Kevin Merchant Photography News

Arriving ahead of the day for the annular solar eclipse at the Virgin Valley campground in the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge in Nevada, the white-crowned sparrows were numerous and very active in the mornings. After a night's rest and securing a camp spot, we wandered the area. The sparrows were actively feeding in the surrounding edges of nearby ponds. Nice golden light from sunrise provided the perfect background.

Be well. Be safe.

Another October fall day with a pika. Very curious and always watching to see where the intruder is and what he's doing. They generally choose a spot in the sun to watch. It was another good day.

Be well. Be safe.

After a scouting hike to Second Burroughs a month earlier, I returned in September for a sunrise shoot. Leaving the parking lot at the Sunrise Visitor Center at 3:18am, we crunched up the trail with a fresh dusting of early snow. Arriving on Second Burroughs about 5:30am, with clear skies, we waited in the stiff cold for sunrise at about 6:00am.

The really nice light lasted for about half an hour and then it was gone. With the sun warming our fingers and toes, we heated some water for a cup of coffee before heading back down. It was totally worth the early morning drive, hike and cold.

Be well. Be safe.

American pikas are found in alpine environments, typically making their home in boulder fields. They use the cavities created by the boulders for travel paths, food storage, protection from predators and shelter. While hiking through such boulder fields, it is likely you have heard them call out but not seen one. Due to their size, camouflage and speed, they blend in and are hard to spot. Unless, you stop long enough to spot some movement. Their calls alert all of the other pikas in the area. Sometimes, the calls are a territorial warning, such as the one being displayed here.

Back in 2021, I started a thing I called Upload Wednesday. Well, it has not been by any stretch a continuous activity, but I have been consistently uploading images to the NEW section of the Gallery on Wednesdays. I thought I would start featuring an image from each 2025 upload here in the News section.

Keep watching this space for updates.

Be well, be safe.

Happy New Year!

Last year was one of those years where it didn't seem there was much to report on or write about. Highlights included an abundance of birding in Texas, visiting sand dunes in Colorado (Great Sand Dunes NP) and Idaho (Bruneau Dunes SP), northern lights in a Washington state dark sky location, hiking in Mount Rainier NP, birding in Grays Harbor for a week, visits to Rocky Mountain NP and Yellowstone NP for fall color and large mammal photography.

As can be noted in the Gallery, 2024 was the year of processing mirrorless body images. Although having purchased the Canon R5 in 2021 and the R7 in 2023, it has taken a while to catch up to processing images from those bodies. Catching up has been a recurring theme in this News section and so it goes. I guess the good news is that it is happening. My current batch of photos that I am working on are snowy plovers from May of 2023.

In my defense, I had paused processing for a time while doing a bit of a deep-dive on luminosity masks in Photoshop - a feature that has been in the program since it's very beginning. I admit that I knew about luminosity masks, but had never taken the time to really understand how they could be useful in my Photoshop workflow. This pause has included reading a book published in 1998, Photoshop Channel Chops, written by David Biedny, Bert Monroy and Nathan Moody; written about the time of Photoshop 3.0. I wish I had known about this book when it came out as it coincided with my entry into the world of Photoshop. I highly recommend tracking down a copy; it is out of print but copies can be found. It is a book that gives you a foundational understanding of things that Photoshop does without you even knowing it. It particularly gives you the concept of where luminosity masks come from and how alpha channels can be useful. Oh, and it gives you a bit of the history of Photoshop's origins. Interesting stuff.

Enough techy talk. Be well. Be safe.