You can tell when the weather is nice, even if only for a short period of time… the birds and squirrels come out in droves to collect seeds and food before the storms return. They are fun to watch as they happily hop around soaking up the fleeting sunshine.
We have red headed Acorn Woodpeckers and Northern Flickers in these parts.
… and the occasional endearing dear and crazy squirrel .
In the New Year we were welcomed with snow… and deer. It’s an awesome way to start the new year with fresh snow and new life. This deer mama brought her deer baby (probably 6 months old). Fantastic. Happy New Year!
We’ve only lived in the mountains with the snow for a few years (4 years this year). So we are still trying to figure out the weather patterns and such. I have no idea how you know when the snow is over, and Spring is on the way. But then neither do the weather forecasters.
We got our last snow just last week, on Groundhog Day of all things.
But since that snow, the animals have been coming out of hiding. We have seen deer and elk in the community, in the forest, and on the roads.
As I type this, I’m watching this little bunny hopping around our front yard looking for food. The chipmunks and squirrels are active… and the birds are coming back. The ground is alive with blue jays and the occasional yellow bird even.
Yesterday we saw several wasps and bees make their first appearance.
We may have another dusting of snow still this winter… but it sure seems like the animals know something the rest of us don’t… Spring is coming.
When I was getting ready to graduate from high school, oh so many years ago, like so many other young adults I was faced with that all important decision, ‘what’s next?’. What do I do with my life? At the time, as a teenager, I was really into photography. I used to go out every night and photograph the sunset and mess around with time lapsed photography. I actually thought I was good. I wanted to be a Photographer when I grew up.
Well… my dad, in all his wisdom, steered me in another direction. “Why don’t you go do something that actually makes money? You can be a Photographer when you retire.”, he told me. Wise words indeed. I don’t know what the percentage of Photographers made a successful living at it, particularly back then – before the age of photo workshops and online presence, but it wasn’t very high. And you had to be VERY good – David Muench good.
So I followed my dad’s sage advice and became an Engineer. Now that I’m retired I have picked up my camera and tried to get serious about taking real photos. Moreover, I set a goal for myself… I wanted to be published. Not just published, but published in Arizona Highways. A girl can dream, right?!
To my total aghast and surprise, I got a call from Arizona Highways yesterday. Crazy, right?! They had selected one of my deer photos for the 2017 AZ Highways calendar… not for a large month photo- but as a little inset photo. Baby steps, though. I’m going to have one of MY photos on AZ Highways 2017 classic calendars. Be still my heart. OMG! My dad would be proud.
We are fortunate enough to have become used to seeing deer and elk… but Yellowstone / Grand Teton showed us a whole new level of animal. Seeing elk and deer side by side, you get a gist of how great the size difference is. I thought elk were big… that was until I saw buffalo up close… and moose.
.. and BEAR ( a little TOO close for comfort).
(admittedly a little blurry, but I was scrambling up the rock ledge)
Nice bear.
What is it about the snow, that brings the animals out?
We got dumped on… about 15 – 18″ in the course of a couple of days. It was beautiful.
The animals were literally knee deep in it.
It coated the trees against a blue haze in the overcast snowy skies. It was super cool!
I never thought I’d like snow, but I find myself wishing for it, so I can go out and capture it’s many different faces.
We sat and watched these two deer families interact. One deer mom had one little one; the other had two little ones. I don’t know what the deal was, but they were none to pleased that the other family was there trying to horn in on their spot.
It seems to me that they should stick together. Goes to show, I have a lot to learn about deer behaviors.
I mentioned that I had the fortunate opportunity to have Moose Peterson critique some of my photos. While we was very kind and even called my photos great (woohoo), and suggested that I had good technique an composition, he noted that I needed to work on my story telling. When I think of story telling, I think of portraits… photos of people doing something, action, great expressions, expressing a moment in time. I get that good portraits may use shallow depth of field to blur the background to highlight the subject. But how do you do that in Landscape and Wildlife photographs?
While I am not comfortable taking photos of people, I do understand that they had great depth (sense of size) to a photograph, and tell a story of that place. Here I caught two young adults mid catch at Woods Canyon Lake.
Expressions, if you can capture them, are worth a thousands words. Whether you anticipate and wait for it, or just get lucky. Here you can hear the oohs and ahhs of my friend and husband as they revel over the magnificent fall colors we were fortunate enough to enjoy.
Or the tender moment between a deer mom and her little one.
Thanks, Moose. I’m working on it.
When I first started this endeavor of throwing myself into my photography and learning, improving, practicing, and publishing, I read a lot about Photographic Style. These books recommend that you choose one. What the heck does that mean? Why can’t I just shoot whatever I want, whenever I want, as it appears to me? I pretty much disregarded the advice.
Now, as I look at my photos, I realize, I didn’t disregard it… I did make a decision,even if it might not have been conscious. I dislike taking photos of people. I am just uncomfortable pointing a photo at a person as I feel it invades their space. That may seem silly, but it’s just not my thing. So I avoid it. (That being said, I am trying to get more into it, as it does add a lot to a photo.)
I naturally find myself taking photos of my environment. Those are the types of photos that inspire me, and make me comfortable. I love capturing the Landscape and Wildlife that surrounds me. I can be at peace with those subjects, take my time, and carefully compose the perfect picture.
So I guess my Photographic Style found me… I’m a Landscape and Wildlife photographer. Hmmm. I’m way ok with that.
I could do a whole book on Mogollon Rim, and maybe I will.
I am lucky enough to call this magical place my backyard. So it’s no coincidence that you’ll be seeing more photos of this picturesque terrain. We take photographic journeys and lunch outings to ‘the rim’ on a regular basis. Notably some trips are a bust and the photographs are less than inspiring, but they are always good practice, peaceful, and relaxing.
kritterspix 