Spring Awakening

Warming Up

I have had some compliments for this photo from the blogger (and his wife) at The Home Bug Garden, so I have decided to share it. It is a chance scene that I came across while working in the garden, and I used the compact camera  I always carry with me on my belt to record the awakening. A simple composition, but rich in warmth and texture.

(Canon PowerShot SD850 IS. Photo first posted at Gardening Zone 3b)

 

Bird on a Stick

Ace bird photographers, have recognized that the amount of bird photographs now available on the web, have upped the requirements for what it takes to claim to have a really excellent bird image. For these connoisseurs, only bird photographs showing behavior, unusual settings, stunning lighting and brilliant composition qualify for stardom–everything else is hum-drum, especially those that are merely a “bird-on-a-stick”. This delightful specimen was first spotted by Yuet, who saw it picking through the leaf litter under our birch. Always the rebel, I give to you my variation of bird-on-a-stick, a humble, unassuming Redpoll (Carduelis sp.):

Redpoll-on-a-stick

If anyone can enlighten me as to whether this is a Hoary (C. hornemanni) or a Common (C. flammea) Redpoll, I would be grateful.

 

Photo Album – Leaf Topography

 

Chickakoo Lake Recreation Area

Another trip with the ATA Photography group. Like the Victoria Trail trip, it was an overcast morning with scattered showers. This time I was feeling more positive, despite the weather.  I sometimes think too much about the photographic potential of the day rather than enjoy the outing for its own sake. This was the second trip to the Chickakoo area by the group, and I was looking forward to exploring the trails again. We were early so we headed down to the lake near the parking lot. It was misty morning, most of the leaves on the trees had blown down previously, but the air was still for now. There was a wealth of webbing on many of the branches, and each strand of the webs was pearled with moisture. I was using my 90mm Tamron macro lens with the 1.5 Kenko tele-extender attached. With a DX lens this amounts to an almost 200 mm macro. This gives the necessary range to avoid one of the mishaps of web and dew photography – a short macro is more likely to bump into the web and knock off the drops. I had not tested this combination yet, so I was hoping for the best. My partner was my daughter Arwen, who was most fascinated by the birch trees and the multiplicity of hues revealed by the peeling bark. We walked and chatted, and enjoyed the day for what it was – a pleasant late autumn walk in the woods.