Bird Photography Compotsition

This golden eye was at the wetlands on a very calm morning.  As I was trying to figure out what type of image I was after he opened up his eye to see what I was up to.  Well that is all I needed.  The reflection and mystic the image gives makes one keep thinking as this bird is watching you.  That is what I wanted.  I put the eye almost dead center.  That is where you eye naturally goes and there is nothing else to the image which adds to the mystery.  Usually there is a clear line between water and animal etc but this image there is none.  It is...

Cropping A Bird Photograph

                I have a photograph of an Allen's Hummingbird. This little guy would let you walk right up to him and photograph him. He was not shy or get bothered with a large lens rather close to him.   Photograph Cropped So here I cropped the image. This gives the image a little more interest as you can see what the image is suppose to be, a hummingbird.  The pinks and blues add to the image.  This does need to be sharpened and then have the image smoothed a little bit.  Neat image does a nice job of doing that and is...

Glacier National Park and a Pocket Digital Camera

This is the next road trip where disaster hit.  I had just purchased a nice entry level professional camera before I left.  I had left my small little pocket camera behind because I figured I would have no use for it.  Well about 1/3 of the way into the trip I got a fatal error on the camera's processor.  I had to stop and pick up another camera, a small pocket camera is about all that was to be found in a small town. Glacier National Park has some wonderful wildlife and unfortunately I was still trying to figure out how to use the camera.  This mountain goat...

Digital Camera – Pocket Camera

                  I really seem to have bad luck when I travel.  I have had two mid range cameras quit on me on very expensive road trips.  I will talk about that in another article – what to do and how to prepare for those long awaited photo trips. I was in South America.  Peru, Bolivia and Chili to be exact.  This was a few years back now but the image is timeless.  If you will believe this was taken with a small pocket camera would you be surprised?  The camera has a few settings and the lens has digital...

Kestrel and Bird Photography Lenses

One of the smallest hawks at the wetlands and it is one of the most beautiful.  This is a male Kestrel as the females are not as colorful.  This was a nice clear image.  Luckly the kestrel let me get a little closer then most would.  They are very quick to take flight. I left the tree branch in the image as it adds to the visual appeal the eye is taken immediately to this beautiful bird.  As the eye wanders about the image the branch is a natural entry and exit for the eye.  If I had cropped out the branch The kestrel certainly is beautiful enough to hold the...

How To Crop A Nature Image – Red Egret

                     The red egret photographed here shows and uncropped photograph with a cropped photograph. I then did some saturation, and used levels to find a right balance, in raws mode I adjusted the Black levels Exposure Saturation (I will talk more about the curves, layers, etc and printing in the near future. There are so many important things to do to get he best print made from your photograph.) The cropped image looks a bit blurry. The blurring is from cropping and not having using a tripod. I used the unsharpen...

Introduction To Atmospheric Science

Introduction: Global warming exists.  It has existed for thousands and thousands of years.  The question is what impact is man-made gases and industrialization having on the planets natural balance.  This paper, blog and video will discuss the natural occurrence of global warming and cooling as well as take a look at the science behind the industrial revolution and the causes it has on the atmosphere and ocean temperatures. Global warming is occurring on our planet.  The temperature on earth has gone through many cycles of warming and cooling often called glacier and...

Earth In Balance

How has the atmosphere worked before the burning of fossil fuels? Well there has been global warming for a long time. Actually with out global warming the earth would be too cold and life as we know it probably would not exist. So how does it all work? Well there is an Ozone layer in the stratosphere that helps reflect back some radiation from the sun. The radiation that does enter the atmosphere is either absorbed by the earth the rest is reflected back out into the atmosphere. There are gases in the atmosphere (this is before chemical use or burning of fossil fuels). Gases such as CO2,...

Amigos De Bolsa Chica

An interview with Jim Robins Jim Robins is an active board member of the Amigos De Bolsa Chica as well as a board member of the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center.  He has been active in helping to protect the Bolsa Chica wetlands for many years.  Jim Robins is one of the many people we can thank for having the wetlands that we do have.  Please get involved and donate to the Amigos De Bolsa Chica. Why did Amigos De Bolsa Chica form? It was founded in the 1970s by the league of women voters to help preserve the wetlands in the Bolsa Chica area.  The area was going to be...

American Indian Burial Ground At Bolsa Chica Wetlands

I am changing topics briefly. I will go back to the photography articles tomorrow.   The Bolsa Chica wetlands was once a place were native American Indians called home.  The bluffs that over look the wetlands is an ancient burial ground.  It is very interesting.  They have begun to post information about the tribe around the wetlands.  It is also sad to hear that when they were building some homes on the bluffs that the burial ground was discovered.  People are still trying to get the remains and preserve a plot of land for the burial of these people.  The...