Frozen Waterfalls of Starved Rock State Park

Posted on March 8, 2014 by Kent Jarrett

I had been seeing a few photos of the frozen waterfalls at Starved Rock State Park popping up on some groups and forums I follow. The forecast for Friday (3/7/14) was high of 40. I made a snap decision if I was going to capture them it had to be Friday before they started melting and the trails got so bad you could get there or they closed the trails altogether.

St. Louis Canyon

My good friend Jacki Pienta is the main photographer for Starved Rock Lodge gave me a few pointers and tips and I was off. She told me lots of stairs and lots of ice and that Yak Traxs were required. I was able to find a pair at Wild Country, I went with the Pro model. The pro model was $10 more but have a velcro strap to help hold them on. I can’t tell you how many times they saved me and my gear! Best $30 I have spent in a long time!

I decided that I was going to hike into St. Louis Canyon and Wlidcat Canyon. I wasn’t sure how much a overweight 53 year old could handle with a 17 month old knee replacement. I had been to Starved Rock several times to watch and photograph eagles, but had never been on the trail system so was sure what I was in for. St. Louis was the closest and shortest hike. Jacki stated 40 minutes from the lodge parking lot since the parking lot was closed. I went against her directions and parked off of Route 178 at the entrance to the St. Louis Canyon exit. There was room for 6 or 8 cars to park there since the road to the parking lot was closed and had not been plowed all season. I headed down the gradual slope of the road, it was peaceful and reminded me of the bunny slope at Devil’s Head, with a long winding curve to the left. I lacked a little confidence to how to find the falls, no map, just followed the footsteps in the snow. I was pleasantly surprised once I hit the normal parking lot and found really nice signs and trail markers!

PBKJ9347-FrameShop

Thought this would give you much more confidence that I started out with and an idea of why the Yak Traxs were required.

Finally, 18 minutes later and an easy hike I was at the falls.

St. Louis Canyon

Another tip from Jacki was to protect your gear if you do fall. I usually hike using a belt system, but last year in the Smoky Mountain I felt like my gear was way too exposed if I got caught in weather. I am a huge fan of Think Tank Photo and all my bags but one are from them. The one that isn’t is one I helped get started from their sister company Mind Shift Gear. I backed their project for the 180 Rotation Pro on Kick Started and was one of the first 500 to get this incredible bag. The bottom part rotates while bag in on your back and will hold a full body DSLR with grip and a large lens. The main compartment It has two main entry ways. One from the top, but the main section is from the section against your back and can be accessed while wearing the pack and never sitting it down in elements HUGE benefit while in the field. Keep belt fasten, slip both arms out and rotate entire pack to front. Almost makes a take to work on while changing lenses. The pack comes with a rain hood also. Easiest way is to watch the video from their site. Video #1 PBKJ9337-FrameShop

Hiked out back to the car and drove to the lodge for a bio break, map and reset for the longer hike to Wildcat Canyon. Heading out or the main parking lot you go down what hast to be 500 stairs. The stairs are steel with very aggressive industrial tread! My Yak Traxs kept getting snagged in the stairs. By the time I reached the bottom I knew I wasn’t going back out that way. Found out later you can park at the visitor center on the bottom and avoid these stairs. I was already pot committed since I left my car in the upper parking lot. Once again clear signage and several sets of up and down stairs as pictured earlier. 35 minutes to Wildcat Canyon. Once there I found 6 or 7 ice climbers there, and a Chicago TV station doing a story on them. Wildcat is the tallest standing in at 75 feet! Took a few photos, but wasn’t really interested in landscapes with the climbers in them.

Wildcat Falls with Climber

Since I was already on the bottom and the climbers thought they would be done in an hour, decided to go check out two more falls. Headed to La Salle Canyon but ended up at Tonti. There were climbers there too, but was able to work around them. If you look real close in the first photo you can see the climber almost at the peak.

Tonti Canyon

Behind the falls looking out.

Tonti Canyon

I thought this was La Salle but after checking the map it wasn’t! We met some other people coming in that just came from La Salle and it had the best colors. What the heck, in this far, might as well go another 35 minutes to the next falls. The last third of a mile into La Salle was pretty dicey! No guard rails, icy trails sloping towards canyon floor (30 -40 drop)! The Yak Traxs saved me more than once. I had met up with another member of our local WeClickPhotoGroup. He was struggling with footing in normal boots, no Yaks. We both agreed we weren’t going back out that way. The front of La Salle was really disappointing, covered in dirt and debris. It was so bad I didn’t click off one photo! However behind the falls looking out I captured my favorite photo of the day!

Behind La Salle Falls

In the photo above you can see the little creek winding though the canyon back towards the Illinois River. This was a flat level way out. Sounded like a great plan, so we carefully worked our way down to the creek. We weren’t very far in when we ran across this ground hog. He was stressed out, I believe he had fallen to the canyon floor, solid rock walls and everything frozen he was stuck. We tried to coral him back towards flat land and the river but he wasn’t in the mood for help!Never shot wildlife with a 16-35mm wide angle before. Good thing Ray let me borrow his 70-200mm.

We were making great time and were headed back to Wildcat to see if all the climbers were gone when the day got more interesting. First Ray broke through the ice and got both feet wet. That got my attention! I was really trying to be careful, but I too broke through about 10 minutes later, and right leg went in knee deep and filled boot up! All gear stayed dry! Good thing the temps were up to 40 and I had on wool socks. The fun was over, time to bust butt back to Wildcat, snap a few photos and climb every stair in the park with one wet foot! Man up big boy, you are only 5 or 6 miles from the car and between you and the car is several hundred stairs!

WildCat Canyon

Put the camera gear away and headed back to the car. We went up the Wildcat stairs to the top and worked our way across back to the main parking lot. Safe and sound and back on the grid.

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Thanks for stopping by!
Kent

Baiting

Posted on February 15, 2014 by Kent Jarrett

The topic of baiting has become a hot and controversial subject. What is baiting you might ask, some wildlife photographers are using live mice to get Owls to fly out of the tree and towards the camera. Others are using salt licks, to get deer into an open area and close to their blinds. Cat food or cans of tuna to get Bob Cat shots.

When I started shooting eagles 4 seasons ago, I learn that some people are throwing fish filled with air for the eagles. As a new eagle photographer, I actually appreciated the bait fish. Since then, I have thousands of full fame wall hanger quality Eagle photos without bait fish!

Today there was 2 different people at Lock and Dam 14 throwing fish. I am torn! The action was hot and NON-stop, but they were mostly baited. If they hadn’t been throwing fish, I feel there would have been just as much action, it just brings the action closer. I have been there for entire days and seen just as many eagles catch their own fish.

I would really like to see some open dialog on your thoughts on this topic!

Putting corn out for the squirrels, sunflower seeds for the cardinals, or even nectar in hummingbird feeders, all seem like the public is OK with that.

Feeding wild bears, cat food for Bobcats, bait piles of road kill for coyotes,,, not so much!

So, where do fish for eagles fall? Where do you draw the line?

Mice for owls? Trying to decide if I am going to breakdown and try mice tomorrow to get close to the Snowy Owls I found today.

Ready set debate!

Enjoy what you read and the photos? Subscribe to be notified of future posts via email by either clicking the Follow button at the bottom or the Subscribe section on the right! Or feel free to leave a comment.

Thanks for stopping by!
Kent

Boy Scouts Of America

Posted on January 21, 2014 by Kent Jarrett

Always feels good to give back! I feel blessed to be able to do so.

I was contacted by a local Boy Scout troop about using a couple of my eagle prints as motivation for their Eagle Scouts. Of course I said yes. The Scout Master wanted quotes from the founder of the Boy Scouts Of America on one, and from a famous scout leader on the other. I was happy to help! They had them printed locally instead of using my printer which made me nervous, but they came out great. I also thought it was a nice touch, that they insisted in leaving my watermark on to give me photo credit and to instill the importance to the boys about giving back. The prints are 24″ X 36″.

Thanks for stopping by!
Kent

Eagles / Birds in Flight: How to, Tips and Tricks

Posted on January 17, 2014 by Kent Jarrett

Tons of people have asked how I am getting the high quality Eagle Photos, so I will focus this post on giving out all most of my secrets!

To get shots like this, lets walk through the steps.

Know your gear: I can’t begin to tell you how many people ask me a question in the field and I gladly give them answer, but then don’t know how to adjust their own camera. I am a Canon shooter and all setting and screen shots will be Canon. Nikon have all the same settings, you will just have to hunt for them.

Camera Settings:

Shutter Speeds = 1/1600 or higher. At 1/1250 you will still get some wing blur.
ISO = 400 to 800. Some high-end camera’s can go faster, but be careful for noise.
Aperture = high as possible, I like to shot at f 7.1 or 8
Depending on light I shoot in Shutter Priority or Aperture Priority.
Fastest continual shutter speed your camera will drive. (Drive Mode)
Exposure Settings. It is so easy to “Blow” out an Eagles white heads and tail feathers!
- Adjust your EV settings in the field as needed and even as the light changes.
- I will shoot as high as + 1 & 2/3 on a cloudy day.

Advanced Camera Settings:
In order to track a flying bird, slow down your auto-focus tracking sensitivity to as SLOW are you can get it. This will prevent other things that pop in and out of your frame from grabbing focus. It also helps to speed up focusing.

On my Canon 1 DX I use setting #2

Micro Adjustment of telephoto lens:

I use a wooden ruler as a cheaper way to do this.

Camera Stabilization:
I find myself using three different types.

Tripod with a full Gimbal Head: this is what most of the serious guys use. My camera and lens combo is right at 14 pounds, so it gets heavy.

Monopod: I find that for most situations this works best for me. I use a Really Right Stuff Head on my monopod. This allows me to move more easy and I have way better luck tracking birds in flight.

Thanks Sriti for the use of your photo.

BushHawk: I use this for when I want to hand hold. It is great for faster moving birds and high fly overs that you can’t track with the Gimbal.

OK, so are we finally ready to hit the field? I use this website to track the Eagles on the Mississippi to see where they are gathering at. The public can get the closest to the Eagles at Lock & Dam 14 just South of Le Claire Iowa.

Practice:

The pros say to expect keeper rate of 1 out of a 100.
First time out I shot over 2,000 to get 38.
Practice on common birds, so when you special bird comes along you will be able to increase your chances.
If shooting eagles, gulls are great to practices on, and set your white balance.

Know your Subject:

Mostly birds land into the wind and always fish into the wind.
Most birds will launch into the wind.
Use your natural light
- East side of a river in the morning
- West side of the river in the afternoon
Flashes tend to turn the birds
- Some use “Better Beamer” extenders
Blue skies with clouds provides nice backgrounds!

Back Button Focus: will really help with your keeper rate and not ending up with unwanted photos.

Top Ten Tips:

Tip #1: Watch your composition.

Tip #2: Adjust your elevation.

Tip #3: Adjust your camera settings.

Tip #4: Use the user programmable modes.

Tip #5: Shoot away from the sun.

Tip #6: Shoot in short bursts of 2 or 3 images.

Tip #7: Don’t skimp on depth-of-field.

Tip #8: Shoot with both eyes open.

Tip #9: Pay attention to the background.

Tip #10: Don’t skimp on Image Stabilization.

reference

Post Processing:

This is the biggest area I still need improvement and am working on. I am trying to leverage and follow most of these steps. I will say, as a rule Less is More!

Tutorial

Thanks for stopping by!
Kent

Recap of the last 3 days shooting Eagles at Lock and Dam 14 (1/1, 1/2, 1/3)

Posted on January 7, 2014 by Kent Jarrett

Wednesday I was told to get out of the house so Sharon could take down all the Christmas decorations. By the time I got to L&D 14, it was a driving snow storm. There were some eagles working, but the snow really messed with the focus and sharpness of the photos.

Thursday was the best day with a west wind which meant head on fishing!

Friday, the day started out at -9 degrees with 20 – 25MPH winds. Wind chill was -30 at least. It made the water really rough and the eagles struggled to lock onto fish. Since I already got lucky this year with several full frame fishing sequences, I am trying to focus in getting an in air fight series. Saw a few fights, but WAY out. Every time there was 2 or 3 birds close to each other I started tracking, just practicing my framing and back button focusing. Every once in a while my shutter finger would slip and click off a couple.

Here are some fruits of my labor from 1/1, 1/2, and 1/3.

As always C&C is welcomed, and I’ll be headed back on Saturday the 11th for Larry’s Annual cookout.