So Ya Think Ya Want To Be A Bird Photographer?
Be prepared to become addicted to birds. You will have withdrawals if you don't shoot often enough, your shutter button finger will develop a nervous twitch
Reddish Egret, Laughing and Ring-billed Gulls
There were quite a few Laughing Gulls on and near the shoreline, a few Ring-billed Gulls and two Reddish Egrets hunting on the beach that day.
Gray Days
Gray days sometimes force me to slow down, to take a deep breath and they allow me the luxury of liesurely looking through my older image files
Hidden Treasures
As a bird photographer I often strive for images where the subjects are out in the open, without distractions in the fore or background, but as with any photographic "rule", they are made to be broken.
Roseate Spoonbills
Cotton candy pink... are the descriptive words I thought of when I saw my first Roseate Spoonbill.
Laughing Gulls
Laughing Gulls are quite common on the east and Gulf coastlines of the US, during breeding season they are usually found near saltwater but in nonbreeding season they are known to wander widely.
Wilson’s Plover
There are times that I open an image on my computer screen and I can't help but laugh. This is one of those images for me because of the tilt of the head of the Wilson's Plover.
Great Egret – Light on White
Great Egret (Ardea alba) in flight, a balance of whites and light
Black-bellied Plover
I love watching Black-bellied Plovers hunting. They take a few steps, stop, look and listen, then do it all over again.
Reddish Egret – White Morph
Breeding plumage white morph Reddish Egret while it hunted and danced in the waves on the Gulf coast of Florida.
Shorebirds of Fort De Soto – Marbled Godwits
Marbled Godwits are graceful birds while on the ground, feeding and in flight.
Auto Levels in Photoshop
Auto levels in Photoshop must be used with a light touch. Using auto levels can create too much contrast in an image, can cause color casts, it can brighten an image too much, it can strip the light and can make some images look very unnatural.
Shorebirds of Fort DeSoto – Ruddy Turnstones
One of the easier medium-sized shorebirds to identify on Fort De Soto's beaches and tidal mudflats are the Ruddy Turnstones. The only other turnstone that frequents North America is the Black Turnstone and it occurs on the Pacific coast.
Rotation Adjustments – Sanderling At Dawn
Proper rotation can make an image work. Improper rotation can cause the the person viewing to wonder what isn't right about an image.
Shorebirds of Fort DeSoto – The Plovers
Throughout the year you can see and photograph many different species of Plovers on Fort De Soto’s beaches, tidal lagoons and spartina marshes.
Great Blue Herons
Great Blue Herons are North America's largest heron and one of the three largest herons in the world.
Pinto Bean Laughing Gulls
On several occasions I have seen and photographed Laughing Gulls that have strange colored markings on their bills and legs. I have assumed that they are partially leucistic though I could be wrong.
Hungry Yellow-crowned Night Heron
It didn't take long for the Yellow-crowned Night Heron to grab the crab and send the sand flying.
Some Days Are Magic
Each time I look at one of the images of this Little Blue Heron I have to smile and relish that amazing morning. Yes... some day are magic. I treasure each one.
Small In The Frame
Though I quite often photograph birds so that they are what is labled "frame filling" I also like to compose images that show the bird or animals small in the frame.
Nesting American Oystercatchers
Nesting American Oystercatchers create simple scrapes on coastal beaches, dunes and salt marshes to lay their eggs in. They usually lay between 2-3 eggs around April to May.