Tag: Summer Tanager

Photo of Da day @ Da Pine #222

I don’t normally post photos that I make of birds on my backyard feeder. I was attempting to get some in-flight photos of birds when this Summer Tanager showed up on the feeder. At first glance I thought he was having a bad hair day. Then he showed me his other side and I saw he had like a goiter like growth on his beak.

While I was a little taken a back at first, after watching him for a few minutes, I could see his beauty and functionality. There was a lesson for me.

Don’t judge books by their covers on your journey††††††††nada te turbe††††hoodie up†††jim

Photo of Da day @ Da Pine #215

Some-days, it is hard to hold focus. I like to make “in flight” type photo of birds, but at some point, I reach the edge of the envelope in regards to shutter speed vs. f-stop. Throw in trying to maintain the closeness of the birds you find yourself at the edge real quick.

This Summer Tanager (Piranga rubra) was taking off from a Desert Willow tree in my yard. I was shooting with my 500mm set at a shutter speed of 1/6400 of a second which put me at f 5 which is close to wide open and it just gets impossible to carry focus much more than an inch or so. Hence nice and sharp legs & feet, but I begin to lose focus on the eyes.

That is what I love about photography, you can find all kinds of parallels to life itself. My father used to anger me to no end by telling me that life is a compromise. I fight that constantly, and have many scars from the battles.

Be careful what you compromise on your journey††††††††nada te turbe†††jim

Photo of Da day @ Da Pine #154

We had this young male Summer Tanager (Piranga rubra) show up at the feeder in our backyard. He eventually was joined by the rest of his “season” and we ended up with  10-12 of them. They feasting on the seed, us on their beauty. Makes one feel blessed to find such treasure so close to home.

Made this one with my new 500mm lens. Just had to get some long glass. Now to get myself in shape to carry it around. It is a bit of a beast, and will be a test for me to carry it on the trail.

Watch for treasure close to home on your journey††nada te turbe††jim