Montana Photo

Great Blue Heron. © Jason Savage

Out paddling at the Holding Reservoir near Helena last night, I was glad to see the Blue Heron Rookery busy and lots of new babies. The Canada Geese have also hatched some of their young and they were busy with the cute little ones around the lake.

This time of year is great to be out with no Mosquitoes  and quiet traffic on the water. Now with the weather improving, it’s a great time for a paddle.

Canada Goose Eggs. © Jason Savage

Helena Holding Reservoir. © Jason Savage

Helena Sunset. © Jason Savage

Here’s a pic taken near sundown yesterday just outside of Helena. With our new addition in our family, my schedule seems to be a bit wacky lately and I’m finding myself sneaking in my photos where I can get them. I seem to be becoming more of a nocturnal photographer this last week or two, which goes nicely with not sleeping:) I have also discovered my long neglected friend caffeine again and hopefully I’ll be able to trudge my way through some more blog postings.

Seriously though, life is good, spring is here, and I’m excited to see what this summer has in store for Montana. Hope everyone is getting out and enjoying our 70+ weather and getting some good pics!

Today and yesterday I’ve had the oportunity to photograph one of my coolest subjects in the whole world! Our little girl Maelle Katherine Savage was born yesterday morning and we our so grateful for our new addition to the family. My new photo assignment for the week is of course lots of baby photos! We are having a ton of fun and of course no sleep, but that’s the norm anyhow;)

Stay tuned as we roll into spring for some new photos from around Montana. As for the next few weeks, I will be hanging out at home with our wonderful little girl.

Glacier National Park. © Jason Savage

The Montana 2010 Photography Workshops that I will be teaching are now posted under the Classes & Workshops section on my website at www.jasonsavagephotography.com. This year should be a blast as I will be hosting the workshops in some of my favorite locations around Montana. Last year we had some great folks on the workshops and some excellent photography. Thanks to all of last years students for making my job a real pleasure and look forward to seeing you out there this year! Here’s a few pics from last years workshops.

Fall Road/Seeley Lake Workshop. © Jason Savage

Rocky Mountain Front/Rocky Mountain Front Workshop. © Jason Savage

Montana Capitol/Historic Helena Workshop. © Jason Savage

Black Bear/Glacier National Park Workshop.© Jason Savage

Historic Reenactor/Historic Helena Workshop. © Jason Savage

Wild Goose Island/Glacier National Park Workshop. © Jason Savage

Snow Geese. © Jason Savage

Had an opportunity to sneak up to Freezeout Lake this last weekend and check out the Snow Geese situation. Not bad for the Snow Geese, I think we we’re right around 50,000-60,000 by estimates from officials in the area. The swans were coming in also. Their numbers looked pretty decent and no problem finding some to photograph. However, the duck numbers were way down from last year. The pintail count was down considerably, especially from  the banner year they had in 2009. I was chatting with local wildlife photograper Don Jones, and he expressed his frustration with the low number of ducks compared to what we usually get this time of year. He’s been photographing Freezeout for the last twenty-something years and certainly knows his stuff here.
However even with the low duck numbers not all was lost. The Snow Geese and Swans were looking good and the weather has for the most part been pretty good. The ice should be off the lake by now and temps for this week are in the high 50′s and lots of sunshine.

Next weekend and the following should be kick-butt if you can make it up. After that it’s close to over for the migration stop over. Listening to some of the locals like Mike Schwitters, a Choteau resident,Air Force Retiree and highly respected authority on Geese, each year is certainly different from the next, but no doubt it’s always an impressive sight to behold. Since retiring, Mike has devoted his time and followed his passion, studying geese all around the world, contributing his knowledge and sharp eye to researchers home and abroad. You will usually see him out there leading different groups to view the birds. He is definitely the authority when it comes to wanting to know anything about Freezeout and the birds that frequent this special place in Montana.

If you have time to check it out before it’s over,  you won’t be disappointed! Freezeout Lake Info 406-467-2646

Snow Geese. © Jason Savage

Reeder’s Alley. © Jason Savage

Here’s a shot of Reeders Alley from yesterday evening. It’s an area of Helena that still retains some of the Gold Rush history that founded and built Helena from the ground up. These buildings were created by Pennsylvania Stone Mason, Louis Reeder, during the 1870′s. Reeder came to Helena during the prospecting hey-day looking for oppurtunity and began purchasing land around the gold camps. He soon began construcuction on some of these now historic buildings that now provide a window to Montana’s Gold Rush.

If your visiting Helena, it’s worth checking out.

25K. ©Jason Savage

I was visiting the town of West Yellowstone yesterday amongst the hundreds of others who were competing in the annual Yellowstone Rendezvous Ski Race. Racers come from all over to compete and some as far from Alaska were there.

The atmosphere is definitely festive as skiiers from all age groups compete in different length races. The 2k race which features ages 6-9 was fun to watch as the kids were detemined and full of energy to get underway. Lots of fun to watch.

Helena’s own Randy Beckner finished 16 out of 130 in the Men’s 50K freestyle(Way to go Randy!). Bozeman’s Leif Zimmerman took first with a time of 2:13:02.3. To see the rest of the results in all races you can visit at the Yellowstone Rendezvous Ski Race Results page.

If you are interested in this race it’s open to all levels, pros and beginners alike. It’s one way to sign off on the end of winter in one of Montana’s longstanding traditions.

Little Bison Racer 2K. © Jason Savage

Classic Skiing. © Jason Savage

25K Classic. © Jason Savage

Missouri River. © Jason Savage

If you happen to be in Western Montana lately, you may have noticed that there’s almost some sort of  spring like thing happening here. The snow is melting quickly and we are now above freezing!

It should be noted that our warm up and melting snow happened to coincide with my purchase of a new set of cross country skis. So you can thank the Murphy’s Law Gods for this one! Oh well, the spring like weather is still awesome.

When I say “spring like” I am however referring to temperatures in the 40ish’s . So it’s not like the flowers are blooming just yet. Although you’d think they were judging from people’s behavior yesterday. The sun was out and it had warmed up to 35 and people were out on their motorcycles cruising around town!

Crazy. But this being Montana, we still have March and some of April to go, so who knows I may still get some skiing in if I’m lucky…

Missouri River. © Jason Savage

Sled Dog. © Jason Savage

Montana’s 350 mile sled dog race got off to an exciting start on Saturday with warm temps and some anxious dogs. Race to the Sky is Montana’s premier winter event highlighting some of the country’s top mushers and is a qualifier for the Iditarod race in Alaska.

The race’s official start is near Rimini just outside of Helena. This year the weather was much warmer than previous races and by the afternoon it was blue sky and sunshine. This of course kept the Racers having to constantly monitor their dogs for overheating. Overall though, the course was in good shape and riders were in high spirits.

You can check the stats of the race at The Race to the Sky  homepage.

That’s it for now, here’s to more snow and a couple more months left of winter!

On the Trail. © Jason Savage

Sled. © Jason Savage

Sled Dog. © Jason Savage

Sled Dogs. © Jason Savage

Mallard Drake. © Jason Savage

Thought I would post a few pics of our local Mallards here in Helena. I think if someone can photograph birds in flight, they can photograph just about anything! These guys are hard to track and always keep you on your toes, especially when they come dive bombing in for a landing. I don’t consider myself that much of a wildlife photographer, but I do enjoy photographing birds in flight as it’s not only challenging, but very exciting when there’s some action.

If you do get into bird photography, it helps to have a longer lens and something in the 400-500mm+ range. Not only that, but with today’s newer cameras incorporating some amazing auto focus tracking technology, your odds of sharp photos has never been better. But beyond the equipment, it helps to get out there, day-in and day-out, getting used to anticipating their movements, studying behavior and getting in the habit of following a fast moving subject.

Mallards on Ice. © Jason Savage

Mallards. © Jason Savage

Mallard Drake Landing. © Jason Savage

Mallard Hen. © Jason Savage