Some people keep asking me why I don’t post more pictures of birds. First off, I have to say that I think I have had several bird posts. I can assure you that there’s no lack of birds at Blue Jay Barrens, but to post pictures of birds you first have to get the pictures and my camera is just not very bird friendly. Sometimes I get lucky, like with this Pileated Woodpecker. The bird was just sitting when I pushed the shutter button, but by the time the camera took the picture, the woodpecker was taking to the air.
I also have pretty good luck with yard birds. They’re out in the open and stay around long enough for me to take multiple shots.
When I’m in the woods, I specialize in two types of shots. The first is the silhouette. The birds always seem to be backlit, so I usually get little more than outlines. This shot of the Titmouse is much better than my average effort.
The second type of shot is the blur. I have quite a collection of blur shots.
I’m much better at getting shots of those creatures that stay still and don’t run at my approach. This is a Black-sided Pygmy Grasshopper, probably the cutest grasshopper around. They are common, but their habit of staying close to the ground makes them hard to notice. They are often found along small creeks and will escape threats by jumping into the water and swimming.
I’m also fairly good at capturing shots of large, slow moving mammals such as this member of the lawn maintenance crew. I’m not even enough of a threat for her to stop eating and look up at me.
My camera most likes the inanimate objects. It doesn’t look like I’ll be setting any balloon finding records this year. This is only number 2 for 2010. Maybe this is an economic indicator showing a decline in the number of birthday parties being held.
Some people keep asking me why I don’t post more pictures of birds. First off, I have to say that I think I have had several bird posts. I can assure you that there’s no lack of birds at Blue Jay Barrens, but to post pictures of birds you first have to get the pictures and my camera is just not very bird friendly. Sometimes I get lucky, like with this Pileated Woodpecker. The bird was just sitting when I pushed the shutter button, but by the time the camera took the picture, the woodpecker was taking to the air.
I also have pretty good luck with yard birds. They’re out in the open and stay around long enough for me to take multiple shots.
When I’m in the woods, I specialize in two types of shots. The first is the silhouette. The birds always seem to be backlit, so I usually get little more than outlines. This shot of the Titmouse is much better than my average effort.
The second type of shot is the blur. I have quite a collection of blur shots.
I’m much better at getting shots of those creatures that stay still and don’t run at my approach. This is a Black-sided Pygmy Grasshopper, probably the cutest grasshopper around. They are common, but their habit of staying close to the ground makes them hard to notice. They are often found along small creeks and will escape threats by jumping into the water and swimming.
I’m also fairly good at capturing shots of large, slow moving mammals such as this member of the lawn maintenance crew. I’m not even enough of a threat for her to stop eating and look up at me.
My camera most likes the inanimate objects. It doesn’t look like I’ll be setting any balloon finding records this year. This is only number 2 for 2010. Maybe this is an economic indicator showing a decline in the number of birthday parties being held. 
