I don’t see enough American Coots. That’s a comment you probably don’t hear much in regular conversation — or even from birdy people. The coot is not a bird that inspires viewing frenzies the way an owl does. I’ve heard some people call coots “trash birds” — a pejorative I never use for any animal,…
Seattle Birds on a Wire
Like a bird on the wire, Like a drunk in a midnight choir I have tried in my way to be free. Like a worm on a hook, Like a knight from some old fashioned book I have saved all my ribbons for thee. If I, if I have been unkind, I hope that you…
City Bird, Winter Light
Photographed at Union Bay Natural Area in Seattle • Olympus E-3 + Zuiko 50-200mm + EC14 I’m tracking, with my lens, a Yellow-rumped Warbler who’s bouncing around her kingdom. She stops then hops, as warblers often do. And, for a split second, she clears the branches and looks back at me, bearing the criss-cross shadows…
How Many Songbirds Didn’t Have to Die?
** Note: There is no graphic visual content in this post. The subject matter, is, however disheartening for anyone who cares about birds. How many? That’s a legitimate question. I don’t know and I’d like to — but there’s no verifiable nor practical way to find out. It’s an issue that came up for me…
The Extended Art of Goose Stipple
After the Snow Geese stippled our little Honda with their version of a Pollack drip painting, I waited a while before heading to the car wash, thinking it would be a waste of resources when the rain would just wipe the body clean within a day or two. But, faithful to Northwestern climate patterns, the…
The Red-Winged Way
The Red-Wing Blackbird The wild red-wing black- bird croaks frog- like though more shrill as the beads of his head blaze over the swamp and the odors of the swamp vodka to his nostrils ~ William Carlos Williams I notice spring birds before spring buds … and just the other day, the Red-winged Blackbirds were…
She’s a Hum Dum Dinger Pigeon
A little Rock Pigeon (Columba livia) courtship play … photographed on the Seattle waterfront, in the magic hour of a winter evening. Music by Jimmie Davis – in the public domain Photographed with the Olympus OM-D E-M5 + Lumix 100-300mm (micro four thirds) • Edited in iMovie
Post Processing, Realism + Conceptualism: A Postscript
Long-billed Curlew photographed at sunset, on the dunes at Morro Strand State Beach in California. These thoughts are an extension of the discussion that began under my piece on post-processing. Thanks to my blogging friends who shared their methodologies and perspectives, initiating some thought-provoking explorations of realism in photography. I heard a lecture recently where…
How Much Post-Processing Do You Do?
A friend linked to this story in her Facebook feed today: Why do Photo Contest Winners Look Like Movie Posters? Post-processing is obviously not a new topic … and it’s one that’s been evolving alongside digital photography and darkroom skills. This particular piece questions the lighting on the winning image in the World Press contest,…
Countdown to Liftoff
This photo series shows the calm before the Snow Goose storm … and the ripple effect that sends thousands of geese into the air within seconds, at just the slightest provocation. They may call out, sending audio waves through the flock before erupting into goose mayhem. Or, they may fall unexpectedly silent for a split…
