I shoot landscapes and wildlife. I live in Mid Atlantic suburbia so this usually means travel. I love seeing new things, eating new foods, and breathing in the high-country. Of course, as we are all painfully aware, the state of things precluded just that for the better part of year.
Rather than let the camera collect dust and my mind grow darker, I started walking the mile to the local park several times a week. It's a former industrial park now converted into a mix of woodland, meadow, and marsh. An impressive little oasis of the natural(ish) world ten minutes from the city center and surrounded by malls, homes, and grocery stores.
In my latest attempt to engage with you digitized humans, I thought I would share a few of the better images from those regular walks. Walks that became crucial to my wellbeing when cutoff by distance and disease from the Great Nature that is such an important part of my life.
Look, hopefully enjoy, and let me know what you think. Thanks.
Best of the Pandemic!
Hi Dan. Super fantastic images.
For my perception the distractions were hurdle in holding the attention to the subject. as creative possibility sharing my thoughts for this discussion. Certainly not as alternatives.
Hi Dan,
Thanks for sharing.
I'm sorry to hear that the pandemic has curtailed your photo excursions. I photograph a LOT of wildlife in my area and have been fortunate that COVID hasn't really interfered with my photography.
I agree with Vijay. Cropping the images could make them a bit stronger. I personally wouldn't go so far as to remove objects from the images -- for me this is an ethical no-no -- but some cropping can certainly clean them up and make them stronger.
One other thing you might want to consider is that wildlife images tend to be stronger when the subject is seen from their vantage point.
Because so many animals live on the ground, there's an expression in wildlife photography that's a take-off of what Robert Capa said about photojournalism: "If your pictures aren't good enough, you're not low enough." In other words, you want to try and depict the subjects as though you're at their eye-level. Your last two bird images are much stronger than the first two. IMHO this is because we're seeing the birds at eye-level, as though we're a bird.
I understand that this can be challenging with birds, as they're frequently high above us in the trees. One strategy that you can use to make it appear that you're not so far below them is to back up and use a longer lens. By doing so, you'll reduce the angle. If you back up far enough, you can even make it appear as though you're at eye level. This strategy is also useful when you're above your subjects.
I hope you find this helpful.
Good luck.
Ken