Daniel and I rode out to Battleground Lake a few days ago, and this mallard drake was paddling around in the shallows. These are definitely the best pictures of ducks that I've taken so far.
We get lots of hummingbird attention--mostly in the evenings. These tiny birds are really comical! Often, one little male will sit on a blueberry bush near the feeder waiting for some unsuspecting hummer to visit his feeder. As soon as he sees the intruder, "Bonso" (our name for the territorial males :) is off his perch in a split-second, chirping and chasing off his competition. Since their wings can beat about 200 times per second and they can fly about 100 mph (at least it seems that fast), you'll understand why I don't yet have any good pictures of them in flight! (This is actually the neighbor's feeder--Aimee and I babysit for them)
A few weeks ago, I looked out the window and saw a huge woodpecker fly across the driveway into the forest. Without an instant's delay, I grabbed the camera and followed it to an old, broken tree. I don't know if it didn't notice, or just didn't care, but I managed to get within about 10 feet of it. The problem was, it was in shadow, while the background was brightly lit. I couldn't get anything but silloughettes--but hey, those are cool!
Here's one I took of a robin, standing on Zach's fort out in the woods. We certainly have a lot of these around our place.
8 comments:
The middle duck shot would make an excellent watercolor! I has lots of light and motion in it.
Ya, it would. Especially if you painted the water with a graduated wash, getting lighter in the background. I always like how that gives a painting a sense of depth.
Dad and I are figuring out how to take photos of hummingbirds in flight with high-speed flash and all that--if you have the right setup, you can actually freeze the motion of their wings. I'm planning on doing a hummingbird painting sometime soon, with an airbrushed background! That'll be fun. :)
Yeah, that would look great.
Really? That would be very cool! Airbrushing results in some very neat backgrounds--I've never done it before though. the other photo that would be fun to paint would be that woodpecker silloughette (is that even spelled right?) That would even make a good oil.
I've never tried it either, but it's just about the only way to get smooth backgrounds with acrylics--I do know from personal experience that brushes don't work! (in acrylics at least--oils and watercolor don't dry as fast) So we've got a pretty cheap airbrush that we used for model painting, and I'll try to use that. BTW this year's Duck Stamp winner used one. The woodpecker silloughette (you don't want my advice on spelling ;) would make a great painting. The one I posted is cropped, but I like the long vertical format for that subject.
I should try acrylics sometime. They certainly aren't as messy or smelly as oils and dry faster (pro and con ;-)) I've played with them a little bit at Mrs. Cherrigtons, but I didn't really like the feel of the paint. It might have been the cheapness of the paint too... :-) Yeah, the long vertical format of that photo really adds too it. Yet another weird sized frame! Better get busy on those framing techniques.... ;-)
You should try them. I don't know what kind Mrs. Ch. has, but it could have just been the cheap stuff. I got some cheap tubes with the french easel I got from Costco, and the paint stank (literally) and was very difficult to use. Now that I have the Utrecht and Golden brands, I'm hooked. That's still probably the best photo of a Pileated Woody I have so far--we hear and see them pretty often, and I've chased several through the woods (from stump to stump :) but haven't managed to get any clear images. I'd love to get a canvas that size (taller and narrower than my 10x20"). Considering a custom frame could easily cost from $150-$200, I think learning how to make them myself is a great idea!--someday... Right now I'm too poor and busy. :(
Too poor and busy... Ah, the old artist story! ;-) Speaking of framing though, I do have a book on it--I should lend it to you and see if it'll help at all. I can bring it next Tuesday.
Ya, I'm just following tradition... That would be really cool. Is it about making frames, or just using them? I don't know if we have all the right tools, but at least I could make some simple small frames--can't ever have too many of those. Depending on the wood and other materials, I could probably make an 8x10 for less than $10--now that would be nice!
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