EVERYTHING
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FEEDING FRENZY
WINTER CARDINAL HUES
It was the Christmas holiday and I set out that morning trying to get the definitive photograph of a chickadee. There were at least a dozen of them around the feeder when a pair of cardinals showed up. The male was the more cautious and kept his distance but this gal came right in to feed despite my presence. She shielded herself from me by staying deep inside the lilac making it difficult for me to pull focus through the branches, but a few times I was able to snake my way through and grab some shots.
Then she hopped up to this perch in the (somewhat) open, tilted her head at me, paused just a beat in a perfect pose, and flew off, but not before I rattled off a few frames. There wasn’t much light but the muted shades of the winter branches were the perfect match for her pale shades of brown and red.
Voila! The chickadee would have to be for another day. That day I had my cardinal.
SLIP SLIDING
INTO THE MYSTIC
It looked like a scene out of prehistoric times - huge, horned beasts ambling across a desolate landscape. As they grunted along, their clouds of breath mixed with the surrounding geyser plumes. The smell of sulfur from thermal springs filled the cold morning air. It was a small herd, moving steadily east. I followed them until the last silhouette disappeared into the mist.
Then they were gone and I realized I was standing alone in the middle of a cloud. I couldn’t see them but I could hear their grunting. I thought it best to leave and worked my way back west toward open sky and present day.
GREAT GREY
CARDINALS RULE
FOX RUN
DESERT BLAZE
Red winged blackbirds flocking to feed in the grain fields of Bosque del Apache, New Mexico
desertbirdsred wing black birdsbosque del apachenew mexicoanimalswildlifeflocksblur photographyin camera effects
RED
Red fox, Algonquin Park, Ontario, Canada.
CAMO
SNOW ANGELS
This is a photograph of a male trumpeter swan photographed during a snowstorm in late March. He and his mate were migrating north when they chose to wait out the storm on our pond in Tottenham, Ontario.That morning, I was surprised to see a pair of swans mixed in with the usual collection of geese and ducks that hang out in our open water. I quickly layered up, donned my waders and headed out, hoping I could get into position without scaring away the newcomers.I snuck up the creek to the dam under our bridge and hunkered down to get an eye-level view of the birds as they cruised around the pond, feeding and resting. The bridge protected me from the snow but the water, of course, was ice cold and my waders had a slow leak. So I’d shoot until my boots filled with water, sneak back inside to dry out, warm up, recharge camera batteries, and then sneak back out for another session. This lasted until the storm cleared in the afternoon and they flew off. The female was tagged and we later learned that she was a three year old released in Stratford, Ontario and spent her summers on Wye Marsh just north of us. She’d also been spotted several times in other area lakes. It was a great day of shooting and I knew I’d captured some memorable images but I had no idea just how lucky I’d been; the combination of snowstorm, diffused lighting, and super-telephoto lens created a unique effect that looked more painterly than photographic, giving them an angelic appearance.
ron pittstrumpeter swansswanswhitesnowwingspainterlyfeatherssnowstormcompositepanoranimal
MAD DASH
NEED FOR SPEED
TIME OUT
TANGLED
I missed it.
It was a challenge to follow the moose as she moved across the meadow drifting in and out of clear view. The tangles of branches kept grabbing the focus and I had to keep shifting positions in deep snow to stay alongside her. Eventually she moved so deep into the woods that I had to let her go.
I was hoping for something more interesting than just a cow in the snow, but other than a few peek-a-boo poses from scattered clearings I didn’t think I’d gotten any good photos.
It was only later in the evening while editing, that I discovered the beautiful abstract pattern created by the branches silhouetted against her dark fur. Even if I had just been watching rather than concentrating on shooting it’s unlikely I would have seen the effect.
A perfect example of the power of the still.
WINTER BOUND
Grizzly, late fall. Canmore, Alberta, Cananda.
SOLO SHOW POSTER / Nelvana
SHADOWLANDS
STALKING
TANGLED UP AND BLUE
A QUINTET OF ANTELOPE
LITTLE DAWGIES
SCHOOL ZONE
COLD STARE
A BLUSH OF CARDINALS
It’s sad when I have a good shot that’s missing a piece of the puzzle that would’ve made it a great shot- too good to toss - not good enough to do anything with. I have hundreds of them.
The “ …make lemonade” technique.
We had a major ice storm just before Christmas in 2013 that shut down parts of Ontario for several days. To pass the powerless time I shot around the feeder trying to capture high speed images of the birds in flight displaying their wings against a snowy background.
The chickadees were the most plentiful so I positioned myself close enough to get good detail yet wide enough to keep them in frame as I tracked with them speeding to and from the feeder. My technique yielded several good shots.
The cardinals were much fewer in number - slower and easier to track, but because of my proximity to the feeder the framing was tighter. As a result, in many shots the composition was poor or they were partially cut off.
That was the case in this sequence of shots where I caught the female rising up and about to land on an off-screen perch. Individually they each had a certain beauty but none were good enough to stand on their own.
It wasn’t until the following August while browsing through my good-not-greats that I happened across these again and solved the puzzle.
SPLASHDOWNS
nICE
CHANDELIER
GRIZ
A WHALE OF A TAIL
LOLA
