Oh, for fuck’s sake! Look here, you (and by “you” here, I mean me, obviously) – I just ran across this post from 2014… geezly crow, I didn’t have to scroll back all that far to find it either. The thing is, you see, and I think I’ve mentioned it before. I’ve started teaching my hunny to shoot now. It turns out he loves birds and of course birds and photography go hand in hand and he’s a real natural because of course he fuckin’ is. He’s also one of the most artist people I know and he picks up whatever creative thing he wants to do really easily and gets tired of it really quickly. One of the lucky ones, really. But now he really understands what I’m saying. And one of the reasons I struggled so much all those many years ago with whether or not *I* was an artist is because I struggle SO SO much with creative things. I start them off easily enough, but I always hit a wall pretty quickly and no matter what any one tries to teach me or show much I just can’t get passed it. With Photography I did. Except photography is a weird little thing, right. Because it’s very tech heavy, very pay to play as it were. So photographers have this in-community argument all the time – are photographers artists, or are they merely documenting the world around them? Is a good photographer one who takes photos faithful to reality or one that manipulates a scene – either in reality by posing subjects or manipulating the light or by doing so using a computer or a darkroom – to take a photo faithful to the perceived reality (because the reality of the thing is that humans don’t see things the way that a camera sees things and there’s a debate to be had about if humans have the right view or cameras do). Anyways, it’s a whole thing. Are we documentarians or are we artists? Is it enough to technically capture an image proficiently or must you be communicaitng something artistically as well? For me, it needs to communicate something artistically. I’ve seen more than enough technically perfect photos that are dull as shit. That are somehow dull and lifeless when they absolutely shouldn’t be. I’ve seen enough photos that have so many flaws but are still gorgeous and moving that I cannot argue they are anything less than brilliant. So I’m on the side of artistic photography. And there are folks on the side of technical photography and they are free to go off and do that but I’m not gonna look at it more than I have to. So there, that’s it. Because this is how I VIEW images, this is how I TAKE images, and thus, I’m an artist. And for so many years I did not even REALIZE that no matter my struggles and difficults and all these other things… the only reason I ever even struggled was because I was already an artist. Otherwise I would have been content that I had already, indeed, operated a paintbrush proficiently instead of bemoaning that it didn’t move me. Things get so much simpler the older you get – it’s all that damn experience I reckon.
New Lake, New Lake!
Okay, so Yosemite is still closed due to all the snow, so we tried a different, nearby lake that’s new to us on recommendation. We ALSO decided to try a new method of sitting and hanging out and waiting for birds to show up instead of chasing after them which we both felt was MUCH more successful. Little bummed that we spent a LONG time trying to find a good spot, but in the meantime, we got to meet a LOT of the park workers who were super friendly and helpful! Especially Larry, who is a photographer himself! Pictured below, we have an American Robin, Brewer’s Blackbird (or maybe a Common Grackle), Red-tailed Hawk (probably), Carpenter Bee (maybe), Turkey Vulture, Common Raven, Ospreys, Bullock’s Oriole, Western Kingbird, and a European Starling.
Wildflowers!
Back in April (oh so long ago) we took a trek to see some wildflowers on the recommendation of another photographer we ran into the week before. They really were just gorgeous! We were surprised to run into a section of park called “Buzzard’s Roost” where there were a TON of low flying buzzards! We also got to see an Oriole for the first time, but I wasn’t quick enough to catch it. Enjoy!
A Little Less Birds, a Lot More Flooding
On our third trip out birding, the park we chose to visit was closed due to the extensive flooding that was happening, so we had to walk all the way down the long entrance road which took up a good deal of our remaining sunlight. We didn’t see a whole lot of birds when we were there, either, just some geese and ducks and a little kestrel we ran into on the way out, eating his dinner.
Second Outing
For our second outing, we headed out to another river access point just a smidge further away from home. Like 10 minutes away. I had no idea it was even there! We had a ton of fun and especially were able to enjoy hawks and hummingbirds – unfortunately, there was an egret we didn’t know was there until we scared it away. Next time, though!
Birding is Happening!
So, it’s been a bit, but a couple months ago I learned that my hunny really like birds, and has his whole life, so we’ve taken some steps for him to start learning about birds. As a result, we’ve started going out more to do nature/bird/wildlife photography and it’s been really nice! We get to get out, get some fresh air, do some exercising, and take photos and it’s really just been so lovely. Our first trip out we explored some river access area that was only about a mile from where we live – and we had no idea it was there! We got some cool photos, but excitingly, we saw a bald eagle! He’s just learning to shoot and using our 70-300 mm lens and I’ve been using my favorite little nifty fifty lens instead, so bird shots are a bit complicated for me but not impossible. I’m lucky that this lens is good at focusing and pretty dang sharp and I mostly know what I’m doing with it. But here are some of the photos I got!
Get Your Motor Running!
With circumstances being what they are, I haven’t had much opportunity to schedule and set up shoots or really get out all that much and I’ve turned my attention to focusing on Black and White photography. I am pleased with how my understanding of light and lighting is growing through the practice of shooting in black and white – my cats have been so kind and generous as to be my models. And I have forgotten how much more difficult black cats are to shoot than non-black cats – what a difference! Black and White Photos So there we have it! The stuff I’ve been working on! Stay tuned though, because this is just the beginning.
November 19, 2021 Eclipse!
I have never tried eclipse shots over time at all before, even after shooting for 15 years now. I DEFINITELY know how to improve these for next time and that this isn’t perfect, but I’m VERY happy with how it turned out for a first attempt! The first 5 images were taken 20 minutes apart (I thought I had until 1:04am) but the eclipse was progressing REALLY fast, so the last 3 were taken 5 minutes apart. Good thing, too! At 12:50am the fog rolled in and the sky was inaccessible until well after sunrise! I thought it especially fascinating how I had to adjust my camera settings – I know the moon well enough I don’t have to fiddle around with the settings (ISO 100, f4.0, 1/400) ahead of time, but as the eclipse progressed, I had to keep dropping my shutter speed (down to 1/70) and then for the last three, ALSO boosting my ISO (up to 3200). MUCH learning!
More Pictures from Yosemite!
I have been studying the editing side of photography a lot the last couple months, thanks to my brother who is also a photographer, and so I’m excited to share these additional images from Yosemite that I finally figured out what to do with! Please click the images to open them full size (the crop is so funny in the preview).
Some Fall Photos
I saw some cute little mushies outside in the green space of my apartment complex and had to get some fall photos!