Squirrel in a Tree

There was something very odd looking about this squirrel in the tree, the way it curled its tail up the top of its body. The way the wind was blowing, it made it look as though the squirrel had a mohawk.

Stuffed-Cheek Chipmunk on Deck

I'm pretty sure that I've said it before, but what I at least appreciate about the chipmunk is that -- when it grazes through the sunflower seeds that I leave out on my deck, I takes the whole seed. (The squirrels will sit on my deck, shell the nut and leave the hull... What a mess!) The chipmunk acts like a little vacuum cleaner -- stuffing as many seeds as possible into its mouth, until its cheeks are blown right up like little balloons on either side of its head.They're a little hard to get a focused picture on, as these critters seem to be in constant motion. But, this photo from a few days ago managed to catch one in process. 

Birthday Birds

Facebook pops up a notice to let me know when it's a friends birthday, and I usually type in some message like "Happy birthday! :)" Recently, I've been taking some of my pictures and turning them into simple birthday greetings and posting them on my friends' walls. It gives some of my pictures a little bit more of a practical use. Here are some that I have worked up so far:

Female Goldfinch on a Wire

I was visited by a pair of American Goldfinches a few days ago. The male landed on my clothesline; the female perched on the cable wire. I'm not quite sure what the thread is that is wrapped around the bird's leg; I suspect that maybe it's something she picked up for her nest?

I Think the Cardinals are Warming Up to Me

Yesterday was an excellent day to see a variety of birds in my yard. Robins, woodpeckers, goldfinches, cardinals, blue jays... it was like a regular aviary! 

I see cardinals in my yard quite frequently. Usually, they appear early in the morning or toward evening, and they like to hang out toward the edge of the property line (nowhere near where I am sitting with my camera).

Yesterday, however, the cardinal did make it in closer than usual, and perching briefly in the tree, it afforded me the opportunity to take the picture that you see in today's photo. Thanks for stopping by!

The Jelly Eating American Robin

This robin surprised me yesterday. Up to this point, the only animals to take an interest in our jelly feeder were the orioles. And now, we have jelly-eating robins.

If you've seen my pictures, you know that I had two glasses sitting in a plastic tray on top of a tomato cage: One glass was a small stein-shaped shot glass, the other - a small wine goblet.

Yesterday, the robin landed on the tray and started picking jelly out of the shot glass. As it took off, the force of its movement knocked the wine goblet over; the whole stand shook! (No worries; no broken glass.) As I cleaned up the spill, I rinsed the jelly out onto the ground, which... you see that the robin managed to find for today's photo.

As we watched the robins, we weren't sure whether they were actually eating the jelly, or whether they were eating the bugs that had gotten caught in the jelly. (I was really surprised at how many dead bugs got themselves stuck eating the jelly.) From this picture, it seems that the robin was actually interested in the jelly.

* * * * * 

As an aside, I used AfterShot Pro to edit this image. Apparently, there is an upgrade available for Aftershot Pro, as - every time I open the program, I am greeted (automatically) with an offer to upgrade at a special discount price. 

While I appreciated this notice the first time, and maybe even the second or third time, and - where I might appreciate it if I were simply to get this notice once or twice a month, being notified of the opportunity to purchase an upgrade every time I open the program is really a bit too much and has gotten quite old. What is particularly annoying to me is that, in order to use the program, I am forced to close this notice (the notice pops up right in the middle of the screen - every time I open the program!) - throwing an extra step into the process. While this might not seem like much to a casual user, it really does take away some of my 'delight' in my frequent use of this otherwise helpful Corel product. 

If anyone from Corel would happen to stumble upon this post, please (PLEASE!) add a little button to your automatic product upgrade offer notices, allowing the user to tick or untick - "Please show me this offer next time" or an option to "show me this offer again in two weeks". I'm not really interested in upgrading at this time, but - when I finally do reach that point, this consistent barrage of upgrade notices might make me think twice about whether another Corel product is worth the hassle. 

Lamppost Bird in Motion Fusion (with Photomatix)

I sometimes like to merge together action photos in Photomatix, as in the photo above -- where the bird is flying from inside the lamp post up to the top of the lamppost. All of the images were taken at the same exposure. (Photomatix picked this up from the EXIF information, requesting that I manually input the exposure levels. I simply went with the lowest possible option and said that the images were 1/3 apart.) Afterwards, I cropped the image in AfterShot Pro. And then (because the image was noisy), I went to Photoshop Elements and applied the SmartBlur filter. I think that this image would have been better if I had been shooting at a higher ISO (this one was ISO-200, clocking in at 1/200 sec.), where I might have been able to get a better definition on the bird's wings. Overall, though,I am pleased with the way that this image turned out.

Guest Picture: Deck Chipmunk

Having stepped away from my camera that I had left set up on my tripod, I came back to find that someone had taken all sorts of pictures of the critters on our deck... My son has especially been trying to capture images of birds in flight, but... in between those pictures, he manages to grab the odd tree branch or chipmunk (as seen in today's photo). I doctored the (single) image file somewhat in AfterShot Pro and in Photomatix. 

Stop, Drop, and Roll Robin

I am affectionately referring to this one as my 'stop, drop, and roll robin'. When I originally set up my birdfeeder with jelly in the basin, the first rain turned it into a birdbath. A robin stopped in, but I can't imagine that it felt too clean -- having splashed around in my jelly water.

Since the addition of the glasses for the jelly, the rain doesn't make the bird feeder quite as nasty as I imagine that it had been. However, it's still pretty rare for me to see a robin land there.

For this picture, my camera was set to ISO-100, so it wasn't really ready for an 'action' shot. Between this robin landing and then rolling of the robin to fly away, the camera picked up the red from the robin's breast and transposed that color over top of the rest of the image, which... kind of makes this one special.

"Do You See What I See?"

Said the little yellow bird, to the... I'm not sure who the little yellow bird would be talking to. Another yellow bird? The female that just flew away? More than likely, the squirrels and chipmunks would be the ones to hear him, for they also come to my deck looking for bird seed. (The difference, of course, is that the American Goldfinch is a... (wait for it...) bird, and the squirrels and chipmunks are crashing the restaurant without a reservation.) I like taking these pictures where the bird is looking directly down at the seed; there's not too much question of what is going through the bird's mind ("Seed!"), and I seem to catch quite a few different birds in this pose on my deck. 

An Orange Rose in the Summertime

Little did I know that, when I bought this miniature rose bush for Valentine's Day, the roses would all be orange! I don't think I'd ever heard of an orange rose before... Well, here we are in June, and the plant continues to bud and bloom. I divided the original plant out into two pots (actually, there were four plants in the original container; after two died, I transplanted the remaining two), and -- while one has budded and bloomed profusely, the second is only starting to get a new bud. This rose is from the very productive plant.

American Goldfinch on Deck

Until yesterday, the American Goldfinches had pretty well been keeping their distance from the seeds on my deck. I figured that they were just interested in some other kind of seed. And then, when I happened to look out on my deck, there they were - a male and a female! As I moved into position with my camera, the female flew away, but this male continued to pick through the seeds on my deck, offering several really nice photo opportunities.

Colorful Sunset at the Lake

This picture was taken at the end of a rainy day. The sky was still fairly well overcast, and toward the end of the sunset, there were some very pretty colors. (The bugs, however, were so bad, as I was standing on one of the docks - out in the water - with my camera on a tripod, I was swatting bugs and squashing them on my head, while also trying to press the shutter button at the same time. I'm sure that it would have been quite a picture, if someone had been there to observe...)

Sony NEX-7 HDR Comparison on an Orange Rose

For today's photo, I'm comparing notes on the in-camera HDR processed version of an orange rose, and the 11 RAW file merger that I processed in Photomatix. I've also taken the Photomatix version and cleaned it up in Corel AfterShot Pro.

First, the Sony in-camera version:

Next, the JPEG made from 11 RAW files, straight from Photomatix:

And finally, the TIF file generated from Photomatix, edited in AfterShot Pro:

Thoughts: The Sony in camera version is not bad. I am really digging the bokeh in that image. The flower itself seems kind of dark, especially in the middle of the flower, where it almost seems splotchy. The version from Photomatix does not seem quite as strong on the bokeh, which seems muted to me. While you can definitely see the whole flower (no blotchiness), the image itself seems kind of lackluster. (Now, granted, I didn't do anything in the final edits with this second image -- to tweak the colors or the contrast.) I saved this image as a TIF file and took it over to AfterShot Pro, where I clicked on the Autolevel and clicked up the Saturation (3) and the Vibrance (6). This helped to bring out the color in the flower, and is (in my opinion) the nicest version of the three.

American Goldfinch on the Rusty Clothesline

My wife and children had mentioned seeing this American Goldfinch on our clothesline post a few days ago. From what they had said, the bird was mostly interested in our bug catcher, taking a few pecks at it before flying off. I finally happened to catch the bird yesterday on camera, although... this time it didn't peck at our bug catcher.

Squirrel on a Branch, Looking at Me

This squirrel was sitting in a nearby tree, staring at me, after I had chased it away from the seeds that I leave out on my deck for the birds. I'm pretty sure that the squirrel was waiting, biding its time, wondering when it would be safe again to venture back to my deck, to grab a clawful of bird seed and continue shelling them without further intrusion. Looking at this picture, you might get the impression that we are in a stare-down; who is going to blink first? Who is going to be the first to back down? The question is: Who do you think will win?

(This photo was composed from 3 exposures, 3 steps apart.)

American robin up a tree

Before heading on to pick up some worms, this robin spent a little bit of time hopping between the branches in a tree in my backyard. (My family, of course, keeps seeing these exotic birds that I keep missing; "Oh, look at that goldfinch! Look at the little brown bird, I don't think we've seen that one before." And: What do I get? Robins. ;)

Grape Jelly Wine Glass Oriole (and a Mourning Dove)

Today, I have two pictures. The first is a guest picture (from my wife). While I was out, she happened to be by the camera. An oriole landed on our makeshift bird feeder and was very much interested in the grape jelly that we had placed in the wine glass. (Stretch as it might, the bird couldn't quite reach the jelly. Later in the day, I moved the glass a little closer to the edge.) (I processed this single image file in Photomatix and then cropped and further tweaked the image in Aftershot Pro.)

The second image (this one, mine) was of a Mourning Dove that was wandering around in the grass in my back yard, probably looking for bugs. It seems that the orioles are the only birds (so far) in our neighborhood that are attracted to the grape jelly. Thankfully, the squirrels have not discovered a taste for it.

For some reason, the color scheme that seemed to me to best fit in this particular image came through one of the surreal presets on Photomatix. (I'm not sure whether I was thinking more about the green of the grass, or the pastel blue of the bird's eye. But, that's what I was going for here.)

Squirrels and Nuthatches

The juvenile squirrels were out yesterday, as were the nuthatches. Since I am more partial to the nuthatches than the squirrels, I was simply going to post the nuthatch for today's picture. (In the end, I decided to post them both.)

When it comes to the animals that take the seeds off my deck, the nuthatch actually takes the whole seed and flies away. The squirrel, however, shells the seed on my deck, takes the nut, leaves the shell behind, and then 'flies away', leaving something of a mess on my deck.

Preening Robin on the Rusty Clothesline Pole

I found this robin preening (?) its feathers yesterday on the T-shaped clothesline pole in my back yard. The robins don't usually perch at eye level with my regular photography vantage point; instead, they run around in the yard at ground level some 3-10 feet below. This means that I usually can't get the angle that I would like to shoot. As I saw this robin on my clothesline, I quick grabbed my camera, and as I started shooting, the bird began to preen, making for a visually interesting image with the angle of the bird's head.

Crab Apple Blossoms

I'm still amazed at how quickly these flowers came and went this year. I appreciate the time that I had, to spend over the few days that these flowers were actually blossoming, taking as many pictures as I did. The crab apple tree is one of my favorite parts of my yard (at least, apparently, for three or four days of the year). 

Bee Flying to the Jelly Jar

Ok, so I'm not really trying for any photography awards with today's photo. A friend suggested that I try some kind of set-up, maybe using a glass (like maybe a wine glass) in which I could put my grape jelly and take some interesting pictures of the orioles. I set out a little shot glass, which did attract an oriole; however, it's more common customer was the bee -- as pictured in this image from two days ago. (Yesterday, there were easily three bees in the jelly at the same time... coming and going.) I think my setup could use a little work, and perhaps I'll do something to try for the award-winning photographs some other day.

In order to catch the bee in this image (as something more than a blur), I dropped my exposure bias to minus 2, and I set my camera to ISO-3200. This dropped my exposure time to 1/4000 sec. (It also turned the picture quite a bit grainier.) I was shooting with my Sony 55-210mm lens fully extended, sitting maybe about ten feet from the feeder (and shooting through a glass window besides). I'm sure that the shots would improve dramatically if I simply went outside; I'm just not too sure how close I want to get to the bees. (I suppose that this is where some photographers would push the envelope and live a little bit on the edge.)

"I want that one"

I have very little doubt what was going through the mind of this sparrow. The line from its beak can be drawn directly to the seed on the deck... that the bird proceeded to pick up after this picture was taken.

Sometimes, it's not too difficult to tell what someone is thinking.

Funny Headed Sparrow

One of the funny things about this sparrow was all of the different directions in which it was moving its head for quite a few of the pictures that I took. It was all over the place! The image posted here was one of my favorites, where the tuft of feathers on top of the head is standing up, giving the bird something of a mohawk look. 

Nuthatch, Seed in Beak, Ready for Take-Off

The White-Breasted Nuthatch does not spend long on our deck when it lands to pick up a seed. Unless you are sitting there with your camera in position, ready to take the picture, this bird will land, pick up its seed, and take off again -- all before you have the chance even to set up. This particular shot caught the nuthatch within a few movements of taking off. Immediately after this picture, the bird squatted low and then dove off the side of the deck.

Crab Apple Blossoms

The crab apple tree really is one of my favorite parts of the property where I live, at least, for that week in May (this year, closer to three days) when the flowers are out in full color. Someday, I would like to have a whole row of these trees lining both sides of some kind of walkway, with a park bench along the way. (I know, it would be a lot of effort to go to for three days in May, but still... I think it would be kind of cool.)

Female Bluebird on a Rusty Clothesline

I realize that the title here is not exactly the most attractive one that I've ever come up with, yet... it's a fairly accurate description of what I have pictured here. I would really have liked to have been able to title this one, "Bald Eagle Snatching Salmon out of the Rapids, While Evading Grizzly Bear", but that just wasn't going on in my backyard.

Mourning Dove on a Wire

I'm actually not sure what kind of wire this Mourning Dove is perched upon (telephone? electrical?), but you can tell that there's quite a bit of magnification going on here to be able to see the twists in the wire. It was actually quite windy when this picture was taken (which is probably something of the reason why the leaves are blurry on the side), and while the dove perched on the wire, it did manage to preen itself.

(Experimental) Light Post

A while back, I had posted about an article that I had read in a photography magazine, one in which the author talked about intentionally taking pictures out of focus. Since I was having some trouble with the shutter speed on my Sony NEX-6 yesterday (it may have just been dark, who knows?), I decided to try something different and make a few 'out of focus' pictures. Looking through the lens, there were quite a few of these interesting 'bokeh' sights to be seen, looking at the seen coming through the green leaves. I settled on the light post for today's blog post, as it seemed that the most recognizable to someone who might come along and wonder: What is he taking pictures of today?

Waning Crab Apple Flower Blossoms

It did not take long for the crab apple flower blossoms to fade and fall from the tree this year. They don't usually last long, but I don't think it helped that we got hit by a succession of rain showers. I did, however, have a couple of days in which I was able to take lots of pictures. I will probably intersperse them from time to time when nothing else of interest crosses my camera, or when we run into more of those 'rainy days'.