EVERYTHING
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LITTLE STRETCH
CHEATERS COVE
LINES OF SIGHT
Semipalmated sandpipers, Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick, Canada.
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
SNEAKER
HIGH STEP'N
Sandhill cranes and snow geese. New Mexico, United States.
NIGHT LANDING
WAR OF THE WORLDS
DAY ONE
First day out of the nest for this little oriole.
MUD IN YOUR EYE
INGLIS FALLS (graphite)
GOOSE LIGHT
SITTING PRETTY
WET PAINT
PHOTO FINISH
LAST LOOK
CHOMP
FOX
FROZEN
FIRST ALERT
GOT YOU ON MY WAVELENTGH
Flapanatomy
“There are no new ideas – only new ways of making them felt.” Audre Lorde
A male trumpeter swan and his mate were migrating north in late winter and chose to wait out a snowstorm on our pond. It was the first time we’d ever had swans.
I spent the entire day shooting and got some keeper images including this sequence of the male fanning his wings. At first, I was trying to decide which one to frame and then it dawned on me that I had a beautiful motion study. It reminded me of Muybridge’s studies from the late 1800s which I had often referenced in my work as an animator. But these swan shots were also stand alone, great images.
At first I arranged them side by side and had as many as six frames. Then the light bulb went off and I melded them into one.
Ever since then I’ve kept an eye out for “Muybridge moments.”
FIRST DAY OUT
MOOSE-A-LICIOUS
