Tag: sunset

Bobcat

Bobcat, Point Reyes National Seashore

This is a portrait photo of a male bobcat sitting and staring at the camera.

My favorite time to photograph landscapes and wildlife is from about an hour before sunset until about 30 to 40 minutes after sunset (the blue hour) because of the great colors, although I admit it’s much easier shooting landscapes than wildlife during the blue hour.

I photographed this male bobcat about a week ago.  It was a couple of minutes before sunset and the light was fading fast.  I was shooting with a Canon EF800 f/5.6 lens with a 1.4 teleconverter.  Settings were 1/200 sec. at f/8 with an ISO of 5000.  I was shooting out of my car window with the lens resting on a beanbag.  Fairly steady, but not equal to a tripod.  While the old rule is to shoot at a shutter speed at least equal to the focal length of the lens (1120mm focal length here so 1/1250 second shutter speed), I would have shot this bobcat at shutter speeds down to 1/30 sec. if I had needed to, with the expectation of some keepers.

This guy had a lot more red under his chin and more distinct spots than the one I posted three weeks ago.  He was with a female who I assume he will stay with for a while.  I hope to see their kittens this spring.

Coyote

Coyote, Point Reyes National Seashore

This is a photo of a coyote facing the setting sun at Point Reyes National Seashore.

Here is a photo I took in 2011 that I came across recently.  I don’t know why I never put it on my website, but I just corrected that.  It was taken at sunset in the ranching area of Point Reyes National Seashore.

Ranching?  Yes, there is ranching in this unit of the national park system.  The ranchers were all bought out by the Park Service between 1962 and 1978 and, to ease the move out of the Seashore, the Park Service gave them reservations of use and occupancy for 20 years.   The last ones should have been out by 1998, but thanks to politics, they are still there and paying a rent for grazing and living there of often less than 10% of fair market value.  The Park Service is required by law to collect fair market for any lands or buildings it leases.

Coyote

Coyote, Point Reyes National Seashore

This is a photo of a coyote at Point Reyes National Seashore at sunset.

I photographed this coyote yesterday just before the sun set  I spotted it about fifteen or twenty minutes before sunset and stayed with it until the sun actually set.  It’s my favorite time to photograph wildlife, and I’m sure I’m not alone in that.  I assume the light is just ad good at sunrise, but it’s a heck of a lot harder spotting anything to photograph in the dark.