Belted Kingfisher (male) in flight

This male Belted Kingfisher interrupted our Wood Duck shoot during my Best of Bosque Workshop last December, chasing another male Kingfisher around the ponds for a few minutes. It was a ton of fun tracking this tiny speedster as it flew as fast and erratically as it did.

Due to an unfortunate medical emergency, one spot is still available for my Dec. 5-9, 2024, Best of Bosque Workshop.

Belted Kingfisher male in flight (Megaceryle alcyon, Martin-pêcheur d'Amérique, BEKI) during my Better than Bosque workshop. Albuquerque, 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 10,000, f/8 @ 1/5,000s. Manual exposure.

Red-Tailed Hawk Portrait

This portrait of a Red-Tailed Hawk was made during my Best of Bosque Workshop from our vehicle shortly after sunrise. The Red-Tailed Hawk landed in the middle of recently trimmed branches that were piled on the side of the road. We carefully manoeuvred close enough to get a portrait in the golden light with a pleasing background. The image was made after everyone in my group got the image I was after :)

Due to a medical emergency cancellation, one spot is still available for my Dec. 5-9 Best of Bosque workshop.

Red-tailed Hawk Portrait (Buteo jamaicensis, Buse à queue rousse, RTHA) from my Better than Bosque workshop. Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, San Antonio, New Mexico, USA. Image Copyright ©Christopher Dodds. Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless camera & Sony FE 600mm f/4 G Master OSS Lens with Sony FE 2X Teleconverter @1,200mm ISO 1,000, f/8 @ 1/5,000s. Manual exposure.

Sandhill Crane and Bosque Workshop Openings.

A Sandhill Crane calls to announce its arrival as it lands in front of us during my Best of Bosque workshop last December.

Due to an unfortunate medical emergency, I have two spots open for the previously sold-out Dec. 5-9, 2024 Best of Bosque workshop. Join me for five full days of EPIC imagery and learning.

Sandhill Crane Calling in flight. Landing Loud. (Grus canadenis, Grue du Canada, SACR) from my Better than Bosque workshop. Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, San Antonio, New Mexico, USA. Image Copyright ©Christopher Dodds. Sony a1 Mirrorless camera & Sony FE 600mm f/4 G Master OSS Lens with Sony FE 2X Teleconverter @1,200mm ISO 5,000, f/5.6 @ 1/5,000s Manual exposure. Full frame image.

Sandhill Crane in flight. Wing & Head Detail

Here is a close-up of a Sandhill Crane as it lands in front of us during my Best of Bosque workshop last December.

Due to an unfortunate medical emergency, I have two spots open for the previously sold-out Dec. 5-9, 2024 Best of Bosque workshop.

Sandhill Crane in flight. Wing & Head Detail. (Grus canadenis, Grue du Canada, SACR) from my Better than Bosque workshop. Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, San Antonio, New Mexico, USA. Image Copyright ©Christopher Dodds. Sony a1 Mirrorless camera & Sony FE 600mm f/4 G Master OSS Lens with Sony FE 2X Teleconverter @1,200mm ISO 8,000, f/5.6 @ 1/5,000s Manual exposure.

Sandhill Crane Landing in Golden Light

A Sandhill Crane banks as it lands during my Best of Bosque workshop in New Mexico.

The wind was completely wrong when we set up, but it started to shift as the sun started to set and the high desert light started to warm, and we had a pretty epic session.

Sandhill Crane Landing in Golden Light (Grus canadenis, Grue du Canada, SACR) from my Better than Bosque workshop. Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, San Antonio, New Mexico, USA. Image Copyright ©Christopher Dodds. Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless camera & Sony FE 600mm f/4 G Master OSS Lens with Sony FE 2X Teleconverter @1,200mm ISO 4,000, f/8 @ 1/5,000s Manual exposure. Full frame image.

Sandhill Crane calling in flight in golden light

A Sandhill Crane calls as it flies past the out-of-focus autumn foliage of the cottonwood trees.

Sandhill Cranes can be heard as far as 2.5 miles (4km) away. They give loud, rattling bugle calls, each lasting a few seconds and often strung together.

Sandhill Crane calling in flight in Golden Light (Grus canadenis, Grue du Canada, SACR) from my Better than Bosque workshop. Bernardo Wildlife Area, Bernardo, New Mexico, USA. Image Copyright ©Christopher Dodds. Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless camera & Sony FE 600mm f/4 G Master OSS Lens with Sony FE 2X Teleconverter @1,200mm ISO 3,200, f/8 @ 1/5,000s Manual exposure. Full frame image.

Sandhill Crane Landing in Golden Light against out-of-focus Cottonwood Autumn Foliage

A Sandhill Crane landing in golden light against magical out-of-focus Autumn foliage (Cottonwood trees) from Dec. 9, 2023, during my Better than Bosque Workshop in New Mexico. We had some off-the-charts magical light last December!

There are still a few spots left for my Dec. 5-9, 2024, Better than Bosque workshop!

Sandhill Crane Landing in Golden Light against out-of-focus Cottonwood Autumn Foliage (Grus canadenis, Grue du Canada, SACR) from my Better than Bosque workshop. Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, San Antonio, New Mexico, USA. Image Copyright ©Christopher Dodds. Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless camera & Sony FE 600mm f/4 G Master OSS Lens with Sony FE 2X Teleconverter @1,200mm ISO 3,200, f/8 @ 1/5,000s Manual exposure. Full frame image.

Blue Goose (Dark Morph Snow Goose) Ventral Bank

A Blue Goose (Dark morph Snow Goose) offers a ventral view as it banks vertically to lose altitude rapidly while descending into a corn field during my Better than Bosque Workshop in New Mexico.

Snow Goose (Blue morph) Banking (Chen Caerulescens, Oie des Neiges forme bleu, SNGO) from my Better than Bosque workshop. Near 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 1,000, f/8 @ 1/5,000s Manual exposure.

American Kestrel in flight with a cricket snack

An American Kestrel in flight with a cricket snack from my Better than Bosque Workshop in New Mexico. The Kestrel is flying slightly away, but the glance toward me, the light and the background saved this one - the cricket in its mouth is the bonus - smile.

American Kestrel in flight with a cricket snack (Falco sparverius, Crécerelle d'Amérique, AMKE) 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 2,000, f/8 @ 1/5,000s. Manual exposure. Full frame image.

2024 & 2025 Best of Bosque workshop is live; join me in New Mexico for the fun! Click on the image to learn more.

Blue Goose (Dark Morph Snow Goose) Dorsal Flair

Better than Bosque workshop notes

I am finally home from an extended RV road trip to my New Mexico Better than Bosque Workshop. We had some great times with old friends before and after and spent extensive time scouting to ensure that we were in the best locations at the best time for the Better than Bosque workshop. Bosque del Apache is the draw, but the conditions for migrating birds and visiting photographers continue to decline, so we went to other nearby reserves where the birds were!

The Blue Goose

The dark colour of the blue morph Snow Goose is controlled by a single gene, with dark being partially dominant over white. If a pure dark goose mates with a white goose, the offspring will all be dark (possibly with white bellies). If two white geese mate, they have only white offspring. If two dark geese breed, they will have mostly dark offspring but might also have a few white ones.

The oldest Snow Goose on record, a blue morph, was shot in Idaho in 2020. It was 30 years and eight months old and was banded initially in Arizona in 1990.

Snow Goose (Blue morph) Banking (Chen Caerulescens, Oie des Neiges forme bleu, SNGO) from my Better than Bosque workshop. Near 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 1,250, f/8 @ 1/5,000s Manual exposure. Full Frame image.

Sandhill Crane Banking

Another Sandhill Crane from my recent Best of Bosque workshop. This was made at my favourite spot along the north loop of the reserve; I just love the background!

Kudos:

“Your workshop (Best of Bosque Dec. 2022) was wonderful - you chose a beautiful setting, and I sincerely appreciate your time and effort in putting together a great photographic experience. I learned so much from you over the course of the week, including an understanding of histograms, exposure, shutter speed and how various settings interact to achieve the effects we are trying to create. I appreciated your kindness and patience, and regular checking of my histograms, feedback, and answering any and all of my questions! I have some unexpectedly great photos, including sharp ones of the cranes in silhouette against the setting sun!!!”

— Marsha Lomis Ontario, Canada

Join me at Bosque del Apache NWR in New Mexico for my Dec. 5-9 workshop. LEARN MORE HERE.

Join me at Bosque del Apache NWR in New Mexico for my Dec. 5-9 workshop. LEARN MORE HERE.

Sandhill Crane landing

We were lucky to find some fantastic opportunities yesterday during my Best of Bosque workshop in New Mexico. About 50 Cranes flew into this location close enough to get some great images with great backgrounds. This is one of my favourites from the day.

Sandhill Crane Calling Silhouette

A silhouette of a Sandhill Crane calling with the high desert mountains in the background. Join me in New Mexico from Dec. 5-9 for my Best of Bosque workshop. Learn More HERE.

Northern Shoveler

A non-breeding drake (male) Northern Shoveler from my Best of Bosque workshop last December. Many of the dabbling ducks use their flat bills to strain food items from the water, but the big spatulate bill of the Northern Shoveler is adapted to take this habit to the extreme. Flocks of shovelers often swim along with their big bills barely submerged in front of them, straining food from the muddy soup of shallow waters.

Sandhill Crane Full Moon Silhouette

A mated pair of Sandhill Cranes silhouetted against the full moon from my Best of Bosque workshop. This image was created in-camera with a single exposure. I used creative license and adjusted the black point, contrast and white balance dramatically. I am very excited that there will be a full moon in the middle of my Dec. 5-9 workshop on Dec. 7 :) Click HERE to learn more or sign-up for my Dec. 5-9, 2022 Best of Bosque workshop adventure.

Wood Duck Portrait

Here is a portrait made with the Sony FE 100-400MM F/4.5-5.6 GM OSS and 1.4X teleconverter @560mm. I love the versatility this combination offers with a short minimum focusing distance when the subjects get close :)

Wood Duck

One of the highlights of my Best of Bosque workshop is spending time with dozens of Wood Ducks. This one reminds me of part of a poem that I heard years ago:

“The wood duck’s roman helmet crowns his head
in royal graduated colours green
and on his chest of armour crimson red
through bands of black and white with purple sheen” - Author unknown

Although they come too close to photograph, I prefer working in the super-telephoto range to isolate single ducks more easily.

Join me for my BEST OF BOSQUE photographic adventure/workshop dec 5-9, 2022

🦆

Join me for my BEST OF BOSQUE photographic adventure/workshop dec 5-9, 2022 🦆

Sandhill Crane in flight Silhouette

The single most important parts of a successful silhouette (to me) are ensuring that the wings, neck/head/bill, legs and feet are free and clear of each other - I see so many images with the head or bill intersecting a wing or the body. The best way to achieve this is to invest the time in the field in the best location.

I still have a couple of openings due to cancellation for my Dec. 5-9, 2022 Best of Bosque trip. Learn more HERE.

Ross's Goose

Ross’s Goose facts:

A tiny goose with black wingtips, the Ross’s Goose (Chen rossii, Oie de Ross) is about 40% smaller than the more abundant white phase Snow Goose. The Snow Goose is larger and has a larger bill without the greenish base and has a black grin patch along it’s bill edge (black “lips”). It breeds in the central Arctic and winters primarily in central California, but it is becoming more frequent farther east. It is named in honor of Bernard R. Ross, a Hudson’s Bay Company factor at Fort Resolution in Canada’s Northwest Territories.

Wood duck in flight

This was one of the memorable adrenaline pumping moments during last December’s Better than Bosque workshop in New Mexico. I was using my 600 f/4 lens with a doubler for some distant floating Widgeons, so the challenge was not clipping the wings as this Wood Duck landed directly towards us. Most certainly one of my favourite images from the trip!

Join me Dec. 5-9, 2022 Better than Bosque workshop in New Mexico. CLICK HERE for more information.

☞

Join me Dec. 5-9, 2022 Better than Bosque workshop in New Mexico. CLICK HERE for more information. ☞