Love for Birds

Not sure since when I started to be interested in wild birds.  Throughout the years, I have used different kinds of birdfeeders to get them come close to my house.  I watched them and studied their different habits. One thing they all have in common is, their eyes are always concentrating on our movement. A reflection of our small move will catch their attention and chase them away.

Nuthatch

Anna's Hummingbird

At the beginning, I usually have my telephoto lens ready on tripod pointed at the feeder.  In a little while, I feel birds on feeder is kind of boring unless I catch an action shot before their landing or when they are taking off.  I am a busy bee and I don’t have a lot of patience sitting around to wait for the moment.  Wildlife photography needs patience, patience and patience. Taking bird pictures is training my patience.

Camera has to be ready at all times because birds come and go and they don’t stay long enough for us to be ready. Believe or not, I found prettier birds are more shy and sensitive than the ordinary ones.  Maybe they have been trained by us and come to be aware that they are our targets. Most of the large birds also react quickly  because they need a bit more time to get away due to their weight, I think.

It is easier to take water fowl pictures particularly if they are inhabitants. Willamette Valley has vast areas of greens that provide wonderful habitats for birds. We see more migrated birds stayed here for winter instead of flying thousand miles south. Herons, Egrets, Bald Eagles and of course ducks and geese are commonly seen here.

Mrs. Woodduck

In animal kingdom, male usually looks more striking than female, but I think she is quite attractive, too.

Not until I got serious about bird photography, I did not know that my husband is also very interested in birds.  Our exploration to wildlife refugees began last year, not only in Oregon and Washington, we even made a special trip to Sorroco, New Mexico for Crane Festival where about sixty thousands birds were staying there during our visit. Flying Out and Flying In events are very cool. Flocks of cranes would gather together before dawn and take off to the ocean as sun rises. The scene was pretty spectacular.  Then, dusk came and they flew back in groups.  We so often saw them flying above us and made loud calls.

Fly Out

Fly In

Another fond memory we have is going to Klamath Falls wildlife refuge. There were literally water birds everywhere on both sides of the road. My husband and I would take turns to drive and the other person would step up on passenger’s seat and used sunroof to support our 400mm telephoto. We cheered, and reminded each other to quiet down whenever we came across our target. This safari adventure lasted for the entire day, at least 8 hours. That evening when we were out to celebrate our day, we could not even hold the forks. We were aching all over and pleasantly tired.

Great Egret

Killdeer

My blog is a photography blog. I am not an expert, but I do love to explore and I learn as I go. I am sharing my personal experience in case you also like birds. Not necessary for photography, many birders simply enjoy watching birds and don’t take any pictures.  Wildlife refuges are usually in a large area with absolutely natural environments. It is also a good place to hike if you like to be in the nature.

Less is More - Day of a Dreamer

When it comes to women's fashion, colors overcome the world. It is also the same for photography. In this digital photography era, most people shoot color photos while a smaller percentage of people are dedicated to black and white photography. In most of the cases, we shoot color photos first and later turn them into black and white images should the author found B&W version looks more interesting or interprets his/her intent better.

Earlier of the week I made attempts to shoot something more suitable in black and white colors, something with simpler subject and more visible contrast. However, after I downloaded all my photos. I discovered that my pre-visualized black and white candidates are not necessary the better choices. Some of very colorful shots are contrarily more appealing to be in black and white. Expect the unexpected when you are out shooting.

We went to Crystal Spring Rhododendron Park in Portland over the weekend for flower pictures. There are flowers but not in full bloom. We ended up shooting water fowls and landscape.  It was my first visit to the park and I was surprised to see the beautiful wooden walking bridges and classic looking railings. The park is well-maintained and tastefully landscaped. A golf course is adjacent to it and its rolling green adds a manicured border to the park. It is pleasant just being there.

I lingered at the bridge for a long time because the atmosphere is just so lovely and delightful. I would say, the bridge construction has an Asian flare. It reminds me of Yu-Yuan Garden 豫園 in Su-zhou 蘇州, China and also Lan-Su Garden in Chinatown, Portland. Lan-Su was designed to mimic Yu-Yuan in a much smaller scale.  

I first thought this picture is nice because of its intense colors. What I did not expect is, it looks even more interesting to me when it is in black and white.  It resembled a classic version of Chinese garden with dense greens and slow running water. Except, instead of lotus flowers and peonies, there are azalea and rhododendron. The bridge is not arched and I don't recall that I see a gazebo inside the park.

The colored shot draws my eyes to large orange leaves and pink flowers while the BW picture has its focal point on the bridge and its structure details. Also at this point, I then noticed the black tree reflection to the right.

This image brought me back to Su-Zhou, to ancient China, to the famous poet Li-Bai 李白 and to the porcelain art. I am a dreamer. I cannot rationalize myself how my mind wandered as such, but there was a little episode....

Yesterday somehow I decided to shoot something from my kitchen and convert it to black and white images. I started from tea kettle, tea cups and finished it with teacups and a glazed flower case in my shot. This vase has a handle which makes it look like a wine flask. I think this picture looks like a shot of saki or moonshine was being poured into the cup. 

Who needs a shot of hard liquor? Perhaps some artist needs instant inspiration or someone is really depressed and need a lift? Li-Bai was indulged in alcohol during his late years, but his poems of romanticism only got better. (The original color image just does not have the same impact as this one.)

This 'flask' reminds me of the yellow glass art piece that I found in Seattle Glass Museum. The museum does have some nice glass pieces there. Out of curiosity, I convert the color image to black and white, and I simply love it.

Color enhances our life, but sometimes it divides our attention. While we can focus on two colors (and their gradient tones), we are drawn into a wild wild world packed with huge pool of color spectrum. People like varieties and arrays of colors are exciting. However, we may be able to appreciate and observe our subject in more depth when the visual is simpler and we are not so overwhelmed by it.

In any case, it is always interesting to see how things turn out so differently when we perceive them from different perspectives.

Simple Pleasure

My daughter Laura gave me a dozen tulip bulbs last Christmas. I planted them on my mini vegetable bed for the winter. When the buds started to come out, I moved them to the flower boxes on my deck fearing that the aggressive deer in my neighborhood would come and munch them off.  Laura texted me that her tulips were bloomed when I was in Seattle three weeks ago, but mine did not bloom till last week, very slowly.  I looked at them every day and waited patiently for the right moment to photograph.  I could have gone back to tulip farms for my photos, but photographing the flowers you  grow on your own has that special meaning.

Good timing was finally arrived two days ago. Almost all the buds were opened and they looked beautiful. I had my camera gear ready early in the morning and just waited for sun to rise higher…It might have been couple hours when I remembered to get off my chair and reach for my camera. Walking out to the patio, I noticed that something was missing… the tulip blossoms were not there, but the green stems and leaves were still standing. Guess what? Squirrels topped the blossoms out of the plants!  I have never known that squirrels eat flowers. I cannot believe that among all the pine cones on the ground, they still preyed on the flowers.

Thought our battle with squirrels is over, I guess not. Some people love squirrels and they feed squirrels, not me. I only feed birds and I like the courteous birds such as Nuthatch and Chickadees. Why? They came, picked the seeds and left. Unlike some other birds, they came and lingered on the feeders and fought off new visitors if there were any. As for squirrels, they would take over the feeder, dump all the seeds to the ground in order that they can consume them all and they assure that they leave nothing for other bird buddies.  And, they chewed on anything that they can get their hands on if they cannot get what they want. I don't care for overly aggressive creatures.

Just yesterday, I took a few random shots thinking that I will do better today.  Today I don’t even have the flowers to begin.  This spring has been quite dry in comparison with last year, but the temperature is still cool and not much happening so far.  Well, I might as well use whatever I have. I don't want my disappointment extends to my daughter who hoped that we have tulips to enjoy right outside of our house by now.

The first thing I want to share is this amazing yellow Tulip. Squirrel left it a thin skin to be attached to the stem, and it is still hanging there.  It is surviving however the chance for it to open is almost zero. But who knows.  We are living in a world full of miracles and surprises. If God is willing, anything is possible.

We can travel to tulip farms to see the big scale of the stunning beauties, focus on a few varieties in a local farm or simply enjoy what you have at home. At this point, a single stem of flower is more than what I want, and to tell my daughter how much I appreciate her intent. She might not expect what I can get out of these few flowers.

When my pre-visualized photo plan did not turn out,  I use what I have and try to turn them into something that I can enjoy. The original background for pink tulip was black and white. I have given it a fiesta-like background to celebrate today, a Friday, and one of the many everyday's that God has made.

There are these ordinary orange tulips that bloomed earliest and I'd expected them to open wider so I can peek into its stigmas as that is my favorite thing to do to photo a flower.  Unfortunately, this random shot is all what I have. mourning? giving up? waiting for next year? No, no, no, something has to come out of this.

I want squirrels to know that, as smart as they are, we human beings are surpassing their small wiz, we are smarter and unbeatable. So I packed away my down feelings and used Ortan Effect on the orange tulip shot.  There were two flowers in the picture, so I cropped the right one to make it a 1-1/4 flowers. We want odd numbers on a photo. I thought the backdrop on left is a bit distracting, but it seemed to blend in after I applied the effect.

Life is here for us to live and to enjoy.  When something does not turn out the way we wanted, try to look for a new meaning and give it a new definition. 

I did not make myself a deluxe sundae, but a few Popsicles have

lightened my day.

Heaven and Earth - black and white photography

Sound like a big subject, but it is not.  I am just pleased with what I captured. It was on a Valentine’s Day and my husband secretly arranged an overnight stay at Mount Hood Lodge. I have looked at this gorgeous mountain (the highest in Oregon) very many times and from different angles.  Its perfect peak looks prominent, sacred and peaceful.

That was the first time when I was actually right on the foothill of Mount Hood to pay it my respect.
This picture was taken early in the morning with thick cloud dwelling outside the lodge. I was first drawn by the steaming cloud. When I walked down to the edge of the road, I was completely stunned by the scene.  Honestly, at that moment, I had wondered where I was.  I was above the cloud feeling that I was floating in the air.  And yet, I know I was absolutely standing on a solid ground with grass, on the earth.

Heaven and Earth

Still early in the year, snow-covered mountain and cloud are white. Grassy ground is in the shade, so the ground looks dark and grass almost looks black. I named this picture Heaven and Earth because of its contrast in colors and also because it prompted that thought into my mind.

Strolling around the foothill area, our feet were buried deep wherever we went. The sun was shining, bright. The snow was taking over the ground, deep and white. There were still spots of small creek waters running here and there with icicles hanging down.  People were walking on snow, black footprints on white snow.

Nature presents its natural colors. When we observe the details only through black and white two colors, we actually perceive more truth and details. Monotone looks compelling when the subject is simple and the background is not too complicated. I was kneeling down the ground to peek the snow pack from the side. It looked like ocean waves and also reminded me of Chinese brush painting strokes for some reason. In fact, I think I know why, I miss my deceased Dad too much. He wrote beautiful and powerful Chinese brush stroke calligraphy 毛筆字.

I have not done much black and white photography, but I happened to take these pictures, naturally, black and white and I love them.  I am not a professional photographer and not looking into photo quality perfection at this point.  It is more about the content of what I captured and the emotion that I was engaged during the process.

Every once a while, I found some color images that I think better in black and white format.  When a picture is colored, our attention is on colors. I am a female and colors mean everything. But I discovered that black and white images tend to show more details and we pay closer attention to the visual content while not distracted by colors. 

I took above picture when I visited Spanish Royal Palace in Madrid, Spain. I’d toured inside the palace provided by palace administration and seen all the glamorous  chandeliers, famous paintings, intricate tapestries and fancy furniture.  But among everything I’d seen, my eyes were set on this guy who played accordion to entertain the visitors outside the palace. 

He played jazz music and with an easy smile on his face.  Not being disturbed by the crowd and obviously not in for the pennies, he was just here enjoying himself and to help others enjoy themselves. I found him my most attractive subject for the day. Just for you to compare it with original color image. Accordion is classic. Black and white colors seem to portrait that nostalgia flare more.

Mad about Tulips

 

It is the time of the year for us to enjoy tulips. Tulips have so many varieties and stunning colors. It is hard to ignore their existence. They usually bloom around late March-April here in Northwest depending on the weather. Wooden Shoe tulip farm (Woodburn, Oregon) has their annual tulip festival from March 29 to May 5 this year.  If you like tulips, this is one place that you don’t want to miss.

I was there last year for hours and brought home hundreds of pictures.  I thought I have downloaded them but I did not. Not until I had deleted all the files, I did not realize that my downloading was not successful.  I want to go back.

 

Two years ago, when we came down from our trip to Whistler, Canada, we stopped by La Connor, Washington. Boy, there are acres and acres of tulip farms.  They have their Skagit Valley tulip festival every year. La Connor is the center of the event and a beautiful place to stay overnight and take time to cruise the field and appreciate the beauty of tulips. When visiting a vast tulip area like this, walking along the field takes time. I also did not want to stay in one place for my photography. We drove a little and selected a few spots to stop.  Most of the fields here plant one type of tulips and the entire field is one single color.  It is nice to take shots of the field, not ideal for close-up shots if you are looking for varieties. Aside from photography,  you can simply stroll along the field and immersed with the colors.

La Connor tulips

Wooden Shoe is one farm and they plant varieties of flowers in the field. You can walk by one section and see all the colors you could have dream of.  Marco shots opportunity are everywhere. There are also family fun events, such as wooden shoe ride, pony ride, and many mobile amusement park items.  You can spend a full day there and not getting bored.

Wooden Shoe tulip farm

We have a tulip magnolia tree in our front yard.  It is now the blooming season and the striking large pink blossoms caught lots of attention.  It is probably the most eye catching tree in our street. Traditional magnolia has large white blossoms and this tulip magnolia has pink flowers that shaped like tulips.  I took its pictures every year and this year I decided to cut a few for the vase and observed them closer.   When they are up in the tree, they don’t open completely before they dropped on the ground.  

But I have watched them open gradually and completely in the vase before the pedals dropped.  The pedals are large and fragrant. It is white inside and gradient pink outside. I am in awe appreciating God’s creations.

Tulip Magnolia

Texture

Spring is the prime time for flower pictures.  Opportunity is endless.  Two weeks ago, when I was back home, cherry trees just started to bud.  Now walking down the streets here in Seattle neighborhood, I see rows of bloomed cherry trees with beautiful blossoms.

Cherry and plum blossoms look very similar. Plum flower pedals are more round while cheery flower pedals is tapered and split in the end, shaped like a shield.  The stigma is not as dense as plum and looks more elegant in my eyes.  Cherry trees grow in colder climates. There were no cherry trees in Taiwan where I grew up.  It is such a pleasure to enjoy them here in Northwest.

So many flowers are here for spring photography fun, but flowers are flowers.  There are limited ways to take flower pictures. We can take flower pictures at different time of the day (under various light conditions) or in different season of the year for different prospective (colors and such).  Or, we can add Texture to enhance the look and make them more artistic.

Some people may prefer to keep its authenticity, the result out of a camera.  But personally I like to apply texture sometimes to get a more enchanted look. Depending on my mood, I use different texture to express my feeling.  When I was disappointed, I used a distressed tone. When I was excited, I used a bright and cheery tone.  Sometimes I used an extraordinary texture to get a very different look for fun sake.

Photography is a hobby for me and I am in for the fun.  You will be amazed how much you can entertain yourself by creating something that you have never imagined before.

Farm Animals and Birds

Growing up as a city girl, I barely had any experience in a farm or ranch. I have always been interested in flowers and vegetation, but not animals. I wonder why.

When I was six, our neighbor took me to their country house for the weekend.  There was widespread of tea growing on the hillside. Women from the house are all out working in the field harvesting tea leaves. I was sent by the grandma of the house to deliver the lunch to our neighbor, a young woman of 20 something.

As I walked up the hill, I heard a meeh- meeh- behind me.  I looked back and saw a goat, it was my first time to see a goat.  I was a bit scared and tried to walk faster. The faster I walked, the tighter the goat followed me.  I started to run, and so did the goat.  I did not know what to do except screaming and crying all the way till I saw the adults.  The moment when I buried myself in the crowd, the goat left. I was told the goat followed me because I wore a red dress.

Don’t know since when petting zoos become popular.  My girls had petted farm animals in the zoo many times when they were little. Why could they immediately come close to the animals without any fear and I was so scared by a goat? I think it is the unknown and solitude create the fear.  How lucky our kids and grandkids are these days when the environment is catered to make them feel safe and comfortable?

Many years ago when I was in New Zealand on business, I visited a sheep shearing facility. It is amazing to see how much wool can be sheared out of a sheep. By the time when the shearing is done, they look like newborn babies.   Here at home I saw them grazing at the field along the freeway, they look like cotton balls from distance, soft and fluffy. When I finally got my 400 mm telephoto lens, I stopped by a farm and took some pictures.  People said sheep are dumb, are they really? They certainly looked alert and protective to their minors when I had a long lens pointing at them.

We are usually so busy in living or enjoying what we do. I wonder how many people actually spend time to monitor wild birds and domesticated animals around us. Birds come to our feeders and go.  Large herd of turkey family is around most of the time and some neighbor may have lodged some chickens in their backyard for fresh eggs.  I spotted them every once a while.  But they are just being there, I did not know what these creatures are also spying on us the Big Beings.  They kept their eyes on us for fear that we might attack them or one of the chickens may eventually become dinner on the table.

Smart or dumb, these animals and birds also have feelings and they are alert to their surroundings like we do. I have often wondered what are they thinking when they are looking at us? Is rooster afraid that he has come to his life end, I saw fear in his eye. The goose looked cautious while he was slowly moving his steps. I bet he is trying to decide when he should open his wings and soar to the sky. Mr. Turkey has been strolling around with his full costume displayed. "Look at me" is the message that I read from his eyes.  Male is dominating in animal kingdom and they usually look more stunning than females. Male turkey may have an outstanding crown and colors, but I think they are one of the ugliest creatures.

Animals and birds are so protected in this country vs China where many creatures are living in poor condition or being used for commercial purpose.  Just to give a few examples that I witnessed. Cormorants in China are fisherman's aid. China fishermen put a clip on their throat in order that they would not swallow the fishes upon capture.  The cormorants I saw here are freely catching fishes as their food.  They can swim on the river or porch on tree limbs, nobody bothers them.

A peacock was injured in my neighborhood years ago. People called 911 to send the bird to the animal hospital for treatment. On the other hand, when I was touring southwest China a few years ago, I saw two beautiful peacocks were tied on the wood poles. A farmer was carrying them on his shoulder and show them around to the tourists to collect money. Even though they were created equal to start, but where they landed do determine their lives.  I am only talking about animals here. You can imagine how diversified our human's lives are in different parts of the world. Some day I like to address this subject....