I visited my favorite fox spot during a recent snow storm. The foxes were nowhere to be found, but rather than go home empty, I spent some time photographing the local waterfowl. I ordinarily would have not given the Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) a second look. However, the heavy snow gave me an opportunity to create some goose images that were not merely documentary, but said something about the animals persevering through harsh conditions. As an added bonus, the snow created great, clean backgrounds.
I also shot these Common Goldeneyes (Bucephala clangula) taking flight. Not really enough light for flight photography, but the blurs work.
See something you like? Have a question? Please leave a comment.
I confess to have a soft spot for blurred images. Here’s a great set of Scottish blurs by Ted Leeming and Morag Paterson, courtesy of the Luminous Landscape. The first image in particular is stunning.
I promise to get back to posting my own work soon.
Photographer Adrian Groves captured some amazing images of a kingfisher diving underwater to catch a minnow. Wow. Amazing work of one of my favorite (but least photographed) species.
(Note: I have chosen to respect Groves’ copyright by refraining from posting his images here.)
I was looking for a perch for a songbird setup a la Alan Murphy. Never had much luck with the birds, but this is a pretty good consolation prize. This is a tiny bud from one of our bushes (maybe 1/4″ across). In order to get the whole thing sharp I stacked a number of images using Helicon Focus. I converted to monochrome and toned the image using Photoshop and a custom tone curve.
Went back for another crack at the many ducks wintering on the Platte. The ducks were very skittish (and the gunfire from adjacent hunting areas didn’t help matters). Still, I’m pleased to come away with this image for Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata). Hopefully I can improve my stalking technique and put a lens on some other ducks.
