I love photographic abstractions, especially when there is no serious external, or after the click manipulation. Lens choice, camera position, light and personal point of view. You can learn a lot about the photographer from this genre of image making.

The Photo below is an afternoon shot from White Sands New Mexico.

This is Foxtail Barley Grass at first light, with some natural dew to make the image special.

Monkey see. I love Japanese Macaques! Being that a visit to Japan never really made my visitation list, a zoo in Milwaukee, Wisconsin had to suffice.

The dark, cold day that presented itself to me during my visit, was perfect to catch these soft-furry red-faced gems in a mood fitting for their natural habitat.

Nobody makes every trip they’d like to, so sometimes we need to “punt” and find an alternative.

Bird Heaven

Perhaps it’s just a twist of fate that orange colored Baltimore Orioles, and the fruit that carries the name orange, go together. An orange in the backyard often produces an Oriole for the photographer.

Another fascinating visitor to these parts (southern Wisconsin) is the Rose-breasted Grosbeak. As with many colorful songbirds, the males produce the name via their color markings. It is easy for photographers to focus (pun) on the males and forget the often more photographically interesting females. Great visual subjects for image making are not necessarily the most colorful. This lovely lady put on a great show one spring a long time ago.

Even when color isn’t an issue, it’s often the males who own the name. The Eastern Kingbird does not participate in the act of sexual dimorphism. The males and females are indiscernible from each other, yet the species is entitled “king”. What about the queen? In this case, she/he put on a nice display of poses.

Woodpeckers make great photographic subjects as they rarely stand still. While that does mean you have to be quick on the trigger, it also means they give you a lot of poses to work with.

Here we find a Red-bellied Woodpecker (top) and two shots of a Downy Woodpecker. Notice that the red spots on top of the heads of both of them, designate a male of each species.

I have had the privilege to photograph quite a few Snowy Owls in my life. This young visitor from the Arctic is probably a female. She blessed me with variety of poses and action but I always enjoy images that are different. Here she is looking for some breakfast, and is perched on a large piece of construction equipment.

One of my favorite water birds is the Red-breasted Merganser. This pretty male first gave me only very distant profile shots, but finally turned in my direction. Follow focusing with a large manual focus lens when your subject is coming at you, is difficult at best. Birds moving away from the camera are much easier, hence forth, the reason why I have images of so many birds moving away from the camera.

Keep it moving forward,                                                                                                            Wayne