Posts in Category: meadow
6/4/2010
Bobolink
For some reason, the Bobolink has been a digiscoping jinx bird for me. Every year I try for new shots at Laudholm Farm, just down the road from us, where they are abundant and very visible during courting season in the spring. I tried two years in a row in North Dakota where they are also abundant. And I have nothing to show for it…or at least, nothing I am willing to show to others. 🙂
So, this year, I gottem! Or at least I got my best shots yet.
Even then, this is still a very hard bird to photograph. White on black is always a hard exposure problem, and the fine-fur like structure of the head feathers is a real challenge to capture effectively. And when they are visible in courtship, they are always moving. After courtship they simply disappear. I have never seen a Bobolink that was not courting or being courted. Maybe I am just not looking hard enough.
Canon SD1400IS behind the eyepiece of a Zeiss Diascope 65FL for an equivalent focal length of about 3500mm. Exif f5.0 @ 1/160th @ ISO 80. Computed f-stop, considering the spotting scope, f9.6.
In Lightroom, some Recovery for the highlights, a touch of Fill Light to open the black plumage, and then a bit of Blackpoint right to intensify the colors. Adde Clarity and just a bit of Vibrance. Sharpen landscape preset.
And, though the light on this video is not what I would like (got to leave some challenge for next year), it does showcase the song!
All but the video are from Digiscope Around Home on my Wide Eyed In Wonder site.
5/29/2010
Much Ado About Nothing
This is about a close to a picture of nothing in particular as you can…but I still like it for its undeniable (to me) drama. A little corner of meadowish ground behind the parking lot at Wells Harbor in Wells, ME, some second growth trees forming a corner, the single pine standing lose, that bushy beach-rose on the bottom right with its orangey tones, the light of early morning lying flat out in front of me and picking out all the interesting variations in the grassy vegetated carpet…oh, and of course, the sky above with clouds streaming in from some point stage-right and far behind on unrelated business of their own. Move along, nothing to see here…and yet the eye pauses to appreciate, the heart hangs waiting for revelation, and the mind for resolution.
Or is that too much to make of it. Much ado about nothing. 🙂
All I know is I want a print of this for my wall, because I could look at it for a long time. Look at it as large as your monitor will take.
Canon SX20IS at 28mm equivalent. F4.0 @ 1/800th @ ISO 80. Landscape program.
In Lightroom, Recovery for the clouds and sky, Fill Light and Blackpoint right for drama in the foreground (delicate balance there to preserve detail in the shadow on the right). Added Clarity and just a tiny amount of Vibrance. Sharpen landscape preset.
From Around Home 2010.