Sunrise & Early Evening Cloud Landscapes From Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge

From the archives, early morning and early evening cloud landscape images from the Wildlife Drive at the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge near Cambridge, Maryland. The Featured image is near the start of the Wildlife Drive. Image taken with a 17-40mm lens @ 17mm, f/11, 1/640 sec., -0.67 Exposure Comp, Canon 1D mkIII.

Blackwater NWR Sunset Panorama, 14mm, m43 Olympus OMD-1, 3 Image Panorama
Blackwater NWR Sunset Panorama, Canon 17-40mm lens @ 17mm, f/4, Canon 1D mkIII, 4 Horiz. Image Panorama
BWR Sunset, Olympus OMD-1, f/18, 1/200th sec., ISO 320, ISO 320
Blackwater NWR Early Morning Panorama, Canon 17-40mm lens @ 17mm, f/4, Canon 1D mkIII, 2 Image Panorama
Blackwater NWR Late Afternoon Panorama, 2 image Panorama, f/18, Panasonic 100-300mm lens @ 81mm, Full Frame Equivalent 162mm, OM-D1
Blackwater NWR Late Afternoon, f/18, Panasonic 100-300mm lens @ 32mm, Full Frame Camera Equivalent 64mm, OM-D1
Blackwater NWR Late Afternoon, f/18, Panasonic 14-140mm lens @ 41mm, Full Frame Camera Equivalent 82mm, OM-D1
Blackwater NWR Late Afternoon, f/18, Panasonic 14-140mm lens @ 14mm, Full Frame Camera Equivalent 28mm, OM-D1
Blackwater NWR Late Afternoon, Panasonic LX-1 Pocket Camera @ 25.2 mm
BWR Colorful Clouds, Panasonic LX1 Pocket Camera, 5 pm, 7.5mm, Full Frame equivalent 33mm
Blackwater NWR Late Afternoon, Canon 24-105mm lens @ 85mm, Canon 1D mkIV, 12 image Panorama
Blackwater NWR, Canon 24-105mm lens @ 85mm, Canon 1D mkIV, 2 image Panorama, 6 o’clock pm
Blackwater NWR Early Morning Panorama, Canon 17-40mm lens @ 17mm, f/4, Canon 1D mkIII, 2 Image Panorama
Blackwater NWR Early Morning Panorama, Canon 24-105mm lens @ 85mm, f/4, Canon 1D mkIII, 12 Image Panorama
Blackwater NWR Late Evening Panorama, Sigma 12-24mm lens @ 24mm, f/5.6, Canon 1D Mk IV, 12 Vertical Image Panorama
Blackwater NWR Early Morning Panorama, Canon 24-105mm lens @ 24mm, f/10, -0.33 Exposure Compensation Canon 1D Mk III, 12 Vertical Image Panorama
Blackwater NWR Late Evening Panorama, 14-140mm Panasonic lens @ 14mm, Full Frame Equivalent 28mm, Olympus OM-D1

Golden Eagle Vs. Bald Eagle

I was going through my backup drives to clear out images I do not need and came across these images of a Golden Eagle going at a Bald Eagle at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Maryland. We had seen comments online that there was a Golden Eagle that was staying around the Refuge giving visitors a good chance of getting some photos. I probably posted some before but I re-adjusted some of the images for more detail and better color. All Images were taken with a Canon 400mm DO lens with a 2x Teleconverter giving me a focal length of 800mm on a Canon 1Ds MkII. With the 2X Teleconverter my f/stop wide open was f/8 so I stopped down 1 more f/stop to get a little more detail.

Golden Eagle & Bald Eagle going at each other. Canon 1Ds mkII, 2x Teleconverter, f/11, 1/800 sec., +0.33 exposure compensation for lightening dark color of the Eagles.

Marsh Edge Trail Panoramas At Blackwater NWR

We have been to Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge dozens of times but for some reason we never went and explored the Marsh Edge Trail section. You basically pass the Marsh Edge parking area as you enter the Wildlife Drive. It was a Great Area to wander through and photograph. In some seasons I guess it could be very buggy but on this trip there were no insects except Dragonflies. But the Dragonflies were constantly moving so I did not get any good dragonfly images here. All images here were taken with my iPhone 11 Pro and panoramas blended in Photoshop. The Featured Image was 28 images, 2 rows of 14 images taken with the 1.5mm lens (Full Frame Equivalent of 13mm).

Marsh Edge Trail, Blackwater NWR, 17 Image Panorama, iP11 Pro, 4.3mm Lens (4.3mm lens has Full Frame Field of View ~26mm)
Marsh Edge Trail, Blackwater NWR, 5 Image Panorama, iP11 Pro, 1.5mm Lens (1.5mm lens has Full Frame Field of View ~13mm)
Marsh Edge Trail, Blackwater NWR, 9 Image Panorama, iP11 Pro, 1.5mm Lens (1.5mm lens has Full Frame Field of View ~13mm)
Marsh Edge Trail, Blackwater NWR, 11 Image Panorama, iP11 Pro, 1.5mm Lens (1.5mm lens has Full Frame Field of View ~13mm)
Marsh Edge Trail, Blackwater NWR, 11 Image Panorama, iP11 Pro, 4.3mm Lens (4.3mm lens has Full Frame Field of View ~26mm)
Marsh Edge Trail Map

Needham Skimmer Dragonflies – Part 2

A series of Needham Skimmer Dragonflies images taken at the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge near Cambridge Maryland. All images were taken with a Canon 7D with a 300mm f/4 lens & 1.4x Canon Teleconverter. The Featured Image is a 5 Image Panorama of the Female Needham Skimmer Dragonfly.

Needham Skimmer Dragonfly, Female. Canon 7D, 300mm f/4 Canon Lens, 1.4x Teleconverter, f/11
Needham Skimmer Dragonfly, Female. Canon 7D, 300mm f/4 Canon Lens, 1.4x Teleconverter, f/11
Needham Skimmer Dragonfly, Female. Canon 7D, 300mm f/4 Canon Lens, 1.4x Teleconverter, f/11
Needham Skimmer Dragonfly, Female. Canon 7D, 300mm f/4 Canon Lens, 1.4x Teleconverter, f/11
Needham Skimmer Dragonfly, Female. Canon 7D, 300mm f/4 Canon Lens, 1.4x Teleconverter, f/11
Needham Skimmer Dragonfly, Female. Canon 7D, 300mm f/4 Canon Lens, 1.4x Teleconverter, f/11
Needham Skimmer Dragonfly, Female, Canon 7D, Another 5 Image Panorama, 300mm f/4 Canon Lens, 1.4x Teleconverter, f/11

Seaside Dragonlet Dragonfly At Blackwater NWR

On our visit to the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Maryland I had the chance to photograph a couple of Dragonflies I never photographed before, the Needhams Skimmer (Female) & the Seaside-Dragonlet (male). We only saw a couple of these at the refuge. One by the first Observation Platform along the Wildlife Drive and the other was at the was in the Marsh Edge Trail area.

Seaside Dragonlet Dragonfly (male), 300mm lens, 1.4x Teleconverter, Canon 7D
Seaside Dragonlet Dragonfly (male), 300mm lens 1.4x Teleconverter, Canon 7D

Needhams Skimmer Dragonflies @ Blackwater NWR

On our visit to the Blackwater Natiional Wildlife Refuge I was concentrating on photographing Landscapes, Birds & Dragonflies. It is taking a while to go through all the Raw files so I will be posting a few each day from those categories. This post is showing images of Needhams Skimmer Female Dragonflies.

Needhams Skimmer Dragonfly, Female, 5 horizontal Images Panorama, 300mm lens, 1.4X Telconverter, Canon 7D
Needhams Skimmer Dragonfly, Female, Canon 300mm lens, 1.4x Teleconverter, Canon 7D
Needhams Skimmer Dragonfly, Female, Canon 300mm lens, 1.4x Teleconverter, Canon 7D
Needhams Skimmer Dragonfly, Female, Canon 300mm lens, 1.4x Teleconverter, Canon 7D
Needhams Skimmer Dragonfly, Female, Canon 300mm lens, 1.4x Teleconverter, Canon 7D, 3 Image Panorama
Needhams Skimmer Dragonfly, Female, Canon 300mm lens, 1.4x Teleconverter, Canon 7D
Needhams Skimmer Dragonfly, Female, Canon 300mm lens, 1.4x Teleconverter, Canon 7D
Needhams Skimmer Dragonfly, Female, Canon 300mm lens, 1.4x Teleconverter, Canon 7D
Needhams Skimmer Dragonfly, Female, Canon 300mm lens, 1.4x Teleconverter, 6 horizontal images stacked vertically, Canon 7D
Needhams Skimmer Dragonfly, Female, Canon 300mm lens, 1.4x Teleconverter, Canon 7D

Eastern Pondhawks At Blackwater NWR

I am still going through images from our trip to the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Cambridge Maryland. I had posted some of the bird images I had taken but I wanted to switch and post some Dragonfly images from the trip. All images were taken with a Canon 300mm lens with a 1.4x Teleconverter on a Canon 7D. The Featured Image is a Female Eastern Pondhawk.

Female Eastern Pondhawk Dragonfly In-Flight. I was shooting @ 1/800 sec. @ f/11 to get some movement in the wings but have the Dragonfly body somewhat sharp.
Male Eastern Pondhawk Dragonfly, f/11, 1/400 sec., Canon 7D, 300mm lens with 1.4X Teleconverter
Male Eastern Pondhawk Dragonfly, f/11, 1/400 sec., Canon 7D, 300mm lens with 1.4X Teleconverter

Blackwater Great Blue Heron In Tree

I am still going through images from our visit to the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge which is 12 miles south of Cambridge, Maryland. The images here are of a Great Blue Heron roosting in a tree along the Wildlife Drive. It seemed like it liked posing for me so I had a lot of poses to choose from. Here are a few from the series of images of the Great Blue Heron. On a few I removed a tree branch here or there. was trying to see which I liked better. All images were taken with a Canon 7D with a 300mm lens with a 1.4X Teleconverter.

The Last In The Series & He Is Saying “That’s All So Move On!!”

DewDrops On Double-ringed Pennant @ Blackwater NWR

When we got to the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge we went to the nearest Observation Platform to see what was going on and to also get some panorama landscapes as the sun was just rising in the sky. On the Observation Platform I noticed this Double-Ringed Pennant Dragonfly on a grass stem along the Observation Platform that had a heavy coating of Dew Drops. I had to backup quite a bit because I had the 150-600mm lens on my Canon R camera. I shot a few images handheld @ 600mm but it was 5:30 in the morning and there was not much light. So I upped my ISO to 800 and shot a series of images wide open @ f/6.3 & 1/60 sec. Hoping 1 or 2 in the series would be sharp enough to use. It seemed to work out ok and got a few images sharp enough to use.

Double-Ringed Pennant Dragonfly, 600mm, f/6.3, 1/60th sec. ISO 800, Canon R

Distant Eagles At Blackwater NWR

We finally got a chance to go back to the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Maryland to see if we could find some Bald Eagles to photograph. It is about a 4 hour trip from where we live. After getting there we were surprised to see 2 Bald Eagles in a tree right after entering the Refuge. One was on one side and the other was on the other side of the same tree. But those will be in a different post. The images here were taken near the end of the 3.6 mile Wildlife Drive across the water near the exit. There usually are Bald Eagle and Osprey nests in the trees because they can fish right below. The only problem is it is pretty far from where we are on the Wildlife Drive.

View of the trees across from the Wildlife Drive. There are usually many nests in the trees here because the Eagles & Ospreys can fish close to their nests. 17 Vertical Images Panorama, Tamron 150-600mm @ 150mm
2 Bald Eagles in Tree across from Wildlife Drive Exit. Tamron 150-600mm @ 600mm, Canon R
2 Bald Eagles in Tree across from Wildlife Drive Exit. Tamron 150-600mm @ 600mm, Sigma 2X Teleconverter for 1200mm, Canon R
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