Today’s post is a visual study of birds, tis why the word wings is in the title, and landscapes. Tis why dirt is in the title. I grabbed subjects with no ryme or reason, except they are birds and something akin to landscapes.

Some of the photos you see below are actually all trees, and one is really a building, but that’s close enough.

Bird behavior is one of the best reasons, to photograph them. They look cool, but many of them do cool things as well.

Below we have a male Sharp-tailed Grouse. Yes he is dancing. There is a pretty lady not very far away and he hoped (I think) he could co-create with her. I never got both of them in the same picture. Hopefully a new generation of Sharpies was begun.

I was fortunate to capture on film many years earlier, dancing Prairie Chickens doing the same.

Below we have two male Greater Scaups playing follow the leader. I have shot (with a camera) hundreds of these guys, yet I had to look up their name in a bird book to label this image.

It’s sad how much I have forgotten.

Male Common Goldeneye keeping his feathers in good condition.

When you photograph any form of wildlife, showing behavior is important as to educate others. It can also make for cool shots.

This next one may be a Yellow-breasted Chat, but I am not sure.

Finding new birds, and then identifying them thoroughly, unlike what I have done here, is important.

I believe this next image is the “belly side” of a Rough-legged Hawk. This was a favorite species for me, but alas, I actually only made this one image at the upward angle you see.

I can safely say that this a Bald Eagle. I have made thousands of images of this species. The symbol of America. I get goose bumps just looking at one in a photo, and no day that I spent with these birds was ever a bad one.

If you look at the bird’s right leg you will see that it is banded. It is important to make such images as so others can see and learn from them.

Enough of birds, now let us explore some landscapes, of which only some are actually landscapes.

I love shooting landscapes in powerful and moody light. The last or first light of day helps, and shadows can add mystery and contrast to a scene, making it “pop”.

This is of course, The Badlands of South Dakota

Throw in some storm clouds, and the anti goes up. Also the Badlands.

Autumn trees in their full glory, needn’t have anything but tree and sky to be spectacular. Look for angles if you will, to make them cathedral like in their nature. Something you can look up to…….so to speak.

Winter scenes can be nice. Add some mountains and there you are.

Mountain storms often give viewers a sense of terror..

Okay, you’re correct this does not deserve to be called a landscape. There’s no dirt (as in land) in this image anywhere.

So it is not a landscape. It will however make for an easy transition for a landscape photographer.

It is an historic Door, County, Wisconsin lighthouse. The gulls add some life to this old structure and the warm red building against the cool blue sky adds one of my favorite things, contrast. Contrast brings dimension and life to an image.

Birds, the land, historic buildings, there is a journey waiting for each and every one of us.

What’s A Word Worth?

I used a lot of photos today. As was the case today, normally when I use imagery, I also use words. Words to describe the images or words for other reasons.

Never have words been more misleading than they are today. Social media has images, but it is words that rule the roost. Often they are lies.

Often when I publish a new post, there might be some imagery, but it is really about words. What I say, what somebody else has said. The images are often an add-on to the words, not the other way around.

I publish song lyrics on these pages, poetry, and the smartest and greatest words that can be found with passages from the Bible.

When we get married we say I do. When we get divorced we might say goodbye. Some people say good riddance.

I just faded away. Silence also has its benefits.

When I did group workshops or slide shows, I used far more words than I did photos.

To most people, images are just copies of something that is real. I think they are more than that but I cannot live by photos alone. I also need words.

So below I leave you not with photos, but with some words,

Have a great day, and may God Bless,
Wayne