The sun sets on the Sea of Cortez. Today's abstract photo, #12 of 15. Sunset and water, Sea of Cortez.Image ID: 00285
Phil CollaJune 17, 2009
Another abstract cloud photo. I like using a medium telephoto lens to isolate landscape elements, and patterns in clouds are no exception. This was probably shot with a 70-200 on Velvia film, vintage. Moments after the green flash, orange skies over La Jolla. Today's abstract photo, #12 of 15. Clouds…
Our days at Darwin Island in the Galapagos islands have been fantastic. On each of our trips we spent several days, sometimes almost a week, at this usually spectacular, remote and wild place. The diving can be, of course, unsurpassed which is one reason that virtually all visitors to Darwin…
Phil CollaJune 15, 2009
Resuming the series of abstracts (before it was so rudely interrupted with bird pics): today's abstract photo is an image of clouds on fire, taken from the lanai of Skip's seaside surf pad in Napili, looking out over Lanai and Molokai. Wow, did we ever have some epic sunsets in…
Phil CollaJune 14, 2009
Northern cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis). This was the other small songbird that I hoped to see in Arizona. It is very similar to the Pyrrhuloxia (see yesterday's post). In fact the female cardinal looks a lot like the male Pyrrhuloxia at first glance, although the shape of the beak (among other…
Phil CollaJune 13, 2009
Pyrrhuloxia (Cardinalis sinuatus). This was one of the two birds I was hoping to see in Arizona. In general, we do not see small colorful birds like this in Southern California (except for escaped exotics like parrots). At first I thought Pyrrhuloxia was the latin (scientific) name for this bird,…
Phil CollaJune 12, 2009
Greater roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus). Greater roadrunner.Image ID: 22902Species: Greater roadrunner, Geococcyx californianusLocation: Amado, Arizona, USA Shot at Bill Forbes' Pond at Elephant Head, which I visited and described recently.
Phil CollaJune 11, 2009
A Gila woodpecker (Melanerpes uropygialis). Gila woodpecker, female.Image ID: 22928Species: Gila woodpecker, Melanerpes uropygialisLocation: Amado, Arizona, USA Shot at Bill Forbes' Pond at Elephant Head, which I visited and described recently.
Phil CollaJune 10, 2009
A Gambel's quail (Callipepla gambelii). Bill told me to expect a quail family, complete with lots of chicks, to show up about 9:30. They were right on time each morning! Gambel's quail, male.Image ID: 22925Species: Gambel's quail, Callipepla gambeliiLocation: Amado, Arizona, USA Gambel's quail, chicks.Image ID: 22920Species: Gambel's quail, Callipepla…
Phil CollaJune 9, 2009
A white-winged dove (Zenaida asiatica). There were lots of these birds around Bill Forbes' pond, making their soft coo-coo sounds. I know some people hunt dove, I wonder if these white-winged doves are on their list and whether they taste any good or not? They sure are pretty but for…
Phil CollaJune 4, 2009
Curve-billed thrasher (Toxostoma curvirostre). Wow, this guy is a THRASHER! Sounds like one serious kick-ass bird. Thrasher? If I was a bird I'd want to be called Thrasher too. Curve-billed thrasherImage ID: 22904Species: Curve-billed thrasher, Toxostoma curvirostreLocation: Amado, Arizona, USA Shot at Bill Forbes' Pond at Elephant Head, which I…
Phil CollaJune 3, 2009
You might guess, given its name, that the house finch (Carpodacus mexicanus) is a common bird. Indeed, the plants around Bill's place were covered with these colorful, twittering, hyper little birds. The males had great coloration, deep reds and oranges, while the poor females had to settle for brown and…
Phil CollaJune 2, 2009
A little house sparrow (Passer domesticus), male in breeding coloration. House sparrow, breeding male.Image ID: 22945Species: House sparrow, Passer domesticusLocation: Amado, Arizona, USA Shot at Bill Forbes' Pond at Elephant Head, which I visited and described recently.
Phil CollaJune 1, 2009
When we were kids we loved catching what we called "horny toads." (Look, wiseguy, we were 6 years old at the time and couldn't pronounce "horned".) We would find them in chapparal and open areas in Newport Beach where I grew up. The little horned lizards (Phrynosoma) weren't particularly fast,…
Phil CollaMay 31, 2009
There were a lot of little desert cottontail rabbits (Sylvilagus audubonii) hopping about all morning and evening. They were really cute, and quite bold, coming in to drink at the pond often and sniff about looking for seed and bits of food. No babies though. Desert cottontail, or Audobon's cottontail…
Phil CollaMay 30, 2009
This white-sided jackrabbit (Lepus callotis) showed up briefly one morning at Bill Forbes' pond. It did not approach too closely, unfortunately, and stayed in the shadows nibbling on fresh mesquite leaves, standing tall on its hind legs to grasp to lowest branches. I was amazed at how long its ears…
Phil CollaMay 29, 2009
This little round-tailed ground squirrel (Spermophilus tereticaudus) showed up beside the pond only a couple times, and I really only had one good chance to get its photo. I felt sorry for the poor thing, not only is it a puny raptor-morsel, but it has a wimpy tail compared to…
Phil CollaMay 28, 2009
This little Harris' antelope ground squirrel (Ammospermophilus harrisii) came to the pond to sip water and look for bits of food. Check out that cool tail, I bet Fonzie would wear a tail like that if he could. I nicknamed this guy Mike Tyson. Harris' antelope squirrel.Image ID: 22900Species: Harris'…
Phil CollaMay 27, 2009
I'm posting one last photo from Upper Madera Canyon, this time a photo of a Mexican jay (Aphelocoma ultramarina). The wanna-be tough-guys were everywhere among the trees, spooking all the smaller birds. They would only shut up and settle down when the larger ravens rolled through. They are not as…
Phil CollaMay 26, 2009
Another photo from Upper Madera Canyon, this time a photo of a male Acorn woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus). The females look very similar, with the exception that on females the white forehead is separated from the red cap by black. Acorn woodpecker, male.Image ID: 22961Species: Acorn woodpecker, Melanerpes formicivorusLocation: Madera Canyon…
Phil CollaMay 25, 2009
This male Black-headed grosbeak (Pheucticus melanocephalus) is one of many that flitted among the trees in upper Madera Canyon. There were females too but their coloration was not as striking. Black-headed grosbeak, male.Image ID: 22911Species: Black-headed grosbeak, Pheucticus melanocephalusLocation: Madera Canyon Recreation Area, Green Valley, Arizona, USA Shot at Bill…
Phil CollaMay 23, 2009
One of my hammerhead shark photos was chosen for the cover of Zoology to accompany the article "Response of juvenile scalloped hammerhead sharks to electric stimuli" by Stephen Kajiura and Timothy Fitzgerald. See lots more scalloped hammerhead photos (Sphyrna lewini).
Phil CollaMay 22, 2009
The Brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater) is rather plain, but I really liked this image of one with the golden light of sunset illuminating the bushes behind it. Brown-headed cowbird, male.Image ID: 22916Species: Brown-headed cowbird, Molothrus aterLocation: Amado, Arizona, USA Shot at Bill Forbe's Pond at Elephant Head, which I visited…
Phil CollaMay 21, 2009
I recently spent a couple days photographing southern Arizona critters at the Pond at Elephant Head and the Upper Madera Drip with the help of Bill Forbes. Bill is the inventor of the Phototrap, a device for remote camera triggering using infrared beam, perfect for capturing difficult images of wildlife…
Phil CollaMay 20, 2009
This was shot on a drizzly overcast morning at Ruby Beach in Washington's Olympic National Park. Fresh water flows over cobblestones on its way across the beach and into the sea. Today's abstract photo, #9 of 15: Water flows past beach cobblestones, blur.Image ID: 13794Location: Ruby Beach, Olympic National Park,…
Phil CollaMay 19, 2009
This strange set of clouds appeared at sunset one time, as viewed from our home. Today's abstract photo, #8 of 15: Cloud formations at sunset.Image ID: 07470
Phil CollaMay 18, 2009
As a compliment to the photo of the ocean floor I posted a few days ago, here is a view taken from the same location and depth but instead looking up toward to the surface. A simple enough image, but unfortunately it is a view that too few people experience,…
Phil CollaMay 7, 2009
Last winter I joined friends Skip Stubbs and Ken Howard for a few days of bird photography at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. I would get up early each morning to watch the enormous flocks of snow geese that overnight on the ponds take off in a massive predawn…
Phil CollaMay 6, 2009
Are you using the best in-camera settings for contrast and saturation? If you shoot RAW and think these settings don't affect you, think again. If you judge your exposure settings on whether you are clipping the highlights on your histogram, you may be underexposing unnecessarily. Here's why. Note that this…
Phil CollaMay 5, 2009
I made a number of trips to the Bahamas to film Olympic champion swimmers and wild dolphins. While we were roasting in the Bahamian sun, waiting for dolphins to appear, we could swim as much as we wanted in the clear shallow waters of the Little Bahama Banks. I really…
Phil CollaMay 1, 2009
Today's abstract photo, this time from the distant island of Darwin (aka, Culpepper) in the Galapagos. A safety stop after a good dive in Galapagos is sort of like the aftermath of good sex: one drifts along lazily, quite relaxed, tuned out and somewhat befuddled, thinking "whoa, that was pretty…
Phil CollaApril 29, 2009
Today's abstract photo was photographed at San Clemente Island. Early one overcast, dark morning at the south end of the island, I found myself drifting along the reef about 30' deep, over a huge expanse of surf grass. Given the dim light the exposures were long and blurry, so I…
Phil CollaApril 28, 2009
Another abstract photo, sunlight piercing the ocean surface. I used to shoot a lot of this stuff when I was diving in the 90's, killing time decompressing at the end of a dive. Note how elegantly the rays of the sun break apart and blend into the water. That is…
Phil CollaApril 27, 2009
I shot these this morning during a quick trip to Joshua Tree National Park. I was totally uninspired for "regular" photography this morning, and the light was not that great anyway due to high winds and dust from the night before. But the little pocket infrared camera made some interesting…
Phil CollaApril 26, 2009
I have had good luck selling abstract photos the last few years. I just had another last week. Which got me pondering and ruminating (not a sight for the faint of heart). So without further ado, today begins a series of posts highlighting some of my favorite abstract images. Abstract…
Phil CollaApril 25, 2009
The National Geographic Channel recently produced the television documentary "Great White Odyssey", and choose one of my great white shark photos (Carcharodon carcharias) to use as the main background to the web page publicizing the program. Here is a link to NG Channel's page for the Great White Odyssey. The…
Phil CollaApril 24, 2009
This great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) was photographed at Guadalupe Island, Mexico. I think I have made about 15 trips to the island, a mix of open-water diving trips and shark cage photography trips. I am hoping to get down there again for scuba diving, freediving and just plain exploration…
Phil CollaApril 22, 2009
A bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) pulls a fish from the water on the fly, leaving a splash in its wake. The fish can be seen in the eagle's talons. Bald eagle makes a splash while in flight as it takes a fish out of the water.Image ID: 22584Species: Bald eagle,…
Phil CollaApril 21, 2009
See the new bald eagle photos. This photo of a bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) is quite simply composed but was not quite so simple to execute. The wind was blowing steadily parallel to the sun angle which led to the eagles banking and circling in front of me. But often…
Phil CollaApril 17, 2009
Half Dome is the one feature most closely associated with Yosemite National Park. A vast lobe of Mesozoic-era granodiorite magma cooled to rock, Half Dome was gradually uplifted to its present altitude of 8842 ft. As the rock was exposed, weathering and exfoliation of shell-like outer layers of the rock…
Phil CollaApril 16, 2009
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