What Good are Blurred Photos

As I walked along the edge of the woods, a Whip-poor-will flushed from the base of a tree and landed on the horizontal stub of a dead cedar branch.  As soon as it hit the branch I pulled my camera from its belt pouch and pushed the power button.  In the few seconds it took for the camera to power up, I scanned the base of the tree for signs of a nest.  No nest.  By the time the camera was ready to go, I had the subject centered in the view screen.  I took the shot before the bird could fly.  My primary rule with a subject capable of escaping my view is to get any kind of shot as quickly as I can.  If the subject sticks around, then I try for a better quality image.  Over the years, I’ve managed to amass a huge collection of poor quality images.  The question is whether or not these images have any value.  For me, I believe they do.

My computer files indicate that I have taken approximately 15,000 photos in the past 12 months.  Their value has to be measured based on my intent.  Many years ago, I purchased a small point and shoot digital camera so that I could document some of the things I was seeing at Blue Jay Barrens.  My ability to do pencil sketches is pathetic.  My descriptive narratives invariably fail to capture the one important characteristic of the subject.  Digital photos have provided an ideal accompaniment to my field notes.  Many times, even a blurred photo offers more details than I could capture with my bare eyes.

When I point my camera, I’m not expecting material for magazine cover shots, gallery shows or framed prints.  I’m hoping for something that I can look at and say “That’s what I saw.”  My camera gives me that, despite the aggravations of all functions being automatic.  This was my first encounter with a Whip-poor-will since I began carrying the camera.  I could clearly see the bird, but how did I tell the camera that I wanted to focus on that tiny brown blob instead of the larger brown blobs all around?  As happens many times with bird photos, the auto focus couldn’t find the bird.  I’ve gotten pretty good at finding a larger object at about the same distance and light levels to set the auto focus and then swinging the camera back to shoot the bird.

The problem is compounded when the camera is fully zoomed in on the subject and it decides more light is needed.  Flash brightens the eye, but does little else to produce a higher quality photo.  I could probably put together a nice portfolio of possessed woodland creatures.

I just keep moving in on the subject and hope for better shots.  This may not be a quality shot, but it can be positively identified and it is immeasurably more satisfying than having no shot at all.  This could easily serve as evidence that there was indeed a Whip-poor-will at Blue Jay Barrens.  There are even enough tree and landscape images that, with a little effort, anyone doubting my honesty or integrity could locate the site.  If I ever become a photographer, I may find dissatisfaction with images such as this.  For now, I’m happy with all of the blurry documentary photos in my files.  Value comes from the ability to serve the intended function and my framed blurs serve admirably, even when there are 30 shots of the same blurry bird.

Some Birds and Things

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.