The Painterly Photos

Canadians in Flight

Interesting accidents sometimes happen, and lately, it seems more often.  I realize, part of it is the equipment I'm using-my 70-300mm lens isn't a fast lens, so it limits crisp images in lower light.  Sometimes, like above, it's okay and I like the end result.  I posted some sandhill cranes a while ago in the same way-panning as they flew by, and holding the shutter down, firing away. 

I like the very "painterly" quality of them-some parts have sharp edges, the rest blurry and with adjusting the color a bit, a nice result can happen.  I'd have to admit, in some ways, these images have become some of my favorite because they are different. 

Canadians Launching

In this image, I liked the ring in the water and the split-second-later tip of the wing hitting the surface, while they flew low over the pond escaping to a corn stubble field nearby.

*  *  *

Female Woodie Landing

I was lucky enough to have beautiful Wood Ducks around all morning and the only early warning one has is the squeal of their call when they are suprised-this female had jumped up on the far side of the swamp and then lit nearby, offering some quick shots.  Although this one doesn't have the impact of the geese pictures, I still liked seeing her head under the wing and the background color reflected in the water.

Woodie Pair

The last couple photographs here are more straight pictures I guess, but when you have birds with such wonderful spring plumage, they almost look made up.  I felt a centered composition for these two worked best.

Female Woodie Cruising

The females of most bird species are almost always drab compared with the males, and wood ducks are no exception, although one could argue that she still is a beautiful bird.  I love the white eye patch and speckled body and bright blue wing bars-as these two swam around, she would make cooing sounds and maybe was in search of a nesting site?

Colors Reflected

The painterly pictures...well, yes, I like a lot, but in looking at the hundreds of images, this one stood out, and it is just a nice crisp photograph.  The colors this overcast morning in the swamp really stood out and I liked the reflections here in the water.  Spring is three weeks early, and leaves are starting to pop out, but most of the vegetation is still bare-surprising me a bit at how much color actually was out there when I saw this.  This location, being rather small, will probably yeild few other waterfowl, but I think I'll try a couple more times and see if I get any more "interesting accidents" coming out of my camera-it can be well worth it.