Pileated Woodpecker
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I caught this woodpecker taking a drink from the lake. I was closer than I would have liked but woodie did not care.
Gull
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It may just be my experience but gulls seem to pause for their portrait, not for very long but just long enough.
Egret
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I have yet to see an Egret that didn’t look like some maddened wizard.
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
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What a name! Certainly doesn’t look like a sap. The bird kept peeking around the tree and having got his rhythm I took this shot.
Canada Goose
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In black and white there’s old time look to this shot. The Goose does not disappoint with its stance and gaze. Ready as it is for its portrait.
Mallard Duck
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I am always impressed at how these ducks just plow through the water like tugboats. They go a lot faster when they have to, much faster than I would have guessed possible.
A Political Pose
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I know of at least one politician who thinks Mussolini’s up the nose pose still works today. I don’t recommend this unless the idea is to show off haughtiness.
Bucolic
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Among the things I am looking forward to this summer.
Goldfinch
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I went years without seeing a goldfinch. Then in 2019 the fields seemed full of them. Lucky for me.
Gull
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This bird captures that look that many of the gulls I see have – mean, narrow eyed, like some nasty manager in a big box store, but I digress.
Cormorant
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Cormorants tend be far out on the water when sunning themselves, or flying faster than I can capture them. At 500mm it is still a stretch to get a shot like this, but the Nikon 200-500 5.6 is a brilliant lens.
Colour Again
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It’s choice to work in colour or black and white. This Downy Woodpecker has bright white feathers and sometimes depending on the background, better in colour than black and white.
Not Everything is Black and White
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This photograph was complete happenstance. A relatively large bird, the green heron was moving fast and stopped for just an instant so I could get this portrait with its wonderful colour.
Attitude
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I find it amusing when some small and relatively harmless animal just tries to stare me down.
Learning to be a Duck
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This is one of about fifteen shots of the same ducks, they swam past and I kept shooting until they lined up just perfectly and I got the shot I was after.
Imagination
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I think that certain things and some people have the power to spark our imaginations. I believe photography can be a tool to that end (captioned or not).
Female Black-crowned Night Heron
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She looks a bit mean spirited, perhaps eyeing her next victim/lunch.
Aware
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Chickadees are small, fast and vulnerable birds. I have see at least one challenge a much larger owl, so I can add brave to the above. But they play close to the line. Where I live a large number of people like to feed them out of their hands. This forces the bird to consider the risk before flying in, their speed and maneuverability helps, what they cannot do is evaluate the nature of what they are being fed.
Wary
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All animals have predators and all to some degree have defences. When it comes to birds, their attention to what is going on around them is quite acute. Trying to figure out what catches their eye and puts their radar on alert is not always easy.
Great Blue Heron
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I doubt that in colour the dead trees would play as much of a role in this photograph and the ducks might be a distraction. You get to think more about these sorts of things in black and white than you do in colour. It may be what I like best about black and white, it makes you think.
Goldfinch
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I saw several of these birds a year ago and they always seemed a bit magical. Moving quickly in and out of sight among the high flowers. In black and white there is spooky quality to the bird appropriate for this time of year!
Eyes
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Eyes are important in any kind of portrait, and I find it’s sometimes a neglected element when it comes to some animals, like birds. I suspect this is because it is hard to get a catch light in the eye to make the eyes interesting and look normal.
Negative Space (Two Photographs)
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Your subject needs space to sing (talk) into, as one of my photography friends once said to explain negative space. It’s not a rule. If it were, some of Buster Keaton’s better scenes of being hit by a door would not have been allowed.
Shadows (Two Photographs)
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In these photos of what I believe is a female goldfinch, shadows play a role. Shadows can give depth or interest to a photo, complement a portrait. In the first of these shots, the shadow can be seen as somewhat humorous, but in the second it adds to the portrait.
