Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Snow is Nature's Lightbox

We've had an inordinate amount of snow here the past few days.  In usual years, we'll get a couple of inches of the white stuff one day and it's gone the next.  Last night we got 14 inches of new snow, on top of the several inches that had accumulated from the previous day.  It's a winter wonderland and I'm loving it!  I sat out in my front yard this morning, bundled up, watching the finches have drama over the feeders.  I'm learning how to use a different camera so instead of my trusty, I pulled out the new one; there's only one way to get good at something different, right?  Upon reviewing the photos, I realized that I should have increased my shutter speed; this would have provided me with a more crisp image and also more "still" shots of wingbeats.  Nevertheless, I'm happy with the creamy complexion that the lightbox of snow created for me.



High drama




One seed at a time creates nourishment.
Listen Softly
Male American Goldfinch

A couple of days ago I went up to Seattle to listen to a seminar called "Sacred Economics" led by Charles Eisenstein.  I confess that I was somewhat disappointed in the talk.  The topic of discussion (I think) was how to approach the business of money in a way that is different from today's convention: that's what got me excited about going to see him in the first place.  But Mr. Eisenstein said some things that didn't resonate with me, and the talk itself was unstructured and contained a lot of tangents that made it difficult for me to follow his thoughts all the way through.  I'm still glad that I went, though, because by hearing other's opinions I am better able to solidify my own.  That's the beauty of diversity isn't it?  We need to understand others in order to understand ourselves.
Female American Goldfinch

5 comments:

inaluxe said...

Happy New Year Colleen! I can't believe it's already mid January! I love your birds, the photos are amazing, and such lovely details in them too.

Totally agree with you on the 'understanding of ourselves' part. xo K

Corrabelle said...

I love your birdie pictures. What kind of a camera did you get? I'm getting a new digital pentax slr, I can't wait!
And you're so right, snow puts off such gorgeous, flawless light. I'm not a fan of winter, but i'll admit that it sure makes photography fun (and makes those birdies look oh so cozy!)

I really need to get a new bird feeder-ours blew down a while ago and broke. I miss having little birds feeding at ours in the winter.

Colleen MacDonald said...

Thanks! I am borrowing a Cannon 40D SLR, and hope to purchase one of my own when I can raise enough cash to justify the purchase. I have most of the lenses for it already (which will fit any Canon body), so we'll see what I end up with. I'd really like to get one more super zoom lens so that I don't have to get so close to the wildlife (I have to wait a looooong time for the birds to feel comfortable with my presence right now)!

picciolo said...

I think your photos are great Colleen, the backdrop of the snow and the birds different 'poses'! What a shame the talk was disappointing, at least it had a positive affect hough if it helped to solidify some of your thoughts
x

Colleen MacDonald said...

Thanks, Jane. I should say that not everything about the talk was disappointing, but overall it didn't rise to my (over-eager?) expectations. Ah, well, it's allright!