Dengler Images

Cell phone cameras are amazing, but don’t forget a real camera

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Sunlight filters through the trees along a creek in Rock Bridge Memorial State Park just outside of Columbia, Mo. (John L. Dengler)

Having an cellphone camera means you always have a camera with you. As the saying goes, the best camera is the camera that you have with you. But knowing that you have the iPhone camera always at your disposal can make you lazy. I sure wish I had my Nikon D4 when I shot the above photo of sunlight filtering through the trees along a creek in Rock Bridge Memorial State Park just outside of Columbia, Mo. The image looks somewhat acceptable on the screen and could make a small print, but that is about it. The bigger problem in my mind, is that the image is shot in jpeg image format, causing the image to lack the tonal range that is possible when shooting with a professional camera in the camera’s native raw image format.

Note to self. Always have the iPhone at the ready, but take the Nikon too. I suspect this will be a lesson that I’m likely to learn several more times before it sinks in. Sigh. …

Sometimes I will convert ‘interior forest’ type of photos into black and white images. I like how the black & white tones simplify the image, while lending a sense of mystery to the forest. Another example of where I have done this is the photo below (shot with my Nikon D3) of an assortment of ferns, including Hapu’u tree ferns, in a small crater in the wet forest near Nahuku (Thurston Lava Tube) at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island of Hawaii. The fern forest photo makes a impressive and stunning large print.

An assortment of ferns including Hapu'u tree ferns in the wet forest in a small crater near the Thurston Lava Tube (Nahuku) in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island of Hawaii. (John L. Dengler)

TOP: Sunlight filters through the trees along a creek in Rock Bridge Memorial State Park just outside of Columbia, Mo.

BOTTOM: An assortment of ferns including Hapu’u tree ferns in the wet forest in a small crater near the Thurston Lava Tube (Nahuku) in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island of Hawaii.

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

Bald Eagle Number 88 – tagged for airport eviction research

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Bald eagle Number 88 (photographed here on the Chilkat River in the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve near Haines, Alaska) was originally tagged by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Juneau, Alaska as part of a study examining the effects of nest removal at the Juneau airport. Steve Lewis, of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, was quoted as saying that Number 88 was a control bird matched with a pair of eagles that were nesting near the pond airstrip where float planes land and take off. The eagle originally had a GPS tracking pack but lost it this summer. SPECIAL NOTE: iPhone photo, also embeded GPS location data in this iPhone is NOT the location where the eagle was photographed. This image of the image was photographed the following day in a different location. (John L. Dengler)

Over a three year period, I have talked about a leucistic, white-tipped bald eagle, that I have watched and it is always interesting to see where this eagle shows up. A few days ago, I spotted another special bald eagle while on the Chilkat River in the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve near Haines, Alaska. In this case, the eagle is easily identifiable by a large numbered green badge that is attached with a rivet-like coupling to its wing.

According to the Takshanuk Watershed Council website bald eagle Number 88 was originally tagged by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Juneau, Alaska (roughly 95 miles away) as part of a study examining the effects of nest removal at the Juneau airport. Steve Lewis, of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, was quoted as saying that Number 88 was a control bird matched with a pair of eagles that were nesting near the pond airstrip where float planes land and take off. The eagle originally had a GPS tracking pack but lost it this summer.

Like the leucistic bald eagle, it will be interesting to see where Number 88 shows up in the years to come. Knowing that you are seeing the exact same bird year after year is like seeing an old friend.

For those interested, I spotted bald eagle Number 88 at 11:33 a.m. AST on Nov. 17, 2011 in the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve on Chilkat River near Haines, Alaska. My GPS coordinates were Latitude N59° 23.149′, Longitude W135° 51.030′, when I took the photo with my Nikon 600 mm f/4 lens.

UPDATE: In late May 2013 Lewis reported that bald eagle Number 88 was found dead on the Klehini River. While Lewis doesn’t know the cause of death it appeared that the eagle might have died of starvation.

UPDATE: In late October 2012 I spotted Bald Eagle Number 24, also part of this study, on the Chilkat River not far from where I spotted bald eagle Number 88 the year before.

This bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) resting along the banks of the Chilkat River in the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve is equipped with a patagial tag (#24), a leg band (4G) and a solar powered GPS tracking satellite transmitter. The transmitter antenna can be seen sticking out of the feathers to the right of the green patagial tag. The eagle is being tracked by Steve Lewis of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Juneau, Alaska as part of a study examining the effects of nest removal at the Juneau airport (approximately 95 miles away). During late fall, bald eagles congregate along the Chilkat River near Haines, Alaska to feed on salmon in what is believed to be the largest gathering of bald eagles in the world. (John L. Dengler)


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My office when photographing bald eagles on the Chilkat River

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Photographic equipment belonging to independent photojournalist John L. Dengler set up along the banks of the Chilkat River where John was photographing bald eagles. SPECIAL NOTE: iPhone photo (John L. Dengler)

Here’s a closeup peek of my “office” when photographing bald eagles on the Chilkat River in the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve in southeast Alaska.

Most of my bald eagle photography is with my Nikon 600mm f/4 lens on a Nikon D3 body which are mounted on a heavy duty tripod and Wimberly tripod head. Both the camera and lens are protected from the elements with a ThinkTank Hydrophobia rain cover. I keep the cover on the lens at all times so I don’t have to fool with putting it on should it start to rain or snow.

I have the rest of my other lenses, Pocket Wizards, tele-extender, strobes, audio recorder, and video equipment in my Kiboko camera backpack bag made by Gura Gear. Also pictured is a Thermarest sleeping pad. The pad isn’t for sleeping but rather to protect my butt and feet from the cold.

Finally, most important of all, I have my lunch, usually a sandwich with cookies or english muffins from my Haines friends Joanne & Phyllis. Yum.

The photo below is the “office” view from the spot above with Four Winds Mountain in the background.

Ice forms on the Chilkat River in the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve near Haines, Alaska. In the background is Four Winds Mountain. SPECIAL NOTE: iPhone photo (John L. Dengler)

 

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Even more snow!

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A snow drift loom in this scene from the porch of the Alaska Guardhouse bed and breakfast located on the grounds of historic Fort Seward in Haines, Alaska after an early November blizzard. In the background is one of the fort's former army barracks. SPECIAL NOTE: iPhone photo (John L. Dengler)

iPhone photo field report: I’ll probably stay in today. I went out to the car this morning and the 18 inches of additional NEW snow was up to my mid thigh (it’s drifting a lot with the high winds). I shoveled for a couple of hours and you would hardly know that I did. I’m guessing it is snowing at least 2 inches an hour (and it has been snowing all night). The main problem today is that the gusting winds (around 45 mph) are causing major snow drifts.

You would think school would get cancelled but that’s not the case. My young Alaska friend Gable (a middle school student) looked at me weird when I said schools back in Missouri would be cancelled for weeks with a snowfall like this one. Snow like this isn’t that big of a deal here. The photo above is from the Alaska Guardhouse where I am staying on the historic Fort Seward grounds in Haines. The building in the background is one of the old army barracks. Hopefully, the snow plow will come by soon.

ABOVE: A snow drift loom in this scene from the porch of the Alaska Guardhouse bed and breakfast located on the grounds of historic Fort Seward in Haines, Alaska after an early November blizzard. In the background is one of the fort’s former army barracks. SPECIAL NOTE: iPhone photo

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