{"id":848,"date":"2010-09-20T19:44:56","date_gmt":"2010-09-21T01:44:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=848"},"modified":"2024-08-21T05:28:30","modified_gmt":"2024-08-21T10:28:30","slug":"a-matter-of-taste","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2010\/09\/20\/a-matter-of-taste\/","title":{"rendered":"A Matter Of Taste?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I spent last week in southern Montana at Red Rock Lakes NWR<\/span><\/a>, it is a gorgeous location and you never know what bird or animal\u00a0will\u00a0show up in your viewfinder. Weather conditions there can change from dense\u00a0fog to the golden light of early morning rather quickly or from strong midday light to the darkness created by\u00a0thick, foreboding storm clouds.<\/p>\n

I got excited while I was on the refuge when I spotted a female Short-eared Owl that flew up from the gravel road and landed on a fence post in a heavy, swirling fog. Not only was I seeing the beautiful owl, I was going to have the opportunity to take images of it in low light and fog. A challenge I was more than willing to meet.<\/p>\n

\"Short-earedShort-eared Owl in a fog at Red Rock Lakes, NWR, Montana –\u00a0 D200, f7.1, 1\/640, ISO 400, 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 350mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Oddly though there seem to be people who don’t like foggy or low light shots.\u00a0\u00a0I posted one of my foggy Short-eared Owl photos on a Nature Photography site where I am a member just before a friend of mine posted a Swainson’s Hawk taken in the same area taken in clear afternoon light two days later.<\/p>\n

One of the other male members there unfavorably compared my foggy owl image to my friend’s hawk photo.\u00a0 While I can respect that other people’s tastes differ from mine and actually expect it, I know I wouldn’t nor couldn’t honestly compare the two images of two different species, in two settings under extremely different lighting conditions.<\/p>\n

The hawk image below is the same bird, on the same post taken the same day as my friend’s hawk image just at a different moment.<\/p>\n

\"Juvenile\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>Juvenile Swainson\u2019s Hawk on fence post along the road to Red Rock Lakes, NWR, Montana –\u00a0 D200, F7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 250, 200-400mm VR at 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Comparing apples\u00a0to oranges.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Yes, apples and oranges are both fruit but their tastes are quite different, their texture isn’t at all alike nor is the fragrant aroma of the fruits. Personally I love them both and on any given day one might appeal to\u00a0my tastes\u00a0more.<\/p>\n

I would not compare a Picasso to Monet, a Rubens to a Warhol or\u00a0a Salvador Dali to a\u00a0C\u00e9zanne. Their artistic techniques, personal styles and even their very brushstrokes are remarkably individualized. Though I can and do appreciate the unique\u00a0flavors of their styles and techniques when I view their art.<\/p>\n

I adore a good hamburger on a sesame bun, a burger suits my tastes just fine, but lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise only, skip the pickle and cheese please. I am also delighted with a serving of a perfect Ch\u00e2teaubriand drizzled with B\u00e9arnaise Sauce. It is certainly richer than a simple burger yet they are still both beef.\u00a0 Strawberry Shortcake or Pavlova, they have strawberries in common though their taste and texture are not the same.<\/p>\n

It’s all a matter of taste.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

I knew at a young age that because of the\u00a0many geographic locations where I lived and explored combined\u00a0with my unrestrained delight in not only seeing nature but feeling a strong attachment to it would inspire me to see the world; and now my photography, with my eyes wide open, delighting in the large and seemingly minute differences\u00a0I am privileged to see each day in nature.<\/p>\n

As an\u00a0bird\u00a0photographer I have worked to develop my own personal style, something that a great many excellent photographers do.\u00a0I’m certainly not hesitant to take a leap and try something new with my photography,\u00a0 to appreciate another photographer’s personal style or post an unusual image to have other photographers whose work I appreciate and respect\u00a0share their thoughtful, honest critiques.<\/p>\n

Additionally I relish the possibility of photographing birds in different poses, settings, weather conditions and light and approach each day that I am out photographing with eager anticipation of what wonderful creatures I might see. Life will be far too short for me to become a photographer who has grown as stagnant as a pond with no outlet and far too little fresh water flowing in.<\/p>\n

Maybe my tastes\u00a0about the light in my\u00a0images\u00a0and the weather conditions are more varied than most or perhaps more refined. I’m perfectly fine with that and with my photographic work.<\/p>\n

Update:<\/strong> By the way, this Short-eared Owl image became my first full page, licensed and published photo in BirdWatching magazine<\/span><\/a>. I guess the editor had more refined tastes than the sexist, creepy, stalky member, R Mayer, of the critique forum had.<\/em><\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Short-eared Owl photos plus facts and information about this species. Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Swainson\u2019s Hawk photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I got excited while I was on the refuge when I spotted a female Short-eared Owl that flew up from the gravel road and landed on a fence post in a heavy, swirling fog.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":132856,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1513,223,257,12,608,130,206],"tags":[208,4004,4114,4021,4200,241,4070,4033,4169,156,3969,3967,294,3971,2315,5434],"class_list":["post-848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beaverhead-county-montana","category-centennial-valley","category-critique-forums","category-montana","category-red-rock-lakes-national-wildlife-refuge","category-short-eared-owls","category-swainson-hawks","tag-a-matter-of-taste","tag-adult","tag-asio-flammeus","tag-bird-photography","tag-buteo-swainsoni","tag-critique-forum","tag-female","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-low-light-2","tag-montana","tag-owl","tag-owls","tag-short-eared-owl","tag-summer-3","tag-valley"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/short-eared-owl-red-rock-lakes-nwr-female-mia-mcpherson-8553.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-dG","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13721,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/01\/20\/short-eared-owls-photographed-in-fog-and-evening-light\/","url_meta":{"origin":848,"position":0},"title":"Short-eared 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