Funny Birds
I'm always looking for great action or interesting poses when I am out photographing birds and usually I am not disappointed and once in awhile I get some very funny images. Mondays just seem like a great day for some humor.
Wild and Wonderful – Antelope Island State Park – The Birds
This is the third post in my series about Wild and Wonderful Antelope Island State Park, I've saved the best (and longest) for last. The Birds! Okay, maybe they aren't the best thing about Antelope Island State Park, but I am a bird photographer and they are what I am most passionate about!
Juvenile Burrowing Owl Portrait
Burrowing Owls are beautiful birds with lemony yellow eyes, downy soft feathers and subtle coloration. It's hard to believe that they aren't that much different in size from an American Robin.
Ring-billed Gulls
I am not sure why but it seems that many bird photographers avoid taking images of gulls, most of the time when I've asked them why they don't take more photos of gulls I hear "I just don't like gulls".
Harlequin Ducks Dead – Just because it is legal that doesn’t make it right!
To those hunters who recognized and respected the rarity of those beautiful and very uncommon birds, you have my respect and I am personally very grateful that you preferred to give these ducks a pass even though you knew that hunting them was legal.
Little Blue Heron Hunting In A Lagoon
Little Blue Herons were a wading bird that I saw often in Florida. The day I photographed this Little Blue Heron I was sitting quietly in the shallow water of a lagoon when this bird flew in and began to hunt.
Wood Storks – Diffuse light
There were high thin clouds and that worked in my favor to photograph these large white birds without blowing out the whites.
White Balance Mistakes
After my experience with screwing my white balance up that day I had to make a note to myself to remember to check my white balance setting on the camera.
Snow, Bison Plus Chukars on Antelope Island State Park
When I first visited Antelope Island State Park I fell in love with its wild beauty, the windswept grasslands, pungent sagebrush, awesome views of the Great Salt Lake and the wildlife that abounds there.
Fish Crows
Fish Crows are fairly commonplace along the coast of Pinellas County and they are often ignored by photographers because they are a "plain" common bird.
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
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
Black-headed Grosbeaks
This male Black-headed Grosbeak (Pheucticus melanocephalus) sure caught my eye with its beautiful orange, black and white plumage.
Adult Burrowing Owl blur
This blur was not intentional, but I do like the effect caused by the head of the Burrowing Owl spinning. Makes me dizzy just viewing the photo!
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.
Wood Stork portrait
It is my opinion that Wood Storks do not get nearly the same exposure as other big white wading birds.
Juvenile Wilson’s Plover – Small in the frame
This juvenile Wilson's Plover was in the company of an adult bird and both of them were scurrying along some vegetation on the north beach of Fort De Soto.
Rotation adjustments
Proper rotation can make an image work. Improper rotation can cause the the person viewing to wonder what isn't right about an image.
Tricolored Herons
Another one of my favorite wading birds is the Tricolored Heron, a bird that used to be called the Louisiana Heron. It can be found in estuaries along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, in inland freshwater marshes in Florida.
Birds with bands
As a bird photographer it can some times be disheartening when you have great light, a wonderful setting and a beautiful specimen of a bird in front of your lens when you see the "jewelry" (bands) that some birds will be wearing.