I do believe, when you narrow down photography subjects (i.e., birds from wildlife etc.), that birds are in fact the most popular nature subject for photographers, throughout the world. And why not? They are colorful, active and abundant. Most birds are living out their lives during the day when we can make pictures. Even nocturnal birds can often be found during the day. Bird photography does require some specialized equipment such as lenses of 300mm and up, but it is worth it. I have made more pictures of birds than any single subject.

Among the pictures below you will find some that I have shared a multitude of times, some only once a long time ago, and few that have never been seen before.

There are a lot of Sparrows in the world and I know many photographers who only photograph the rarest varieties. The American Tree Sparrow is a pretty common sort in these parts, but I find them elegant, not so much in their appearance but in the way they move. This was made on a pretty winter’s day, and that combined with the clean and uncluttered background, elevates the image beyond that of just another shot of a common bird. For me that is.

Sunny and pretty winter days are great, but overcast serves a purpose too. This image was actually made towards sunset while the sky was thinly veiled in clouds. Mostly cloudy with just a bit of warm sun. Those conditions led to a lack of detail but plenty of saturation. This is an American Kestrel

Ultimately there is nothing like a pretty bird striking a nice pose in beautiful light. This portrait of a male Ring-necked Pheasant certainly stands on its own. There is however a story to be told in this image. The bird is contemplating making a reach for some berries. It is late autumn and there is not much for this fellow to eat. That makes this picture a story telling image as well. In the next shot our subject decided to make a grab for the berries. He weighted down the branches he was standing on as well as the branches holding the berries. The second photo is certainly not perfect, but combining the two images makes them both worth more than they were as singles. In stock photography and even in the art market, look for combinations that become better as a unit than they were by them selves.

Northern Shovelers have always given me more opportunities to create nice images than I ever would have dreamed of. They seem to love clean, reflective waters to dabble in, and they love to stretch their wings

This is not a great image but I think this shows the truth about Red-tailed Hawks that your rarely see. Many of them do in fact have red tails. I say many because with some of them, their tail is not red. I also like the markings on the back of this one. It was a “smallish” hawk so I assume this is a male.

There are owls and then there are owls. The Short-eared Owl tends to take over or “own” its environment when they come out to hunt. These two owls are part of a group of about fifteen that came out at about 2:30 pm one winter’s day. SEOs have an attitude and it comes through in photographs. I wouldn’t want to cross these two.

———————————————————————————————————–

While I am a believer in photographing everything, particularly in nature, it is easy to understand why birds are the most popular subject.

==================================================================

It seems easy to live in a world where everything is somebody else’s fault, or else it’s the fault of all society never the indivudual.  Shirking personal accountability/responsibility is the way of the world, but is it really easy?  We would rather punish people for their thoughts, and unacceptable, politically incorrect words, than for their actual deeds.  Wayne

‘Punishment is now unfashionable… because it creates moral distinctions among men, which, to the democratic mind, are odious. We prefer a meaningless collective guilt to a meaningful individual responsibility.” Thomas Szasz

Thanks and have a great day,                                                                                                          Wayne