Well, anymore hiking is on hold for an unknown amount of time, which has me quite upset and rather depressed. The Achilles tendonitis has improved in my right leg but not the left and then something else happened to my left foot. I am still waiting to get in to my podiatrist but am sure there has been damage to my tibial posterior tendon. Only recently have I been able to put a shoe on thanks to some taping done my physical therapist. I'm not up on my feet all that long before the pain gets immense. So in the meantime I'm catching up on my wildlife photos and shooting a few in the yard. The bee above is a shot I took and cropped in on while my husband was fishing in the pond. It was taken with the Canon 10-18mm stm lens. Yes, I was very close to these busy bees. I was surprised I could get that close to them and no, I do not know what type of bee this is but there were lots of them loving the pollen on the Golden Rod. Earlier in the year we dog watched and house sat for my in-laws. They live in a development with lots of walking paths and I managed catch this poor tick laden cottontail bunny. Ticks have been really bad this year and a major concern for us as both my son and I each had tick bites in the spring, thankfully caught before getting fully engorged! This poor bunny though has a few fully engorged ticks on its neck and you don't even have to look close to see them. One of our favorite local hangouts is Labrador Hollow Unique Area which is handicap accessible. In August it is common for Cedar Waxwing birds to take up residence and fill up on the local bugs and berries. For this I used my Canon 400mm lens but catching an in flight photo in waning light that is decent is a tough challenge. I did get a few nice ones of them sitting in the trees.
I found myself distracted by a pair of young muskrats one evening. Shooting them from behind the tall reeds was difficult in getting a clear shot but I did get a few good ones. I thoroughly enjoyed watching these rodents coming out to swim and then going back to hide in the the weedy shoreline. Sometimes I think people must think I am crazy because of the things I photograph. I don't necessarily want a photo of a muskrat but there is something in the experience and observation of a different creature (except for the ones I'm terrified of) especially through the lens. Photography just seals the deal in capturing the moment, preserving those quiet observations! Yes, quiet as my husband was working on learning to fly a drone that evening our son opted to join him! I will be updating my wildlife galleries soon so be sure to check back. As for our next adventure I am left unsure. I have vacation planned to explore the Great Smoky Mountains National Park the last full week of October with lots of hiking. I think I may need to come up with an option B instead of hiking and keep praying for a miracle ( I love hiking)! Last Weekend we journeyed down Chain Lakes Road in Indian Lake to hike to Clear Pond (N) in continuation to complete the Indian Lake 4-3-2-1 Hikes Challenge! It was a nice hike although little man was a bit tired starting out. We did have the pleasure of meeting a few puppies along the trail including one who got away from its owner. Please if your pup or dog is not trained to stay down or near you keep them on a leash! Unfortunately the landlord doesn't allow dogs so my son isn't used to them. He is only three and this very friendly pup kept knocking him over. My child just cried and cried and I couldn't pick him up because I had to hold the pup back. This probably went on for ten minutes before her owner showed up and apologized. Not to mention I was praying that his head wouldn't collide with any of the rocks strewn on the trail. We met more unleashed dogs later which scared him but they were older well behaved and very obedient to their owners who were not too far away! I felt bad because I love dogs an knew they meant no harm. Please we love meeting dogs on the trail but if they lack in obedience and manners keep them on a leash! Well, enough of that tirade! There are lots of things to see and discover on the the trail, especially for a child! To my son's delight he met his first Newt on our hike to Clear Pond! I let him hold the Newt and watch him wiggle around. Along the trail there were also many different kinds of mushrooms to photograph. I don't know the names or types but enjoy the beauty and mystery they add to the forest.! My son had just asked Daddy for "up on shoulders" when I came across a few bright orange mushrooms. My son thought I was photographing another newt and wanted down (to my husbands relief). I told him no it is just mushrooms but looking around behind me miracles of miracles there was a second newt! Don't forget to click on images to see them larger! It started lightly raining when we reached the pond. The photos I took seemed dull, dark and lifeless. Then the wind blew the rain away (HOORAY) and the sun played peek-a-boo through the clouds. I pulled a snack and drink out my pocket and had our son sit on a log while wet photographed Clear Pond and it's many different vantage points. Fallen logs, rocks, flowers and even mushrooms gave me plenty of different perspectives from which to shoot the pond with. I think I have fallen in love with HDR as long as I and my subject can hold still enough for three shots to be taken! Normally I find myself increasing color saturation to my photos. The difference in color rendition(Non HDR) between photos taken with my Canon versus those with my husband's Pentax is huge! It was fun shooting from different perspectives and capturing different compositions of the same place. So when your out don't just stand in one spot look around and have some fun! This week I am looking for age appropriate books at our library on newts and salamanders to keep up my son's excitement and teach him more about the creatures we meet on the trail! Once our morning hike was done we stopped at a small beach for lunch on Lake Abanakee. My husband got to get out in his kayak and made a new friend with a guy out kayaking on his own at 82 years of age! Hopefully we can still be doing these hikes and paddles when we reach that age milestone! I decided to stay on the beach with our child who made it quite clear he wanted to play and not kayak. We had the whole beach to ourselves although it was a cool day the water felt great on my calves! Although I could not photograph them I enjoyed hearing the loons in the distance. Not sure when our next adventure will be as this weekend appears to be bringing thunderstorms but it will be shared! Please feel free to comment here or on face book, like or share!
I came across a hiking challenge while scrolling through Facebook one day and it appears doable. Unknown to me when we hiked Castle Rock it would be the start of it. We are now officially going to do our best to complete the Indian Lake 4-3-2-1 Hikes Challenge! This is of course is in the Adirondack Mountains of New York in case there are other Indian Lakes out there. They give you list of hikes in the Indian Lake area each labeled Easy, Moderate,and Difficult. Castle Rock was moderate and my legs scolded me for a few days after so this past weekend I decided to stick to the "easy" hikes. The first and best one was Rock Lake between Blue Mt. and Indian Lake. It was only 3/4 of a mile to get to the lake was but you could not get a good view. We continued further down the trail. My husband explored a few side trails that led to DEC campsites near the lake (must go back and do that sometime) while I tried coaxing our son further down the trail. Eventually I saw an easy spot to get down to the lake where we took in a gorgeous mountain.view! We shot photos of course while our child decided he wanted to splash in the water and not just play with the rocks. In the distance we could see what looked like a sandy beach which we tried to hike to but our son had had enough so we turned back. Hiking in wet pants and shoes cannot be comfortable, he kept asking for up on shoulders but not only had he splashed in the lake but had had a potty training accident and of course his dry clothes were in the car! Maybe next he will think twice when it comes to where he goes potty. We made him hike the one mile back to the car where he was promptly changed and given snacks! I probably could have stayed and played at the lake all day! Can you imagine sunrise or sunset here? Little man must have been really tired because he fell asleep on the way to our next hike. The hike to Barker Pond was only 1/4 mile thanks to some old logging roads. We had lunch at the parking area' Eventually I just had to wake our sleeping beast to feed him. My husband hiked in to see if we would have easy access to put our kayaks in, the answer was no! He did tell me there was a beautiful campsite back there though. After we hiked back in with him we decided that campsite was perhaps not the answer for anyone. If you lookup into the canopy above you'll see a huge "widow maker." The pond was pretty but getting to the edge to take a good photo was a bit of a "balancing act," no mountain views here either but I could imagine moose. Here at Barker Pond I tried out the HDR function again. We also had company at camp (in the Moose River Plains) which provided our son with a "hopping good time." Hope you enjoy the pics and tips! |
Julie MetottNature Photographer, wife, mother, lover of outdoor adventure! Archives
November 2022
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