Winter Sunrises & Sunsets At Blackwater NWR

The images here are from Winter visits to the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge over a few years. The Featured colorful ice image was taken at sunrise with a Sigma 300-800mm lens @ 300mm on a Canon 20D .

Blackwater NWR, early morning, Canon 1D mkIII, 17-40mm @ 17mm
Blackwater NWR Sunset, Canon 7D, 100-400mm @ 170mm
Blackwater NWR, Sunset, Canon 400mm DO lens, Canon 7D

Blackwater NWR Wildlife Drive Exit At Sunset

I was going through Backup Drives to cleanup duplicate files & unneeded images and I found a folder with sunset images from Blackwater NWR. The sunsets at Blackwater NWR can be very colorful and dramatic. The Featured Image was taken with a Canon 15mm Fisheye lens on a Canon 1DmkIII and was taken a little closer to the exit than the image below. The images taken with the 15mm Fisheye were adjusted in Photoshop to remove the “Fisheye” Look & Effect but maintain the wide view.

Blackwater End of Wildlife Drive Staightaway to Exit. Farther away to exit than Featured Image. 5img Pano, 15mm Fisheye Canon Lens, Canon 1D mk III
End of Wildlife Drive. Left side view on Staightaway to Exit. 24-105mm Canon Lens @ 32mm, Canon 1D mk III
Side View Before the Straightaway to Exit. 2 image pano with Canon 28-135mm lens @ 28mm, Canon 1dmk III
Setting Sun on other side of Straight away before turning to the exit. Canon 28-135 lens @ 41mm, Canon 1dmkiii

Sunrise & Sunset At Blackwater NWR

A series of sunrise and sunset images from a previous trip to Blackwater NWR near Cambridge, Maryland. The Featured Image was taken with a Canon 400mm DO lens with a 1.4X Teleconverter.

2 Image vertical stack of a Blackwater NWR Sunrise, Canon 24-105mm lens @ 105mm
Blackwater Sunset, 7 Images, 400mm DO lens, Canon 1.4X Teleconverter, 1D mkIV

Blackwater NWR Clouds At Sunset

I was working on files from previous photo trips. Now that I am retired I can go through my backup drives to post images that I did not have time to post before. This is a Sunset taken at the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Maryland a few years ago. Dramatic or interesting sunsets are quite often seen at Blackwater NWR. Some have told me that dramatic sunsets at Blackwater are because it is somewhat close to the coast. I am not sure on that, but Blackwater NWR does deliver on interesting sunrises & sunsets! Image taken with a 14-140mm lens @ 48mm on an Olympus body. I was going retouch out the aircraft contrails, but decided to leave them in.

Blackwater NWR Sunsets

Here are some Colorful Sunsets from a few different visits over the years to the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge near Cambridge, Maryland. Besides photographing Eagles & other birds it is a Great place to photograph colorful sunrises & sunsets. The featured image was taken along the Wildlife Drive with a Canon 24-105mm lens @40mm, Canon 1Ds mkII.

Blackwater Sunset, 24-105mm @ 105, Canon 1DmkII
BWR Sunset, Panasonic LX1, 6.3mm lens, Full Frame Equivalent 28mm
BWR Sunset, 24-105 @90mm, 1Ds mkII
BWR Sunset, 24-105mm @ 73mm, 1Ds mkII
Firey Clouds @ Sunset 24-105mm @ 105mm 1dmkIII

Blackwater Sunset Multi-image Panorama

I am still going through all the images I shot at Blackwater NWR. The featured image is another sunset panorama from our trip. This is a 3 image panorama shot @ 14mm with an Olympus m43 Camera (FOV 28mm full frame format equivalent). The panorama was blended in Photoshop.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

BWR Sunset @ 14mm m43 format (single image)

Blackwater NWR Sunset

We got to where we wanted on the Wildlife Drive to photograph the setting sun, but it was not as dramatic as we had hoped for. It was still fun to photograph and got a few good images. Then we moved a little closer, around the bend towards the straightaway to the exit. These are combinations of exposure  blends for darks & lights for shadow detail and bright detail along with multi-images for size. I was using 2 cameras, one with a 24-105mm, the other with a 12-24mm. The featured image is at 105mm (5 images, blended). If you see any specks in the sky, they are birds flying through. After the sun went below the horizon we then headed back to the motel to rest up for sunrise the next day.

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Series of 5 images blended in Photoshop, 24mm

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Three image blend @105mm

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Four image blend @24mm

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4 img blend @88mm

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3 image blend – Sundown @24mm

7 Image Panorama Sunset At Blackwater NWR

This is a 7 image capture of a sunset at the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. Handheld series with 7 overlapping images shot with a 400mm lens with a 1.4X teleconverter. I was photographing birds flying through the colorful sunset, going to roost or settle down for the evening, but the sunset was so colorful, I tried a quick series to capture a enough images for a panorama. Then a tried a couple of vertical panorama setups. Ending with just some detail sections.

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Two image vertical panorama, 400mm with 1.4X Teleconverter

 

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Two image vertical panorama, 400mm with 1.4X Teleconverter

 

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Sunset @ 400mm

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Dusk @ 400mm w/1.4X Teleconverter

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Sunset @ 400mm w/1.4X Teleconverter

 

Great Egret Flying Out In The Sunrise

Early morning photo of a Great Egret flying out against a colorful sky. This was photographed earlier, but with work l am trying to catch up on my personal projects.

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Two Lonely Trees landscape

I like the colorful skies at the Blackwater NWR in Cambridge Maryland at the end of the day. This is one from a few years ago. Just happened to find it while I was looking for something else. Many times you see flocks of birds flying through the colorful skies, but this one with just a couple trees in the center of the image with the colorful sky and water looked appealing and peaceful. Usually I do not like to center my main subject in more of the middle of the frame, but it did not look like it worked offset to either side. So I liked it that way. It is also a nice background for a page in one of my ebooks with text placed around the frame. Many times I shoot images for backgrounds with blank areas for text or for other images to be placed around to tell a story as a page in my ebooks. Quite often I shoot a series working my main image with different intentional open spaces. You never know when you might need them. I guess I started doing this in my commercial work over the many years giving clients other choices along with what they requested. It is amazing how many times it paid off. Also it helps you to see differently and try other ways of seeing what you are looking at. You might be surprised at what you come up with. I also throw in a series of horizontal or vertical handheld panoramas just to get practice for when I really need one.

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