Elk, Colorado. Photo © Jim Doty, Jr.

Sometime a photo walks right up to you. I was driving up Old Fall River Road in Rocky Mountain National Park. I turned a corner and a bull elk was walking down the road. I hastily grabbed a camera and lens out of the back seat, quickly set the exposure, and rolled down the window. I snapped several images as he walked by, just four or five feet from where I sat. I panned with the elk so the somewhat slow shutter speed was fast enough to freeze the elk, but not the background.

Data: Canon 5D, Canon EF 24-105mm lens set at 60mm. Aperture: f/9, Shutter: 1/50 second, ISO 400.

Coney Island, New York. Photo © Jim Doty, Jr.

On a warm summer day, Coney Island is a great place to hang out, splash in the surf, play with the grandkids, and take pictures. We did all of the above and more. I wanted to get a stereotypical image of lots of people on the beach. I used a telephoto lens to compress the perspective and a small aperture to increase the depth of field.

Data: Canon 5D. Canon EF 70-300mm DO IS lens at 210mm. Aperture f/16, Shutter 1/125, ISO 100.

Soccer. Photo © Jim Doty Jr.

Two of the keys to a good sport photography are action and intensity. This photo has both. I take a lot of sports photos to come up with a few images like this one. I used a Canon 20D and a Canon EF 100-300 DO USM lens.

Venus and Saturn at Twilight. Photo © Jim Doty Jr.

As I drove back to Seattle from Mt. Rainier National Park, I was watching Venus, the brightest object (except for the the moon) in the western sky this month. Saturn is the dim planet at the upper left. I wanted something to put in the foreground and decided I needed a row of evergreens. I couldn’t take too long since the sky was getting darker and I would begin to hit towns and city lights. This was the best bunch I could find that wasn’t completely obscured by clouds.

Venus and Saturn are moving towards each other and will be less than 1 degree apart on the evening of June 30.

Data: Canon 5D, Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L lens at 105mm. ISO: 100. Aperture: f/5.6. Shutter: 4 seconds.

Storm clouds over Mt. Rainier. Photo © Jim Doty Jr

This photo was taken at 9:05 pm local time, 19 minutes after the sunlit photo two posts down.

After the last sunlight faded from Mt. Rainier, the mountain no longer looked interesting in the flat light. So I took photos of the light on the clouds in the sky (one post down). Later on I looked back at Mt. Rainier and I liked the dark, layered look of the storm clouds that were moving down over the mountain.

Data: Canon 5D, Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L lens at 84mm. ISO: 100. Aperture: f/8. Shutter: 1/8 second.

Yellow Lady’s Slipper Orchid. Michigan’s U.P. Photo © Jim Doty Jr.

Several years ago, another photographer told me there are a lot of Yellow Lady’s Slippers in early June along U.S. 2 in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. This year is the first time I’ve had a chance to be up there in early June and photograph them. Just drive drive west from the Mackinac Bridge on highway 2 and watch along the side of the road. It was raining steadily when I took this photo. I had a large umbrella to protect my camera gear and keep the rain from moving the orchid. I got wet.

Lake Michigan Sunset. Photo © Jim Doty Jr.

It rained all the way along the drive from Detroit to Mackinaw City in northern Michigan. Chances for a nice sunset looked slim.

It was overcast in Mackinaw City just before sunset, but the sky began to lighten in the west. The clouds thinned a bit and the sun peaked through momentarily and disappeared. Things began to happen and a drab sky turned into a nice sunset. A good thing. I rained all the next day.

“It ain’t over ’til it’s over.” Don’t give up on a sunset, even if chances look slim.

Upper Tahquamenon Falls. Photo © Jim Doty, Jr.

Upper Tahquamenon Falls is an impressive site any time of the year.

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“Seasonal Road”, Hiawatha National Forest. Photo © Jim Doty, Jr.

When you see “Seasonal Road” on a sign in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, what it really means is “You are on your own.” Seasonal roads are not maintained. They are usually passable in a 2-wheel drive vehicle from late spring through late fall if they aren’t too wet and you are careful not to get high centered. In a typical Michigan winter with several feet of snow on the ground, they are snow mobile only. These roads are usually used by hikers, hunters, snow mobilers and the occasional photographer.

The Mackinac Bridge at Dawn. Photo © Jim Doty, Jr.

Early morning light from the north side of the bridge looking southeast. From the north side of the bridge, exit I-75 at US 2 and go west. Turn south on the road to the Father Marquette Memorial and go past the memorial to the bridge viewing area.

Turning Leaves. Photo © Jim Doty Jr.

After shooting a somewhat lackluster sunrise from the north shore of Lake Michigan, I looked down at my feet. The dew covered leaves were varying shades of green, orange and red. I picked out a nice cluster with a pleasing background and dropped my tripod legs to get my camera about a foot off the ground.

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Upper Tahquamenon Falls, Michigan. Photo © Jim Doty, Jr.

My two favorite places to film fall color are Colorado and Michigan. Colorado aspens turn gold and Michigan maples turn red. The color show in Colorado is beginning to wind down. Due to an unfortnate mix of weather conditions, the color show in Colorado was not as stunning as it usually is, but reports indicate there were some pockets of fine color (check out Todd Caudle’s photos on this thread). Unfortunately, I didn’t get to check this out for myself.

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Lark. Photo © Jim Doty, Jr.

One of my favorite photos from a recent portrait session. It was sunny outside so we used the nice soft light provided by the overhang on my front porch. Children are wonderful!

Data: Canon 5D. Canon EF 24-105mm lens at 84mm. Aperture: f/5.6. Shutter: 1/40 second. ISO 400.

Kati. Photo © Jim Doty, Jr.

This photo was taken as part of the shoot for Kati’s senior pictures.

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Upper Tahquamenon Falls, Tahquamenon Gorge, and the ice and snow covered Tahquamenon River. Michigan U.P. Photo copyright © Jim Doty, Jr.

Upper Tahquamenon Falls in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (U.P.i) s a great place to take pictures. At 200 feet wide, with a 50 foot drop, and a flow of up to 50,000 gallons of water per second, Upper Tahquamenon Falls is one of the largest falls east of the Mississippi. The falls are west of Paradise, Michigan on M-123 in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. More information, along with another photo, is here.

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Asian Festival – Columbus, Ohio. Photo copyright (c) Jim Doty, Jr.

The Path, West Lake Nature Preserve. Portage, Michigan. Photo copyright (c) Jim Doty, Jr.

Michigan has some of the most splendid fall color in the country. Maple trees turn orange, red, and crimson, and fill the hillsides with glorious color.
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House Fire. Photo copyright © Jim Doty, Jr.

It was cloudy and raining when I took this photo so I set my camera at ISO 400 to give me a small enough aperture for enough depth of field plus a shutter speed fast enough to keep from blurring the fire.

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A bull elk struts his stuff, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado.
Photo copyright (c) Jim Doty, Jr.

If you go to Rocky Mountain National Park during the fall rut, you are almost guaranteed to see large herds of elk. The rut begins in early September and ends in mid-October. The last week or two of September through the first week in October is a good time to go to see both elk at their best and fall color.

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Pika, Tundra, Rocky Mountain National Park. Photo copyright (c) Jim Doty, Jr.

This pika was busy collecting “hay” for the winter. There were several constantly scurrying about collecting food. At an elevation of over 12,000 feet, there is snow cover for 8 months out of the year. They only have 4 months to collect enough food to last through the coming winter. They are about the size of a human fist. This one seemed to have a preference for the yellow flowers in the area. Located close to Trail Ridge Road, several people had gathered to watch. The most frequent comment was “They’re SO cute!”

Canon 20D, 100-400mm zoom lens at 400mm.

Dead Tree at Night, Moraine Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado.
Photo copyright (c) Jim Doty, Jr.

This is the same tree in the middle of Moraine Park as the one in a prior post, but from a different angle and later in the evening. I positioned the camera so the stars and Jupiter would appear at strategic locations among the dead branches. Once the composition was determined, the photo presented some technical challenges.

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Long’s Peak at Dusk from Moraine Park, Rocky Mountain National Park.
Photo copyright (c) Jim Doty, Jr.

The sun had set and the last rays of light painted the clouds around Long’s Peak. A dead tree in Moraine Park provided a frame.

Canon 20D, 17-40mm lens at 17mm. Aperture: f/16, Shutter speed: 1 second.

Young Rabbit, Horseshoe Park, Rocky Mountain National Park.
Photo copyright (c) Jim Doty, Jr.

This rabbit was hiding in the grass not far the Alluvial Fan in Horseshoe Park.

Canon 20D, 100-400mm lens at 400mm. ISO 400. Aperture: f/8. Shutter: 1/60.

Marmot, Trail Ridge Road, Colorado. Photo copyright (c) Jim Doty, Jr.

This marmot was laying on a rock not far from the highway at “Rock Cut” on Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park.

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Red Rock Lake, Colorado. Photo copyright (c) Jim Doty, Jr.

Red Rock Lake is west of Ward, Colorado in the Brainard Lake Recreation Area. This photo was taken at mid-morning with a Canon 20D camera at a focal length of 21mm.

Bighorn Sheep, Guanella Pass, Colorado. Copyright (c) Jim Doty, Jr.

I had crested Guanella Pass and was heading north toward Georgetown, Colorado. I came around a curve and found two bighorn sheep. I took my first few photos right out the car window in case they ran off. (It is a good idea to have your camera and lenses nearby for unexpected photo opportunities.) They didn’t spook, so I got out of the car, set up my tripod and took some more photos. As they fed they got closer and closer until I was able to get the photo above.

Canon 10D camera with EF 100-400mm IS lens.

Green Anole, Florida. Photo copyright (c) Jim Doty, Jr.

I don’t enter photo contests but a friend talked me into entering the NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION’S annual photo contest this year.

I learned today that I am one of the finalists. Out of over 5,000 entries, my green anole photo is one of 52 that was selected to be featured as a “Photo of the Week” on the NWF website. The photo will appear the second week in July 2005. I was quite surprised!

You can see a larger version of this photo here.