Tag Archives: photography class

Birds and More

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This chipmunk was part of last week’s photo assignment. The photo is an example of Point of View. It turns out my sunken pool bar is good for more than bird photography. I like the perspective of being eye to eye with the critters.

For the assignment, I had to pick three out of severn composition techniques or aesthetics. My three were Point of View, Depth of Field and this one is called Centering. It’s a Century Plant stalk. The professor said centering is one of the most dissed aesthetics, but can be effective.

The House Sparrow photo shows off Depth of Field. I like how the background is out of focus and looks like an impressionistic painting. I had rarely noticed the yellow planter barrel before, but it’s finding it’s place in my photos.

Mr. Curve Billed Thrasher was another example of Depth of Field. I like how he pops out of the photo from the blurry background. He also shows an extreme dislike of my taking his picture.

Photos I took for fun:

Red gets his time in the limelight. But he’s been pretty flighty, even though he yells at me to fill the feeder every morning and afternoon, he doesn’t stick around for a lengthy photo session. The photo below has wispy aloe blossoms in the foreground that look ghosts or accidental lights. The focus was on Red.

However, there are other birds in the yard to photograph:

Gilded Flicker.

House sparrow.

Mrs. Red on the yellow barrel.

This quail reminds me of myself, facing a steep walkway.

My newest objective is to catch birds in flight. With a fast enough shutter speed you can stop their action. But I wasn’t very good at getting the whole Mourning Dove in the picture.

Which photos do you like and what’s your favorite of my three composition techniques?

Week Nine of Photography

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This is a cactus in bloom that I spotted on my morning walk. I walked back home, grabbed my camera and beelined to the blooming cactus with my Macro lens. I’m using this for week nine’s photography assignment, which is called “Seeing the Light.”

This week we are going full manual mode. That means that we are adjusting the aperture, shutter speed and setting the ISO. Part of this week’s assignment was to choose a subject and bracket the photos. Yes, you and me both. I was stumped at “bracket.”

I learned it means to take a photo with settings I like. Then take a photo of the same subject with the f stop up one stop and then take a third photo with the f stop down one stop. Hence making “brackets” around the original photo. That way we’re supposed to get an exposure that we like.

Here’s an example:

This photo is taken at f 11, which is lets in more light than the first photo which was taken at f 16 — one stop higher. I prefer the first photo which is darker, because I like the way the flowers pop.

That’s half of my assignment. I’m also supposed to take a photo of another subject — inside with light coming in from a window — or in varied light like a tree backlit from the sun.

Last week, the photography professor told me I’d see dramatic improvement in my photos by investing in higher quality lenses. He said the kit lenses that came with my camera are poor quality. The Macro lens I used for the two photos above is higher quality. It was a Christmas present and this is the first time I’ve used it for an assignment. I can see the difference in these two photos already.

Here are a few other photos I took this week:

This may make it into my assignment this week. The day after I took the cactus flower photos, I was on my walk and spotted this yucca in bloom. Once again, I had to hightail it home, grab my camera and walk back. Maybe I should walk with my camera?

This scene fits the assignment criteria by having varied lighting. A tip the instructor offered was to include shadows. This was taken at f 11. The following photo is f 8, one stop lower and brighter.

Which do you like better? I like the composition better in the first yucca photo, but the light in the second one better.

Here are two photos I took for fun with my telephoto lens:

I’m learning how to use it. It’s a higher quality lens than the one that came with the camera. However, my hands are NOT very steady and I need to use a tripod or the photos come out blurry. I like the light in my Bird Buddy feeder and the sharp focus of the birds. The photo above I used a tripod. Photo below handheld. But in the second photo — featuring Mrs. Red — I was sitting inside the casita balancing my camera on the kitchen table.

Which photos do you like best and why?

Seeing Red

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1.

My dear friend Red.

I was walking outside to photograph cacti on the side of our driveway when Red called. I was focusing on the cacti when I realized that Red was singing to me! I looked up at him in the tree and said, “Hey Red!”

He took off in flight for the backyard. I ran into the house, grabbed the bag of bird seed and found him waiting for me on the fence by our Bird Buddy feeder. I filled it with birdseed and stepped away, but not too far. Red wasn’t scared. He cocked his head this way and that, watching me. I sat on a bench close by, ready to take more photos.

Darn! I thought looking down at my camera strapped around my neck. I wish I had my telephoto lens.

I stood up slowly, walked back into the house to switch my lens to telephoto. When I returned, Red was still there. I was closer to Red than I had ever been before to take photos.

Here are some of the better pics of Red:

2.

3.

4.

5. A series of three photos

6.

7.

I can’t tell you what an ethereal feeling it was to be so close to Red for yesterday’s photo session. I was shooting cacti and plants at different ISOs for this week’s photography assignment. Then Red showed up and I used him for my subject.

Do you have a bird or wildlife friend who you see often?

Which are your favorite photos of Red and why?

Week Seven of Photography Class

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Red made it into my week seven assignment. This was shot with a 55-200mm telephoto lens.

My homework this week was about lens perspective. I learned about lens speed, focal length and how my different lenses can be used. Whew! A lot of stuff there.

The assignment was to take or download from the interwebs two photos with a short focal length lens. The “kit” lens of my camera is 18-55mm, so I set my wide angle photos at 18mm which is the shortest focal point.

This is my wide angle shot at 18mm. It’s of our backyard outside the fencing that keeps the wild critters away — or at least some of them. If you compare this photo to Red’s, you can notice the difference in the depth of field. Red’s photo looks like the wall is right behind the fence. In the photo below, I was standing against the outside of the fence. It was taken at a focal length that makes the distance look further away. The real distance is at what we see with our own eyeballs, more in between the two but closer to the photo below.

This is my wide angle view of the nature’s preserve across the street from our home.

The next part of my assignment was to take two photos with a normal focal length. I used the same lens, but set it to around 50mm. Notice the difference of the photo below and photo above. The photos were taken only a few yards apart, but the photos are different due to focal length of the lens. Look at the mountains below compared to those above. They are the same mountains, shot from the same distance.

This is the entrance to our neighborhood. I picked a great day for photography because of the dark sky and clouds.

The third part of my week’s assignment was creating two telephoto long focal length images. My photo above of Red is my first example. I like using my telephoto lens to capture birds and wildlife. I also like the shallow depth of field that includes a fuzzy foreground or background with the emphasis on the subject.

I had taken a shot of a Gila Woodpecker in the tree and had completed my photography for the day. Then lo and behold, Mr. Harris’s Hawk stopped by for a visit. But after looking at the two photos, I’m going with the woodpecker. It’s a cleaner looking shot with less distraction in the background.

I’m enjoying this class because I’m learning new things. It motivates me to take a look around me and see things from a new perspective.

What’s going on with you that you find motivating or interesting to learn?

Do you think I made the right choice with the woodpecker photo?

TED Talk on Creativity

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“Human creativity is nature manifest in us.” — Ethan Hawke

I was finishing up my photography assignments Saturday. There was a page of resources the professor left for us. Included with short videos by famous photographers discussing their work was this gem of a TED Talk by Ethan Hawke, actor, writer and film director.

It’s definitely worth the less than 10 minutes to hear his views about creativity, humanity, and our connections with each other. He discusses that our own enemy is wanting to create something of importance or something great. In Hawke’s opinion, children throw themselves into any project with abandonment. They don’t care if they’re “good” or not. They are willing to try and don’t bring habits into the project.

Happy Monday and enjoy this TED Talk.

After watching this video, what impressed you?

How did you find it helpful for your own writing or blogging?

Class is in session!

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A Harris Hawk landed on our pergola Monday.

Monday was my first day of photography class that I’m taking through Maricopa County Community College. I was worried over the weekend, because when I clicked on my class schedule there was no time specified for class. I called my daughter and she explained that if no day or time is listed, it’s “asynchronous.” I learned a new word. Since she works as an academic advisor at UC Berkeley, I figured she knows what she’s talking about.

It’s an online class where there are due dates for quizzes and assignments, but you are free to work at your own pace, when you want.

I spent an hour or two reading the syllabus, module one of my class and I went through a tutorial on how to use their online system. I have two quizzes due by the weekend and we’re required to get 100%. Wow, I’m not sure what I signed up for!

Besides my first day of class Monday, a quail flew into our sliding glass door and lost his life. As he was down for the count, a number of carnivore hawks arrived to survey the scene.

I got lots of photography practice as they flew up to the pergola, to a tree, to the fence and rotated around the yard. Eventually, I left the scene and when I came back there was a pile of feathers from the quail on the patio and the carnivores had left.

Seven Harris Hawks on the fence.

This guy was getting close to the poor quail.

Have you taken online classes where you work at your own pace?

What classes have you taken for your own personal enrichment?

A Hawkish Day

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I had a visitor for most of yesterday. The visit began early in the morning as I was writing my morning pages. I kept seeing a huge shadow swooping past the casita window. It had to be my Harris Hawk.

He landed on the fence and kept watch.

I went for a walk and came back home to discover the hawk was no longer on the fence.

Instead he landed in a tree.

As I was writing this post, he began to call for a friend

Flying by our window a second hawk screeched with talons outstretched, wings spread wide, five feet off the ground, going in for the kill. He flew over the fence into the bushes. I missed the action.

Eventually, the second hawk settled into the tree. Behind a branch with the other hawk.

Can you spot the two hawks in the tree?

I watched in awe as a hummingbird landed on hawk number one’s head. The second hawk was attacked by smaller birds including house finches. The little birds are not fans of hawks. The quail are keeping away. They must be prime targets of the hawks.

And then there were three.

One hawk is hidden from view, preferring the other side of the tree.

I signed up for an intro to digital photography class through Maricopa Community Colleges. The class begins late January and runs through May. I hope my hawks are around to model for my class.

Here’s a LINK to the Harris Hawk’s call from Cornel l Lab All About Birds website.

What are your favorite birds to watch?