Photo of the Day - January 2021

fooferdoggie

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the tram leaving the station. I will post last years pic of the view since only employees can ride the tram right now. looks ike I don't have a still of the ride anyone want the video link?

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lizkat

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Thanks! I tend to keep my eyes and my mind open for potential photo possibilities.....whether they are something occurring at the moment with animals or people in or near my surroundings and within camera range, or something, perhaps an object, that I spot either at home or somewhere else and think, "I wonder what would happen..." and pick up the camera to find out. I tend not to be a person who sets out on shoots with a specific plan in mind, or someone who takes a methodical approach to seeking out my subjects -- more often than not they happen spontaneously while I'm out with the camera or at home with the camera.... That said, once I've found a subject, I can easily spend an hour or more shooting it from various angles and perspectives or with different lenses..... With wildlife, I will stand patiently watching Alfred or the cormorants or the geese or the Hooded Mergansers for sometimes an hour or more.....capturing shots as I watch, in the hopes of capturing that one special shot, that one which is different and unique.....

I especially love your photos of birds (and now feathers too). That little belted kingfisher is special, and I bet it takes patience to get as many good shots of her as you do. Your comments above so reminded me of an Audubon piece about the difficulty of photographing owls that I thought to look it up!


It’s not easy to get owls to mug for the camera. Even in captivity the birds remain aloof, unruffled by the flash and unmoved by attempts to bribe them. Photographer Brad Wilson learned that lesson firsthand after trying to win over owls from the World Bird Sanctuary in St. Louis and The Wildlife Center near Española, New Mexico. He spent hours with each bird, trying to capture its direct gaze. “It’s hard to get animals to look at you like humans do,” he says. “That shot became my holy grail.”
 

Clix Pix

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Thanks, Liz! I am so fortunate to live where I do and to have the opportunities to capture our local feathered residents! I've named the Kingfisher Regina and, yes, I can stand there for quite a while shooting and shooting and watching and watching..... I get so excited at seeing and watching Alfred and Regina in particular, as well as the Hooded Mergansers, that time slips away without my noticing and sometimes it's only because I've gotten really cold (standing out on the deck in the middle of winter without a coat or jacket probably isn't the smartest thing) or (in summer) really hot that I finally give up. Sometimes the bird flies off and that's the end of the photo session, too, of course.

As far as I know we don't have any owls here, which is curious. Or, they may simply be living further back in some of the wooded areas to which I don't have access. Also, although I'm a nocturnal creature myself I am not going to go stomping around in the woods in the dark, anyway!

I have read somewhere that looking directly at wildlife will feel threatening to them -- with birds, not a big problem, but mammals are a different story. There are some big guys like bears, moose and bison and such that you really don't want to give the impression of challenging or threatening them!!! They'll charge, come after you...... Birds can be skittish and aloof and again unwilling to look at the photographer or his/her lens, but usually don't attack!
 

Scepticalscribe

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Not so much a picture of today, but of today one year ago.

Paris, January 2020.

Having a coffee on the Place Saint-Sulpice.

The Coronavirus was barely making the news and I was certainly more pre-occupied by the protests happening in Paris right then.

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There is something so perfect, so exquisitely impossibly perfect, about those coffee tables, the kind of cane or rattan chairs you see in (or outside) French cafés, and, of course, the coffee served in French cafés.
 

lizkat

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Last week one day the Hooded Mergansers were happily lingering in the area of the pier, diving for prey and having a nice day, when some rude, noisy humans came stomping out on the pier and these skittish creatures promptly made their escape.....

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Wow they almost made a pattern of what are called "square waves" (grid or cross waves) -- generally from intersection of two seas or strong winds. Those guys were hustlin' !!
 

Apple fanboy

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There is something so perfect, so exquisitely impossibly perfect, about those coffee tables, the kind of cane or rattan chairs you see in (or outside) French cafés, and, of course, the coffee served in French cafés.
Yes but why do I always choose the one that is wobbly. Especially if accompanied by a cobbled street.

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