Photography - Hanging out at Bosque del Apache

Intro by Skip Cohen

My buddy Bob Coates is no stranger to SCU, and many of you are familiar with his Successful-Photographer website. He's a photographer who not only believes in education but ALWAYS walks the talk when it comes to helping other artists.

While I shared the image to the right in a post last June, there's more to the story. And, if you're like me, and have the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico on your bucket list, there's no such thing as too many posts. It's one of the most incredible places on the planet this time of year.

Click on any of the images in this post to visit Bob's fine art site.

Note: Interested in some extended study time with Bob?  He will be an instructor at the Texas School:  the “Best Little Photography School in the World” April 26- May 1, 2020

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All wildlife images in this post copyright Bob Coates. All rights reserved.

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by Bob Coates
 
As the cover artist for the Festival of the Cranes I had the opportunity to spend another four days photographing at Bosque del Apache NWR. The cranes and large numbers white snow geese make an appearance each year. This is a target rich environment for wildlife photographers.

Using the clean noise pattern of the G9 and shooting in fog an ISO of 12,600 led to an artistic pre-dawn image

My main shooting combo was the Lumix G9 with the Leica 100-400mm f/4.0-6.3 lens. This is mounted on the Promaster GH25 Professional Gimbal Head on a carbon fiber tripod. I discovered one modification I’d like to make and recommend to all photographers photographing in cold weather. I’ll be wrapping my gimbal with some pipe insulation tape to keep contact with bare metal to a minimum. Even with gloves that metal shares the cold quite a bit.
 
In order to not be switching lenses while shooting I keep a second camera on my Peak Design camera strap. A Lumix GX85 with a 12-60mm f/2.8-4 lens covers my wide-angle zoom needs.
 
Yours in Creative Photography,      Bob

The GX85 shows the flight of the snow geese (with Canada geese in the foreground) during a Bosque sunrise.

In Bob's Camera Bag...

LUMIX G9

LUMIX Leica 100-400mm lens

LUMIX GX85

LUMIX Leica 12-60mm lens

Click on any of Bob's favorite gear for more information.