I have an appointment early this morning so I don’t have time for a detailed, organized post so I thought I’d present a little potpourri from the last few weeks. Though none of these images are spectacular, there’s something about each one of them that appealed to me in some way.
Common Ravens are a hugely challenging subject for me because of their uncooperative behavior and the difficulty of getting detail in the blacks. For some reason, these birds really seem to eat a lot of snow, which this one had been doing just before take-off. I do wish the head were slightly sharper but I like the remnants of the snow-eating behavior and how cleanly the bird is presented against the background which is the Great Salt Lake with the snow-covered shoreline at bottom right.
Finding water that isn’t ice-covered around here isn’t easy, for me or for the critters, but I think that’s the only reason this Muskrat came as close to me as it did. I found this one at a pond close to my home.
Ok, not a classic wing position for sure but the aerodynamic profile of this fast flying Prairie Falcon still appealed to me. I also like the eye contact and crisp detail in flight.
Life is tough for Coyotes right now as they live in a stark white world of deep snow which makes survival difficult. Many of them wear an almost perpetual snow mask from pushing their faces through the snow as they try to follow vole burrows.
I don’t often get flight shots of Rough-legged Hawks that aren’t taken so soon after take-off that their feet aren’t still hanging down. The background is only sky but I do like the eye contact.
A Chukar in good light with what I thought was an interesting shadow on the snow with this composition.
In two of the shots I’ve presented here the snow has a bit of a blue cast. My tendency is not to “correct” for that when it’s not too dramatic because it seems to me to often be what my eye sees in the field in certain light. I’m in the process of rethinking that though…
I tend to like snowy settings but must admit that in more ways than one I’m ready for a change…
Ron
Addendum on 2/22/13 – I was in error in referring to the Prairie Falcon image above as a “recent” image. It was actually taken on 12/22/11. Thanks for pointing that out to me, Mia. Hate it when I do that!
Just fantastic shots Ron! Thanks so much for sharing them.
Superb shots, all. My favorites are the raptors and the terns. I appreciate the challenge of capturing the tern coming up from the water and shaking to dry itself. Not to mention with prey! Interesting data on their success rate – no wonder it’s so hard to show them with a fish!
Wow, what a wonderful collection of images. The beautifully detailed Prairie Falcon and Chukar seemed to fly/walk right off the screen!
Thank you for this lovely mix of critters. It really gives me a sense of life in snow country.
Ron– indeed, thank you for thinking of us even with early appointments. The raven is superb in its sheen-y blacknesses; the eye contact on the muskrat makes the shot! (because it’s a mammal? for me, anyway);the Prairie Falcon is not only humorous (my grandmother used to get that expression…), it’s Mighty Mouse (another tune for you to carry around…);and blue snow should not be corrected if that’s what you saw! If pink snow is what you saw, don’t correct that either! Says the NOT-a-photographer who loves those moments when the snow/neighborhood turns blue, or rose, or gold. Thanks for your potpourri!
What variety!. I like to see ravens and crows in flight. They’re beautiful!
Thank you for thinking of your fans even though you had an early morning appointment. I love that beautiful coyote with snow on his face and he looks nice and healthy with that thick winter coat compared to the scragely looking
Ones I’ve seen here in Pennsylvania this year. We do not have chuckers in the east but I wish we did, they are really pretty and entertaining. I plan to show the children at the library this one looking at his shadow as well as the ones running and falling through the crust on the snow. They’ll get a kick out of those I’m sure.
Janice, I’ve left the children a little note on one of the images in that “falling through the snow” post in case you do use it with them. Figured they might get a kick out of it.
As always I enjoy looking at your images and learn from your posts. I have asked myself the question about correcting the blue in the snow quite often too. Here is how I see it. I like if a photo tells a story. Blue is the color of cold and people associate blue with colder temperatures. if I make an image of an animal in the snow I like to carry the message that it is cold outside and that the critter may have a difficult time to deal with it. Of course, as always there are exceptions from the rule. If a bird is in very warm light on a snow cover I would not try to bring the blue back if there isn’t really any, I just would be happy with the way it is.
Thank you for the feedback, Andreas. It’s somehow comforting to know that at least some other photographers struggle with the same decisions as I do.
This has been a long challenging winter, and I feel for the animals. But your photos give me hope. The raven is one of my favorite birds as they are ubiquitous down Teasdale way. I have not observed them eating snow, however, and I find that interesting behavior. My favorite pic here is the falcon in the superbird pose! I can almost hear his theme music……da ta da da!!!
Thanks a lot, Tana – that theme song will be going through my head for a while, I’m sure! 🙂