Maybe short and sweet is the way

Well, I’m trying once again to allow people to add their comments to my blog, I hope that I’ve finally set everything correctly this time.

I am going to try something a little different in this post, it will be mostly images, my best of the best the past two weeks, with very little of my thoughts.

White throated sparrow

 

White throated sparrow

Even though that means multiple images of the same species.

Male rose breasted grosbeak

 

Male rose breasted grosbeak

 

Male rose breasted grosbeak

 

Male ruby crowned kinglet

 

Song sparrow bathing

 

Song sparrow bathing

 

Song sparrow bathing

 

Song sparrow bathing

How I went about capturing these images isn’t that important to any one but me, I think, but I could be wrong about that.

Male hooded merganser

 

Male hooded merganser

 

Male hooded merganser

All that I’ll say is that I continue to play with the equipment that I have, trying to get the best from it.

Unidentified flowers

 

Maple flowers?

 

Flowers and leaves opening

 

Common field speedwell?

 

Unidentified purple flower

In my efforts to get the best possible images, I sometimes forget to look at the subject that I’m photographing as well as I should as I concentrate on shooting the image that I want. For example, I thought that these were pale leaves opening, they really caught my eye against the background. But, they were in a position where it would have been hard for me to get closer to them. I had enough trouble not sliding down a steep slope and into a drainage ditch as it was while I was in position to shoot this next one. I was more concerned with getting the shot than identifying what I was shooting, and after blowing the image up on the computer, I believe that what I thought were leaves are actually flowers opening. Either way, I love the color of the background and the fact that it’s completely out of focus so that the flowers stand out better.

Leaves or flowers?

Maybe I’m putting too many images into this post, I’ve had two really good weeks in a row…

Snow drop flower

…with plenty of subjects to photograph…

Common grackle

…with some very good light at times…

Common grackle

…and even slight changes in the light can change how a subject appears in an image, as these two of the grackle show.

Horsetail flower

I’ve also been working very hard at getting the best background that I can, as you may have been able to notice in these images.

Blue-gray gnatcatcher

That isn’t easy with these smaller birds…

Blue-gray gnatcatcher

…but when I find an exceptional individual of a species, I try to stick with it as long as possible, shooting as many images as I can…

Blue-gray gnatcatcher

…until I get the cleanest background possible.

Blue-gray gnatcatcher

While this is too many images already, I have one more that I’d like to throw in. This one is of a chickadee that some how lost all of its tail feathers. I can only assume that the loss of its tail was due to a run-in with a predator, perhaps a hawk, or more likely, a feral house cat. The reason I’m including it is that I watched as the chickadee flew, and it did remarkably well despite the lack of a tail to use for directional control.

Black capped chickadee that’s missing its tail feathers

I’m thinking of doing a long-winded companion post to this one in which I prattle on at length about my current camera gear, any possible future gear that I’m thinking of acquiring, and photography in general. I guess that I should wait to see if I have finally fixed the problem of people not being able to comment to my posts first.

That’s it for this one, thanks for stopping by!

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