Black Friday starts now!
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Swan Lake
You’d think that photographing swans (or any other waterfowl) would be easy when you live on an island with plenty of birds around. And it is, most of the time. Not when you set out to photograph them, though.
During my usual walks along the coast, I could see many swans paddling quietly around the island, foraging, or cleaning their feathers, always close to the shore. So I’d think, “I’ll come back and take some photos.” Then I’d come back with my camera, and one of these two things would happen:
1) They wouldn’t be there. At all. Gone. Hasta la vista, baby!
2) They would be far away at sea, out of the reach of my telelens.
But time, patience, and perseverance paid off, so I could take the photos—eventually 😉. These are some of the photos I was able to take after several frustrating attempts.
Have you tried taking photos of birds or animals?
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Happy Halloween!
Happy Halloween!
Do you like this card I made? There are more on my freebies page for various occasions. Feel free to look around and download FREE photos, greeting cards, and posters.
Did I mention this stuff is FREE? And it’s always being added to. Come back later for new stuff!
And if you liked what you found here, share it on your preferred social network or forward it to a friend.
New Macro Lens: Canon RF100mm
I finally gave in and replaced my old macro lens (the beloved Canon EF 100mm ƒ2.8 Macro). I was reluctant to let it go because it is a good lens, albeit a bit heavy. It lacks image stabilization, though, and it’s not a problem if you use a tripod. I, on the other hand, seldom use a tripod. I like to move around freely.
Enter Canon RF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM. What a difference! It has a new design, is not as bulky and heavy as the old one, and fits much better in your hand. And most important, it has image stabilization. Even if handheld, the combined camera and lens image stabilization let me get sharp images at f/5 – something I couldn’t have dreamt of with the old lens. After checking the first photos I’d taken with the new lens, It was easy to let go of the old.
So, here you go, a few photos taken in my garden with a Canon R5 camera fitted with the new lens. Which one do you like best?
Pssst! The top image is available to purchase as a print or digital download in my online shop, along with other flower photos.
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Damselflies and Dragonflies
This is one of my favorite photos, mating emerald damselflies (Lestes sponsa). The top one is the male; females lack the bright blue color of the males.
Damselflies are most common in July and August, so I spent the last couple of weeks by the small lake near our house photographing them. Emerald damselflies are found mainly near stagnant water (lakes and ponds, canals, etc.), rarely along flowing water. Aren’t they beautiful?
A well-camouflaged winter damselfly (Sympecma fusca). They like to perch among reeds, where their muted colors allow them to blend in.
They’re related to the emerald damselflies (Lestes sponsa) and, like them, can be found near stagnant water; but they don’t have their bright red or blue colors.
Western Willow Spreadwing (Chalcolestes viridis)
Moustached Darter (Sympetrum vulgatum)
Another photo of that moustached darter.
Which photo do you like most? My favorite is the top one, the mating emerald damselflies, even though it was hard to choose, I love them all!
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The Bath Habits of Eurasian Jays
A beautiful Eurasian jay with bright plumage, maybe due to ant bathing? Jays engage in a curious behavior called ant bathing: they climb an ant hill and let ants climb all over their body while moving around to excite the ants. The theory is that the formic acid secreted by the ants to protect themselves helps keep the bird’s plumage healthy and glossy. Then they’d take a bath to get rid of the poor ants!.
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Did You Know This About Woodpeckers?
The great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) has exceptionally keen hearing and can hear the larva moving under the bark of the trees. This is why you can often see woodpeckers standing still in a tree and turning its head towards the trunk, clearly listening.
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Talking About Red Squirrels
This red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) had such beautiful fur! Darker reddish brown on the back and the tail and lighter on the side, almost orange when the sun hit it.
Isn’t Nature gorgeous? There are so many shades in their fur, from dark orange and red to dark brown, and all nuances in between. Red squirrels change their body fur twice yearly, but their tail hair only once.
The winter coat of red squirrels is much thicker than the summer coat, and their ear tufts are also longer. This young squirrel hasn’t started growing its the ear tufts yet. And look at that gorgeous orange fur!
You can see how much bushier and longer the ear tufts are in winter in these last two photos.
Related Posts
- Happy Squirrel Appreciation Day!
- Meet Gretel, the Little Red Squirrel
- Of Squirrels and Woodpeckers
- Fight or Flight?
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Time to Shoot Macro!
I’d grown so fond of my tele lens (Canon RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM), which works so well for both wildlife and flowers, that I’d completely forgotten my macro lens (Canon EF 100mm ƒ2.8 Macro) that I used so much until a couple of years ago.
I truly loved that macro lens, an old design that still works; poor thing, forgotten in my photo cabinet, at the back with old lens caps, batteries, and what not. Time to take it out and show it some love, I decided. So, here you go, a few photos taken in my garden with Canon R5 fitted with that macro lens.
Which photo do you like best?
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Gorgeous Glory of the Snow
Lovely glory of the snow in the morning light. These photos were pure luck. I did plan to scout the woods for a field of Scilla to photograph, but I didn’t need to in the end. As I was returning from an early seabird photo session, this incredible sea of blue flowers caught my eye while waiting for the traffic light to turn green. It turned out there was such a field next to one of the parking lots of our little shopping center! Since we order most of our stuff online, I rarely go by that lot. So there you have it, as a photographer, you need both preparation and luck 😉.
Both images are available to purchase as prints or digital downloads in my shop, along with other flower photos.
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