Fairweather Zealot

Well, I got one of my 2008 goals completed last night – I sold a picture. It’s not a good picture – in fact, it’s being used in an article on noise in digital photography – but it counts. It should be in the June issue of Popular Photography, which I’ll scan when it comes out. I was torn when I got the request for the image – they wanted my picture, but only because it was so bad … so bad, in fact, that I used it in my example of noise reduction software about a year ago Continue reading

I finally got out for some birding on Saturday morning at Palmyra Cove. It was a little chilly, and there weren’t any real big migrants there, but I still have a good time. One of the highlights was seeing quite a few Field Sparrows (Spizella pusilla) – a species I had seen before but not yet photgraphed. This little casanova was singing his heart out near the beaver pond. Continue reading

Late last year, I entered some of my pictures into a contest sponsored by the National Wildlife Refuge Association. I got a notice yesterday that at least one of my photos had been selected as a winner. Continue reading

This weekend started off on a bit of a down note when I found that I could get to sleep Friday night (I didn’t get to sleep until 4 a.m. Friday night). Finally, begrudginly, I got out of bed and went downstairs to do some work, check out Flickr, work – anything that one can do in the middle of the night. But it was a message I got just after 2 a.m. that really put the weekend into perspective. Continue reading

Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus) vs.
Cooper’s Hawk (Accipiter cooperii)

This poor Cooper’s Hawk really didn’t make the proper entrance to Forsythe NWR. Every time we’ve seen him, it’s only a minute or two before one or more Norther Harriers swoop in to give him the ‘what for’. Continue reading

This phenomena is known as a sun pillar, and it’s created by the presence of ice crystals in the atmosphere between the sun and the photographer. This is known as a lower pillar because the beam is coming from below the sun (normal pillars rise up from the sun when it has just dropped below the horizon). Continue reading

It’s been a long couple of months, so yesterday the wife and I decided to go out in the freezing cold and … bird (we’re crazy that way). Well, yesterday at Forsythe NWR* it was raptor central. Continue reading

I just wanted to put up something that I started working on a week ago. I thought it might be interesting to see how the creative process worked for me doing some of the gummi shots I did at Halloween.

The seance shot that I did was one of the last concepts that I drew up … almost a parting shot, but it ended up being one of my favorite shots.
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The rest of the Gummi Halloween set I was working on…

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The gummis are back. Every once in a while I decide to get creative, and I came up with some good Halloween Gummi ideas last year on about Nov. 3rd. So, this year I prepped early and did some playful scenes. Stay tuned for a few more to come. Continue reading