Playing with Osprey Photos

I had a nice sequence of an osprey landing on the osprey nest and decided to make a sort of movement image of it by adding the photos together.  It is far from perfect, but it was a fun learning experience combining a batch of layers.  

Pelican Double Exposure

I photographed some pelicans late last year in St. Mary's County, and made some double exposures by mistake.  I had been playing with double exposures before I went out to photograph the pelicans.  That should teach me to reset my camera!  A few images were kind of interesting.  I decided to play with the image a little to see if I could line it up a little better.  It is not perfect, but it created an interesting image.  Not too bad, since I haven't done this much.  I am sure there is a more exact way of lining up the images with rulers and such, but it wasn't easy to try to line up the beak and get them made as similar sizes, while still making sure the wings didn't end up outside the frame.  Sometimes the best way to learn is by giving it a try.  Comments are welcome.

The Osprey Have Left till Next Year

The fish hawks are on their way to South America and other southern locales.

Yucatan Mexico Celestun Flamingos February 7, 2018

Flamingos!!!  We talked a Mexican tour guide into taking us out early in the morning before the crowds in this small fishing village.  The light was beautiful.  Very pretty colorful birds.

This flamingo Takeoff photo is for sale at Zazzle as an 11x14  print.  https://www.zazzle.com/flamingo_takeoff_11x14_photo_print-190753255665955840
I like it a lot, with it's wings spread wide and a nice reflection on the river.

Flamingos in the air look sort of like flying sticks!

Flamingo Heart
I also turned the heart print into a 8x10 "painting" with the pink salt lake background from Las Coloradas (another place we visited later) .
  

Their necks are amazingly twisty!

There were mangrove islands in the background.

These two were having a dispute over something.  Food?  Women?  They were certainly making a lot of noise.

I saw many more birds that day which I will post soon, great blue herons, pelicans, cormorants, roseate spoonbills, an egret and a tricolored heron.  So be sure to stop back to see them, or follow my RSS feed or my Calm Reflections Photography Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/CalmReflectionsPhotography
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Bald Eagles

I never get tired of seeing the bald eagles nearby.

#eagle, #bald eagle, #flying, #flight

Award Winning photo from St Mary's County Camera Club in August 2017

I forgot to post my 1st place Eagle Nesting Photo from the Wildlife theme in last month's competition.  This bald eagle was building up a nest in October 2016 when I caught it flying around with a stick.  I prefer to use more recent photos in competition.

I have been spotting an eagle nearby lately, since the osprey have left for the season.  Last year we rarely saw any.  A neighbor put up several bird blinds for hunting and the eagles disappeared.  I expect the same thing will happen this year.  I need to enjoy seeing them while I can.

Bald Eagle in Flight

A bald eagle photo from last week, before the osprey arrived.  The osprey came 3/18/17, the latest we've ever recorded. (Or possibly 3/17, since we were out all day.). I doubt if I'll see the eagle much till the osprey leaves in September.

Bald Eagles

A pair of eagles has been hanging around nearby lately.  Here are a few interesting poses.

     Wings

     Rainy day feathers

     Something's up there.

     Ready for takeoff

     Bringing home the loot

Osprey in Flight

The osprey pair have been building up the nest and flying around.  

      Osprey in flight

       I can just imagine the one bird above thinking "don't hit me" as the other osprey takes off, (a nice storytelling shot).

Winning photos from January competition

I won two honors in this month's competition:

Third prize for my eagle pair photo in the advanced competition.

And honorable mention for the Theme competition called Sleep, for a photo of Santa sleeping.  Photographing animals and people sleeping is not a favorite subject for me because I usually like to see the eyes open, like the old saying, "the eyes are the windows to the soul."  I usually toss the photos with closed eyes.  

Sorry Santa, but I preferred this owl photo I entered.  It didn't win anything.  Owls have 3 eyelids, so it is not surprising to catch them with their eyes closed.

Bald eagles in flight

This past week I spent a fair amount of time making some new products for a little Christmas sale at my church, some mini picture frames and some small colorful lanterns with electric tea lights.  The sale well received.

I took a few interesting pictures of a visiting bald eagle pair in flight that you might enjoy seeing.  A recent wildlife lecture suggested that the best bird flight photos have their wings up.  What do you think?

     Bald eagles flying