Chris Kayler Photography

I headed out mid-day today under overcast skies to try and photograph some Great Blue Herons at Great Falls National Park, Virginia. By the time I got there, the sun was out casting harsh light on everything, and not a single Great Blue Heron was within sight! Maybe it was too hot, and they went up into the shady trees to relax for the afternoon.

For now, I’m going to share another image from my trip to Blackrock Summit in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia in late June. The sunrise was relatively cloudless and non-dramatic, but as the sun rose over the top of a distant ridge, it cast beautiful pink morning light upon the flat faces of the many boulders atop Blackrock Summit, including one particularly large and photogenic rock, which I made the “subject” of my photograph.

To order this print or purchase stock rights please contact me. To view additional photos for sale please visit my website at www.chriskaylerphotography.com

Whew, sorry for being away so long guys. I have no good excuse, except that I’ve been in some sort of photography funk, and haven’t been up to getting out to photograph, or to post on my blog. When I started this blog, I told myself that I needed to commit to it. “Do it well or don’t do it at all”. These past few weeks I haven’t kept up with that promise, and I’m planning to change that from here on out and make some worthwhile posts about what I’ve been up to.

I haven’t photographed anything new lately, but I can share another image from my previous trip to Great Falls National Park. By sitting down at the edge of the river, I was able to obtain this low angle view of a juvenile Great Blue Heron standing on a rock in front of a waterfall with the warm light of sunrise being cast upon him. In this image, I really like the warm light, as well as the turbulent waters falling in the background.

To order this print or purchase stock rights please contact me. To view additional photos for sale please visit my website at www.chriskaylerphotography.com

Hi everyone,

My sincere apologies for not having any new entries over the past, well, week. I’ve been busy training for my new job at REI, and while I could have been out shooting a bit, I just haven’t been up to it lately. I’m feeling the need to get back out there again, so, with any amount of luck, I’ll hopefully have some new images to show soon. I’m about to leave for a training seminar in 20 minutes today, so I won’t be showing any new (old) images. Maybe tomorrow. Thanks for the patience!

First off, some good news. I applied for a job at REI some time ago and yesterday was offered a job as a sales specialist in the camping department, which was my most desired position. REI is an outdoor recreational retail store that sells lots of high quality gear from bikes, to kayaks, to camping, clothing, and everything in between. I have 4 days of staff training this weekend, and can’t wait to begin working there.

Now, onto the good stuff! This image was taken several weeks ago at Great Falls National Park, Maryland. As I was sitting motionless on the banks of the Potomac, photographing Great Blue Herons that were generally quite far away, this juvenile Great Blue Heron flew in and landed on a rock that was quite close to me. As you can see, the rock was surrounded by moving water, which created a pretty ideal situation. Additionally, the sky was beginning to glow orange with sunset colors, adding some unique orange reflections.

To order this print or purchase stock rights please contact me. To view additional photos for sale please visit my website at www.chriskaylerphotography.com

Well, I’m back from a great weekend in Upstate New York. It was awesome getting to see all my relatives at the big family reunion. We even started up a kickball game with 20+ kids. It was a posse! I had a lot of fun, but didn’t have time to photograph anything. For now, I’ll be showing some more images from my trip(s) to Great Falls National Park, Maryland. This particular image is becoming a favorite of mine. The light was rather intense for the blurred water effect I was going for, so I put on a neutral density filter that enabled me to block the majority of light and decrease my shutter speed. Additionally, this allowed me to obtain an image that had slow shutter speed characteristics, as well as dramatic, strong lighting. In this image, I like the way the Great Blue Heron stands out against the dark, shadowed background, as well as the waterfall in the background and the wave crashing against the rock.

To order this print or purchase stock rights please contact me. To view additional photos for sale please visit my website at www.chriskaylerphotography.com

I’ve been working on my stock gallery for the upcoming version of my website lately, and came across this image that I hadn’t processed yet. This photograph of a male Tree Swallow sitting on a branch was taken outside of a nest box in Brandywine Creek State Park, Pennsylvania. Tree Swallows are really cool birds, and always a favorite of mine to photograph. I like the patterned-yet-diffused background in this image.

As a bit of side news, I’ll be leaving today for a weekend in Upstate New York for a family reunion. I’m not sure how much photography I’ll be able to do, but I will be back on Monday. Take care, everyone.

To order this print or purchase stock rights please contact me. To view additional photos for sale please visit my website at www.chriskaylerphotography.com

Yesterday morning I decided to take another trip to Great Falls National Park, Maryland. Early in the morning, the Great Blue Herons were very active flying around and catching fish. In previous visits, an injured heron always fished in this particular location. The setting was great, but the obvious injury made the heron less photogenic. This morning, however, a new guy was trying his luck. I was able to get many images of him, using both fast shutter speeds (as seen here), and slow shutter speeds to blur the water. I really like the way the water seems to be exploding outward from behind him, as if a tsunami is about to crash over his perch. I’m always amazed when I see the herons effortlessly standing and walking through the shallow sections of these class 5 rapids. Must be those skinny legs!

To order this print or purchase stock rights please contact me. To view additional photos for sale please visit my website at www.chriskaylerphotography.com

No new image for today, but I did want to pass along some good news. Two of my images of Northern Gannets are currently published in the July 08′ issue of Delaware Beach Life. The photos accompany an article on the large groups of Northern Gannets that move into the Delaware Bay during late winter. If you have access to the magazine, pick up a copy and have a look!

The 2 images in the magazine are the following …

To order this print or purchase stock rights please contact me. To view additional photos for sale please visit my website at www.chriskaylerphotography.com

So, as luck would have it, I went out to Great Falls again yesterday, with the intention of photographing sunset, but instead having a ton of luck with the Great Blue Herons. I can’t complain! Instead of heading to their roosts like during my previous visit, the herons stayed out in the river fishing until after sunset. In this image, one of the Great Blue Herons is standing on a rock in front of a nice 20 ft+ waterfall, defending his space against another Great Blue Heron that had just flew in. In my typical favorite fashion of photographing the herons, I used a slow shutter speed to capture the water blurring by as they remain motionless.

To order this print or purchase stock rights please contact me. To view additional photos for sale please visit my website at www.chriskaylerphotography.com

Yesterday afternoon I decided to take a trip to my lovely little local spot, Great Falls National Park, Virginia. The day was completely sunny and cloudless, so I went with the intention of photograph the group of Great Blue Herons that hang out hunting for fish among the rapids. As it would turn out, the herons stopped hunting at around 6:00PM and went to go roost for the night in trees along the banks. With my plan for photographing the Great Blue Herons ruined, I decided to change gears and shoot some abstract images of the various rapids. With the rapids in shade, and the sun still shining brightly on the cliff opposite of my position, the water picked up hints of orange and yellow in its reflection. Tied in with the reflection of the blue sky overhead, I found the overall color scheme very pleasing. Often times, photographing abstracts in less than perfect conditions (for other types of photography) saves the day and enables me to come home with some great images.

To order this print or purchase stock rights please contact me. To view additional photos for sale please visit my website at www.chriskaylerphotography.com

This one is a bit different for me. It was taken the same morning as my other sunrise image from Blackrock Summit, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia. The original inspiration for the photograph was the extreme side lighting showing the contours of the mountain ridges and the rough texture of the foreground rocks. I later decided to simplify things and convert the image to black and white. I won’t say much more than that so as not to influence your opinion; but I would love people to stop in and comment. Tell me if you like it overall, and what you like or don’t like about it. Thanks!

To order this print or purchase stock rights please contact me. To view additional photos for sale please visit my website at www.chriskaylerphotography.com