Muffy’s\u00a0request planted a seed in my mind that has since germinated (after considerable pondering) so today’s post will be an attempt to fill in some of the blanks that she and possibly others have wondered about. Since there won’t be\u00a0a bird or even a feather to be found in today’s edition it will likely have limited appeal but there may be a few others\u00a0with curiosity about some of these things so I decided to go with it.<\/p>\n
I hope everyone\u00a0else will bear with me…<\/p>\n
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This might be called the Feathered Photography “business office” (I posted this photo\u00a0previously in a post where I was toasting and thanking\u00a0my readers). Its primary components are four computers and my bird and natural history\u00a0reference library. This is where I review, cull, edit and process my images and where I compose my blog posts. Without hyperbole I can say I’ve experienced both\u00a0immense anguish and incredible\u00a0joy while sitting at this desk.<\/p>\n Here’s my typical process:<\/p>\n But only part of the process of Feathered Photography occurs in my “business office”.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The rest of it occurs in my “field office”, my 2014 Ford Ecoboost F-150 pickup. Here you see all of my essentials for morning shooting:<\/p>\n I used to keep my lens caddy mounted on top of my center console with\u00a0the console\u00a0in the down position but there wasn’t enough shock absorption in the console for the extremely rough\u00a0dirt roads I’m so often on\u00a0so it’s now mounted on the more cushioned seat.<\/p>\n Gotta tell you about this donut. I took this photo yesterday morning just as I arrived at the causeway to Antelope Island. By the time I got to the causeway I was so damned hungry\u00a0I could have eaten the south end of a northbound skunk (I couldn’t eat it before I had a chance to take the photo). The donut was half gone\u00a0immediately after the photo was taken and that’s the truth!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Here’s most (but not all) of the additional photo gear I have at ready access while I’m in the field. It includes:<\/p>\n And yes, my pickup is usually dirty, inside and out. When you’re shooting on rough\/dusty\/muddy\/snowy roads it comes with the territory. I’ve learned to live with it.<\/p>\n So, that about covers it. If I’ve bored you to tears with all this text and no birds\u00a0I apologize (if you’ve even made it this far). But I must admit I’ve had fun writing this post so for me\u00a0all was not lost.<\/p>\n Thanks for the inspiration, Muffy!<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n PS – One more thing (I can’t quit…)<\/em><\/p>\n If you have a regular shooting companion as I do with Mia it’s a very good idea to avoid ruining their photo-ops and pissing them off. Mia shoots from the back seat and we both use a “noodle” on our windows as a lens rest. As the driver I have\u00a0door lock and window controls on all four doors. When\u00a0we pull up on a bird I’m\u00a0usually in a rush to do all the things I have to do before firing off the first shot – turn the engine off, put the transmission in park, grab my lens and adjust my\u00a0window to the right height etc before the bird flies off. Very often, in my haste, my finger hits the wrong window control and it’s her window that goes up or down instead of mine. You can imagine her frustration when I’ve jarred her lens just as the bird\u00a0poses beautifully and then takes off before she can adjust her window to make up for my mistake.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n So this was the solution – a piece of duct tape over her window control\u00a0so I can’t\u00a0adjust that window from up front. It’s worked perfectly for years now and we’re both happier for it. Mia has always been a good sport about\u00a0my screwups\u00a0but I know how I’d have felt with the roles reversed. After all, good images of birds don’t come easy…<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n PSS\u00a0– After I posted this morning Muffy wrote and asked that I include a close-up of my bird and nature “library”. I was on my way out the door to\u00a0go shooting so I told her I’d\u00a0add one after I got home. <\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/cheers-5484-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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