I have three primary goals with Feathered Photography – to showcase a few of my images, to document interesting bird behaviors and to illustrate and discuss different aspects of bird and nature photography.
The photoblogs of many serious photographers tend to feature their best work exclusively – high quality images with broad appeal. That won’t always be the case here. While I intend to often post high quality images, there will be exceptions, especially when the post involves bird behaviors. For those kinds of posts I’m of the opinion that documenting the behavior sometimes trumps the requrement of high image quality. When I take photos of interesting or unique behaviors that may not be perfect in composition, sharpness or light I’m still likely to post them when I think the behavior is documented well. Animal behavior has been high on my list of interests since I took my first college class in Vertebrate Behavior many years ago and my intention is to pursue that interest with Feathered Photography.
I suspect that most of my posts will involve birds in one way or another but don’t be surprised by the occasional “hiccup”, posts that include images of critters other than birds or almost any other natural subject. What I can promise you however is that my images won’t be heavily manipulated, my light will always be natural (no flash), my subjects won’t be artificially called in or “set up” and they will never be baited. Not ever.
Ron
February, 2020
I have been an avid subscriber for a while but have never sent a message. I was not aware of the Owl Research Institute but spent some time on their very interesting Web site. We have a resident owl who has made a home in our dwarf white pine right outside out kitchen. ‘He” is petite, so I assumed he was a screech owl. We hear screech owls in the woods behind our house in the summer. But, I was wrong and the ORI web site set me straight! He is a northern saw-whet owl. He looks exactly like the one on ORI.
Greetings from Canada! Was just casually listening to Dire Straits and found your website. Fabulous photos. Adding your website to my bookmarks folder. Thank you!
Just stumbled across your site. What a treasure. Watching birdlife has become a great pleasure here in Boulder County, CO.
Also, the farm history registered with me–I operated a sizable cattle, wheat, & hay operation in SW Oklahoma during the 1980s & ’90s, for which I have great nostalgia. Started out operating with ’57 & ’59 Massey Harris combines (flathead Chrysler motors), and your memories of piloting grain trucks across dodgy ground takes me back.
Lovely work you’re doing. And that early a.m. light works wonders. Thanks for what you do.
Hi Ron:
I found your blog via WC’s blog and especially appreciate your interest in bird behaviours over and above quality photos. I also appreciate your statement of ethical behaviour. I have subscribed via email and hope to enjoy sharing your insights and your journey. As an enthusiastic but definitely amateur BIF photographer myself I am sure I will also find much to learn.
Hi Ron, thank you for sharing your gifts of insight, artistry, curiosity, and respect for the natural world. Your beautiful photos and commentary on behavior and the art of bird photography are an inspiration.
I feel fortunate to have stumbled across your blog. I have been fascinated by birds for some time but only recently began using a camera to expand my understanding of them. It’s been a revelation to discover that photography makes me a more attentive, patient viewer. Thanks for generously leading the way! Julie
Love, love, love your blog! I pay close attention to your settings, as I am trying to wrangle the ins and outs of bird inflight, nesting, stationary shots. Currently, I am part of a weekly heronry count team. This week I took my Nikon 7100 with Tamron 150-600 lens and tripod. I had great light and great opportunities. To be sure my focus would be tack sharp I used the sport setting and back button focus. The ISO was 800, shutter speed 2000, f stop F8. I couldn’t wait to get home and see my beautiful captures. ALL of my pictures were out of focus. A few were obviously due to operator error. The only factor I can attribute the lack of focus to is the distance. It is probably about 100-200 yards. Any thoughts? Thank you so much for any help you may offer.
Jacquie
Jacquie, Many factors could be responsible for your soft shots but if your birds were that far away you sure wouldn’t have very good detail, even if they were “sharp”.
First of all I have always loved birds. Once as a student helped one grueling day assisting profs studying nesting pink spoonbills in Tampa Bay islands.
No at this time I am relating to a horrible year trying to identify various gnats, midges or whatever has caused itching, crawling feeling and. questioning my sanity as have others. It has been exhausting, depressing and futile.The critters just recently got bad again… I live near a bayou in New Orleans that leaks water and has rotting wood in my backyard. The city has cited my landlord and I might get evicted or move. However the black specks etc have gotten in my belongings so I could take them with me.
I have had exterminators check for bed. bugs and roll their eyes. I am in the process of taking some samples to an entomologist for some soft of conclusion but am afraid he might treat me like I am nuts.
I have only gotten information from blogs by others experiencing the same thing.
So thank you for st least giving some merit to my bewilderment. I guess you don’t have any answers and I am at a loss. I was rescued off my roof during Hurricane Katrina, swam in that water lost everything but didn’t have bug issues like I do currently.
I appreciate your photography and will share them with others including my neighbor who was a professor of photography at USL back when there were more of those programs around. Sorry for the rambling from this last in New Orleans and reminding me of my love of birds.
Katherine R
I just found your blog, and really enjoy it! I live in Colorado and love birds. Thanks for the blog, I will be back.
Barby
Ron, I love your photos and your mission statement for the blog is just how I feel about nature and photography. I am also a retired teacher/coach and love sharing and discussing wildlife, especially birds, and photography with like-minded people. I am particularly interested in helping interested photographers identify and learn to use mid level cameras and lenses to produce high level nature photos similar to your images and mine. I love that you identify your settings and lenses for each photo which is very helpful for new and experienced photographers. The Canon camera and telephoto lenses you use are of the highest level and quite expensive. I want enthusiasts to know that action shots of Osprey’s diving, Eagles in flight, etc. can be produced with equipment that doesn’t cost 3-5 thousand dollars. For example, all the shots on my bird photography sample gallery (http://hofferimages.smugmug.com/Bird-Photography-Samples) were taken with equipment costing under $1,000 for both camera body and lens together. I shoot with a Pentax K3 and a kit 55-300 Pentax lens. The dual control wheels, weather resistant body, in camera stabilization, magnesium alloy body and other features make it a great consumer level camera. It does lag behind Nikon, Canon and Sony in auto focus, but as you can see from my action sports and bird shots, it still gets the job done for a fraction of the cost of the big three. There are some good choices in the mid range from Nikon and Canon, etc. which would be a nice topic of discussion on a blog.
In any event, I look forward to being part of your blog. Thanks for the great photos to help us all improve.
Please subscribe me. Thank you for sharing your beautiful work and your love of birds and photography.
Hi,Ron,
Trying again to get email notice set up.
Cathryn
Thanks for the amazing photos and information
Ron, I stumbled onto your site, while looking for eagle information. Your work is unbelievable. Thank you for sharing your shots with me. Linda
Love your work! Beautiful! Great blogs, please subscribe me!
Thanks, Cathy. I can’t subscribe you – that’s something you have to do from your end.
Just enter your email address in the “Subscribe to my blog via email” box at the upper right of my blog and click subscribe. Once that’s done you’ll get the links sent to you via email every time I post.
Hi again Ron
I was able to sign up again for your blog today and hope to find your posts once again in my email.
Oddly enough I couldn’t sign up on IPhooey
I enjoy your interesting pics and posts.
Good morning Ron,
Found your blog from a link on another website, and I glad I did. I look forward to enjoying your site, your pictures are excellent. I just upgraded to the 7Dmk2 and I have a lot to learn about this camera. Any chance you could share your camera settings.
Chip
Thanks, Chip.
My camera settings are all over the place, depending on the situation. And I still haven’t settled on any of them for any given situation – as you know the Mark II setting options are hugely varied and complex. Wish I could be more helpful…
Awesome blog you have going here! I live in NY but I check this as much as I can. I am an 18 year old aspiring bird photographer, so I look up to people like you. Thanks for sharing this awesome blog! Maybe check out my Flickr if you have a second!
Thanks,
Kyle Dudgeon
I do enjoy your bird photos and educational comments on bird behavior. Would like to be added to your email blog list. Thanks! Dorothy
Hi Dorothy,
That’s something you have to do. I can’t do it for you on my end.
It’s easy. Just enter your email address in the “Subscribe to My Blog via
Email” box at the upper right hand corner of my blog and then click
“subscribe”. You’ll then get the emails with a link every time I post.
Ron
PS – I also sent you these instructions via email.
Thanks!
Hello again. I am sure you have seen this, but just in case you haven’t, the French documentary,
“Winged Migration” is almost as inspiring as everything about your approach and work. I am a Canon
girl and shoot birds with the 600. The 1.4 basically never comes off. I can’t afford the Gizmo/Wimberly
yet (I haven’t had food for a year since the kens lol) and really look forward to not having to be in such
shape just to tackle my lens. I am guessing that it would help a lot with the focusing.,
Ron,
I wonder if you could say a few words about the post-processing you do. I’ve read where you said it’s minimal, and I’ve noted that even when merely crop, you tend to point that out. Still, I’d be interested in a bit more detail.
Amazing photos, by the way. Thanks for sharing them.
Jim
Jim, My post-processing is nearly always the same. Crop and minor exposure adjustments in ACR then import into PS where I resize, selectively sharpen the bird and add my copyright logo. 98% of the time that’s all I do. It’s very unusual for me to adjust saturation or contrast. Occasionally I’ll add canvas for composition.
Love your stuff!
Please add me to your list for future posts and updates. I think your blog is amazing.
Jim, I can’t add you to my blog subscription. That’s something you have to do.
You can do so by clicking the “subscribe to my blog via email” button at the top right of my blog.
Thanks for the kind words.
Amazing pics thanks so much for sharing
Long-time birder, new to photography; LOVE your site! Your photos are stunning, appreciate tips to help me improve my own skill. Really appreciate the perspective on behavior…educational and pretty!
Also, so appreciate the ethical manner in which you interact with your surroundings. Thanks for sharing it all. happy travels!
Cindy
Excellent knowledge about birds….Thanks Ron
Hi Ron, new to your site. Your photos are absolutely amazingly beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing. I will be back.
Hi, I’m Tana’s sister. I love your photography! Thanks for sharing your pictures.
Hi Teri, Nice to “meet” you. And thank you for the nice words about my photography.
Your web site has fast become a favorite of mine. I am grateful that you are still teaching although you think you are retired. Your photos are wonderful but the learning aspect is what I especially enjoy. When I was searching for the red crown patch on what I thought was a Kingbird your site came right up with not only a good explanation but photos to demonstrate it as well. Thank you for that. Your writings on bird behavior and how you captured the image along with the settings are valuable to all. Thank you!
Thank you so much Phyllis. Your comment made my day – especially regarding teaching and learning. Just can’t get the teaching part out of my blood I guess but I’m learning a lot too from doing this blog and the feedback I get so it flows both ways.
Great work – i’ve been spreading the word of your site on the Twitters.
I found it thru the RINS.org group.
JSturr
Thanks John – I appreciate the compliment on my work and you “spreading the word”.
Theo Bauder posted a link to this blog in the Colorado Birder last November, and I finally noticed it and peeked in. What a wonderful surprise. I love your interest in bird behavior, and I am in awe of your photography skills. Thank you so much for sharing with us.
Thanks very much Judy. Glad to hear that you appreciate the behavior aspects – not everyone’s cup of tea but certainly a flavor that I enjoy.
Thank you Jayne. You have mail.
Good morning, Ron. I stumbled upon your blog via Google. Incredible! I especially like the story lines you include. I work for a government conservation agency in Illinois. We manage about 25,000 acres and produce a quarterly publication for residents that features stories about native wildlife. We’d love to use a shot or two of yours in our winter issue, which we’re working on right now. If you’re interested, please send me an e-mail with a bit about your current publication fees. And thanks for sharing such wonderful shots with the rest of us!
Hey Heidi, Thanks for the nice comment. Yes, that is an amazing video. I’ve seen it several times before but never tire of it. Eagle Owls are native to Europe and Asia and are the second largest owl in the world. Amazing birds!
Hi Ron,
Just catching up on posts I’ve missed and wanted to let you know how much I enjoy your website. You take fantastic pictures and I learn so much from your blog. Thank you for sharing. Thought you might like this link. Although it’s a video, it was shot at 1000 frames per second. I found it fascinating. Hope you enjoy it also. http://www.dogwork.com/owfo8/ They call this an “eagle owl” but not sure what kind of owl it is. It’s a beautiful bird.
Your loco neighbor,
Heidi