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Spring and Life Change! |
Posted On :
05-21-2010 |
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 Things have been 'a changin'. I recently walked away from 20 year stint as a pro wedding/portrait photographer to pursue an unstable career as a wildlife/nature artist!? I believe everyone should try something that scares them to death-at least once in their lives! (it will make me feel better knowing I'm not alone!) We will be moving to central Illinois to be closer to the land and subject matter! I will also be developing habitat on private lands and selling recreational farms to help offset the loooong amount of time it takes to generated an income! We have been getting ready for the move and shutting down the studio operations, so I've had little time to shoot or paint!! I did get some good landscapes and for the shed antler hunters, I managed to find/get some great shots as well! Stay tuned for summer velvet season which is just around the corner! Don |
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Late season blues! |
Posted On :
01-11-2010 |
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 Chasing late season whitetails has been brutal this year, with the frigid temps and deep snows! I managed to get a few shots but not what I was hoping for, but throw in some birds and its still a lot of fun! I don't know if its the cold and snow but I'm seeing some real early shedding going on! Typically bucks don't start dropping their antlers until February, but this year I started seeing a couple the 3rd week of December! For those of you that like to shed hunt, its good and bad news! Its good for the guys that get over zealous and can't seem to wait and bad for the one's that like to be patient in order to keep from pushing the deer out of their normal habits! Remember, it ALWAYS a good idea to keep your big deer info private and don't share it with others or you may have a lot of unwanted company after that animal or sheds! For the rest of the year I'll be chasing songbirds and raptors and a turkey here and there, maybe even start a new painting! Best afield, Don |
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A True GIANT!!! |
Posted On :
11-18-2009 |
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 Now that we're in the 'lockdown' phase of the rut, getting close to a mature whitetail has been difficult at best! I was lucky enough to get an awesome portrait of one of the largest bucks I've ever seen in the wild! I knew this buck existed but finding him has been a chore! He resides in the thickest, nastiest cover imaginable, I ended up catching him sneaking through a chest high field of brush! The area is comprised of huge buckthorne thickets, flooded timber and tall weed/brush fields. He seemed to have a relatively small core range and it was just a matter of getting him coming/going between thickets and thats how it happened! I still need to figure out how to hide a 600mm f4 lens, its that big black hole at the end that seems to spoke everything! I did manage to grab 2 images that I'm estatic with, before he turned and disappeared back in the brush! A quick photo tip-If your subjects are not moving and the light is low, lock the mirror up in your camera whenever possible!!! With these super-telephoto lenses, they magnify even the slightest vibration that can effect image quality, even the slapping of the internal mirror can blur an image! I would rather have 1 or 2 perfect images than a group of slightly soft files! I also got a good image of 'Stickers' in the big timber along with one of his rubs which is huge!! Stickers is a very mature buck that I first saw on the weekend of the 4th of July and I tried endlessly to get him in velvet, which I was unsuccesful! He just disappeared over the summer but reappeared in the same area early this November!?
From here on out its all about food (not for me) but for the wildlife! There is still a good chance of some more rutting activity, even some harem type behavior from the most mature bucks in early December. Late season is one of my favorite periods for wildlife photography, you can really get some unique images with the different types of weather-snow!! Bucks will regroup back in the bachelor groups and focus on the best winter food types, grain fields (NOTHING beats standing beans!!!)winter wheat, brush fields and of course bird feeders!! A little hint ' go to the local state park and find the adjoining subdivision, then determine who has the most bird feeders and thats where the most deer activity will be when the deep snows arrive!! Stay tuned, I still have yet to catch up with a huge 180 class 10 pt. buck with a bunch of kicker points, I think late season will be my best chance at this brute!! Best afield, Don Wagner |
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The whitetail rut is on! |
Posted On :
11-08-2009 |
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 Welcome to my website and my first journal entry! This past week has been all about getting as close as possible to mature whitetail bucks. Well, all I can say is, I took it a bit too far a couple of times! The best time to rattle for older age bucks is just before any of the local doe's come into heat! I did just that and had, on a couple of occasions, a giant buck in my lap! Let me tell you its quite difficult to focus on a 300 lb. - 160+ inch buck approaching you at a quick pace and my butt is on the ground! Your brain goes through some conflicting thoughts in mere seconds, do I save my life or get the shot!? I chose to get the shot, besides what a cool story my kids would have to tell the grandkids that Gramps was killed by a BIG buck!!
I'm shooting with a 600 mm f4 lens, which in most cases is great, but on occassion its too much lens! The smarter thing to do is carry an additional camera with a 200mm 2.8 lens, just in case! (I would suggest a rigorous workout-preseason or a large bottle of Advil!)
The level of adrenaline you experience is hard to describe but very addicting, its what gets you up every morning at 4:00, hoping to do it again!
Whenever you attempt to rattle, always make sure to keep the wind in your favor, don't gamble on their noses! I have the best luck by getting as close to their bedding area/bedrooms as possible and don't get discouraged too soon, I only get responses on 10% of my attempts! Another good idea, is too consider the light direction, and source. If you have a clear day, the early morning and late afternoon hours are best! You can get some real dramatic images by back-lighting and even side lighting! Cloudy days are the easiest, because your light is coming from all around, elimintating any harsh shadowing that can play havoc with your images! Be careful of heavy overhead vegetation, you may have the best spot for wildlife sightings, but if there is no light you'll end up with high ISO, blurry and noisy images!
Click on the above thumbnail for some of the better images from this past week. Stay tuned, as I hope to have much more to show in the coming days!
Best afield,
Don Wagner |
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