It’s been a long 5 or so years since life as seemed semi-normal. It’s time to grieve for all the losses and get back into life. I hope you enjoy these photos from 2025. This year is just beginning, and looks so bright. . .
Tag: Birds
This is an entry about photographing birds, such at Bald Eagles, migratory birds, shore birds, Great Blue Herons and more.
Bird Photography Interview
Karen
Create ~ Visualize ~ Evoke
Backgrounds & Choices
The combination of background and available light affects the outcome of a photograph. Birds are adept at camouflage, and our cameras are great at hiding the subject. The photo above is a corn field and 7 sandhill cranes. The coloration of the cranes allows them to blend into the remaining brown corn stalks, and almost disappear.
The late afternoon lighting leaves long shadows for these cranes to blend into the field.
In this photo of the trumpeter swans, the dark background helps the swans stand-out as the subject of the image. The swans are in shade (similar to the crane photo above), and their coloring allows them to be easily differentiated from the trees in the background.
Both of these images are taken with a 600 mm lens, yet the ease of see the subject is dependent on the background and exposure. Both are shot at F8. The difference is the location of the birds with the background. The cranes are in the field. The swans are flying past the trees.
This last photo has the simplest background. The solid blue sky offers a background to easily see the subject, 2 sandhill cranes in flight.
Background choices can help or hinder the success of a photograph. Ultimately, it is dependent on opportunity, exposure, and choices made by the photographer.
Tip – Use backgrounds for your subjects that help convey the vision of the photograph.
Karen
Visualize ~ Create ~ Evoke
Choices, Exposure & Composition
The experience included hundreds of sandhill cranes flying overhead, with some landing in the field below. Their sounds waft in the air, like a light trill. Unlike ducks and geese, the cranes seem to fly without formation, and their flight is affected by wind gusts.
At a distance, it becomes easy to place hundreds of these amazing birds into a single frame. The photo above is taken with a 600 mm lens. The challenge becomes “how are the birds placed in the frame?”
One thing to remember is that these birds are not small. There size ranges from 3 to 5 feet tall (depending on sub-species and male/female), and their wing span ranges from 5 to 7 feet across.
The photo above is a grouping of 3 birds against the sky. Light is important in all photography, and especially important when photographing birds. The light in this image is late afternoon sun, and it casts a warm glow in these cranes. It is important to light up the head (or face) of the bird.
In this photo, the light brings the cranes out from the blue background. Without the sunlight, the birds would blend into the background, and be more difficult to see. As for where to focus. it is good to select an area with a large concentration of birds. It is easier for the camera’s auto-focus to actually focus on the subject.
As for exposure, expose for the birds. The background isn’t as important as the cranes, and it’s okay for it to go light or dark. The shutter speed needs to be fast enough (1/250 sec or faster) to keep the cranes from blurring. At a distance, an aperture of F8 should offer enough depth of field to keep most of the birds is focus.
Tip – Use the available light. Set the shutter speed to stop the action, and the aperture to keep most of the flock in focus.
Karen
Visualize ~ Create ~ Evoke
Othello Sandhill Crane Festival
This is one of the best birding festivals! It is located in the heart of eastern Washington, the programming is amazing, and it is during the height of the Sandhill Crane migration through the area.
Celebrate Birds Through Photography
March 24th, 2018 at 9 am
Othello, WA
Hope to see you there. . .
Happy Shooting. . .Karen
Familiar Subjects – New Perspective
The migratory trumpeter and tundra swans are a familiar subject to me and my camera. Often, they stay at a distance to areas that they can be photographed from. The limitations become equipment and the cost of these longer lenses.
Today, I tested out my new lens. It’s a Tamron 150-600mm 5-6.3 lens, and it is amazing! The photographs in this post are taken today with this new lens. It allowed me to fill the frame with more bird and less environment. I was happy with the image stabilization of the lens. These images are taken hand-held.
I think this one is my favorite of these two photos. This is un-cropped and a full-frame sensor camera body. The lens is at 600 mm. With my previous lens (Canon 100-400), the swan would be much smaller in the frame, and the environment would be a stronger element.
Sometimes, it takes new equipment to bring a fresh perspective to a familiar subject. I cannot wait to find the next flock of birds to photograph!
Happy Shooting. . .Karen
Tribute to Snow Geese. . .
Skagit Eagle Festival 2018
It’s this weekend! I’ll be speaking Saturday, January 27th at 11 am in Concrete, WA.
“Creating Magical Moments With Bird Photography”
at the
Concrete Historical Theater
Happy Shooting. . .Karen
Winter Light & Photography
The light through the winter changes in both color and intensity. The sun drops lower on the horizon, and travels through more of the Earth’s atmosphere. This changes the colors that we and our cameras see.
The photograph above is trumpeter swans in January at dusk. The light in the sky is soft and diffused. The swans reflect the color of the blue sky on their wings, and remain neutral colored on their underside.
The colors change in the landscape. Everything appears more pastel, and with less contrast. Even the blue of the sky changes to a softer hue. The clouds add interest to the photograph, and are perfect to include into the composition.
The photograph above was taken during the winter months. The soft light of late day is diffused by the broken clouds in the sky, offering a soft light bathing the scene. The colors are rich, yet softer than the summer months.
Winter can bring starkness of color with its snow, frost and/or over cast sky. It is a great time to explore monochromatic images. Enjoy the season!
Happy shooting. . .Karen
Sandhill Cranes and More in Othello
I spoke this past Saturday at the Othello Sandhill Crane Festival in Othello, WA. It was an amazing experience! The room was filled at 9 am for my presentation Celebrate Birds Through Photography.
This festival is incredible in both its size and number of speakers/tours. It is well worth the adventure to Eastern Washington for the event.
It was interesting to discover how easy it was to see the cranes flying, but nearly impossible to see them in the fields. The photograph above is of a field with over 50 cranes amoungst the cattle.
Looking upwards, it was easier to see the cranes flying through in small groups. Thankfully, the sky was blue with white clouds. The cranes stood out against the background, and were easier to see.
The other amazing birds we saw were yellow head blackbirds. I actually thought they were blackbirds landing behind reflectors on the irrigation pipes. What a pleasant surprise when I discovered they were beautiful yellow and black birds.
Happy Shooting. . .Karen
Visualize ~ Create ~ Evoke