Sandhill Crane landing head on

Here is a Sandhill Crane from yesterday morning while scouting for my Best of Bosque workshop. Although the light was dark and overcast, the background and head-on landings made it an epic morning for me. While most are complaining that there are no cornfields near accessible roads, the backgrounds this year are fantastic - far better than chopped cornfields of years gone by :)

Join me at Bosque del Apache NWR next Dec. Learn more HERE

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Join me at Bosque del Apache NWR next Dec. Learn more HERE 🦆

Northern Shoveler Landing

I’ve been scouting for my Best of Bosque workshop and this year is looking like it will be off the charts! Here’s a Northern Shoveler from earlier today while catching up with old friends Doug and Kristin Brown on the side of the pond. Who would have thought my first post of the trip would be a Shoveler? I’ve had some epic opportunities with Geese, Cranes, Harriers and Red-tailed hawks :)

Bald Eagle Calling in light snow

Another Bald Eagle from a magical snowy day during my Eagles Galore workshops in Alaska. I noticed this perch early on and never saw an Eagle land on it for the first few days of my trip. Things improved when it started to gently snow :) ki-ki-ki-ki-ki-ki-ker. You can read more about the Bald Eagle call in my post from September HERE: THE BALD EAGLE CALL.

Bald Eagle Fishing Tales

Look closely :) A Bald Eagle banking in flight with fresh catch from my Alaska Eagles Galore Workshop in March. Join me for an incredible workshop with more Eagles than you can imagine. Learn more about my March Eagles Galore Workshop in Alaska HERE.

Bald Eagle Call of the Wild

Another Alaskan Eagle from my Eagles Galore Workshop in March. The predawn colours in the sky were an amazing pallet of pastels - and the Eagles were singing their morning chorus. What could be better?

Bald Eagle Silhouette

A Bald Eagle in silhouette at the top of its dive during my Bald Eagles Galore workshop in Alaska.

Juvenile American Bald Eagle with fish in light snow

A juvenile Bald Eagle with a fresh catch in light snow from my Eagles Galore Workshop in March. Another instance when I reached for the Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 G Master OSS Lens and used it wide open at f/2.8: I just love the different sizes of the out-of-focus snowflakes this creates.

Bald Eagle banking in light snow

Bald eagles are amazing flyers and their aerial acrobatics are simply amazing; the air passing through their feathers when they dive sounds like a jet engine. This Eagle was photographed during my Eagles Galore Workshop using my Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 G Master OSS Lens at its maximum aperture to render the dark cliffs in the background as out-of-focus as possible to make the bird and the snowflakes pop.

Bald Eagle in blizzard

The excitement is always off-the-charts during my Eagles Galore workshop when we are out with the Eagles and it snows. I had our captain head straight to my favourite spot with dark cliffs to emphasize the snowflakes and I chose an aperture of f/2.8 to render the dark cliff in the background out of focus to make the Eagle pop.

Bald Eagles Grand Theft

Here are a couple of Bald Eagles fighting over a fish. You can see the frame before this image in a previous post: https://www.naturephotographyblog.com/blog/bald-eagles-fighting-over-fish.

Despite its fierce appearance, the bald eagle is a rather timid hunter. Usually found near water, it feeds mainly on fish, which it often steals from ospreys or other Eagles - smile.

Ring-necked Duck Drake

“Ring-billed Duck” may be a better name for this species, as its neck ring is usually only visible at close range. The white ring on the bill is a prominent field mark.

Ring-necked Duck with visible neck ring (Aythya collaris, Fuligule à collier, RNDU) from my Better than Bosque workshop. Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, San Antonio, New Mexico, USA. Image Copyright ©Christopher Dodds. Sony Alpha alpha 1 Mirrorless camera & Sony FE 600mm f/4 G Master OSS Lens with Sony FE 2X Teleconverter @1,200mm ISO 1,600, f/8 @ 1/3,200s. Full frame image. Manual exposure.

Wood Duck

Another Wood Duck from my Best of Bosque workshop last December. It is easy to see why Wood Ducks are a favourite subject. Such handsome birds.

Wood duck in flight

One of my favourite Wood Duck images from last December’s Best of Bosque workshop. A drake (male) Wood Duck flew directly towards us with the amazing colour of the Sunset reflecting off the cottonwood trees.

Learn more about the Best of Bosque Workshop HERE.

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Learn more about the Best of Bosque Workshop HERE. 〰️

Sandhill Crane

A Sandhill Crane in flight from my Best of Bosque workshop last December. I love the fire-like background in this frame.

Thank you!

Special thanks Sony, Vistek and to all who filled the stands at my ProFusion Expo Presentations this week. It was a huge success and so great to get back out and see so many friends!

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Special thanks to Raquel Rizzuto Hitchcock from Sony of Canada for the images.

Snow Goose Landing

Want to become a master bird photographer?

There are still two spots available for my Dec. 5-9 Best of Bosque workshop. Join me at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife near Socorro, New Mexico for an awesome adventure and come home with a diversified portfolio while learning to become a master bird photographer. Learn more HERE.

Northern Pintail Landing and ProFusion Expo speaking schedule

ProFusion Expo November 9 & 10, 2022 Free Sony Presentation and meet & greet schedule

Thrilled and proud to be presenting at ProFusion Expo in Toronto today and tomorrow for Sony! Come and see a free mini-workshop/seminar/slideshow. Sony has generously sponsored an extra hour-long meet & greet, so come and say hello and bring your questions (if I can’t answer them, I am sure we will have some awesome support from my friends at Sony :)

The shows start at 12:00 (Noon) on both days. Click the picture below to learn more!

Sony presents Sony ambassador Christopher Dodds November 9 &10, 2022 at 12:00 at Canada’s largest camera expo. Learn more: https://profusionexpo.com/speaker/chris-dodds/

Come and see me at ProFusion Expo in Toronto

Come and say hello and join me for my FREE mini-workshop presentation at Canada’s largest camera show in Toronto. I will be presenting at 12:00 on both November 9th and 10th. The presentation is sponsored by Sony and I look forward to seeing you there! Learn more about ProFusion Expo HERE.

Sandhill Crane Predawn Call

Here is another Sandhill Crane from my Better than Bosque workshop last December 7. It was dark, the air was cold, but still and we listened to the chorus of Sandhill Cranes waking for a good long while before they started to fly out. The dark overcast conditions were perfect for low contrast out-of-focus backgrounds. The key when working at high ISOs like 16,000 is to expose the image perfectly and try your best to capture full-frame images that don’t require cropping (or much cropping).

Join me in New Mexico from Dec. 5-9 for my Best of Bosque Workshop Adventure.

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CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE OR SIGN-UP

Join me in New Mexico from Dec. 5-9 for my Best of Bosque Workshop Adventure. ☞ CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE OR SIGN-UP

Snow Goose Last Call

Last call for my Best of Bosque workshop from December 5-9. Join me in New Mexico for an action-packed five-day workshop/adventure. Learn more about my Best of Bosque Workshop HERE.

Snow Goose

A Snow Goose gently lands against the distant out-of-focus Cottonwood trees at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge on the second day of my Best of Bosque workshop last December.