Still Life

I have been in need of a major distraction from what's going on in my life. This weekend, I stumbled onto it. I was playing around with some macro shots and on a whim started experimenting with a studio setup and an off camera flash. I did a little background research online and headed to my "studio". Here are the results...

Jan 30, 2010

On Friday, a friend and I spent the day at the beautiful Quogue Wildlife Sanctuary. We went with the intention of photographing winter waterfowl but the variety on that particular day was disappointing. My best shots are of the birds that are housed in their distressed/injured wildlife sanctuary.

All these birds of prey have been injured with the exception of the great horned owl. He was found by a family as a chick and was raised by people. All his natural instinct has been lost, so he would be unable to survive out of captivity. He was funny....he talks to people. As soon as he sees someone approach the enclosure, he starts to hoot for attention. If you talk to him, he talks back.

I wish I were showcasing images of these magnificent birds in a setting where I did not have to shoot through a fence to capture them. They belong in the wild. However, we are fortunate that facilities exists where they can be cared for and where they can provide an environmental education opportunity.



Peregrine Falcon





Barn Owl(sleeping)





Bald Eagle






Great Horned Owl

Community Photo Challenge - Transportation

Our photo challenge this month is TRANSPORTATION. You can use cars, trucks, trains, planes, even motorcycles! Some kind of transportation with or without people. You can be creative, you can use Photoshop or a paint programs. It starts today & ends Feb. 15. Post it on your blog, come back here I leave your link in the comments. Remember to visit everyone's entry to see what they contributed. The links are here.

The best way off Long Island...

Jan 21 2010

Two photos with nothing in common except they were both taken this week and they both took me by surprise on first glance.

Bronx Zoo

Arielle and I took a trip to the Bronx Zoo on Thursday. It was a perfect day for the outing, temperatures reaching the low 40s. There were enough animals on display in the cooler weather to fill the day...and almost no people. I highly recommend a zoo trip in winter.













I have a few more photos posted at my Flickr site here.

Odd Duck

This is a bird I've been photographically stalking for awhile.




Hooded Merganser

Despite the biting cold on Long Island on the weekend, I spent a couple of hours on the beach looking to take some pictures. I have felt SO creatively stale and uninspired recently. But I woke up yesterday just needing to get out....so out I went.

I knew it was going to be cold and I was prepared. But it was REALLY cold. The funny thing is that it wasn't unpleasant (to me). In the time I was out, it occured to me just how much I really like winter. Now, I'm not saying I'm up for tromping around in sub zero weather. But temps in the teens....I can do. My friend Lori says "there's no bad weather, just bad gear

The best photo subjects of the day were the little sparrows in the brush. They were very busy and not particularly skittish. Actually, they were unusually bold. I was thrilled to get some nice sharp images.








I just liked this. I love the texture and swirly pattern. It's swamp grass in the deep freeze,