Northeast Bird Rookery

PT and I met up yesterday morning to go to the bird rookery.  When I look at the photos that I took, I think I was playing around with different types of framing.  Note to self - - Next time, remember to look at your notes from the photography classes you have been taking and pick an area for focus and practice.  

Almost all of these were taken at or close to full 60x zoom in automatic mode. 

I like these two photos together.  It’s subtle and you have to really look, but they capture careful stick placement and a job well done. 

This is one of the two islands where the birds are nesting.

In addition to the herons, there are cormorants, different types of ducks, and, or course, geese. 

Here are several pictures where I was trying to frame things in a certain way.  A lot of this involves just taking a lot of pictures, since the birds move so quickly. 

The first one suggests how crowded the trees, but not really since it’s capturing an edge.  It’s even more dense in the middle.

I got to witness a confrontation between two herons through the camera lens.  While the shots are not that clear it was thrilling to see and hear.  

I am taking a photo editing class later in the month and I hope I learn how to edit out the pipe or whatever it is in these last two shots.  

Last thoughts……One of the things that I’m exploring overall is what is a good photo?  Not surprisingly, I think I started with a rather narrow, internal definition in that I like crisp, clear, close shots of the thing I am photographing.  That means I’ve been approaching photos from a portrait-taking perspective, like this one.  

It’s been fun to explore broadening from that point to try and tell a story with picture, use a picture to better remember an experience, focus on “the whole” rather than one subject, and a bunch of other things.  I’m not sure I am doing this deliberately.  It just seems to be happening. 

Last Week

Last week, my partner was out of town.  I don’t often take pictures of my food, but this bowl of green curry noodle soup, that I made for myself,  was very tasty and attractive, as well. 

Last Saturday

Last Saturday, SS and I went to see the bird rookery in Northeast.  It was part of an event with the National Park Service.  The Park Service had two view scopes set up and in one of them I could see a cormorant nest.  After that, I did snap a picture of the next. 

It was cold so I did not take many pictures. 

Great Horned Owl

The spouse and I headed out to the park where a pair of great horned owls nest every year.  We just found about it last year.  On Sunday, we went searching and found the male sleeping in a tree.  From talking to people at the park, it sounds like the pair was nesting, but that they lost the nest after the last big rain (not the rain from today).

We were there in the middle of the day and I was also shooting into the sun. 

We also heard spring peepers in a more open portion of the park. There was no way to get a picture of them, but I did snap a shot of the location they were singing from as a way to remember. 

Duck, Duck, Duck, Duck, Duck, Duck……….

It’s great to get rewarded for doing the right thing.  I am very brain tired, but not body tired so I swam tonight. Between the parking lot and the gym, I ran into this.

Here’s a close up of the one on the end. 

By the time I was done swimming, most of the ducks were stepped on.  Since it was subtle, I’d like to think it was by accident by people who just weren’t paying attention.

What I Learned

Yesterday, during the varsity show for MONDO, I played around with taking pictures of the performers and that was a total bomb. Not the show or the performers. It was the pictures. I was using my phone.  One of the things, I learned is that burst mode did not work for capturing movement the way I wanted to capture it.

Other than the show, I did not take many pictures. I was too busy with other things (smile).  This one is my favorite. 

I like how it turned out.  In addition from an experiential perspective, I like the stillness and concentration it evokes in the midst of a lot of joy, noise and chaos happening close by.

Morning Quiet Before MONDO

I am taking in a little quiet this morning.  The rest of the day I will be at MONDO, which is also so very, very good after a 2 year hiatus from juggling festivals.  

These are Hammett  in silhouette.

Earlier this week, I also got a fun picture of Chandler using my new camera tripod.