{"id":74961,"date":"2019-08-26T05:52:32","date_gmt":"2019-08-26T11:52:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=74961"},"modified":"2019-08-26T19:16:33","modified_gmt":"2019-08-27T01:16:33","slug":"photos-from-yesterday-that-made-me-laugh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2019\/08\/26\/photos-from-yesterday-that-made-me-laugh\/","title":{"rendered":"Photos From Yesterday That Made Me Laugh…"},"content":{"rendered":"

and a couple of recent events that had the opposite effect.<\/p>\n

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Yesterday in the mountains this Cedar Waxwing landed a little too far away from me for quality shots while “he” was perched and I wasn’t particularly fond of the background but I thought I might have a chance for an interesting takeoff or flight shot so I kept my lens on him anyway.<\/p>\n

For the novelty and the humor of the photo I got when he took off I’m glad I did.<\/p>\n

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I don’t think I’ve ever seen a takeoff posture quite like this one from any species. With his entire body arched, feet trailing and both wings and tail up it reminds me of an attempt at an exaggerated swan dive (in the future I may think of such a dive as a “waxwing dive” instead of a swan dive…). I didn’t get any light in the eye but the image still cracks me up.<\/p>\n

I don’t know what he was trying to accomplish with it but I hope it worked out for him.<\/p>\n

Note: There’s actually a stream almost directly beneath this bird so who knows what his intention was…<\/em><\/p>\n

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1\/6400, f\/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

And then a little while later I caught this Least Chipmunk in what could only be called a rodential attempt at takeoff as he jumped in the air and turned on the post in one extremely quick and fluid motion. Fast shutter speeds pay off in situations like this but this was a little more than I needed.<\/p>\n

When I first saw this photo my initial reaction was to wish all four feet were in the air instead of just three but now I’m not so sure. I think the chipmunk pushing off with its pivot foot gives the image a little more… oomph. I dunno, I’d like to see it both ways.<\/p>\n

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Now for a change in mood to the human “lowbrows” of the world. We’re about to meet three of them.<\/p>\n

Admittedly my reaction to the first one was colored by my love of camping and public lands and my wish for access to as many wild and relatively pristine areas as possible. Even some private land owners allow camping as long as that access isn’t abused but “slob campers” can ruin it for everyone else.<\/p>\n

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This is an area of private land in one of our fairly remote canyons that has allowed camping for years (as evidenced by the fire ring) but last year the landowners apparently had enough and posted several signs like this one. The wording of the sign is punched out in thick metal to prevent damage from a fourth type of lowbrow that simply can’t resist blasting signs of all kinds to smithereens whenever they have a gun in their hands (or can reach one). Some of it is a little hard to read. It says:<\/p>\n