds make their home in this natural habitat. Currently, a dozen different species of birds nest within Gatorland’s rookery, and over 20 different species of birds use the area for roosting or feeding. Of these, 8 species are listed either as a Species of Special Concern or Endangered by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act.”

The birds like the rookery area because the alligators under the bird nests afford protection from predators — opossums, raccoons and snakes.

There are boardwalks through the rookery area that keep the gators from munching your legs (your legs, and your tripod’s) along with several covered cabanas for protection from sun and rain and a large tower should you wish to get eye level shots of incoming birds in flight.

The best thing about the rookery is that you can buy a special photo pass to the rookery area that allows you access before the park is open to the general public and after the park is closed. This allows you to catch the best light in the early morning and early evening. While these times afforded the best light and shooting, it made for long days — staying from sunrise to sundown. During the less than optimal midday light, I practiced my bird flight photography and scouted out the area for young birds in nests. On several early mornings the alligators in the swamp would start booming in unison — somewhat eery and unnerving. This courtship behavior bellowing can be heard up to a mile away. My favorite time of the day was the early evening. The light was good, and the action hot. Hundreds upon hundreds of birds would flock to the swamp in the evening light to roost. Bottom line, I got good shooting time under my belt with my 600mm, plenty of birds-in-flight photography opportunities, and time to work on fill-flash technique when photographing birds.

Mike Godwin, the person in charge of the photographer access program (and an excellent bird photographer himself) is usually available during the special shooting hours and is helpful in answering questions or offering tips.

My traveling went off without a hitch. I was initially a little apprehensive of what traveling with the 600mm would be like but I now have my system down. I’m really liking my Kiboko Bag from Gura Gear that I use as my carryon bag. I can stuff it full of camera bodies, several lenses, a flash, assorted filters, camera batteries, flash batteries AND my 600mm (minus the lens hood). The massive lens hood ends up in a duffle bag along with my Gitzo tripod w/Wimberley Head, Kinesis large lens pack and Kinesis pack frame that disassembles completely flat. So far I haven’t had any problems fitting the Kiboko Bag onto the regional jets that often fly out of the Springfield airport. On occasion, the airline person on the jetway will want me to gate-check the bag but I assure them that the bag will fit in the overhead, and so far it always has. Other things that I like about the bag are the easily accessible backpacking straps, the ergonomically offset carrying handle and the removable rain cover.

I am now confident that I’ve got a reasonably workable system for transporting my equipment for my upcoming more extensive trips — Hawaii in July and Alaska in November.

ABOVE: A white ibis (Eudocimus albus) lands in a tree at sunset to roost overnight at the Gatorland alligator breeding marsh and bird sanctuary near Orlando, Florida. The bird sanctuary is the largest and most easily accessible wild wading bird rookery in east central Florida.

To license image, click image. To see our collection of fine art prints, click here.

Missouri Whitewater Championships – 2009

March 28, 2009 by John L. Dengler

When I think of the perfect spring day, I think of the day I covered the Missouri Whitewater Championships back when I was a staff photojournalist with the St. Louis Globe-Democrat in the 1970‘s and 80‘s. That particular race day was a glorious, warm t-shirt kind of a day with all the trappings of spring in abundance.

This past weekend, I revisited the races, held on the St. Francis River near Fredericktown Missouri in the Missouri Department of Conservation’s Millstream Gardens Conservation Area. While the weather didn’t top my previous trip, the scenery was just as beautiful, and the race action intense.

Part of what makes the area so beautiful are the “shut-ins” on the river — ancient exposed Precambrian granite over 600 million years old that is worn down by the river. It is this granite that gives this part of the state its unique geological character and why many people, including myself, consider the area one of the most beautiful parts of Missouri.

The three-quarter mile Tiemann Shut-In section of the St. Francis River is Missouri’s premier whitewater location and offers up the most challenging whitewater in Missouri, if not the Midwest. It is understandable then why the Missouri Whitewater Association have held the Missouri Whitewater Championships here since 1967. The slalom race held for 42 years is the oldest regional slalom race in the US, several times being an Olympic Festival event, and often included in the Buttercup series of slalom.

LIKE MUCH OF MY SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY, I like to shoot paddling sports like kayaking with an in-your-face attitude. While sense of place is important, and needed, what I look for are images that put the viewer in the kayak and convey the emotion and thrill that whitewater kayaking is all about. In this case, that meant having to pack my 600mm lens and tripod to the river using my Kinesis large lens pack and pack frame. The one-mile hike to the river is easy. The Missouri of Department of Conservation has developed the Tiemann Shut-ins Trail (asphalt paved, disabled-accessible) that leisurely meanders through the forest. The main asphalt trail ends at the viewing platform overlooking the “Cat’s Paw” rapids on the river.

The one bad thing about shooting with the 600mm lens mounted on the tripod is that you tend to stay put, instead of moving about. In this particular case, that’s due to the large crowd of people around you. You need the lens and tripod to stake your shooting position. It is also due to the fact that unnecessary scampering about on the slippery granite can be dangerous for the lens. It is for these reasons I like to scope out the situation a day or so ahead of time so I can thoroughly evaluate potential shooting locations and angles. Photography is often about luck. I haven’t won the lottery yet, so I don’t like to leaving it to luck. I’m a believer of making your own luck and scoping things out in advance does just that. For this weekend of shooting, a little advance work had a big payoff.

The competition is normally held on the third weekend of March. Check with the Missouri Whitewater website before heading to the river as low water could postpone the race. Dress appropriately, and make sure you have what you need for the afternoon as it is a long way back to your car. Overnight camping is available at the U.S. Forest Service Silver Mines Recreation Area campground. Be prepared for a party atmosphere if you camp here race weekend as most of the paddlers stay here.

ABOVE: Michael Dee of St. Louis, Missouri races in the K1 men’s expert class during the slalom course. Dee placed placed eighth place in the class. Photographed using a Nikon D3, 600mm f4 VR lens, on a Gitzo GT5541LS carbon fiber tripod with a Wimberley WH200 head. Image capture: 1/1250 at f4.5, ISO 800

To license image, click image. To see our collection of fine art prints, click here.

My new life adventure

December 12, 2008 by John L. Dengler

Today was my last day at the Springfield News-Leader. Like many in the newspaper industry, I decided to take the opportunity of a voluntary “buyout” to start a new career. Major cuts to staff were being called for and I figured it was a good opportunity to move on. After 13 years as a staff photographer at the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, and 21 years at the News-Leader as a graphics editor, design editor, and magazine art director I will start a new life adventure. The focus of my new adventure will be devoting myself full-time to marry my passion for photography with the outdoors.

I’ve had a great time at the News-Leader getting to work with some real pros. I’ve always been amazed that I was responsible for leading a team of artists when I couldn’t even come in last place in a stick-figure drawing competition. I guess it is testament to my belief that visuals, no matter what the medium, can be used to tell a story, whether it is an infographic, illustration, or a photo story. The same principles for good story telling hold true for all these mediums and that was my test in what we accomplished — tell a story and make me smarter.

John’s Rules:

Let the people doing the actual creating of the work be involved in the idea process
Outline a box and stand back and be amazed what others will build in the box
You’re a journalist first, artist second, report what you need yourself
Reward good work with the right tools for the job
Read the manual!
A wack from a bowling pin is a good motivator (inside joke)
It’s all about your staff, not you
Treat people with the same respect you would want from others
Never settle for “good enough”

I never would have been able to accomplish what I did without the help of my colleagues who at some point in their careers made their home in the graphics playpen AKA “the cave.” To them I owe a big thanks, no make that a gigantic thanks!

Finally, to the countless newsroom staff whom I said “Oh my god!” (as if it was something incredibly bad, when in reality was just the opposite). I’m not really sorry. It was too much fun to pull.

ABOVE: The St. Louis Globe-Democrat city room in 1938 — no, I’m not that old! But I did work with quite a few of the folks pictured. The man to the right of the door in the background is Howard Vogt. Howard was the manager for the photo department for many of the years I worked at the Globe. The chief photographer at that time is Pete Hangge (man with hat in the center of the photo). The man in the hat to the left of the calendar is rumored (but not confirmed) to be George A. Killenberg. George was managing editor of the paper when I worked at the Globe and was the person who took a chance on hiring me when I was only 19 years old.

This photo comes by way of former Globe-Democrat reporter Margaret Sheppard who passed the image on to other Globe staffers via her email list. Former Globe-Democrat feature writer Susan Fadem obtained the actual photo from Herb Waeckerle.

International Harvester photojournalism book on press

August 27, 2008 by John L. Dengler

It’s hard to believe that after what has seemed like an eternity, the book that Angus McDougall and I have been working on the past several years has finally gone to press. “Pacesetters in Corporate Journalism: International Harvester magazines–reaching readers through photojournalism” is a 294 page book that gives insight to the editorial philosophy of the International Harvester magazines and firsthand knowledge as to how they operated. The book has reproduced pages from the magazines that are accompanied by background information on them by “Mac” who was the associate editor and photographer for the magazines during the 1950s and 1960s.

The back cover blurb: “… The compelling, storytelling lessons learned by the International Harvester magazines are applicable to any media. Few corporate magazines connected with their readers like those produced by International Harvester in the 1950s and 1960s. With content that rivaled mainstream magazines like LIFE magazine, International Harvester World and IH Today took readers into the lives of International Harvesters employees from CEOs to factory workers, from behind the scenes at hard-nosed union negotiations to tender moments with employee loved ones. The magazines set standards for visual and corporate journalism. Under the direction of editors Gerald D. Hurley and Angus McDougall, International Harvester World and IH Today soon became pacesetters in corporate journalism. They became known for text that was tightly integrated with candid photography in clean, uncluttered layout. They set standards for visual journalism in their commitment to unbiased reporting.”

Yesterday, I met Mac and David Rees, head of the photojournalism sequence at the Missouri School of Journalism at the Watkins Lithographic printing plant in Kansas City to oversee the initial printing (which will take several days). Dave Mullies, and Tom Daniels were most gracious to allow us to pepper them and the press crew with questions and comments during the printing.

My advice to anyone doing a book project is to make sure you attend the starting of the press. There is no question in my mind that showing up for the press run, asking questions, and asking for tweaks in the presswork helped Watkins Lithographic highly skilled press staff ensure they were giving us the best possible printing.

Yes, you might get a better deal on the printing cost by printing in China, but I can guarantee you that if you show up at the plant, talk with the pressman, work with them with what you are looking for in reproduction and just show that you care, you will get a much superior job. Showing up as we did is something you can’t do (or at least easily) if you offshore your printing.

ABOVE: John L. Dengler (left) and Angus W. McDougall (center) review a press proof with an unidentified pressman at Watkins Lithographic in Kansas City, Mo. McDougall and Dengler were at the pressrun to oversee the printing of their book “Pacesetters in Corporate Journalism: International Harvester magazines–reaching readers through photojournalism” – Photo by David Rees

LINK to story on Angus McDougall:
Angus McDougall to Receive Missouri Honor Medal

UPDATE – Where to purchase the book: Pacesetters in Corporate Journalism, published by the Missouri School of Journalism – Photojournalism, is available directly from the School of Journalism by contacting the Missouri School of Journalism photojournalism department, 573-882-4882.

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Florida wild wading bird rookery offers easy access

Missouri Whitewater Championships – 2009

My new life adventure

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