I was going through old photos taken with film and decided to share this image of Carolina Wrens and a female Northern Cardinal on my suet feeder in Virginia.
Carolina Wrens and a female Northern Cardinal on my suet feeder – Canon AE-1
I’m not sure of the year this image was taken, but it was likely between 1998 and 2000. Mostly, I used the Canon AE-1 to take photos of the flowers in my garden, turtles, butterflies, dragonflies, and scenery.
I also loved the birds that visited my garden, and I couldn’t resist taking photos of them even though I didn’t have much reach with my lenses. This photo may have been taken with a 100-200mm lens. That was the most reach I had at the time. It was also manual focus, so at times, my photos weren’t as sharp as I would have liked.
Back in those days before digital cameras, I was mostly a birdwatcher. My garden was filled with them, and I had loads of flyovers. I believe my yard list was in the low 90s for bird species.
My garden in Virginia was a great habitat for birds and wildlife. My trees were native, and I made sure that more than half of the flowers and shrubbery I planted were native as well. Even way back then, I preferred wild to manicured landscapes, native plants over cultivars, and birds over water-sucking, sterile lawns.
Every day in my garden was magical and filled with birds and wildlife. I studied the birds, insects, mammals and reptiles that made my garden their home. I knew them. I tended my garden and knew it too.
For quite some time, I’ve been asked, “How do you know that?” The answer is: I pay attention. I’m also still learning every day.
The photos I took of birds back then with film weren’t going to make it to the covers of books and magazines or the glossy pages of guidebooks. That has never been the reason for my photography.
I’ve always taken photos for myself, whether with film or digital cameras. My photos are reminders of the incredible birds and wildlife I have seen and know so well.
Thanks for going back in time with me. Film was a whole lot different than digital is today. As for me, I’ve always been on a quest for more knowledge about the birds I see. My cameras, whether film or digital, have been very helpful in that regard.
Life is good. Being authentic in my life? Even better.
Mia
Click here to see more of my bird photos in their galleries.
Did you transfer your film images to digital? I have done a few. I have so many on film, it’s time consuming. I started with serious photography when I was 20, 45 years worth of images. I have volumes, family, travel, rehab. Even two major house remodels. I am sad so many photos from the 1980’s and the majority of my world travels are so yellow.
April, I have some of my film images digitized but not all because it does take time. I’ve kept most of my printed film images in sealed plastic containers so the yellowing has been kept to a minimum. I dumped a lot of images recently because I always got film printed in duplicates. I sure don’t have time to scan them all!
I understand and espouse your thinking of our world, animal and plant. We are all in it together.
Ilze, what you wrote is so true. I just wish everyone knew that.