Working the Limits: Bosque del Apache NWR

Snow Geese Coming In

After my experience preparing a few photos for publication, outlined in the last piece (Pushing the Envelope), it took a place like Bosque del Apahce NWR to remind me of why I am still carrying an advanced P&S, and not a backpack full of DSLR bodies and lenses.

And, of course, from time to time I do wonder why. I know my image quality would be just a little better, at least in the extreme situations, with the DSLR. 

Bosque is a place that is amazingly rich in photo opportunities. It is place where you have your camera in hand, or at least out and turned on, on the seat next to you, at all times. Some of the grand scenic effects will wait for you, but many, being created by the ever-changing light of the high Southwest, will not. And the creatures of Bosque: they wait for no-one. The only saving grace, if you are primarily interested in wildlife, is the sheer numbers of critters there. If you miss one opportunity fumbling the camera, there will be another. You can count on it, and believe me, after the first dozen missed shots, you will come to count on it. 

And November light is especially wonderful at Bosque. Sunrise to sunset, always gentle, never harsh, with just enough angle to provide exceptional molding on everything it touches. The sweet light times stretch from dawn to 10 AM, and from 3 PM until sunset. Even the light of high noon will do for some subjects. I guarantee, if you love light, a November visit to Bosque will bring you back over and over again.

And Bosque is always the extreme equipment challenge. You are shooting sunrises, out before dawn, and sunsets, out until after dark. Worse, you are shooting moving birds at sunrise and sunset. You will want to catch the frost on the grasses, and tiny flower details from inches away. You will want a wide lens for the vistas and the great masses of birds, and you will want your longest tel to reach individual birds in the mass (or to portrait the occasional deer). Photo ops will come at you fast, with little or no time to change lenses, so a good zoom is a must, macro if possible. But you will want your long lens mounted at all times for the distant birds, so maybe we are talking a second body as well. And a tripod of course.

Or…you could carry a superzoom P&S.

Here are some examples. Shooting the dawn show:

Before sunrise, wide angle, low light

birds up and in the air: wide angle

seconds later, same flight, no time to change lenes: max tel

Or another situation calling for maximum flexibility. The Snow Geese mass at different locations during the day. In one of these mass settings, if the light is right, you can spend hours just framing interesting behavior, or getting exceptional portraits of individual geese and small groups. But from time to time The geese startle. It begins with a few geese here and there getting up and doing a loop over the mass. There is a tipping point where enough geese get up at one time so that the rest follow, in waves if the mass is large enough. Sometimes it happens in response to a predator (falcon or coyote at Bosque), or sometimes a passing plane with put them up, but at other times it just seems to be nervousness. It is quite unpredictable. When it happens, it is an overwhelming sight…and the sound of all those wings and the geese honking can not be imagined. It also happens really fast once it begins, and it is so easy to just stand there with your mouth open and the camera dangling until it is too late…all the best shots are gone. 

massed Snow Geese in good light

pulling portraits or small groups: max tel

a few geese get up: max tel

in seconds thousands of geese are in the air: wide angle

you will want your tel instantly for shots like this to capture the energy of it all

So, of course I am standing blasting away and not breathing much and I think, “Oh boy, I really need a video of this.” I think it at least three times before remembering that the H50 shoots video. This is a snippet, which maybe even says more about the intensity of the moment and the need for a camera that has maximum flexibility than anything I could write. 

Then there are the little scenes that play out all during the day.

just a catch shot

up close and intimate

quite moments with the vista

think fast!

You need to remember that all these images were captured with one small, take anywhere, camera, with a long fixed zoom lens. I could have gotten them all with a DSLR and at least 2, maybe three zoom lenses…but honestly, I just would not have carried that equipment all day long at Bosque. For now, the advanced P&S super-zoom, despite its noted shortcomings, is still the camera that I have the most fun with, the one I carry all the time, and the one that, time after time, brings home the images I enjoy.