Scott Grothe Photography

I knew it had been quite a while since posting anything on my photography page, but I was surprised it's been since June 20th. I've been busy with other things, usually fishing and camping. However, I have gotten out with the camera during that time too.

What you see below are some images from a few of many summer and fall trips to the Wallowa Mtns., elk camp, and the South Fork of the Snake River. Per usual, the pics are best viewed on your full screen. Enjoy.

Deb & I, along with a couple of friends were able to spend a day in Yellowstone during a recent trip to northeast Idaho. We saw nine bears while driving the northern loop road in the park, including a couple of cubs. We were hoping to, but never saw any wolves during this trip. However, we did see Bison, Elk, deer, Bighorn Sheep, Sandhill Cranes and a handful of eagles too. Below are a few of the better shots of the day.

The last photo, the one of the three Bighorn Sheep I thought was rather amusing. It's a great example of a good composition, with a not-so photogenic subject at that particular time. However, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder"...right? I'm sure I have the same disheveled look some days.

Enjoy.

I spent four nights solo camping, fishing and just chilling on Billy Shaw Reservoir on the Duck Valley Indian Reservation on the Idaho/Nevada boarder a couple of weeks ago. Great place to shake off the cabin fever. Of course, I brought the camera along for a few hikes and rides in the kayak. The reservation sees incredible numbers of migratory birds pass through in the spring and fall. As a result, it can also be quite the noisy place with all the calling for mates going on. It's a great way to test your bird identification knowledge and memory. The reservation is often very windy, especially in the afternoons this time of year, but not for this trip. The winds were mostly non-existent and the temperatures were great. The fishing was good too!

The glassy water can make for some great reflective bird images. You've just got to be patient to get close, even with a long lens I found this Western Grebe image particularly interesting with its extended neck reflection playing off the rippling water and the color variations on the surface. A group of us are heading back there for Memorial Weekend.

Dang, I see FB won't allow for an overly tall & skinny pic that shows all the reflection.

Audience participation time...

When I shot the previous color sea stack image below I thought it might look better as a black & white/fine art pic.

Thoughts?

Still processing my Oregon Coast images from last week's trip. Below is a Siletz Bay sea stack landscape photo.

Still processing photos from an Oregon Coast Trip with Deb on her Spring Break. However, below is a critter I don't get to photograph very often living in Idaho.

I find myself easily mesmerized watching the wave action along the rocky coast. This particular spot was doubly entertaining with Harbor Seals hunting for fish and other aquatic prey in a really rough shore break during a rising tide. The seals frequently surfaced nearby for a very quick breath before diving again. I shot waves, sunsets and played games of "Photographer's Wack-A-Seal" trying to shoot images of these graceful swimmers.

This particular day might have been a record for me standing in one place, at least with a camera...7 plus hours. Time flies when you're mesmerized.

So, you might have seen my general page "teaser" last week. I was hanging out with my camera near a Bald Eagle nest a hour north of Boise. What follows is how that day played out.

Friends tipped me off that there were a couple of eagles actively nesting in the area. So, it was a good day to sit my arse in a snowbank along the South Fork of the Payette River. I also got to dig out my snowshoes for the trip to the location. The air was cold but the winds were light, so the temps warmed nicely as the partly cloudy morning progressed.

The first two and a half hours at my island location were a bit slow except for the "Rumble in the River" fight between two male Canada Geese over a female and/or a nesting spot. That goose brawl was more intense than I'd ever seen before. They could have sold tickets to the bout, although it wasn't real photogenic from my angle. I did take a few shots of the experience, nonetheless.

Later in the morning the female eagle on the nest was needing a break from incubating her eggs and began calling for her mate. Her calls were going unanswered so she took to the air a few different times, circling the area, keeping a protective eye on their nest while looking for pappy. She made numerous passes by my snowy butt, giving me several photo ops before the male finally showed up.

The pair circled together for several minutes before the female left in search of sustenance and some "me time". The male circled a bit longer before taking his place on the eggs. This was great for a few more aerial images.

As I mentioned last week, I shot 1,500+ images. After deleting the bad ones, setting aside those that were so so, and saving a few of the geese fighting pics, I had around 400 photos to get real picky with. Of the 50 ish that survived my "eye", five eagle shots made it here, and onto my website at www.scottgrothephotography.com . I threw in a goose fighting pic here to share, as well.

I hope you enjoy viewing them as much as I enjoyed capturing them.

Have a great day and weekend!

It's been a few weeks since I've posted anything here. Been after a couple of mink I've seen along a local river. Just haven't gotten any post-worthy images of them. However, I did have this Yellow-bellied Marmot (also known as a Rockchuck) show up briefly where I've been seeing mink on occasion. The adults of this species are about the size of an adult male mink (two feet long with the tail), but with a heavier body. It's weather-watching cousin, is the Woodchuck, or ground hog.

Yellow-bellied Marmots aren't often seen in the winter. They're usually hibernating well into March. This one hung around for a few pictures for about five minutes this day. As you can see, they blend in pretty well, especially with the dull browns and grays of winter. I was glad to see it...warmed up my frozen backside a bit from sitting in a riverside snowbank for three hours waiting for Mr. Mink.

Hope everyone is surviving the winter. I understand we're in for a few more weeks of it.

I was shooting a Great Grey Owl last week that eventually seemed to be done hunting for the morning. If you watch them enough, you can tell when they're going to roost for a few hours. They usually perch closer in towards the trunk of a tree, likely for protection from other larger birds of prey. Their heads seem to settle back on their shoulders a bit. Their chin/throat feathers start to protrude somewhat in an Alfred Hitchcock sort of way. They often do a bit of preening, but eventually their eyelids get droopy before shutting for a while if left undisturbed. This owl seemed to be headed in that direction, so I kept my distance. I was waiting for its eyes to go dim when I was distracted by some nearby Mule Deer.

I frequently see deer in this area and typically ignore them (I see deer all the time), and they pretty much ignore me. Today was different. This group of does and fawns seemed to be taunting me, teasing me to take their picture. I'd go so far as to say they were making a game of it. I was out in the open shooting the owl, not sneaking around or trying to hide. I was just watching things.

I decided to quit with the owl and take up this "game". I figured, OK, let's try to capture something other than a generic portrait deer shot. I stayed out in the open, walking slowly, but not trying to deceive the deer of my intentions. They continued to move in and out of the denser brush mocking and teasing me, only 30 to 40 yards away.

Well, these "dude, take my picture looks" weren't getting me the shot I wanted. So, I switched to "hunt mode", got sneeky, used the terrain and brush for cover trying for a better composition. However, when I switched modes, the deer did too, almost immediately. They went into their "being hunted mode". I've seen this "hunted" behavior plenty while bowhunting, you know, behave like a predator, get treated like a predator. That nature's way thing. As such, those Mule Deer eyes, ears, and nose usually detect me before I see them.

Today, it was all good. In the end, I enjoyed the morning. I got my atypical deer portrait. The dried blades of grass made is so. The deer got me to play their game. They never did run off or snort their warning calls. I even thought I heard them laughing as I headed back to the truck. I imagine we all were thinking no two days out in the woods and mountains are ever the same.

Hope you enjoyed the story and atypical Mule Deer portrait.

It's Great Gray Owl time! These birds are a "hoot" to shoot. As a species, Great Grays are very photogenic and tolerant of people as long as you approach slowly and watch for stress indicators. Once they are aware that you're in the area and not acting like a predator sneaking up on them, they seldom look at you but a second or two at a time on occasion. I feel fortunate that their tolerance and continued hunting behavior has paid off with the images you see here and on my website at www.scottgrothephotography.com .

Enjoy.

Interesting thing happened a week ago when I was hunkered down in the snow, brush and cold along the Boise River. I've been trying to shoot images of diving kingfishers for a couple of years now. This particular morning I was trying again. What makes this shoot somewhat difficult is that kingfishers are usually very wary of people, especially if you stop walking in their vicinity. However, if you find where one habitually hunts, then sit still (wearing camo helps) and wait, they'll sometimes show up in the next hour or four.

I was playing the waiting game for Mr. Kingfisher when a mink popped out of the brush along the icy riverbank. I quickly changed a few camera settings and started shooting the mink. As I was doing this, an unseen kingfisher dove into the river no more than 15 feet from the mink which also then dove into the river. I never saw the mink again, but the kingfisher had caught a fish and flew up to a nearby branch where it eventually ate its meal.

So, I got a few good shots out of it all, but yet again, missed the diving kingfisher part. Oh well, I'll try again soon. Who knows what else will show up while I'm waiting in the snow, brush and cold. It's been fun.

Enjoy the images AND Happy Holidays Everyone!!!

Dippers aren't the most colorful birds, but their feeding behavior is pretty cool. They "fly" around underwater in search of mostly aquatic insects. Photographing them was a blast. You've got to be pretty quick on the shutter button since they don't hold still very long, literally a second. Here's a few shots from a morning shoot a couple of weeks ago along the South Fork of the Snake River.

Enjoy.

Here's a couple of more rising rainbows. There's just something about these...I don't see them very often. Enjoy.

Deb & I joined a couple of friends in south central Idaho a few weeks ago. Had a great day on Silver Creek photographing a few moose and rising rainbow trout. The moose got incredibly close to me...15 yards a couple of times. That was too close for comfort. As for the trout, I now know that shooting them isn't as easy as you'd think it would be. Spooking the fish, dealing with reflections, and having the water surface fool the focusing are a few of the issues I had to overcome. Good problem solving fun though. And, I never got out the fishing gear, which was very rare for me.

You can see more of my images on my website at

www.scottgrothephotography.com
or
www.naturephotographyworks.com

Click on the photos to view the entire images.

Spent some time in central Idaho this September. Got a few challenging shots of moose over several outings. I saw lots of them. The challenge was to get images of them separated from their background to make the moose "pop" in the photos. Willows and other terrain features severely limited my shot options (hence the fence post extending out of the bull's head), at least during the best light. I should also mention that bull moose are also looking to breed this time of year. They won't have much patience for us "intruders".

I also captured a sunrise and sunset from similar vantage points. Unfortunately, neither instance had any cloud cover to create a more interesting sky. Which one do you like best?

A few weeks ago a couple of buddies and I did a float, fish and camp trip on the South Fork of the Snake River. Since we were on the river for 6 days, I brought my camera gear. We saw a lot of wildlife which I photographed. I thought the lighting was a bit harsh. So, I didn't add anything to my website portfolio. However, I thought I'd share some of them here. Enjoy.

I finished processing a bunch of Teton & Yellowstone National Park Grizzly Bear photos. I've published four of them in the Wildlife Section on my website at

www.scottgrothephotography.com

The image below is of a female bear (also called a sow) known as "Blondie" in Teton Park. She had three new cubs when she emerged from her den this past Spring. Unfortunately, a few days after I took my images, a male grizzly (called a boar) seen in the same area was suspected of killing the cubs one night. Blondie has been seen several times since that night, but without her cubs.

It's common for boars to kill cubs. In fact, roughly half of all 1st-year cub mortality is attributed to boar attacks. Two theories for this behavior are that males are reducing future competition for prey, mates, and territories AND a sow that loses her cubs in the first Spring/Summer will usually come into heat and breed that same Fall. Sows with cubs typically breed every two years not one since the cubs will stay with the mother into their second Summer.

Yep, nature can be cruel.

This pic isn't portfolio worthy because of the branch on the left, but Bald Eagles look so badass and menacing. Thought I'd share this one anyhow.

Bit of natural history and trivia here. Yep, Bald Eagles take fish and waterfowl, but they also scavenge on carcasses of other predator kills, like the prey of bears, wolves, etc. Their calls and screams aren't so menacing. In fact, Hollywood will often dub in the screams of Red-tailed Hawks for Bald Eagles in movie scenes.

I guess it's possible to shoot too many Bald Eagle images. Trouble is they're so darn photogenic...

I was recently camping and fishing on a nearby river with a friend who showed me an alternative method of catching fish. I got to admit, that was a nice Brown Trout.

You can see this image and more by clicking on the link to my photography website above, or go to www.scottgrothephotography.com or www.naturephotographyworks.com.

I've done a bunch of photo processing from the trip Deb & I took to the Oregon Coast at the end of March. There are more images to come from that trip.

To check out those images and others on my website you can click on the button above. You can also click on either link immediately below to get to my same photography website.

www.scottgrothephotography.com

www.naturephotographyworks.com

Hope you enjoy the views!

Never got hit by any sneaker waves or spray this trip. However, I did get a few good shots to hopefully add to the website. We'll see as I look through and process the roughly 2,000 images I took during this trip.

Deb & I are heading to the Oregon Coast tomorrow for her spring break...several days of whale watching, fresh seafood, photography, poking around, etc. Must remember to look out for those "sneaker waves". They are apparently real. At least they were last year. This one was a soaker.

Osprey Diving on a Bald Eagle. The territories of these two raptors overlapped last year during the nesting season. The osprey was often diving on the eagle, often trying to steal a fish meal.

For those of you who have already liked my Scott Grothe Photography page, Thanks! If you have liked or seen my photography page, please do. The "Shop..." button above takes you to my NaturePhotographyWorks/ScottGrothePhotography website.

Thanks for liking this page and perusing my website images!!!