Hummingbird Workshop-May2011

Ready, get set and capture the tiny Hummingbirds!!  What an exhilerating experience!

© M. Raeder – Photography

Hummingbird Workshop in the Santa Cruz Mountains

A beautiful learning experience
with Photographers Judy Bingman and Meggi Raeder

Once the clouds lifted, it was a sunny and warm day in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Eight eager photographers had made the trip to Judy’s Garden to photograph the tiniest of birds: the Allen and Anna Hummingbirds summering in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

© Judy Bingman
[More of Judy's images: http://judybingmanphotography.blogspot.com/]

Arriving at Judy’s, we are all greeted by Anna, the golden Lab and we find Kelly, one if the 3 cats, slinking through the grass.

© M. Raeder - Photography

Entering into the garden, brilliantly bright California poppies everywhere, the roses in full bloom and the hummers drinking nectar from the feeders.

© John Howell

The songbirds were there knowing that Judy’s feeders are always stocked with nuts, sunflower seeds and other goodies that are delicious to Grosbeaks, chickadee, pygmy nuthatch, finches and others. The acorn woodpeckers and the jays have their nut stations and life in the garden was in full swing. The visitors are also greeted by a flock of chicken announcing loudly each time an egg is laid. Amazingly, all the feathered friends are used to the resident house pets, even the cats, and all is in harmony.                     
                   

© John Howell

We assembled our gear and tried to position our tripods on the favorite feeders. Questions of f-stop and shutter speed, flash or no flash were contemplated and then we all became quiet observing the hummers and concentrating on ‘getting the shot”. All of a sudden, Judy spotted a blue heron high above us and we all marveled at his elegance in flight. Then, a male hummingbirds exhibited his mating ‘dance’: when a female is in sight or on a feeder, the male will fly straight up in the air to a heights that he is hardly visible, and then he will bomb-dive straight down and make a squeaky noise when last minute before crashing he elegantly turns and flies away. It all happens so fast, that capturing this on an image has yet to be managed – we keep trying.

© Judy Bingman

After photographing hummers on the feeders, the next challenge is to capture them in flight as they approach the feeders. Good light, high shutter speed and shallow depth of field are necessary and with practice every one captures these amazing birds in beautiful images.  Below are some examples of the students' work:

© Daniel Houk

© Susanne Weissenberger

© Elaine Heron

© Angela Grove

Over lunch we exchange what we have learned, and review the various techniques of photographing hummingbirds with examples during a slideshow. Then we are in the garden again refining techniques, best viewpoints and paying attention of the backgrounds, light direction and factors enhancing the image capture.

© Vivek Ranjun

© Susanne Weissenberger

[More of Susanne's image and her story: http://whitemountainphotography.blogspot.com/2011/05/hummingbird-challenge.html]

© Lynda Sanders

© Angela Grove

The end of the day arrives too early. Although exhausted, everyone is eager to just capture one more image.


We met again several days later to review our outcome and what a joy to see the amazing images that were taken during just one day of focusing on our colorful subjects!

Well done, Students!
Judy and Meggi

© M. Raeder-Photography

If you would like to learn how to photograph hummingbirds, please click on the Hummingbird Workshop Flyer and see details and the next workshop date.

Travel TidBits: Tahoe

Travel TidBits: Tahoe in the ‘in-between’ Season


It’s Monday, May 9th, and I am looking out of my window and it is snowing heavily!!

I love the mountains, the Lake, the smell of pine trees and hearing the crunch of the needles under my hiking boots. I have come up from the valley every Spring over the last many years not for the winter ski season or for the summer but in the ‘in-between’ seasons that is so pristine: In May, the aspens are just sprouting their light green leaves, the creeks and rivers are full of water tumbling down with white splashes, the wildflowers are just beginning with the occasional flowering dogwood along the American River, and in Owens Valley the cows have just dropped their first calves. In October, the aspen leaves whisper in the wind and the yellow/red color sparks between the green pines, the pinecones are starting to drop and nature is getting ready for the winter. The hike up to Eagle Lake and a picnic up there watching the merganser ducks on the lake and occasional raptors soaring high up in the clear autumn air is breath-taking. In both of these ‘in-between’ seasons, the crowds have thinned in South Lake Tahoe, everything is at a slower pace and seems to be breathing before the onslaught of the next season.

To experience this again, I drove up on Friday to visit familiar places and add new destinations.
Along highway 50, Bridal Veil Falls tumbled down the granite and was of course a perfect stop along the way with new leaves greeting the traveler.

Driving up the American River, the first dogwood was just starting to bloom.







The American River is swollen from the snow melt and tumbles down the granite bolders

Reaching South Lake Tahoe, I visit Jon Paul’s Gallery  and admire his latest nature images - stunning scenes from Tahoe and surroundings but also from other national parks and wildlife. Jon Paul is in the gallery and it is good to finally connect a face with the photographer whose work I have loved for a long time. Sunset finds me at my favorite spot at Zephir Cove and the colors were gorgeous.

The next day, I drove over Luther Pass (7700 ft) where the snow was still on the high plateau and the aspens had not awakened yet.

Descending into Hope Valley, I stopped at a wildlife viewing area but in midday only melting snow and not yet green meadows greeted me. But when looking closely, nature was starting to renew its cycle. The first yellow wildflowers kept close to the ground to avoid the still cold wind and some early red leaves erupted from the barren ground.

Following yet another tumbling river, I descended to Owens Valley which was lush and green with lots of cows on the pasture. Here the Aspen were full of budding leaves, the shrubs were starting to bloom and the temperatures were lovely.

Along the Eastern foothills of the Sierra passing horse pastures, seeing deer munching on new growth and flocking to the water in water-logged meadows to quench their thirst.










Puffy white clouds over the sprouting aspens and the wide landscape were gorgeous in the early summer sun.

Approaching Genoa, the road was lined with cars. The yearly Cowboy Poetry Festival had mobilized the tiny town and cowboys and cowgirls from all the surrounding communities had descended on Genoa, and everyone was decked in cowboy gear – boy, did I feel out of place! Cowboys and poetry?!? Since the reading only started later in the afternoon, I did not hang around but had a great sandwich at the Country Store listening to the tales being spun at the other tables!

On my way back to Hope Valley and Tahoe, I stopped at Sorenson’s, an icon in Hope Valley and not to be missed for their excellent Berry Cobbler with ice-cream and of course a good cup of coffee.

Sunset found me again at Zephir Cove but this time the wind was blowing in gale force and I had to protect my lens from the flying sand – sandblasting not advised for sensitive equipment! But the clouds over the lake were fast moving and menacing – storm was on its way.

… and the next morning I woke up to winter wonderland!

It's May and who would have thought my car would be covered by 4 inches of new snow!   But they say, nature up here is unpredictable in the mountains.  I walked around in untouched whiteness which by noon time was gone - luckily, since I had to drive home over Echo Pass (7700ft) but the roads were dry by the time I reached it.  And of course as soon as I was in the valley, everything was green again.  Did I just dream of winter?

Well, it was a great weekend getting away from it all, breathing the fresh mountain air, hiking up to Eagle Falls where the snow prevented me from going on to Eagle Lake. Photographing to my heart's delight and coming back refreshed.

Fiesta Latina for PINCC

Dear Friends,


As many of you might remember, in 2009 I volunteered with a humanitarian medical team from

PINCC – Prevention International: No Cervical Cancer

[http://www.pincc.org/ ]

and traveled to Nicaragua and El Salvador. There we visited remote hospitals and clinics to teach the local medical doctors and nurses techniques to diagnose and to treat cervical cancer.


Cervical cancer kills 300,000 women worldwide each year, even though it is completely preventable. And yet, cervical cancer is the most common cancer among women in Africa, Central America, and Asia.

PINCC is a nonprofit, volunteer medical service organization whose mission is to create sustainable programs that prevent cervical cancer by educating and treating women, training medical personnel, and equipping facilities in developing countries.


PINCC was founded by Drs. Kay Taylor, gynecologist, and Pat Sax and has been run out of their home in Oakland. This is an all volunteer organization totally funded by concerned citizens like you and me.


PINCC works on 3 different continents:

Latin America

Nicaragua: University of Leon (HEODRA) OB/GYN Dept., Leon; Nuevo Segovia District: Ocotal, Jalapa, Jicaro
El Salvador: ProVida: Nejapa and others; MINSA: San Jacinto, Zacamil, San Martin
Peru: Pathfinders International: Lima Sud

Africa

Uganda: Kayunga; Gombe
Kenya: Kitale; Kapenguria/ West Pokot; Kisii
Tanzania: Shirati; Bukumbi

India:

Sri Sathya Sai Mobile Hospital, Andhra Pradesh; Mysore


To continue its work, PINCC is celebrating its success at a special fundraising event with live music and Roberta Gonzales from CBS Channel 5 as MC on

May 15, 3-6pm in Oakland

at the Lakeside Garden Center, Lake Merritt,

666 Bellevue Ave

Please come or if you can’t join the celebration, please consider donating to PINCC at their save website: http://www.pincc.org/.


Thank you for your genorous support of this important work by Drs. Kay Taylor and Pat Sax.

I will be there photographing the event.

Travel TidBits: Polar Bears

Survival on the Arctic Ice

A tender moment

As many of you know, last November I traveled to Northern Canada to see and photograph the polar bears. After flying to Winnipeg and then up to Churchill, Manitoba, at the edge of the Hudson Bay I joined a group of photographers and we transferred out onto the ice to the Tundra Buggies  where I stayed for 5 days living on the ice. The 2 hour journey from the tiny town of Churchill to the Tundra Lodge gave us a first impression of the barren land, the cold and the emptiness of the arctic. We welcomed reaching the warmth of the Tundra Lodge in the midst of this frozen country.

Tundra Buggy Lodge

Each morning we bundled up in big parkas, packed our photo gear, and went out in one of the movable tundra buggies into the white world in search for the polar bears. Driving slowly on frozen dirt roads with lots of potholes, cracking through the ice of frozen over puddles, our eyes glued to the landscape until we saw them: A mother and her ~8months old cubs!!

Mother and her cubs (about 8 months old)

Churchill is known as the polar bear capital since the bears congregate there and wait for the Hudson Bay to freeze over. What a joy to observe this massive and said to be ferocious animal being so tender with her cubs. She shields the wind, gives them warmth in this unforgiving landscape as they wait for the ice to freeze over. Polar bears hunt for food on the ice, their diet consisting predominantly of seals.



Polar bears are on land during the arctic summer in a ‘summer hibernation’ living on their fat reserves from the winter until the next season. During that time, pregnant females den to give birth to their young. The mother lives on the fat reserves from the winter hunt not eating for 6-8 months and yet nursing her cubs.

Huddling for warmth with Mom

Playful young male polar bears

Play-fight between two young male polar bears

Adult male polar bear

Each fall, they wait for the ice to form to go north to feast mostly on seals and sometimes on other marine mammals like walruses. Unfortunately, their window of hunting and building up the fat reserves for the summer without any food has become shorter. Scientists have recorded that the ice forms about 1-2 months later in the Fall and melts earlier in the Spring, thus making the polar bear hungrier and vulnerable to starving. Recording the body weight of the Hudson polar bear population shows that there is a steady reduction in winter body weight. With this, the number of cubs in a litter has been going down. When 2-3 cubs were the norm historically, now only 1-2 cubs are being born and even with the reduced number of cubs, the mother bear has a hard time to feed them properly. Furthermore, the shrinking ice adds hardship to the winter conditions for the polar bears, specifically the young cubs. Polar bears are good swimmers but they hunt for seals from the ice and use the ice for resting. Since their young are still growing during their first winter, it is utmost important that the distance between floating ice is not too great. Even for adult bears, the greater distance between hunting grounds has lead to severe malnutrition and even starvation. Due to global warming and the changing ice conditions, drowning of polar bear cubs has been reported.

Male polar bear, searching for any food after the long summer hibernation

By monitoring the arctic ice cap over the last 30+ years, scientists have documented the shrinking of the arctic ice cap as can be seen on the next image (Ref: National Wildlife Federation). It shows (yellow line) the extent of the summer ice ~30 years ago and the current summer ice coverage which is about 39% below the long-term average measured since 1979. Both the walrus and the polar bear have become iconic symbols of the effects of global warming as the dwindling Arctic ice threatens their survival. If current warming trends continue unabated, scientists believe that polar bears will be vulnerable to extinction within the next century. Although climate change has greatly affected the polar bear’s sea ice habitat, scientists emphasize that it’s not too late to take action on this issue—and each of us can do our part: at home, work, and in our communities.

No hunting ground here!

...and hardly enough space to rest.

Here are some tips for how we all can help reducing our carbon footprint and helping the polar bears:


Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Reduce: the less we consume, the less resources we use. Things like buying less products or purchasing products with less packaging, using less energy, and driving less are all things that reduce our eco-footprint.

Reuse: In addition to reducing our consumption, we can save energy by reusing products. This not only helps keep goods out of landfills, but reduces the need to manufacture more (thus creating more CO2), our disposable society isn’t good for the health of the planet, and an unhealthy planet affects us, too.

Recycle: So many things can be recycled these days and made into other things – it’s amazing! Even things like batteries, paint and electronics can be disposed of in proper facilities where they will separate out what can be recycled. So once you have reduced what you use and have reused what you can, all that’s left is to recycle the rest.



[Adapted from Polar Bear International ]

Parched Earth

Water - source of life

Having recently traveled in areas where water is rather scarce and also living in California where we are continuously reminded that water is becoming a priced commodity, I want to share with you a photobook that I published last year. 

Parched Earth by Meggi Raeder | Make Your Own Book

Death Valley is a National Park located east of the Sierra Nevada in the arid Great Basin of the United States. The park covers 5.262 square miles of valleys and mountain ranges. It is the hottest and driest of the national parks in the US. The park is home to many species of plants and animals that have adapted to this harsh desert environment. The climate is extreme, with high temperatures of 120 degrees F in the summer and a low of 88 degree F in the winter. Death Valley is the driest spot in North America with rainfall of 1.5 – 2 inches per year. The sand dunes in the northern part of Death Valley are as famous as the area of the saltpan at Badwater, 282 feet below sea level. Since the prevailing winds shift from north in the summer to south in the winter, the sand dunes change constantly but on average remain in the same location.

As in other arid zones, the sand dunes in Death Valley shown in this collection of images are an example for landscape deprived of water. Lack of rainfall and the shifting sand buries even the hardiest of vegetation and desertification sets in. It has a stark beauty for the traveler. But as desertification on the planet increases and growing population stresses the earth water supplies, do Death Valley and other desert areas on the globe foreshadow how the planet will look in the future?

Water is a source of life and we can’t survive without it.

Ancient civilizations have lived for centuries in areas with little water. The petroglyphs in Death Valley and other arid regions of the globe bear witness. Only if modern society realizes that we need to live in balance with Nature can we assure long terms survival of humanity.


I hope you enjoyed this preview of the "Parched Earth" photo book.

This book can be purchased from Blurb.com.

Hummingbirds

The Hummingbirds are Returning to the

Santa Cruz Mountains!

With 10+ feeders and the Spring bloom in full swing, dozens of hummingbirds visiting

my friend Judy's garden every day.

For an opportunity to photograph hummers,

please check out the Hummingbird Photo Workshop

on Sunday, May 22, 2011 and
ADDITIONAL DATE:   Sunday July 10, 2011.

Here are some facts about these tiny birds:

Hummingbirds are the smallest of all birds, measuring between 2.5-8 inches (6-20 cm).

There are between 330 and 352 species of hummingbirds in the New World, most of which are found in the tropics. There are no hummingbirds in the Eastern Hemisphere.

There are 112 species of hummingbirds in all of North America, with 26 species observed north of Mexico, 17 of these have bred in the United States and Canada, 12 of have been observed in California.

Hummingbirds beat their wings at a rate of 40-80 per second and fly 30 miles per hour.

Hummingbirds are the only species of birds that can truly fly backwards and upside down.

The heart rate for a hummingbird is between 500 and 1260 beats per minute during the day and drops to below 50 during the night.

One of the most striking features of male hummingbirds is their iridescent plumage, particularly the brightly colored head and gorget (neck area) feathers of adults.

While hummingbirds enjoy nectar from feeders and flowers, a large part of their diet is also made up of insects.

Most hummingbirds fly south for the winter, many hummingbird species may been seen during the winter season. Leave at least one feeder out in the winter, and you may play host to an Anna's Hummingbird or another species.

This tiny flyer weighs about as much as a U.S. penny (approximately .1 ounce) yet manages to complete a non-stop flight over the Gulf of Mexico during migration – a distance of some 500+ miles!

 (Text Ref: Audubon Society)
All images copyright M. Raeder  - Photography