Tuliptree Blossom with Guest
Another Day at Work
Apis Workers' Party
Predator
Some of Your Beeswax
Sedum Bumbler
Look of Defiance
Chicory Bee
Bumbling Bees
Garden Cafe
Buzz By Here - To Infinity and Beyond
Pick Your Poison
Blind Side Attack
On a Mission
Honey Bee on Sedum
Covering the Cosmos
Center of the Cosmos
Three's a Crowd
Popular Spot
On A Pedestal
Big Harry Fireworks Display
To Impress the Girl
Different Perspective
Sweet Ride
Perfect Little Piggies B&W
Flipping the Light Fantastic
Festival of Flights
To the Crowd's Delight
Amish Go Round
Wondersome One
The Stars In Her Eyes
Tuesday's Child
Sleeper Hold
Considering the Next Move
Sugar and Spice
Front Porch Portrait
Caged Competitor
Early Adoration
Child In the Ligtht
Stroll Through the Weeds
Attention Grabbing
Eye Contact
On the Line
Eyes of Wonder
Rounding the Curve
Troubadours of Basin Spring Park
Down by the Creek
Sun Day
Catching Some Light
EAA Fireworks
Hear Me Roar
Pops Photos
Humdinger
hum·ding·er/ˈhəmˈdiNGər / Noun: A remarkable or outstanding person or thing of its kind.
There’s little that compares to the dazzle of a male ruby-throated humming bird when the light hits it just right. If you’re able to watch one while he’s perched, you’ll see flashes of brilliant red with just a slight turn of his head.
Even though the sunlight is coming more from behind this bird, I used a shiny surface to reflect some of that sunlight to the front side, bringing out the colors of his gorget (the neck area).
(Click the image to see a larger version.)
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.
Sunrise Siren Call
I had plenty to accomplish this morning before going to work. My mind wasn’t on photography, but when I stepped out our back door (on my way to fill the bird feeders for the day) I was captivated by this amazing morning sky. I had stuff to do. I already have plenty of sunrises in my photo collection. (Just browse through this blog or type “sunrise” in the search box.) Still, I couldn’t help myself. I had to grab this image. This was a morning I wish I was at one of the nearby harbors – to catch the reflection off the water, too.
This is actually the compilation of seven separate photos “stitched” together. The blog page, because of its size limitations, doesn’t do it justice. If you click on the photo, you can see a larger version…but, in my opinion, it’s still too small to get anywhere close to the full effect.
Delicate Delight
Hummingbirds are fascinating and beautiful…the perfect subject to photograph…and one of the most challenging.
This is an image I captured early last Saturday morning (6/24/11). I spent a couple of hours and snapped more than 400 photos to come up with a handful of worthwhile images.
Snapping more than 400 photos sounds a lot harder than it was. My camera has a setting that allows me to press and hold the shutter button and take up to 10 frames per second. With that kind of speed, you can knock out an SD card full of images pretty quick.
The greatest challenge, at least for me, is to capture the birds in focus. When in flight, they are constantly zipping in and out, back and forth, up and down. I had an embarrassing amount of empty frames, where the bird had left the field of view before I could snap…or stop snapping. When I did catch the bird in the frame, they often were blurry.
With enough patience, some experimentation and a bit of dumb luck, I was able to get a few “keepers.” This is a good example. I’ll be posting a few more in the next few days, so check back.
(Click the image to see a larger version.)
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.
Bluebird Trio
These blue birds look like their belting out a favorite song in three-part harmony. Actually, they are hoping someone will drop a worm or bug in their mouths. The wide open mouths are a response to a soft whistle from me. Even though I don’t sound anything like a blue bird, the whistle is close enough to make them think lunch is being served.
The smaller photo features the soloist of the family.
These blue birds are about a week old and progressing along nicely. However, not everyone in the brood has fared so well. Before the hatch I counted six eggs. It appears that four hatched and survived, but we found one of the four dead and removed it from the nest. (Surprised that the parents hadn’t removed it, since it had been dead for awhile and was smelling really bad.)
They have a couple of weeks to go before they are ready to take to the wing. It’s going to get very crowded in that little box by the time they fledge. There were five that survived to fledgling stage last year. That box was really crowded.
(Click on either image to see a larger version.)
Peeping Fresh
I looked to see how the birds nesting in the bird houses at our place were doing…and there were new babes. These are freshly hatched tree swallows – a few hours old, at most. You can see at least three that have hatched. The mother started with six eggs and is, no doubt, sitting on the still-to-be-hatched stragglers. In a few hours the hatch should be complete. Then the real work begins.
I also took pictures of the blue birds that are about a week old. Watch for photos of them soon.
(Click the photo to view a larger version.)
Kewaunee Morning Glory
Sometimes being up before sunrise pays off. As evidence, I offer another image captured last Saturday morning (6/18/11).
This is a pre-sunrise view of the lighthouse and pier that extends into Lake Michigan at Kewaunee, WI. This was taken a little before 5 am. I was on the small beach just south of the pier.
If you find this image appealing, I encourage you to share it. Facebook users can simply click the button below. All comments are appreciated.
(Click the image to view a larger version.)
Stopped by the Sunrise
As soon as I got up this morning, I headed to the beach in Kewaunee, WI. I thought this might be a good morning for some sunrise photos of the Kewaunee’s lighthouse on the shores of Lake Michigan. I got plenty of good images.
In this shot, someone, on an early morning walk (shortly after 5 am) along the pier, stops to take in the beautiful sunrise. I’m not positive, but I think they had a camera and were taking pictures.
(Click on the image to view a larger version.)
Carried Away by Love
Weddings seem perfect for black and white images. (White dresses, black tuxes.) This picture struck me as a good candidate. As you can see, I decided to leave a slight touch of color in the bride’s bouquet.
On their way to together forever, Aaron & Hannah McEnaney were married on June 4, 2011.
(A larger version of this photo may be viewed by clicking on it…especially if you have a large monitor.)
The Bride’s Bouquet
I had the honor of playing the role of Wedding Photographer at our son’s wedding. I took a ton of pictures and this is one of my favorites.
It was an outdoor wedding at the country home of the bride’s parents. The reception was held immediately following the ceremony in a tent on the property. (After a few posed photos of the wedding party and family.) At the head table, the gal’s bouquets were displayed in vases placed directly in front of each gal.
I decided to snap a closeup of the bride’s bouquet. While I was focusing and framing the shot, I noticed the groom having an intimate conversation with his bride. I don’t think they realized I was including them in this shot.
Even though the majority of the image is filled with gorgeous flowers in the foreground, your eyes are drawn to the blurred couple in the background.
I think this photo captures them…their couple personality…perfectly. (If you knew them you would think, “That is so them.”) Purposely keeping them out of focus conveys the intimacy of the moment and stirs the imagination. What do you suppose this groom is whispering to his bride?
(Click the image to see a larger version.)
Stormy Night Approaching
My wife said, “Come look at the sky; the colors are weird.”
As the sun was setting the evening of Wednesday, June 8, 2011 a storm front was moving in. Of course, I grabbed my camera. With a little digital magic I was able to capture the dramatic transition from peaceful sunset to stormy night.
My camera (Sony SLT-A55) has a mode it calls “Sweep Panorama” that stitches multiple photos together to make a larger image. I used it and got a nice image…but it wasn’t large enough to capture what was really happening. I could get some of the dark, angry clouds or some of the calmer sunset – but not both. The lens and photo frame were not large enough to fit the early evening drama in the same image.
In order to capture the full scene I wanted, I took five separate photos and stitched them together on my computer with a handy, free program from Microsoft called Image Composite Editor, or ICE.
As I said, this image is the composite of five individual shots. The final, combined image was over 100 mega pixels. And, as if that weren’t large enough, I actually tried to join 17 different individual photos together, but the final image turned out bent and distorted.
Here’s another view of the sky that evening.
I definitely recommend you view the larger images. To do so, just click the photos.
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