I’m not much of a photographer, as my husband and at least one daughter will readily tell you. I don’t know what half the bells and whistles on our camera do and I don’t know how to use them. When I start reading or thinking about apertures and focal points and such, my mind goes blank and I forget all those years (2-lol) of photography classes. My husband and daughter, however, know everything there is to know about the bells and whistles, and then some. They remember what they read, even if it involves numbers and math. They study the light and plan their shots and turn the right dials and magic happens.
However, I’ve taken a few good photos, and my husband and at least one daughter will readily admit it. I have three things that work to my advantage in photography and help balance out my technical shortcomings. First of all, my natural talent, plus five years of art training, gives me a keen eye for interesting subject matter. Second, my love of nature has endowed me with a penchant for observation. I am also infinitely patient when it comes to that observation. I spent hours in the woods as a child. I just watched animals and studied plants. Third, digital photography has freed me from the fear of making a mistake. When we used film I was so hesitant to waste it! I knew when I got in the darkroom I would be disappointed. And I couldn’t do all that darkroom magic stuff that corrected some of my mistakes. I’d just stand there in the dark and think “not again!”. When we sent film off to be developed I just prayed I got back something recognizable.
With advances in technology and the automatic features of our camera backing me up, I can now concentrate on subject matter and let luck handle the rest. I just click away and I’m usually not disappointed. I might take ten shots before I get that wonderful one that tells the story I want to remember. But it’s the story that is important, not how I got it.
And for those of you who have asked, I use photo software to crop a photo or change the lighting or blot out a dirty spot, but nothing else, because again, I don’t know how to do anything advanced. And I kind of feel like some of the things that I could learn to do are “plastic surgery” and my photos don’t need that. I’m not trying to impress anyone or compete for prizes. BTW, I have an extreme distrust for media photos now that I understand what CAN be changed in them.
I say all of that to preface today’s bird photos. This first set tells what appears to be an amusing story. The little “exchange” took place outside my kitchen window, which has a screen. So the photos are a bit blurry, but I don’t care. What I care about is that this bird couple has some definite marital issues! LOL I figure he was supposed to be home working on his chores when his wife caught him out having a good time at the feeder instead. I’ve never before seen a bird “cower”, but I definitely think that is what this one is doing. J
The next set of photos shows our attempt at a bird rescue. When I came home yesterday there were killdeer chicks all over the driveway and the adult pair was going crazy with their “fake injury” displays. I stopped and got out to see the source of their despair- two chicks had fallen into the pit below the cattle guard. I thought at first that we might scoop them up with my big butterfly net, but the combination of their speed and the close proximity of the guard pipes made that seem impossible even without actually attempting it. So we placed two long, slender tree limbs into the pit and angled them out the sides of it. Hopefully the chicks walked up the limbs and out of the pit. I will have to check this morning. And the limbs are placed so that they can stay there and we can still drive over the cattle guard. I would just imagine that if the chicks fell in there once, it won’t be the last time. There was also a chick wandering on the highway, so I’m not sure how many they will have left by the end of the week. Odd that they built a nest so close to the road.
Of course the cows were curious and had to see what we were doing.
Never know what a day will bring. J Enjoy today!
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