It’s been a little while for a Field Lighting post, but I have a few in the bag. Assignment work and research has been keeping me away, and it looks like it’s just going to get heavier in the near future, but hopefully I can squeeze in a few remnants of my existence on the World Wide Web during all the work!

I don’t know if I’ve ever written about on-camera flash, and Lord knows I don’t advocate it much, but every once in a while, it comes in handy (besides the occasional wedding)! The above photograph was taken on a Lesser Prairie Chicken lek where Blake Grisham and Nick Pirius were conducting research on this seemingly dwindling and fragile species. We sat in the pickup some 75 yards or more away from the lek until we were sure all the birds had flown off. We then drove up slowly, trying hard not to disturb any birds that may have been caught for analysis. If a bird is located, then it’s out of the pickup and quickly to the bird, back to the truck for measuring, banding, radio-collaring, etc., and then released. This literally does not take more than five minutes sometimes. The point is to not traumatize the bird or negate it’s surroundings in any obtrusive way while still ensuring proper research is conducted to help the species later down the road (the bird has a sock over its head to keep it calm).

OK, you can imagine this happens in a short amount of time, and by all means, less time than it would take to set up lighting for all the images taken from piling out of the pickup to scurrying back and through analysis. Enter the on-camera flash. Mobility is definitely the name of the game when you employ this stick of dynamite on TOP of your camera (whether it be an internal flash or attachable speedlite). My entire mentality of handling on-camera flash is the same as it were off. Constantly check your ambient, and work with it judiciously! Luckily, this bird was taken in right after the sun had set, so the sky was a nice blue, low in value, making my flash (a 580EX gelled amber) easily controlled at low settings, saving both battery and everyone’s eyes! Controlling the power on the on-camera flash can be handled in a variety of ways, just as if it were off-camera. I tend to work in AV mode with exposure compensation dialed down a bit in order to save the ambient.

The flash does have a diffuser placed over its bulb. On-camera flash is not nearly as pleasing without this affordable device. Shadows are hard enough with it on. In my opinion, hard shadows coming from the camera axis doesn’t say much in my own photography (there are others that would undoubtedly disagree, and for good reason).

This final shot is the release of the prairie chicken. Stayton Bonner, the writer for the story we were working on, was in for a very fast treat!

I recently wrote about the current cover story for Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine (link to post here), and how we are noticing a drastic decline in Lesser Prairie Chicken populations in Texas. The story covers stewardship of land and enterprise amidst necessary renewable energy resources, as well as research that can aid in maintaining the population we do have. For some, it is a touchy subject, however, the article is a straight-on look at the big picture, and more than anything, hopefully prompts discussion and discourse on both sides of the bird’s future. All in all, it was a great story, and Stayton Bonner did a helluva job researching and writing the piece, and TPW Magazine did a great job of design!

I want to share a few more photographs from the story that couldn’t be squeezed in to print, just to give you an idea of what it was like photographing the story. This story actually took me and Stayton to McLean, Texas (northern Panhandle, east of Amarillo), to Austin. The idea of the story was to grasp all aspects of the issue, from land stewardship, to LPC research and population, to the political field in support of renewable energy, specifically in the form of wind energy.

Many a cold morning was spent in a blind before sunrise, waiting for the chickens (they’re not really chickens, rather a member of the grouse family) to fly or walk on to the leks. They are amazing creatures, and an initial thought was that they were actually much smaller than I, and I’m sure Stayton, anticipated. Nevertheless, it is pretty incredible being able to watch these animals, icons of the Plains, from relative close proximity.

When they begin their “booming,” it is nothing short of a ceremonial dance in order to win over a female. From their distinctive vocal sounding to their incessant stomping on the ground, their ritualistic parade of colors and hooplah is not like anything you’ve ever seen!

Even the way the males fight over a female is unique, even in it’s viciousness.

The culprit. A lone female posts herself higher than the males, to view their “booming,” and the battles over her that ensue.

The chickens were only part of the story, and a good part of it pertained to the human relationship with their existence. Researchers, like Blake Grisham, Nick Pirius, and Adam Bahney (second photo below), work with Texas Parks and Wildlife in order to determine LPC population health.

Heather Whitlaw, also works in conjuction with TPW and the Texas Tech University Lesser Prairie Chicken research that Blake, Nick and Adam conduct.

Jeff Haley, a cattle rancher and land steward in the Texas Panhandle, spoke of how he used to sneak up on leks in years past to watch the LPC boom, but he has not noticed much activity in recent times.

Paul Sadler, a former Texas state legislator, serves as the executive director of The Wind Coalition, a group that advocates the implementation of renewable energy producing wind turbines, yet recognizes the complex facets of the land that many turbines in Texas are being constructed upon.

Thanks again to everyone that helped make this story as significant it has become. Overall, this story serves as a good testament to a long issue of creation of habitat and co-existence, in which more than often, the right choice is made to benefit all involved!

I haven’t visited the blogosphere in a while due to some pretty exciting and unique opportunities, both photography and research-related, but I definitely had to give props to the October issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine. My good friend, Stayton Bonner, and I produced the cover story dealing with the growing wind industry and wildlife that may be affected by its production, more specifically the Lesser Prairie Chicken. The magazine produced a great spread!

This was a fantastic story to be a part of, and thanks goes to Stayton for a great job on the research and writing end, allowing me to be the eyeballs for the story! I’ll post more on the process of the story later, detailing the different shoots we went on, and how everything came together.

While you’re online, swing over to both TPW’s and Stayton’s sites to find out more information about the story and those behind it! More to come, including a how-to on Stayton’s bio shot…