Pattern and Color

While working at my home office, I spied this cardinal sitting in a tangle of branches and vines across my backyard. The bird is a great distance away and I didn’t have a long enough lens and tripod handy to make this a full frame bird shot. But several things help this image work: the monochromatic tangle, the contrasting red and attention to the rule of thirds. We can’t always use the 400mm with telextender and sit in a bird blind, but there is still enough right with the image to make it pleasing.

Photo Mission: Arizona Cattle Country

I spent nine days in the southwest with a team of veterinarians on two Native American reservations. The most heart-pounding day was the day I accompanied cattle vaccinations.  Imagine the whistling from the opening of The Good the Bad and the Ugly. That was what I heard in my head when I started photographing this steer. He was a wild one. They ran him through the chute, attempted to restrain him for vaccinations and vitamins, but had to let him go before he injured the team. I took refuge in the back of a pickup truck when they released him. He tumbled out of the chute in a bolt of fury and ran off. My friend Ferdinand here appears in my book Photo Mission: People, Places and Pets of the Hopi and Zuni Reservations.

The Fox Den

My son was walking our dog this past summer and he happened upon a fox den with four fox kits out playing. They quickly disappeared into their hole, but he came home to tell me where the den was. I returned 4-5 times to try to photograph the kits. I only saw them twice and was able to get a few images.

Fishing for Serenity

This image is taken in one of my favorite places in Pennsylvania near Cedar Run. It is accessible by dirt road and you have to hike in. The fly fisherman is my son, Justin. The tastiest fish I have ever eaten were caught by Justin!

Bluebird in Flight

This is not a technically great photo, but being able to catch this tiny bluebird in flight was just a thrill! I was hired to do some photography at a park in Chester County, PA, and had arrived ahead of my client so I could walk the trail when I spotted this bird. There is nothing more satisfying to me than to be outdoors and encounter wildlife.

Beauty in Imperfection

I love this little moth. I was in Amherst, Massachusetts at a photo conference and ventured out to photograph with friends. We stopped in a strip mall with gorgeous flower beds. Never content with the “big picture,” I had my mental macro lens on as I walked around looking for something to shoot. When I spied this little moth, I began to photograph him and he posed patiently.

Many photographers strive for perfection when photographing flowers and I confess to often being one of those people. I noticed the missing antenna on the moth, but I loved the interaction I was able to have at a very intimate level with this creature. I drew a small crowd of friends who took over shooting my scene. This is both a drawback and a joy of shooting with friends. No shot is yours alone, but you learn to see differently from each other.

The Curious Hawk

This was one of my life’s special wildlife moments. I encountered this hawk while visiting the Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island. This bird was completely unphased by my very close proximity. In fact, he seemed quite curious about my interest in him. This photo was taken WITHOUT a telephoto lens.

Brown Pelicans at La Jolla

Several photographers had told me about “the pelican spot” in La Jolla, CA. I wandered in before sunrise to catch them waking and testing their wings in the early morning hours while the sea lions made comically cinematic sounds on the rocks below. The pelicans were the highlight of my San Diego trip.