Tom and I celebrate great images from workshop participants by selecting a Photo of the Month. For January we chose an image taken on our Bosque and White Sands Workshop. The image was taken by Ellie Burns-Brookens while photographing the “Blast Off” at Bosque Del Apache NWR. Ellie is a landscape photographer from Oregon who is quickly becoming a wildlife photographer as well.
Congratulations to January 2025 ‘s featured photographer – Ellie Burns-Brookens
The Story…
I don’t shoot birds very well. We had a practice session where we were just learning about our equipment. I knew I needed help getting the right settings. Steve Glass helped me get the right Canon settings. Tom did a presentation that showed us what we were looking for with birds in flight. Tom’s hints included light coming through feathers, groups of birds and specific behavious. That helped me understand the goals.
I knew that I needed to just see those situations and shoot. With landscape photography I take my time and try different compositions. The pace is much faster with wildlife photography.
We shot for quite a while that morning. I started by taking close up photos of Snow Geese. I tried to capture bird behaviour and then started working on birds that were taking off and landing.
Tom often starts yelling random things. He said “Try to get them flying through the sun”. This made no sense to me in the beginning. I was wondering “What exposure should I use?” “How do i do this?” Then I just started looking for groups of geese flying through the sun. I kept tracking them and pushing the shutter.
In this photo, I loved the silhouettes, especially the one with the tattered wing. In order for me to be successful with this king of shooting, I needed a combination of knowing when to start shooting and knowing what to looking for. Normally, I would never have shot into the sun without Tom’s hint. A tiny bit of skill, Some luck. And the right suggestion at the right time.
Now I am in Hawaii shooting albatross in flight….very hard! I feel like I know what I am looking for. The camera is behaving. I feel like I have learned a lot. It will be a long time before I feel like I am really good at it.
I am using Photo Mechanic now to go through all my new bird images. This is the least edited photo I have ever done. It was all in the camera. I added a slight vignette and brought down the highlights.
Okay…..I guess you can shoot into the sun.
EXIF Data:
Camera: Canon R6
Lens: Canon RF 100-500 at 500mm
Aperture: f7.1
Shutter: 1/1250
ISO: 100
Mode: Manual, Auto ISO
About Photographing in Bosque
I learned a lot more about wildlife photography. The last time I shot birds was in Patagonia and they were condors with 9 ft wing spans.
The colors in Bosque are stunning in the sky. You have beautiful light for the background to the wildlife.
We knew the geese and cranes would be coming to certain areas for roosting at night and take off in the morning. The ponds are managed for that. The wildlife is so abundant that you get a chance to practice a lot. There are so many behaviors to see. Combine that with incredible skies and it is just magical.
I didn’t realize the Sandhill Cranes were so colorful. They are quirky birds that make weird gestures. They move their necks in funny ways. They are very different from other birds that I have photographed.
I love the feeling and the noise when all the cranes come in at once. You can hear them coming from a long way off. It is very exciting. I didn’t think bird photography would be so exciting.
About Photographing in New Mexico
I loved photographing in White Sands. It felt a lot like photographing in the Palouse. I practiced looking for shape and light. This was different for me as a landscape photographer. I was looking forward to that.
I did a workshop in the Palouse and for the first few days I could not see it. I could not see the shapes and lines. This came back to me when we were in White Sands. I was always looking for beautiful opportunities with layers and V shapes. Intersecting lines and curves. The intersecting layers reached all the way to the mountains and it was so pretty.
The other thing that was available was finding a single standout subject, like the yucca, to contrast to the sea of shapes and color. I tried to keep it very simplistic. I used my telephoto and made sure I had just a few layers in the foreground. I put the yucca on the right on purpose to balance out the hills on the left.
Ellie’s Tips for Photographing in New Mexico
Tip 1
Go with Tom and Cree. They know the locations and the bird behavior. It is the perfect workshop to learn to shoot birds in flight. I could never have done it on my own. I knew what to look for and had plenty of time to practice in the field.
Tip 2
I was amazed at the colors. I love lenticular clouds. I have never seen a bright orange lenticular cloud like that before. In White Sands, the sand reflects the beautiful color of the clouds. I don’t know of any other place where the light is like the light in New Mexico.
Tip 3
These are great locations for trying new creative techniques. Sometimes you get stuck in a photography rut and want to be more creative. These are great places to try thinking differently. Shoot flying things flying through the sun. Shooting shapes and simplicity in the dunes. This workshop got me jazzed up again. I am inspired to try more new things.
On Ellie’s Horizon:
Iceland
Botswana – first time to Africa
Ireland and Scotland
Orkney and Shetland Islands
What’s coming up?
Happy Hour: All About Aurora – Join Tom and Cree for a free online presentation on photographing the Aurora. February 11 at 6 pm MST Denver time. Click here to ask for the link
Where are Tom and Cree? We are headed to Finland for a Northern Lights Workshop and then on to Baja to photograph whales with a group. Both temperature extremes on these two workshops
Workshop Openings? Interested in photographing whales and iceburgs in Greenland? One space just opened in August. We also have openings for Costa Rica and Spring Warblers in 2025.
We are headed back to Bosque and White Sands in 2027. Just 2 spaces available.
We hope you are enjoying some winter photography where ever you are!
Tom and Cree
