A Look Back
It would seem to be a cliché to be writing about the past year and yet, by this time of the year, we tend to do just that. I like to think that past can be prologue, rather than wishing more had been checked off the to-do list or celebrating those things that were checked off. Nothing wrong with that but since we photograph and travel, looking into the future a bit is more satisfying. More of the same could be seen as a good thing, making images of the places and inhabitants of those places that we find interesting if not down right mind-blowing.
Nature photography and using digital cameras gives us the opportunity for endless learning and that, I think, is key to not letting the political class drive us totally crazy. “Walk in beauty” isn’t just an adage, it’s a directive that we can use to find that sometimes elusive key to happiness.
Contentment may lay in the past but life itself is ahead. So….. here are a few images from 2012 and a sincere wish that this coming year is very good to you.
Listen to Nature
Living in the city one loses most sense of nature but after living for many years in the rural foothills of Colorado which most people call the boonies, in a landscape of pinyon juniper forests, undeveloped wild lands and mountains all around, my senses have been intensified. Its easier to see, to smell and touch. Its easier to hear, easier to listen.
With pine sap & dirt-caked mouth, Rock Squirrel [Spermophilus variegatus] pauses to listen while eating a green pinyon pine cone.
Bosque Del Apache
Cold, really cold, dark and quiet except for a very low, almost imperceptible, muted sibilance, like voices at a distance, heard but not understood. Waiting for the day to give enough light to see and then photograph the hundreds of birds also waiting out the dark on an iced over pond in the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. Winter here brings tens of thousands of ducks, geese and Sandhill Cranes to the wetlands and farmed fields along the Rio Grande River south of Socorro, New Mexico. Morning does arrive and the cold is forgotten as the thousands of lives in front of us unfold in a myriad of ways.
Bosque Sunrise
Piñoneros !
Many apologies for our sluggishness in getting a new post out to you. Here in southern Colorado as in the rest of the country it’s summer and hard at times to sit down at the computer. Even with high temps and smokey skies from the fires blazing all around, we’ve been busy photographing the backyard birds. One of the many is the Pinyon Jay and with their flock numbers, they are a dominant presence………..
Adult Pinyon Jay
How to Catch A Hummingbird
When spring and summer give us a mind-boggling number of potential photo subjects it’s sometimes difficult to narrow down the field and concentrate on a particular thing. If one of your interests is in capturing images of wild birds and would like to concentrate on hummingbirds either to add to your files or just figure out how to capture images you can be proud of, stay with me.
Digital cameras allow us a lot of flexibility when trying to capture fast-moving subjects. High speed flash has been the standard solution and still is for many subjects but with adjustable ISO settings it is now quite easy to get a shot that in the past required an elaborate set up. Finding an open shady place with room for multiple flashes, some on light stands; floral arrangements with a hummingbird feeder, a suitable background and possibly a commercial or at least homemade backdrop; as well as a spot for you and your camera with long lens on a tripod and perhaps in a blind can be difficult not to mention a little intimidating. Expensive comes to mind as well. Such a set up can yield excellent images. It’s hard to argue with the consistent lighting and framing that can result from all of this attention to detail. Let’s make this a little easier.
Broad-tailed Hummingbird by Larry Kimball. Nikon D300, focal length 500mm, f4 at 1/2500, ISO 1000
