On the Black Grouse Lek - part 2

Three months... yes, three months! I can't believe I left so much time pass between part one and part two of this post! What a shame... :(

               24mm f/5.0 1/100sec ISO800 +3.33

Anyway, I am going to show you now probably the most interesting part of the courtship, the actual fights.

While the mating display I told you about in the previous part continues for most of the time, once in a while a more serious action takes place, especially when females come to visit the lek.

               560mm f/5.6 1/1250sec ISO800 +1.33

               560mm f/5.6 1/500sec ISO3200 +0.67

               560mm f/5.6 1/500sec ISO3200 +0.67

               400mm f/6.3 1/640sec ISO6400 +0.67

The confrontations go from just facing each other without really "attacking", to jumping towards the adversary trying to find an opening.

               400mm f/5.6 1/1600sec ISO1250 +1.33

And then... ATTACK!

               400mm f/5.6 1/640sec ISO640 +0.67

               400mm f/5.0 1/400sec ISO3200 +0.67

               400mm f/6.3 1/400sec ISO3200 +0.67

Everything is very fast and it's quite difficult to clearly see what's happening in those few seconds. Only when I look at the pictures, later, after coming back home, I can see the drama of the action, the fierce look and the strength the birds put in the fight. Feathers fly in the air and for a short but very intense time, the two birds fight in the air, almost as if they were dancing.

               400mm f/6.3 1/1000sec ISO2000 +1

               400mm f/5.6 1/1250sec ISO800 +1.33

               400mm f/5.6 1/1250sec ISO800 +1.33

               400mm f/5.0 1/400sec ISO3200 +0.67

               400mm f/5.0 1/400sec ISO3200 +0.67

Shots have been taken throughout a period of four days, in different weather, as you can see from the colors and the light conditions.

               400mm f/7.1 1/800sec ISO2500 +0.67

               400mm f/5.6 1/800sec ISO2500 +0.67

And then, suddenly, everybody fly away... a small bird of prey arrived in the distance... better be far, you never know. It was almost time, anyway, for the birds to stop their mating activity for the day.

               722mm f/8.0 1/320sec ISO6400 -0.67

The four days spent photographing these beautiful birds have been an awesome experience that I hope to repeat one day. If you enjoyed the shots, you might enjoy also the story I published on MAPTIA:

https://maptia.com/frazgu64/stories/fight-dance

The Moulton Barn

I couldn't visit one more time the Grand Teton area without stopping to take a shot at one of the most photographed landmarks in the USA. It's been photographed thousands of times and pics of this barn are published in books, calendars, postcards and appear multiple times on the web. It is said to be the most photographed barn in America and has become a symbol for the nearby town.

The Moulton barn is not very far from Jackson, Wyoming, driving towards Grand Teton National Park and taking a right on Antelope Flats Road, until you cross Mormon Row. Everything started when Thomas Alma Moulton settled in that area in 1912 to work the land, and soon family members joined and a small complex of buildings where built around Mormon Row.

There isn't only one Moulton barn, and actually the one I photographed is not the most famous of the two, but I only made it shooting this... a good excuse to go back for the other one!

I drove there with Denise in the middle of the day, to see where the place was and we took a few shots, but of course the time and light were not the best ones. So I decided to go back at dawn for a more classical scenario. 

I left the lodge early, when it was still pretty dark, but I noticed the Tetons were covered by low clouds... "Not good" I thought, "the background will not be ideal", but then I thought clouds were good to make the photo more interesting and I hoped they would rise at least a little by the time the sun arrived.

I got to Mormon Row more or less 15 minutes before dawn, when ten/fifteen photographers were already setting up their tripods, studying the best composition while waiting for the sun to rise over the horizon. The Tetons were visible through the clouds, so the situation was not too bad. I wasn't thinking of finding the definite shot, something different from all the others... first of all because the barn had been photographed so many times that that was almost impossible and secondly because I kind of preferred the classic composition that's chosen most of the times. But interestingly enough, while waiting for the sun, I thought of taking a shot opposite to everybody else and I photographed the barn against the rising sun. We can discuss about it being a good choice or not and if that is a good photo of the barn, rather than just a dawn shot, but I like what came out, and it is certainly different from the majority of the shots out there.

               24mm f/20 1/60sec ISO 100

After walking back to the "proper"spot – not to miss the golden moment and not to make all the other photographers mad because I would have been in their pictures ruining the shot – I took different pics until the sun was lighting the whole area.

               28mm f7.1 1/500sec ISO 100 +0.33

               32mm f7.1 1/125sec ISO 100 +0.33

               24mm f7.1 1/200sec ISO 100 +1

               Panorama shot done with Photomerge in Photoshop CC 2015, stitching 6 pics

               35mm f7.1 1/200sec ISO 100 +0.33


It's been a great experience and a lot of fun. Can't wait to get back!