a crappy picture

This shot has some technical blemishes beginning with poor focus, but there are some interesting elements.

I spotted the gull as it was flying directly toward me and thought I would try to photograph him from underneath as he flew over me, but he veered to the left of me at the last second. I was handholding what is the effective equivalent of a 630 mm lens and it's hard to keep something as small as a bird in the field of view with that tight zoom. So, this was an occasion when I thought it was better to be lucky than good.

F5.6 at 1/1600 of a second, ISO 180

Monte

hummingbird at 1/3200th of a second

Two days ago I saw, for the first time this summer, a hummingbird visiting the Bee Balm in my garden.  They must have been here earlier, but I hadn't seen them.  I didn't try to photograph them (I'm not sure that there is more than one) until today.  I took this photo with a shutter speed of 1/3200th of a second - and there is still some motion blur in the wings!

My backyard is home to a small community of birds, insects, rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks and the occasional fox wandering through it.  To photograph the action I point my camera out the open back door next to my kitchen table where I can sit with a cup of coffee and listen to the birds chirping and squabbling at the feeder and the insects buzzing around the flowers while I wait for a picture to present itself.  I'm eavesdropping on a cycle of events that has been happening on this planet since long before I arrived and will continue long after I've gone.  Timeless.

Monte

happy new year

My first photograph of the new year, 2017.  Two doves in winter on an empty flower pot under a gray sky.  The image of doves and their symbolic representation of peace and love seemed like a timely message.

These are scary times and humanity is faced with big challenges.  Here in America we have a new president who rode a wave of populist hate, fear and stunning ignorance into power.  This could be cause for despair, but these doves huddled against the cold reminded me not to lose hope.  There are still plenty of good people who aspire to create a better world for their children.  If we stay true to our values and strong in our convictions we can, and will, prevail over the hate and division that has temporarily gripped us.

Happy New Year.  Let’s be the reason it’s a good one.

Monte

after the first snowfall

A couple of days ago we had our first snowfall.  It was only about three inches of snow, but it was enough to signal that winter is here.  Bevo, my 8-pound poodle, doesn’t like the snow or the winter and throughout our morning walk he kept turning around to go back home.

I’m a lot like Bevo.  We’re both nervous most of the time and we prefer summer days when we can watch the hummingbirds buzzing our flowers and feel as if the rest of the world is a long way off.  We sit together in the doorway watching the animals – squirrels, chipmunks, bees and all sorts of birds visiting our garden and entertaining us.  The days are longer; the sky is bluer, and the warmth of our favorite sunny spot puts us at ease.

Now it’s winter and the days are shorter; the skies are grayer; the flowers are gone, and the house is colder.  But I can drink hot coffee with Bevo at my feet and scroll through photographs I took last summer and remember the excitement of a hummingbird popping into view and dancing across red and yellow petals.  And I can dream about what I will plant in the spring so that Bevo and I can sit together in the sun and watch the drama in the tiny world that is our garden.

Monte

seagull with fish

This photo of a seagull catching a fish was captured at 1/1600th of a second.  It’s a split second moment that tells a detailed story about the struggle between the bird and the fish. A static image capturing a very brief moment (a “decisive moment” per Henri Cartier Bresson?) can grab our attention and lead us into a pondering frame of mind.  How did the seagull snatch that fish from beneath the water without being knocked over by the wave?  How does the bird keep her eye on the fish for the final grab that must take place after dunking her head underwater?  What is happening in the bird’s brain and peripheral nervous system that allows such finely-tuned and timed coordination?  Did the fish see her coming?

How can a person “live in the moment” if moments are so short?  Is “reality” just a summary video selectively edited by our brain from an overwhelming amount of data assaulting our senses at a dizzying rate?  Are the people around us seeing different videos, thus different realities, because their brains make different editing selections?

When I took this photograph I didn’t know the bird had a fish in its beak.  I only saw that hours later when I was reviewing my pictures on my computer.  Life frozen at 1/1600th of a second leaves me wondering about what I’m missing, but it also helps me appreciate the richness of the world around me.

Monte

taking flight

Captured this seagull just before she flew while out at Chapoquoiut beach last evening.  I was there to photograph the surfers, but the gulls were putting on a good show too.

Monte

white-breasted nuthatch

The White-Breasted Nuthatch.  A cute guy with a funny looking beak. They are native to North America from Canada to Mexico and, according to Wikipedia, they are nonmigratory.  I see them at my feeders occasionally but not as often as other small song birds like the Tufted Titmouses or the Black-Capped Chickadees.

Camera settings: f5.6, 1/2000th of a second and ISO 2000.  Shooting with a Nikon D7200 using a 200-500mm lens at 500mm.

Monte

cardinal

A tropical storm came through yesterday and did some mild damage in the garden.  One large tree limb down and my sunflowers were pretty much destroyed.  The sunflowers were big, at least six feet tall, and had been a popular gathering place for small birds, especially the goldfinches.

Today it was mostly overcast and raining intermittently.  In the early afternoon there was a lot of activity around the feeder so I tried to capture some of it with my camera.  This cardinal sat just long enough in a hydrangea tree for me to shoot a few images.  Cardinals are more timid than some of the other small birds and they have difficulty sitting on the small feeder I use.  They usually scavenge the fallen seeds in the grass.  The hydrangea tree provides a secure place to assess the risk before dropping to the ground.

The photo was taken with a Nikon D7200 using a 200-500 mm lens at 500 mm.  f5.6, 1/2000th of a second, ISO 2800.

Monte

tufted titmouse

Yes, it's a funny name, but it's a really cute little bird.  I love watching them at my bird feeders.  I think I like the small birds more than the bigger more exotic birds.  Their nervous behavior feels familiar.  The constant threat of predators must make their lives scary.  They anxiously gather in the trees and shrubs  near the feeder and make repeated daring darts out to grab a few seeds and then hurry back to the safety of the thick leaves.

I took this photograph with an Olympus EM-1 camera using an Olympus 40-150 mm micro four thirds lens.  Shutter speed 1/2000th of a second, f2.8 and ISO 1250.  This image is greatly reduced in resolution; the original image is in sharp focus around the bird's eye.  I like this camera and I'm very excited about eventually getting the Olympus 300 mm f4 prime lens to use with it for photographing more Tufted Titmouses (Titmice?).

Monte