Today’s post is of the variety that have  become my norm over the past few years. So, here we go again.

This is an old slide image, and I know not where I made it, or when. That was bound to happen to me eventually. Obviously it is either sunrise or sunset, and most of my images like this were created in Utah, but I am not sure. I have made some in Arizona, Texas, Colorado, and Wyoming as well. I will probably wake up at 3:30 a.m. some morning, and remember the entire experience but for now, it is just as much a mystery to me as it is to you.

My appraisal is, not bad but could be better.

I have been  blessed by God to have been at places like this and experienced scenes like this so many times.

Once again, my love for rock and moving water takes over. Also once again, it is the contrast between hard rock, and soft flowing water, that beckoned me.  In my opinion, it is important for the rock to be crystal sharp in these images, in order for the soft water to become balanced. Too much blur often just makes for an “uncomfortable” photo.

I remember very well photographing some very easy to get close-ups of this Reddish Egret on the Texas Gulf coast. Rockport, Texas. An incredible two days were had by me at this location. So many birds I had never seen before in person, were added to my photo files. This was one of a very few trips or locations, where I used both film and digital.

When I was teaching photographic composition, I would have suggested this egret image would have been better done, to have either gotten the tail of the bird in the shot, or cropped tightly and make this “almost” a head shot. Of course this is my picture so it is my comp and I live with it.

This was made along another shoreline. This time I was only a few miles from home and the shore was that of Lake Michigan. The subject is a migrating Caspian Tern. This is a male who was about to offer this tasty morsel up as a gift (bribe) in exchange for sex. I might suggest that’s wildlife prostitution except it is the way this species courts with one another, and keeps the world supplied with Caspian Terns.  If the female seems to refuse the offer, or even hesitates, the males waste little time swallowing the fish. Sex or dinner, he wins either way.

Rare and endangered animals are always sought after by wildlife photographers. This is a Whooping Crane and you can see its life and well-being is monitored via radio transmitters on its legs. This was made in Wisconsin (the image that is), and I suspect such is also true of the bird.

I always loved working the shores of any body of water, for what else, shorebirds. These Dunlins were moving a rapid speeds as they searched the beech to see what the waves left behind. Often what they do find and consume is so small and swallowed so rapidly, that the photographer never really sees what they eat.

Continuing with water birds, let us view an immature female (I believe) Northern Shoveler duck as she puts on some sort of display. I do not remember this image specifically but I suspect she may have actually just swallowed a fish. The lady tern gets her lunch paid for by a willing gentlemen, but alas, this duck needs to find her own meal.

Light is the essence of photography. Photography is in fact, the capture of light, and of course, whatever happens to be in that light.

The afternoon light was just beginning to warm up as I photographed these four American White Pelicans as they swam into the scene.

There is light, and then there is light. This female Blue-winged Teal (I believe), was bathed is the soft, warm light of sunset as she paddled along in front of me and my camera.

Of course, there’s nothing like some backyard feeders, be it your own backyard, or a feeding station at a park or sanctuary, to provide opportunities for pictures of songbirds. This magnificent male Baltimore Oriole was “chowing down” on an orange at a feeding station in a local privately owned nature sanctuary, and thankfully, I was there to trip the shutter.

There’s nothing like a young Cottontail Rabbit to provide a few images of wild mammals on summer morning. I watched and photographed this half grown subject from my car window for a while and then drove off leaving it just where I found it. I love happy endings, but hopefully it was less accommodating to the many hawks and a few coyotes that inhabit this area.

Then there is the bandit. I made this image from my car in a marsh at a wildlife refuge. The subject almost looks like it is stuffed. Really, it was a living critter. I find Raccoons fascinating. They are in most respects, small bears. Small but capable of almost as much damage.

Many years ago, I was a driver/salesman for a snack food company. My truck had a mechanical breakdown and it went to a repair shop for fixing. It was going to take two days so I used another truck and filled it with some merchandise from our warehouse. I would go very early in morning the next day, and I decided I needed to supplement my load with merchandise on that broken truck, as it was still loaded but was going to be left outside. As I drove up in the darkness, I saw a masked bandit or raccoon if you will, running from my truck. The mechanic had been working on the truck outside and had removed a sort of trap door beneath the transmission. The bandit, had crawled in my truck and was having a feast. It had sampled everything. One bag or box of food was removed from almost every one of the master cases, and eaten, leaving paper and food crumbs everywhere inside the truck.

The critter below was more obliging and a great model.

I logically imagine that those of you who have been with me on this blog since the beginning, or at least for a long while, grow weary of my sharing of old images and then writing whatever comes to my mind. Of course the good news for some of you is when I do such, that means I am not delving into political/social discourse, or not discussing religion. 

As an “add on” to that thought, I should say that the freedom to speak ones mind, often comes or goes with money spent. A few dollars spent meant my opinions were not that obnoxious. I will leave you with what that might mean.

I am looking at some other possibilities here such as dedicating some posts to entirely showing the work of other photographers, and maybe even finding an occasional guest blogger who will be allowed to write about any subject as long as it is in no way vulgar or hateful.  Photography, politics, religion, slice of life, and so on.

For today I once again grabbed some old images and shared whatever came to mind.

I would like to say that I continue to view much photography, nature or otherwise, every day of my life. In addition to occasionally sharing some of what I find with you who read this blog, I always appraise what I see. There is a lot of outstanding work being done today. The melding of “in the field” original imagery, and digital alterations is most often artistic, tasteful, and appropriate.  There is a lot of talent out there.

May God Bless,
Wayne