Who’s a pretty bird? I seem to have a knack for bird photos. There were quite a few birds in the top 10 last year. Here’s a pretty Cockatiel.
Category Archives: Photography
Photo Number 1
Although I called this Photo Number 1, I don’t mean it’s necessarily the best. I mean it’s the first photo to make the cut.
This is a photo of a humpback whale “Surface feeding” as he skims the surface with his mouth open, the baleen strains the water out leaving the tiny fish and krill in his jaws.
The photo is sharp, can be enlarged and caught an unusual subject. It’s not everyday you see a whale feeding like this.
Baleen – Stellwagon Banks, Massachusetts Bay, MA
Anyone who knows me understands that I have a fascination with humpback whales. I’ve been following them and whale watching for over 30 years. This season was one of the best whale watch season I can remember. I even saw my first breaching whale. Unfortunately it was too far away for the picture I got to pass the top 10 criteria test.
Humpback Breaching, Stellwagon Bank, Massachusetts
Top 10 2015
To help get into the spirit of my top 10 search, here are the top 10 from 2015. Several have been enlarged and framed. A couple of the bird photos hang in my work place. Hopefully when I’ve gone through 2016 those 10 will be better than these. Hopefully.
Bayou Bridge , City Park, New Orleans
Egret, Orlando Florida
Egret #2, Orlando Florida
Hungry Egret with Hot Dog, Orlando FL
Great Blue Heron, Herring Run , Middleboro, MA
Germany (Epcot). Walt Disney World, Orlando FL
Cinderella’s Castle in “Ice”, Walt Disney World, Orlando FL
King of Beasts, Animal Kingdom, Disney World, Orlando FL
Rain Forest, New Orleans Aquarium
New Orleans Cemetery
So that’s the “bar” Let’s see what I managed to capture in 2016 and how they will compare.
Its That Time Again
New Years is right around the corner. A blank sheet of paper if you will. Lots of people will be looking back over 2016 and setting goals for 2017. There will be the usual “lose weight”, “quit smoking”, “be nice to the neighbor” and so on. I’ll probably make some “resolutions” too. After all, a little introspection is a good thing but I tend to think of this week between Christmas and New Years as a time to wade through a whole year’s worth of photos.
Red Fox on a rock
Most of my pictures are of the snap shot variety. I grab the camera and try to capture a moment, maybe something to share here but every now and then I try to get that special picture. One that makes me say ahhhh.
It gets harder and harder to get those special pictures. Everybody has a camera and everybody thinks they are a “pro”. Just this kind of atmosphere raises the bar.
I’m reviewing my pictures for that special , indefinable quality that makes them a “cut above”. I want to find the 10 best.
They have to be in focus, with lots of pixels so they can be blown up to gallery print size, and they need to be special in some way.
So for the next few days I’m going to share my pictures as I search for those special top 10.
Some of these are pretty good but I don’t think they will make the cut. We’ll see.
In Search of the Perfect Christmas Card
Its hard to believe another Christmas has come and gone and the count down to the new year begins. One of my favorite parts of the holiday traditions is making my special Christmas Cards.
The photos I use are always from the year before. In other words, I will use a photo from this year for next year’s card and so on. I do this so I won’t feel too stressed out looking for a last minute holiday picture. Usually I have something in mind. Last year I planned a trip to Disney World with the sole intention of finding a picture for my card this year. The result was the train.
A few years ago I wanted to use one of the decorated homes in town.
One year I was trying to get a good candle picture for my cards.
So with a possible card theme in mind I took off to Jackson NH for a day trip. Now a drive to Jackson from Taunton is about 4 hours. I figured I’d have about two hours there to get the special picture and then I’d need to head back home.
What I had in mind was a sleigh ride drawn by a team of horses. “Dashing through the snow”…but when I arrived in Jackson, there was no snow! Oh Oh. Strike one.
Strike 2 was that to go on the Jingle Bell Chocolate Tour you had to be staying at one of the Inns. There was no room at any of the Inns, not that I really had time to stay overnight.
Strike 3 was no sleighs (since there was no snow) well, in a way there were sleighs. They were mounted on wagon frames.
To make a long story short, I didn’t get the photos I had visualized and at this point I don’t think they will make the cut for next year’s card but you never know. It all depends on what other shots I come up with. I had a good time and met some nice people and that’s what’s really important.