Blog

Pelicans in Indiana? Who knew?

Mar 28, 2023

As a nature and wildlife photographer, I am always seeking new adventures and opportunities to capture the beauty of nature through my lens. Recently, I had the privilege of photographing the American White Pelican at Brookville Lake in Indiana. It was an unexpected experience that, once again,...

Sandhill Cranes of Brookville Lake

Mar 13, 2023

Rather than my traditional stomping grounds in Florida, I wintered over in Indiana this year. Thankfully, it was a mild winter, considering I live in an RV. Other than some minor issues with frozen water lines in the belly of the RV, I stayed very comfortable inside my home on wheels. Not far...

Looking Back Over 10 Years

Feb 15, 2022

In preparation for a short eBook I’m creating, I was taking stock of what I’ve been doing over the past 10 years. I was kind of surprised by some of my accomplishments since 2011. I never realized that I had been so productive. In the past 10 years, I have acquired and read...

Wood Stork Catches Crab

Oct 24, 2020

It's a bad day to be a tiny crab. This young wood stork is about to have a crab dinner at St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge. I know it's a young wood stork because it still has feathers on the neck and head. This is what I would call a sketch image. I want to try to get something similar in...

Wood Storks of St. Marks

Oct 13, 2020

A little over a year ago, I was photographing brown pelicans at St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge. A half mile away, I saw a large bird sitting atop a small, dead tree. Through my lens, it vaguely looked like a stork but I wasn’t sure. I did some research and discovered that wood storks...

Pretty in Pink

Oct 09, 2020

I discovered these Roseate Spoonbills in the freshwater marshes in several areas of St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge. Until two weeks ago, I had never seen or heard of the Roseate Spoonbill. I'm assuming they have always been around but my timing was not right until this year. Like the...

Gator Hoping For Handouts

Oct 08, 2020

Had an incredible day out shooting today. Tracked down some wildlife I've been searching for over the past year. Will tell the full story as soon as I sort through 700 images, make selections, and process the images. For now, here's a nice photo of an alligator. Just a little guy, about four...

Pinky - American Flamingo of St. Marks

Oct 07, 2020

I found this American Flamingo hanging out at St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge in north Florida. I have never seen a wild flamingo this far north, and according to everything I've read, this bird is outside of its normal territory. Are the flamingos migrating further north due to global...

Baby Gators Sunning

Oct 06, 2020

I spent the day photographing wildlife at St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge in Florida and stumbled upon this pod of baby gators sunning themselves on a log. Mom was about 10 feet away keeping an eye on them. Okay, she was more than likely keeping an eye on me. This photo was taken with the...

So Long Digital Photography Mastery

Feb 09, 2020

After much thought and consideration, I decided to discontinue using the name Digital Photography Mastery for my website. Going forward, my blog is simply my name, Wes Gibson – Travel and Wildlife Photographer with the web address of wesgibson.com. This is actually the third name for...

The Best Laid Plans

Nov 21, 2019

Last night’s attempt at photographing the Alpha Monocerotids meteor shower was a dismal failure. Also known as the Unicorn Meteor Shower, the shower was predicted by experts to be a rare and spectacular event, lighting up the sky with hundreds of meteors in a very brief hour-long window. I...

May They Rust In Peace

Oct 26, 2019

Back in the trees, near the Forgotten Coast, just off Highway 319, south of Crawfordville, Florida, rests a collection of rusty Ford trucks and cars. With Mother Nature trying to reclaim the vehicles for her own, they’re easy to miss if not vigilant. Lined up in chronological...

On The Road Again

Sep 02, 2019

The summer months are coming to an end and I’m back on the road again. Of course, I have my trusty travel dog, JoJo, along for the ride. As soon as he sees me preparing the RV for travel, he’s ready to get in the truck. Over the summer, I spent time visiting with my parents in...

One Year On The Road

May 16, 2019

It’s been one year on the road for myself and the Digital Photography Mastery blog. A year of learning, trials and tribulations, RV and truck repairs, bugs, paperwork, and chainsaws. Between all of that, I even managed to do some photography. Not as much as I would have liked,...

Postcards from Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Sep 19, 2018

“Life is a great adventure…accept it in such a spirit.” ~Theodore Roosevelt After my time in South Dakota visiting Badlands National Park, I headed to North Dakota to visit Theodore Roosevelt National Park. During my Navy years, I was stationed aboard the USS Theodore...

Wildlife of Badlands National Park

Jul 29, 2018

Badlands National Park abounds with wildlife, all roaming free. A quick Google search will bring up a list of what is available to see and photograph. However, while visiting there I found only a handful of species that are commonplace and easy to locate. Despite being easy to find, they are not...

Landscape Photography in Badlands National Park

Jul 23, 2018

It’s been a dream of mine for some time to visit the South Dakota Badlands. The dream having finely come to fruition, I’m sitting here in my RV looking at the sandstone rock formations that make up the Badlands about a mile away. I’ve been here a little over a week now. I...

Digital Photography Mastery on the Road

Jun 22, 2018

Changes in life can be exciting and equally scary. You haven’t heard much from me over the past couple of years. I spent two long years downsizing my home. It’s amazing how much stuff can be collected in nearly 40 years of adult life. After 18 trips to donation sites like Salvation...

A Case To Be Made For Chimping

May 04, 2016

I’ve always recommended to my students and new photographers to stop the chimping. Recently, I put myself in a situation making me rethink my stance on chimping…somewhat. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, “chimping” is the act of looking at the camera’s...

American Bison at Nachusa Grasslands in Illinois

Dec 22, 2015

The American Bison, a symbol of the Great Plains and one of the icons of North America. Thanks to YouTube, State Farm commercials, and the classic cowboy movies, these great beasts can conjure up some scary mental images. My first thoughts of bison were always of stampedes, people being gored or...

An Adventure with the 59 Veterans Project

Nov 16, 2015

In late October, I had the privilege to travel to Shenandoah National Park as part of I-Qest TV and the 59 Veterans project’s Shenandoah Recon 2015 trip. The mission — put together a short video to present to investors, check out some video equipment for future use, and get a feel...

Experimenting With My Aviation Photography

Jun 06, 2012

The 2012 Rockford Airfest was held last weekend at the Chicago Rockford International Airport in Rockford, Illinois. I couldn’t have asked for any better weather for the event. The temperature was in the mid-70s, and the sky was blue with puffy white clouds blowing through. As...

Documenting the Last Corn Harvest

Oct 25, 2011

Here’s a recent photo from a project I’m working on. Nachusa Grasslands in Illinois is restoring a cornfield back to its original state of prairie and wetlands. Over the next few years, I will be documenting the progress of the Dewitt Holland Memorial Prairie. This photo...

I'm a Guest Blogger on PhotoNaturalist.net

Aug 28, 2011

Steve Berardi over at PhotoNaturalist has given me the opportunity to be a guest blogger on his wonderful site, and my first article was posted this evening. Please follow my link over to PhotoNauturalist and check it out. I hope that you, and all of Steve’s readers, find what I...

Rockford AirFest - Great Show and Lots of Photos

Jun 05, 2011

The 2011 Rockford AirFest was held the first weekend in June. This year’s theme was “Celebrating 100 Years of Naval Aviation” A subject near and dear to my heart. Unfortunately, due to a little incident, the Blue Angels had to cancel and go into a safety stand-down. But as they...

White Pelicans Galore

Apr 15, 2011

I returned to Nygren Wetland Preserve last Sunday in hopes of seeing the same 15 American White Pelicans that I saw on Saturday. I was in for a very big surprise. There were actually a few hundred pelicans present, broken into small groups of 50 or so throughout the preserve. I spent the...

American White Pelicans Migrate North

Apr 14, 2011

It’s been an amazing week photographically speaking. I’ve been wanting to photograph the American White Pelican migration as it passed through northern Illinois. By the end of March though I was fairly disappointed and convinced that I had missed the opportunity this year. Last...

Want to photograph something special? Introduce yourself and ask.

Mar 20, 2011

Having an interest in the prairies of the American Midwest, I’ve wanted to photograph a prairie wildfire for many years. These fires are important to the health of the prairies, but as one can imagine, they are very dangerous to be around. So I opted to seek out some local organizations...

Bald Eagles of the Rock River

Feb 25, 2011

The winter of 2010/2011 hasn’t been the best for me as far as getting out and photographing the Bald Eagles on the Mississippi River. There were conflicts with my job, poor weather, or just a lazy photographer (me) who couldn’t motivate himself to get up early and drive 120 miles to...

Mute Swans in Spring

Jan 15, 2011

My mother mentioned that she’s already tired of Winter and ready for Spring. I have to agree with her. So for any of you out there feeling the same way, I thought I would put a couple of Springtime photos up to brighten your gloomy winter day. These two Mute Swans (Cygnus olor) are...

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