Winter Bird Photographs

So far this winter has been one for the record books! It looks like we may break the record for recorded snow fall. We have also had record breaking lows and wind chill. My poor birds are having a hard time surviving the cold. In less than twenty-four hours I found three dead birds on my patio.

There were two house sparrows and a male cardinal. It makes me incredibly sad to see this. The temperatures are dropping even lower tonight; I hope I won't find more.

The birds are staying closer to the feeders as the temperatures plummet. This has provided some great backyard bird photography opportunities for me. Here are some of my favorites from today!

I was shooting from my kitchen sliding glass door, which was hazy from the bright sunshine.

The sunshine and the reflection from the snow made it so much easier to capture their dark eyes. It is frustrating trying to photograph them on the dull gray days, which seem to be almost every day during the winter!

 I love using dishes for their food. It makes the pictures a little more interesting than regular bird feeders and they enjoy eating from them, actually preferring them over the tube feeders.

My neighbor's wood fence makes a great backdrop!

 I thought I would have a little photography fun and put out a few stems of fake spring branches. It took a little while, but finally a few of the birds landed on them!

 This is my favorite shot of the day! I used this image tonight for my new business cards. I love my little chickadees! I hope they survive the weather!

I can't wait until spring!

Valentine Fun

There isn't much going on these days that is blog worthy, so I thought I'd share some Valentine "art" just for fun.

 

I tried another attempt at subway art. I made this using different Picasa fonts.

I had this small vase stored away and when I unpacked it this week I noticed that the heart had turned a very lovely rusty patina. I played with the different effects in Picnik for this picture.

Saturday was cloudy but I took a few pictures of the lovely pink roses. I needed a few fillers but the only thing in the yard right now that would work was the variegated euonymus. It has a sweet pink blush this time of year, so it was perfect.

I hope that your nest is filled with love this week! I know, I know, way too cheesy! :-)

Thanks for stopping by!

Show the Motion

This month the Picture This Photo Contest at Gardening Gone Wild is Show the Motion. The idea is to capture the movement or action as blur instead of freezing it.

Here are a few of my favorite action shots. In most of these shots the movement is frozen. I'm not sure that any of them really show the full effect of slow shutter speed blur. I think probably the closest is the first picture of the blue jay. I think that is the one that I'll submit to the contest.

From Jun 24, 2011

Edited: I tried three times to submit my picture to the contest and I tried twice to just leave a commit on the GGW site. Nothing showed up. Oh, well....not sure what is happening with their site. They are obviously having issues.

Picture Purr-fect

After a long and difficult winter, we now have had the wettest April in 139 years! I wish we could share some of the rain with our friends in Texas! Day after day of rain and gloomy weather makes me want to look at pretty things.

Usually I am hesitant to cut so many of my spring flowers to bring inside, but with the rain, high winds, and the occasional threat of hail,  I knew they wouldn't last very long outside. I have thoroughly enjoyed the tulip and daffodil bouquets in the house!

I am still trying to learn more about photography and my camera. It seems that there is always more to learn. During these past few gloomy days, I've been  experimenting with indoor photography, (with no natural sunlight). The bouquets of flowers make the perfect models!



Speaking of purr-fect models, here is my sweet kitty enjoying our cozy spot. Cats always make things look even cozier!



More beautiful tulips!



I thought I would include a shot of the night stand I bought at a garage sale last year and painted turquoise.



I don't usually follow color trends, but I am loving all things turquoise, especially the robin's eggs and my sweet collection of blue Ball jars. (The peony picture is from last year. I can't wait to have them again!)

Spring is Finally Here

Even though there was frost on the ground this morning, and it has been cool and rainy for the last few days, I have thoroughly enjoyed the few warm days we have had so far! The tulips and daffodils are blooming! We had some threatening weather with an expectation of hail and damaging winds. I couldn't bear the thought of my tulips being ripped to shreds by hail so I went out, in the rain, and cut a bouquet to enjoy inside.



I set up a little photography "studio" and played with my camera. It had been a long time since I had done that. It was kind of difficult to take pictures of anything this past winter except snow and birds. Unfortunately my blogging has suffered for several reasons.



My computer is almost five years old and for some reason it had become vulnerable to vicious trojan and malware viruses. Several times we have had to completely reformat the computer and each time I had to reload my software and programs on the computer. I still don't have everything I need back on, (like the printer). It has been quite a hassle and has kept me from blogging. The thought of finding and organizing all of my pictures and loading the editing software again was quite daunting and honestly not a priority.



In the past, I would have just purchased a new computer, but these days that isn't possible.This one is still under the extended warranty for a few more months and I am hoping it will crash before that time is up. I have never had a computer to last this long! Knowing how things have been going for us this past year, this one will last five years and one day!




It is so hard to believe that we are nearing the end of our homeschooling experience. For the last fifteen years we have homeschooled our two children. Only one month before graduation and that chapter of our life is finished. It has been such a blessing for our family and if I had it to do all over again, I would do it without a second thought!



My husband is beginning a new endeavor to start his own business. After being laid off several times due to corporate layoffs, he is taking his future in his own hands. It is frightening but exciting at the same time.



I have been so blessed to be able to stay at home with my children for the last twenty-three years. They have been my primary focus. Now that they are both grown with full-time jobs, I am at the cross-roads in my own life. I need to find a new purpose and way to be productive. I am babysitting part-time and I love the children, but it is a temporary situation.



I would really love to do something photography related and am contemplating the possibilities.



Thank you all for sticking with me through the tumultuous year and the sporadic posts. I hope things will settle down after graduation and I really hope the computer issues have been resolved now.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Photography Fun

This is one of my favorite pictures from my archives. I made the flower arrangement with a variety of flowers from my garden and placed them in a pretty silver bowl that I found at a garage sale.

I enjoy taking my photographs and putting Bible verses or quotes on them and creating cards to give to family and friends; I also have several of them enlarged and framed in my home.

I am enjoying the cooler weather that we've had these last two days! It has been a warmer than usual August here in Indiana and the lower temperatures are so refreshing. It is nice to have the windows open again. With the cooler temperatures my thoughts are on all of the projects that need to be completed inside and out in a few short months. Enough thinking, I guess I had better get off the computer and start painting!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Wordless Wednesday

Just The Way It Is....

Thank you all for your kind comments, your prayers for my family and your encouragement to me. I wish I could find the words to tell you how much it means to me.



When I first started this blog I wanted it to be a place of beauty and encouragement to those who visited. I shared very little about my personal life. I still want to share the beauty that I capture from my home and garden, but certain aspects of my life right now are difficult and sad.



I'm finding it hard to blog, because I am more in the mood to be contemplative, quiet and withdrawn. It seems that there has been one gut punch after another, and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight.



A couple of days before my mother passed away, my brother, who is 17 months younger than me, had surgery on a mole that had suddenly changed. I found out a few days ago that he has stage 4 melanoma cancer. I'm very worried about him.



Also, I just found out today that a dear cousin has Chrondrosarcoma cancer. He is my cousin, but his wife is my very dear friend. His mass is attached to his chest wall and protrudes about two or three inches, it is quite large. Surgery is not an option right now, hopefully chemo and radiation will shrink the mass. My heart is breaking for them.



I am thankful once again for beautiful distractions. I have walked around my yard for hours at a time with my camera in my hands. It is there, behind the lens, that I can lose myself momentarily.



Please pray for these loved ones of mine. Hopefully one of these days things will calm down and life will return to normal and I'll feel more like blogging again. Right now I have a difficult time thinking and finding the right words to say.

Backyard Bird Photography Tips

Several days ago Bren, from BG_Gardens asked me to share my bird photography secrets. First of all, I am just an amateur photographer with a love for nature and nature photography. I am learning by trial and error and lots of practice.

First, I'll share with you my winter photography set up. Are you ready?




Here it is, nothing particularly special at all. I sit at my kitchen table and shoot right out the sliding glass doors. I have to clean the doors often, because the cat and dog, (and occasionally little hands), leave smudges on the doors. Even though the doors are "clean" there is still a film, especially when the sun is shining, because the windows and doors in our home are defective and need to be replaced. Also I am surrounded by houses that are fairly close and don't provide a very good backdrop. So, I have conditions that are not ideal. What I wouldn't give for pristine clear doors and windows and a nice woodsy backdrop!




I don't always use a tripod, but it is easier and the pictures are better if I do. With the camera on the tripod there is less movement from me to startle the birds and the camera is already in position. This allows me to read or use the computer while keeping an eye out for activity at the bird feeders.


The birds flock to the feeders when it's snowing! Thankfully, I am usually able to stay home when it does, so it is an ideal time to practice my photography skills. With a hot cup of tea or coffee and a cozy blanket on my lap, I am ready for the birds!


If you provide a variety of seeds, nuts and suet you will be able to attract more birds to your feeders. I was thrilled to have the white breasted nuthatch this year! They are so cute!


This year we have about five or six blue jays. That is the most I've seen here! They love peanuts! I have found that it is best to use those that are still in the shells, otherwise the sparrows and starlings get them. That can be pretty expensive bird food!



The cardinals like the peanuts too.


The best secret to bird photography that I know is to have feeders close to a window. You have to get the birds closer. I have a camera lens that goes to 300mm, but even with that, if the birds are in the back of the yard my lens will still not be good enough.


Usually you can't get close enough to them so you have to get them closer to you. My feeding station is my swing frame. We store the swing during the winter, so I use the frame to hang my bird feeders. It is right at the edge of the patio.



I also have to experiment with lighting. The birds love to eat peanuts from this statue. I had it on the patio but my pictures were too dark. I placed it on the block wall to get it higher and the lighting is so much better! Also, for some reason, (I'm sure it's lighting related), if I shoot towards the right my pictures are darker, so I try to take most of my pictures to the left of the patio.


The beautiful thing about digital photography is that you can take hundreds of pictures to see what works best for your location. One thing about it, if you provide the food the birds will come back time and time again to provide you with plenty of opportunities for practice.
By the way, is that a praying mantis egg case on the statue?


I love the beautiful feisty blue jays! Better bird photography is not the only advantage to getting the birds up closer, it is simply amazing to watch these creatures up close. The blue jays can stuff nut after nut down their throat. I had bought some raw nuts in the shell after the holidays. The store had them prepackaged and on clearance. There were some filberts in the package and since no one here cares for them, I shelled them and put them out for the birds. The blue jays loved them and it was amazing to see how much they could cram in their mouths!


I prefer photographing the female cardinal over the male. Isn't she pretty?


So really, the secret to better backyard bird photography is very simple:
*Provide a variety of food.
*Move the feeders up close.
*Clean the windows and remove a screen if you have to.
*Use a tripod.
*Practice!



And the biggest secret of all is patience. I am willing to sit at my kitchen table for hours at a time bird watching. During the recent snow I spent blocks of time for three days just watching and waiting for photography opportunities.

Several people have commented saying that they need a better camera. I shot most of these pictures with my Canon 50D. It is an amazing camera for sure, but it isn't necessary to have a camera like that to have good bird pictures.



I took these, (above and below), two pictures with my Sony point and shoot camera. The picture of the chipping sparrow is one of my all time favorites and it was even shot in the auto mode!



Another secret is to be ready for unexpected photo opportunities. I try to always keep a camera close by, preferably with the battery charged and memory card in the camera! I was sitting at the table a few weeks ago with my niece and nephew who were here for a visit when this Cooper's hawk landed on the swing! I'm so glad my point and shoot camera was close by and ready!


As you can see with this picture I still have a lot to learn about bird photography myself. I am working now on trying to capture the birds in flight. That is no easy task! They are so incredibly fast! Also when it is snowing the camera has a more difficult time keeping its automatic focus. I spent several hours a few days ago trying to get it figured out and was not satisfied with any of my shots. So I will keep trying. I can't wait to capture a decent shot of that gorgeous wing span!

I hope you all have a wonderful rest of the weekend!