All My Blogs

It sounds inflammatory, doesn't it? "Destroyer of oceans." That kind of falls into the same hyperbole as "Masters of the universe." Yet there is truth in the statement. How is it possible that these relatively small, harmless echinoderms could create such havoc? It started during the fur trade. Sea otters have amazing fur. Their pelts shed water with abundant ease; the insulation properties are equally impressive and keep the bearer warm where other furs would fail. With up to a million hairs per square inch of skin, sea otters possess the warmest and softest fur in the animal kingdom. Russian, British, and American hunters took sea otters by the thousands in the 1800s. By the turn of the centuary, the animal was nearly wiped out. Although populations have rebounded, there are only about 3000 left between the Baha and Kamchatka peninsulas. (Go to this website for more information). Sea otters are carnivores. They eat fish, shellfish, an...

In spite of its name, the California gull is found elsewhere besides the state it is named after. This one was photographed on the east coast of Vancouver Island near Nanaimo, BC. It turns out there are a lot of them on the prairies; in fact Idaho's state bird is the California gull. The story regarding this odd choice goes back to the mid-1800s when farmers were plagued with millions of locusts. The salvation, it turned out, was a large population of California gulls that took care of the pests and saved the crops. Since then the birds have held legendary status and have received the state's highest honor - being named state bird. I have never been fond of identifying gulls. The reason is simple enough; one species often has four or five different plumage configurations. There are always the first and second year plumages, some gulls even have a different colouration for a third and fourth year as well. Then there are the breeding, summer, and winter plumages. ...

It's amazing how snow can give new life to old objects. Like a majestic crown, a covering of powder imparts beauty where there was only rust and debris. Although farm machinery has its own particular appeal, a white blanket of snow lends freshness to whatever it covers. Sometimes I like to add text to an image I have created. The words have to add to the composition and not detract from it. There has to be a place that lends itself to the text. In the case of the photo above, the white patch bottom left is perfect. Words of comfort, salutation, tidings, or even a benediction can find a warm embrace in the cold-contrast they are surrounded by. Consider some of the examples below. I always like adding text to photos; I find it makes them more personal and the image can enhance the meaning of the words. Some of my framed prints that I sell have inspirational sayings on them which lends to their appeal. The right words, it turns out, can make a big difference. Th...

Yes, it's not a great photograph. This, however, is the best shot I ever got of a red crossbill. I have only seen the species once, and I don't even remember the moment (how sad is that?). I shot this back in 2008 with a Nikon D200, a 10-megapixel camera that was OK for its time but has been vastly improved upon. The lens I was using at the time was a Nikon 300 mm prime f/4.0 lens. Again, a nice lens for the time but pales in comparison to what is available today. It had no VR (vibration reduction), and the 1/30th of a second shutter speed would have allowed an excellent rendering if modern technology had been used. It makes me wonder how much better the equipment will be in another 12 years. There is something marvelous to be said about the photograph though. The first is that it allowed me to identify the species. A field book and note pad could probably not have allowed me to capture the information needed for proper identification. Then there is the fact th...

This is not me, although part of who I am wishes it was. Sitting quietly, taking in the surroundings, musing softly in the quiet of mind brought about by the peace of the moment. The wonderful thing about what she is doing is that it can be done anywhere; it's all about taking the time. The one thing that can be said about our current situation is that most of us have time on our hands. What that time looks like is very much dependent upon what you choose to do with it. I am all for productivity and have a strong work ethic, illustrated by the number of tasks about the house accomplished during the plague of 2020. What I have a hard time doing is taking in the peace about me offered by a moment or reflection. It's not that I can't, exactly, it's that I fall asleep. It is true; give me a couple of minutes in any environment where opportunity invites contemplation of self and surroundings and I start to snore. Loudly, apparently (according to my wife ...

Birds have very little compassion for the plight of a photographer attempting to get a decent photograph of them. Certainly small birds, the kinds that have unlimited energy and dart from branch to branch in search of the tiniest morsel. More active than a caffeinated Energizer Bunny high on adrenalin, any hope of obtaining a focus lock is made even more challenging by the presence of interfering branches and low light. None of these factors addresses the ability of the person behind the camera or the parameters it is set at to facilitate image capture. Out for a cloudy-day walk with a friend, I had my camera and long lens primed for the moment a bird stepped into my sights. I am always on the lookout for movement of any kind and familiar silhouettes that hint at feathers or fur. As we hiked along the trail the brambles off to one side gave reason to pause; a bird was lurking among the intertwined branches. Lurking may not be the right word, for it hopped effortlessly from...

That little +/- function on your digital camera, do you ever use it? Usually available as a button, sometimes through a navigation control or menu, it allows you to alter the exposure the camera chooses. It would be wonderful if your camera's ability to capture an image was without flaw or imperfection, but the truth is that you often have to adjust some parameters. Chief among those is the exposure compensation button. The exposure is a combination of sensor sensitivity (ISO), the amount of time that an exposure takes (shutter speed), and the amount of light that the lens allows into the camera (aperture). Each of these can change up and down by values we call a stop; a stop is just a doubling or halving of light. Change ISO from 100 to 200 means the sensor is twice as sensitive to light (needs one-half the light). Decreasing shutter speed from 1/250th of a second to 1/125th of a second means twice as much light hits the sensor. Altering aperture from f/8 to f/5.6 d...