Black-crowned Night-heron Golden Light Reflection

On the last morning of my Better than Bosque Workshop (Dec. 9, 2024), our Wood Duck shoot was interrupted by a couple of Black-crowned Night Herons, a common and often overlooked species!

The light was golden, and the fog burned off quickly, so I maneuvered into the best angle and got one frame off before it flew to perch in a tree for the rest of the day.

I have just announced the Dec. 5-9, 2025, Better than Bosque workshop. Click the image or link below to learn more and sign up.

Black-crowned Night-heron Golden Light Reflection (Nycticorax nycticorax, Bihoreau gris, BCNH) from the last morning of my Better than Bosque workshop (Dec.9, 2024). Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. Image Copyright ©Christopher Dodds. Sony a9 III Mirrorless camera & Sony FE 600mm f/4 G Master OSS Lens with Sony FE 2X Teleconverter @1,200mm ISO 5,000, f/8 @ 1/5,000s. Manual exposure. Full frame image.

Wood Duck Golden Pond

I am scouting locations and subjects in New Mexico for my Best of Bosque Workshop. The conditions were perfect when I arrived at my usual Wood Duck spot long before dawn. I knew exactly where to be for sunrise to get the golden background, and the flat water from the windless morning helped make the scene memorable when this Drake Wood Duck put on a show.

Wood Duck Golden Pond (Aix sponsa, Canard branchu, WODU) from this morning (November 29, 2024) while scouting for my Better than Bosque workshop. Near Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. Image Copyright ©Christopher Dodds. Sony a9 III 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. Full frame image. Manual exposure.

Sandhill Crane Landing above Autumn Cottonwood Foliage in Golden Light

CRANES ARE BIRDS OF SUPERLATIVES. They are one of the oldest groups of birds, dating back to the Paleocene, some 60 million years ago. They are also long-lived, with captive cranes surviving into their seventies and eighties. They are the tallest flying birds; some species stand up to 1.8m (6ft) high!

Sandhill Crane Landing above Autumn Cottonwood Foliage 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 1,600, f/8 @ 1/5,000s Manual exposure. Full frame image.

Snow Goose Landing in Magical Light

A Snow Goose lands directly toward us in magical light during last year’s Best of Bosque Workshop.

Did you happen to know? Food passes through the Snow Goose's digestive tract in only an hour or two, generating 6 to 15 droppings per hour.

Snow Goose landing in magical light (Chen Caerulescens, Oie des Neiges, SNGO) from my Better than Bosque workshop last Dec. 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 6,400, f/8 @ 1/5,000s Manual exposure.

Magical Atlantic Puffin flying with fish against Golden Cliffs

Almost at the end of the road along the upper North Shore of the Saint Lawrence River in The Gulf of The Saint Lawrence and almost in Labrador is a little island with a newly restored lighthouse. I charter the entire island every year for the first two weeks of August and host the most magical, fairytale-like “Puffins Galore and so much more workshops” to photograph Atlantic Puffins, Razorbills and more. The magic of the location, the quality of light, the varied backgrounds and the proximity to the birds make it the best place in the world to photograph Atlantic Puffins! We sleep in the fully restored lighthouse keepers’ quarters and eat gourmet food, and our biggest commute to the Puffins once on the island is only 200 meters (200 yards).

Due to popular demand, I have just added one extra workshop from August 10 to 13, and the spots are filling quickly. Learn more about my “Puffins Galore and so much more workshops” HERE.

Atlantic Puffin in flight with fish (Fratercula arctica, Macareux moine, ATPU) from my Deluxe Puffins Galore Lighthouse Island Workshop Adventure. Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve, Quebec, Canada. Image Copyright ©Christopher Dodds. Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless camera & Sony FE 600mm f/4 G Master OSS Lens with Sony FE 1.4X Teleconverter @840mm. ISO 5,000, f/5.6 @ 1/5,000s Manual exposure.

Bald Eagle Into The Light

This image was made during the last drops of golden light as this Eagle aggressively chased another Eagle to steal its fish. I felt disappointed when they banked off the light angle and ducked into the shadows; I thought I didn’t get anything. Suddenly, this Eagle emerged from the darkness and was illuminated by the sweetest light - smile.

Bald Eagle Into the Light (Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Pygargue à tête blanche, BAEA) near Homer, Alaska. Image copyright ©Christopher Dodds Sony Alpha alpha 1 Mirrorless camera & Sony FE 600mm f/4 G Master OSS Lens @600mm ISO 1,000, f/4 @ 1/5,000s. Manual Exposure mode. Full frame image. Join me for my Eagles Galore workshop in March. To learn more, CLICK HERE.

Snow Goose announcing its arrival

A Snow Goose announcing its arrival in magical light from my recently concluded Better than Bosque workshop in New Mexico, USA.

Snow Goose calling at light (Chen Caerulescens, Oie des Neiges, SNGO) from my recently concluded Better than Bosque workshop. Bernardo Wildlife Area (Ladd S. Gordon Waterfowl Complex), 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 2,500, f/8 @ 1/5,000s Manual exposure. Full frame image.

“Snow Geese are possibly the noisiest of all waterfowl. Their main call, made by both males and females, is a nasal, one-syllable honk given at any hour of the day or night, at any time of year, in the air or on the ground. Distant calling flocks are reminiscent of a pack of baying hounds. Birds less than a year old have a clearer and higher-pitched whistle. Family groups use a series of guttural notes to communicate with each other while feeding. Parents make a fast, quiet series of notes as a brood call to round up goslings. During nesting, they use a penetrating alarm call that varies in intensity. The flight call is a continuous chorus of shrill cries, hoarse honks, and high-pitched quacks, audible both day and night.”

— https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Snow_Goose/sounds#

Roseate Spoonbill landing in Spectacular light

As mentioned in my last post, the weather forecast for the entirety of the second Ospreys Galore workshop looked like rain, but as is often the case, we didn’t get much. This is an image of a Roseate Spoonbill (Spoonie) from the last morning of the second workshop during a brief break in the clouds, just before we got a 5-minute rain shower. The “Spoonies” were all landing to my left when this one appeared out of nowhere; I got three frames with this spectacular light that lasted only a fraction of a second, but the background was a crooked horizon line with part bright water and part dark & messy, distracting branches, so I replaced the sky to resemble better what I remember from the moment. CLICK HERE to learn more about my workshops.

Bald Eagle out of the shadows

A Bald Eagle banks out of the shadows, illuminated by the very last drops of golden light during my recently concluded Eagles Galore workshop in Alaska. We had some epic weather, flat water and amazing light with both groups using all of our allotment of boat time (with a little extra bonus). Join me in Alaska next March for an Epic Alaskan Eagle adventure workshop!

Eagles Galore Workshop every March

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Learn more and sign-up HERE

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Eagles Galore Workshop every March 🦅 Learn more and sign-up HERE 🦅

Winter Owls Workshop update

Winter Owl Workshop update

I just had a second person cancel for medical reasons. Please click below to learn more or sign-up:

Sandhill Crane FLYING OUT OF THE STORM

I mentioned the record-breaking rain that we had during my Best of Bosque workshop in an earlier post. This is the kind of dramatic image that can be made if the sky clears in the Southwest as the sun sets. The sky in the Northeast East was still full of clouds over the Sandia Mountains.

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.

Atlantic puffin Sunset Silhouette

Here is another silhouette of an Atlantic puffin from my recently concluded Deluxe Puffins Galore Lighthouse Adventure. Spots are filling very quickly for next year :) Learn more HERE.

Atlantic puffin in flight with Capelin on golden cliffs

An Atlantic Puffin brings Capelin (fish) to its baby in a cliff-top burrow. The sun rose through a bizarre melange of light fog and residual smoke from forest fires further north. The resulting golden honey-brown light only lasted a short while before a heavy blanket of fog rolled in.

As much as I love shooting tight, frame-filling action images, I always make sure to cover the bases for all uses and shoot some images where the subject is less than 30% of the frame; a requirement often requested from magazines and calendars.

Atlantic Puffin twist and shake

We were set-up on the beach at last light waiting for the take-off as this Puffin sat there bathing on the water too far away and just out of reach….as I was thinking about switching to my 600 fé4 lens with 2X extender, It took-off and stalled to shake off the water right in front of me :)

Join me August 2023 for Deluxe Edition Puffins Galore with Exclusive Lighthouse Accommodations CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

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Join me August 2023 for Deluxe Edition Puffins Galore with Exclusive Lighthouse Accommodations CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE 〰️

Global warming affecting bird photography golden light

Chasing the light is synonymous with nature photography; we are always up early and on the move to carefully planned locations filled with the hope of glorious light. How then, does global warming mess-up our plans? Global warming has left the great lakes warmer and without ice cover which produces evaporation causing lake effect cloud and often lake effect snow. This typically means we have cloud cover when the sun is at it’s prime for photographs; at sunrise and sunset. My first group was blessed with some sublime light early in the Owl season, and I recall only a few glorious sunrises or sunsets since then so far this winter. The coldest morning so far was only -21C (Jan. 19, 2020) in Southern Ontario and not the expected -35C low that usually settles in for a week each January.