Fotoeins Fotografie

location bifurcation, place & home

Posts tagged ‘nature’

Grouse Mountain, North Vancouver, BC, Canada, BC Day, fotoeins.com

The Nature of Living Things

Above/featured: A warm summer afternoon on Grouse Mountain: North Vancouver, BC – 1 August 2016 (450D).

It’s a play on the title of a long-running documentary series on science and technology: “The Nature of Things” airs on Canada’s national broadcaster, the CBC. “Nature” can mean different things to different people, but I’ve three words in mind: flora, fauna, and mountains. Having begun photography as an active interest relatively late from 2005, it’s been a wondrous journey of non-stop discovery. Between 2007 and 2018, the following locations provided backdrops and venues to photographs about “nature.”

  • Argentina: Buenos Aires
  • Australia: Kangaroo Island, SA
  • Australia: Rottnest Island, WA
  • Austria: Alpbach
  • Canada: North Vancouver, BC
  • Canada: Vancouver, BC
  • Chile: Región de Coquimbo
  • Germany: Karlsruhe
  • Germany: Kassel
  • New Zealand: Akaroa
  • New Zealand: Homer Tunnel
  • South Africa: Cape Town
  • USA: Mount Vernon, WA
  • USA: Point Reyes National Seashore, CA
  • USA: Tucson, AZ

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Mountain goats, fauna, Alpine fauna, Karwendel, Alpinewelt Karwendel, Bergwelt Karwendel, Mittenwald, Bavaria, Bayern, Germany, fotoeins.com

Fotoeins Friday: mountain goats on Austria’s Karwendel

I see movement at the corner of my eye: two little dark blips move slowly against a field of loose rock, boulders, and patches of snow.

At the mountain station of the Karwendel cable car, few venture through the 430-metre (1411 feet) “under rock” tunnel to Dammkar. On the other side is a predominantly east-facing view of the Karwendel mountains along the border ridge between Germany and Austria.

I install the 70-300 glass, and my first guess is that they’re mountain goats. Google Maps tells me later they were at a distance of over 500 metres (550 yards). Even with full-frame and maximum 300mm focal length, I don’t have enough spatial resolution to determine whether the quadrupeds are Alpine ibex (Alpensteinbock) or chamois (Gams). My best guess is that they’re the latter.

Mountain goats, fauna, Alpine fauna, Karwendel, Alpinewelt Karwendel, Bergwelt Karwendel, Mittenwald, Bavaria, Bayern, Germany, fotoeins.com

A pair of mountain goats, most likely Alpine chamois.

I made the above photo on 30 May 2018 with the Canon 6D, 70-300 glass, and the following settings: 1/1000-sec, f/8, ISO1000, and 300mm focal length. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie on fotoeins.com as https://wp.me/p1BIdT-bUD.

Sonnenblumen, Bienen, sunflowers, bees, Park Weinberg, Kassel, Hesse, Hessen, Germany, fotoeins.com

Awake the Giant

Before visiting the Grimmwelt museum in Kassel, Germany, I spent some time in the neighbouring park on Weinberg hill. Among many flowers, various bees and insects were in orbit-, launch-, and landing manoeuvres. I watched a bee land, and there was a composition of yellow sunflowers with dark centres surrounded by green leaves and trees against a backlit clear blue sky.

A larger bumblebee landed on the same flower, and I expected a “bumblin’ tumblin’ battle royale.” But it went quick, as the bumblebee first nudged then pushed its smaller cousin off the yard. Presumably satisfied with its sip, the bumblebee flew off shortly thereafter. I waited a few more minutes, but neither bee returned.

Gathering pollen is tough work for a tough crowd. The real truth is the world needs bees to remain healthy, thrive, and flourish.

Sonnenblumen, Bienen, sunflowers, bees, Park Weinberg, Kassel, Hesse, Hessen, Germany, fotoeins.com
Sonnenblumen, Bienen, sunflowers, bees, Park Weinberg, Kassel, Hesse, Hessen, Germany, fotoeins.com

“Move aside, and let the bee go through …”

Sonnenblumen, Bienen, sunflowers, bees, Park Weinberg, Kassel, Hesse, Hessen, Germany, fotoeins.com
Sonnenblumen, Bienen, sunflowers, bees, Park Weinberg, Kassel, Hesse, Hessen, Germany, fotoeins.com

Sonnenblumen und Bienen

As I’m product of the 1980s, the post title is a nod to Lawrence Gowan’s “Awake the Giant” (1987). I made the photos above on 1 October 2017. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins.com as https://wp.me/p1BIdT-bIt.

Roozengaarde, Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, Skagit Valley, Tulip Festival, tulips, Mount Vernon, WA, USA, fotoeins.com

Fotoeins Friday: 1 tulip of many, Skagit County

This post is the second of five March Fotoeins Fridays from the Samish Bay area in northwest Washington State (USA). Samish Bay is a small body of water in northern Puget Sound, itself a part of the larger Salish Sea.

One tulip stands on its own surrounded by a sea of a different colour. Under overcast skies and the occasional light rainshower, it is diffuse grey light which casts soft shadows, and bright reds and purples aren’t completely “blown out” in frame. Last year’s visit (2017) to Roozengaarde during the annual Tulip Festival is memorable by the depth and variety of colours, by the potential for large crowds, and by the delicious food at various places throughout Skagit Valley.

The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival takes place annually throughout the month of April. The main sources for tulips are about 30 to 40 minutes drive south from Bellingham.

Thanks to Roozengarde (tulips.com), I made the photo above on 19 April 2017 with the Canon 6D, 70-300 glass, and settings: 1/200-sec, f/8, ISO200, and 115mm focal length. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie on fotoeins.com at http://wp.me/p1BIdT-9Lb.

Hanson Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, Kangaroo Island, South Australia, Australia, myRTW, fotoeins.com

Fotoeins Friday: lounging ‘roos on Kangaroo Island

25 August 2012.

My year-long RTW has taken me to Australia for a few weeks from east coast to south-central coast to the west coast. So far during the short time on Kangaroo Island in the state of South Australia, we’ve seen a lot of New Zealand fur-seals around Kingscote Jetty and Admirals Arch. But curiosity naturally kicks in: where are the kangaroos? As my friends from Adelaide have naturally anticipated this question, we make our way onto the Hanson Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. While it’s best I don’t get too close and touch these (cute yet wild) creatures, there’s fencing to keep the bipeds from doing something stupid. I approach quietly to within metres of the marsupials, a safe respectful distance to small koalas dozing in trees and to big kangaroos reclining on the ground.

More close-ups: Seals, koalas, & roos from Kangaroo Island

During my year-long RTW, I made this photo on 25 August 2012 with the Canon 450D, 70-300 zoom, and the following settings: 1/800-sec, f/5, ISO200, and 165mm focal length (264mm full-frame equivalent). This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins.com as http://wp.me/p1BIdT-a0y.

Curly-tailed lizard, Nassau, Bahamas, myRTW, fotoeins.com

Fotoeins Friday: reptile resident of the Bahamas

Shortly after my arrival in Nassau, this little guy climbs up a tree to my height and gives me the once over. The curly-tailed lizard doesn’t look so curly with its tail stretched parallel to the branch. Curly-tailed lizards are omnivores about 10-15 cm in length. Satisfied I’m not a threat, the lizard scurries away to explore. I’ll see my fair share of the lizards over the following weeks in the Bahamas.

In the Bahamas during my year-long RTW, I made the photo above on 5 May 2012 with the Canon EOS450D, 70-300 zoom, and the following settings: 1/25-sec, f/5.6, ISO100, 300mm focal length (450mm full-frame equivalent). This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins.com as http://wp.me/p1BIdT-9BV.

Flowers aflame, Skagit Valley Tulip Festival

I was skeptical of a visit to tulip gardens.

“They’re just flowers after all.”

When I lived in Heidelberg, Germany, my friends wanted to travel to the Netherlands before pregnancy kicked into full swing. They wanted to visit Keukenhof and Amsterdam. I was excited about Amsterdam; I was unsure about Keukenhof.

But one step inside the tulip gardens in Keukenhof was enough to turn my head and my opinion about tulip fields spun completely around.

That was 2002, and this is 2017. I’m highway-bound along I-5 into western Washington State to see tulips.

During the annual tulip festival in April, the Skagit river valley is populated by fields of daffodils and tulips, in eye-popping yellow, red, orange, purple, and white. The overcast skies with diffuse grey light provides ideal light conditions with no strong shadows. The explosion of colour should surely melt hearts and convince minds, if the change to my once obstinate stance is any indication.

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Honu, green sea turtle, Halona Cove, Oahu, Hawaii, USA, fotoeins.com

Fotoeins Friday: sacred green ‘honu’ (Oahu)

With plenty of places along the South O’ahu coastline to stop for the view, one of the most memorable is the Hālona Blowout Lookout, and I catch sight of the sacred “honu”. “Honu” in Hawaiian is the green sea turtle, which to some first Islander families is a sacred deity not to be harmed or consumed. The green sea turtle is an endangered species, and according to NOAA Fisheries’ Pacific Islands Regional Office: “all green sea turtles in the Pacific Islands Region are protected by the Endangered Species Act.”

The Hālona Blowout Lookout and Beach Cove are about 30- and 40-minutes drive from Honolulu’s Ala Moana Center and the city’s international airport, respectively.

I made the photo with the Canon PowerShot A510 on 22 January 2007. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotopress at fotoeins.com as http://wp.me/p1BIdT-8G3.

Lavender and bee, Argyle Village Gardens, Ambleside, West Vancouver, BC, Canada, fotoeins.com

Fotoeins Friday: the promise of life (West Vancouver)

In West Vancouver’s Ambleside neighbourhood, there’s a “hidden” sight not far from the Ferry Building Gallery and Ambleside Pier. The community Argyle Village Gardens is full of sweet scents and colourful flowers. But there’s more: listen carefully, and there’s a buzz that’s not man-made. The multiplicity of bees bouncing and popping from one flower to the next makes for a happy hopeful sight. This is the fulfilled promise of summer under a bright yellow sun, in a light ocean breeze, of the natural cycle of life in full swing.

I made this photograph on 15 July 2016 with the Canon EOS6D, 24-105 L zoom-lens, and the following settings: 1/160s, f/14, ISO500, and 99mm focal-length. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotopress at fotoeins.com as http://wp.me/p1BIdT-8E6.

Kangaroo Island (SA): seals, koalas, & roos

Devastating bushfires in the 2020 Australian summer (December 2019-March 2020) wiped out a significant fraction of flora and fauna on Kangaroo Island. For many plant and animal species, recovery will require years to decades.

Kangaroo Island in South Australia was named for the large number of kangaroos, which were a source of fresh meat for the crew of the British ship HMS Investigator in 1802. The ship was captained by Matthew Flinders, who was tasked to chart the southern Australian coastline. Desperate without fresh supplies for months, Flinders named the island in gratitude for the abundance of roo meat.

Then again, the indigenous name for the island is “Karta” or “Island of the Dead.” That’s a little sinister, as something must have happened; either the aborigine population left the island or they died out.

But life bounces back, and there’s plenty of it on this island.

There are plenty of sheep where on grassy meadows, seals at Kingscote Jetty, young and adult seals relaxing and sleeping in the sun at Admirals Arch, free-climbing koala bears and free-roaming kangaroos at the Hanson Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, Ligurian honey bees at Clifford’s Honey Farm, and a lone echidna by the side of a dirt road in the middle of the island.

In making these photos, I used my long-zoom lens; no animals were harmed, poked, prodded, or ridiculed in the process.

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