Winter Birds

This year's arrival here in north Florida of our annual fleet of migrating birds is about a month later than usual. Every year at Thanksgiving, the Chipping Sparrows show up by the dozens, followed very closely by the Yellow Rumped Warblers. This year they procrastinated, probably in the warmer weather, until after Christmas. The first few sparrows actually came on December 10th, but our feeders and birdbath weren't mobbed until yesterday for the first time. We also had a few brave Tufted Tit Mice, and one show-off of an Eastern Bluebird.

I sat quietly about 10 feet from the feeders with my camera, and they quickly decided it was just fine to ignore me an carry on about their business... here are a few of those shots.....

 Tufted Titmouse in a tree

Carolina Chickadee 

 Warbler in the flower pot, spying on the human

 Landing Zone: Eastern Bluebird and two Warblers

Closer crop of the Bluebird and one of the Warblers

So Happiest New Year to you! Here's hoping for a peaceful, art-filled, productive, successful year for all!

2011 50-50 Nikon Cafe Challenge

For the last several years I have participated in the Nikon Cafe's 50-50 photography challenge. Because this is the 50th week of the year, the idea is to shoot with only a 50mm lens. Any 50mm lens. I happen to own the basic Nikkor 50 f/1.8 -- perhaps the best value lens on the planet, so I plugged in into the D700 and set about shooting around where ever I happened to be each day. So far we are through day 5. Here are my choices...

Day 1: Walter Jones Historic Park, Mandarin, Florida

Day 2: My office. Gumby and Pokey make the scene on Credenza Beach.

Day 3: Something I try to do every day...

Day 4: On the nature trail at the University of North Florida.

Day 5: Sunset on the Saint Johns, near downtown Jacksonville.

Weekend Faces - December 3 and 4, 2011

Quite a weekend. I participated (music) and photographed two great local events in northeast Florida. Saturday was the Mandarin Community Winter Celebration and Sunday was the CD release event for "River Roads", a compilation CD of Florida recording artists who are also advocates for the preservation of our state's natural environment. The CD will benefit the Putnam County Environmental Council (and it has totally sold out -- a second run is in process!). I shot a total of over 300 images, and offer a few faces here to share what was an amazing weekend of fun and "music with a mission".

 Mandarin WInter Celebration -- young actress reenacting the life of Mandarin resident Harriet Beecher Stowe

 Mandarin Winter Celebration - I asked her to smile. This was it.

 Mandarin. Raven Stands Alone. A shining, brave spirit nearly destroyed in a recent bicycle run-in with a car.

 Mandarin. Yes, they did face painting!

 PCEC Concert: Bob Patterson. Florida Folk Legend.

 PCEC Concert: Dale Crider: Environmental Warrior.

 PCEC Concert: Whitey Markle. Florida advocate. Protector of the land.

 Lis Williamson. Angelic voice of Florida.

Lon Williamson. Quiet strength. Remarkable talent. Relentless friend.

A Sunday Stroll

Mrs. Muse and I headed out for a hike through the Julington-Durbin Preserve in Mandarin, Florida this morning. An absolutely beautiful fall morning, temperature in the low 70s. There is something new to shoot every week out here. I took my 150mm f/2.8 macro lens and shot these handheld. Working with a tripod would have improved the quality of some of the images, but half of the point is to get a little exercise... Enjoy!

Saint Augustine in 85 mm of (mostly) Black and White

A brief diversion to our favorite historical city within 30 minutes driving distance of home...

Autumn Rose

I just like this photo. We were walking around the neighborhood a couple of nights ago just before sunset, so I grabbed the camera with the 50 /1.8 attached, just in case. Also gave me an excuse to work on learning how to use Photoshop CS5. So here it is -- on my least favorite holiday of them all. A rose for Halloween.

Jack and Wilma: Still Crazy After All These Years...

I was blessed with the opportunity to shoot a wedding this past weekend -- Jack and Wilma. Both 84 years old. That's 168 years between them. Jack told me that he had a crush on Wilma in high school. I guess patience is truly a virtue! I generally avoid wedding photography like the plague, but this one was just too special to pass up...

Falling

My photo, "Falling" was selected by the "Earth Touch" blog for their Friday post. Pretty nice!

Savannah After Dark - 2011

A few photos from our annual October pilgrimage to Savannah, Georgia. Savannah is a target rich environment for photography... full of art, history, southern culture.... Shot these with a Sigma 85mm f/1.4 lens on my Nikon D700.