In my last article, the link placed at the very end of the post was not operational. That has been fixed.  Sorry about that.

The Palominos of the bird world?  I have not affected the color on these two Mourning Doves at all.  This image was made near sunset.  I metered from the entire  scene with aperture priority at minus 1/3^rd of a stop. That left the birds golden and true to the beautiful light, but it left my background/sky completely washed out due to overexposure.  I solved that during the editing process by lower the values in the sky significantly.  I love it when my subjects are flattered with strong colors.  Nature provides us with many tools for unique images.  The color of light is one of the strongest.

Ultimately, great subjects make for great pictures.  I have shared many images of this Snowy Owl over the years.  Here are two.

I have shown images before of this particular Red-tailed Hawk as he goes into a dive in chase of a Ring-necked Pheasant.  I am sorry to say (for the pheasant) that he was successful.  Just another day for the hawk, and the final day for the pheasant.  The cycle of life.

I made this image of a hunting Northern Harrier late on a winter’s day.  It was about one week later than the picture of the hunting Red-tail.  Unlike the first hawk this one was in open country. A lack of success meant that the hawk  and I were forced to wait for another day.  You can see the warmth created by the afternoon light. 

At first glance this picture almost looks like a marsh abstract. Upon closer examination we see a young Coot or Moorhen searching for dinner. When you make pictures in places that are teaming with life, even a quick abstraction can become a wildlife photo.

Some of the most beautifully marked members of the bird world, can become rather ordinary in the winter. Such is the case with the Black-bellied Plover.

Often times in bird photography, if you get the head and face sharp and in focus, the rest of the body can go soft and out of focus. That can be acceptable and even preferable depending on the pose and background. In this shot even using f 8 only provided enough depth of field to keep the head sharp. The soft focused body is actually closer to the viewer than the head and that is why this image is less than stellar.  Having said that, if this bird would have been in full summer color, the image would have been even worse as it called attention to the body.   The simple unobtrusive colors on the body make this picture at least valid as an illustration of this species in winter garb.

I have never showed this image before because…..well….it’s not that good. The one nice aspect of no longer being a professional, is that I can show photos that are kind of cool but lack in technical quality.  We have here a Whitetail buck in velvet with one drooping antler, and  a doe with her fawn.  This was made in late summer. The only one who cared about my presence was the buck.  If there were better circumstances, and if there was a better pose, and  if I would have done a better job..…..this could have been a great shot. That is a lot of ifs.

Let’s finish with a nice close-up action shot of a Bald Eagle by Michael Fitzgerald and a comical image of a Snowshoe Hare made by the great Charles Glatzer.

Thank you and have a great day,                                                                                                Wayne