Tuesday, June 29, 2010

A few recent wildlife shots. . .

For some reason, I've been on a bit of a bird kick lately. . .  I usually don't take shots of anything that moves.  In order from the top, is Mad Robin, Twilight Cormorant, Cedar Waxwing and Hunting Osprey.

The Robin Family nested in our Privet Hedge in the back yard a few weeks back.  Whenever we would go outside, the mother and father would both fly out and glare at us, cheeping in indignation and then dive bomb us repeatedly!  The Mad Robin shot was taken seconds before he flew at me!

The cormorant shot came about as an accident.  I was down at Portland's Waterfront on the dock near sunset and saw a couple of Harbor Seals swimming around about 100 feet away.  It looked like they were headed my way, so I waited for them, and instead, the Cormorant popped up right in front of me!  Unfortunately, I missed the silvery fish that he gulped down as soon as he surfaced, but I like the shot anyhow.

I took the Cedar Waxwing shot, (which is nothing special as a photograph) when I was on a birding walk with our friends, Bruce and Michele, on Sunday evening.  Believe it or not, I had never seen a Cedar Waxwing outside of a bird book, and there was a flock of 10-12 of them down at Capisic Pond.  I think I've always mistaken them as lady Cardinals from afar, but as you can see, they're quite clearly different.

The Osprey is also not the best shot, being cropped in significantly to show it this large, but he was fishing right over our heads (about 50 feet or so above us) at Wolf's Neck State Park in Freeport a couple of weeks ago.  It's very special to see these massive birds feeding their chicks and hunting for fish in the ocean right near you.

So that is my wildlife tour for today.  Hope you enjoyed the photos.  As always, you can click on any of them to view them larger.  Cindy

Friday, June 18, 2010

Heading Homeward--Last Shot of the Night. . . .

I took this shot last night while on a very nice near-sunset walk with my husband at Capisic Pond close by my house.  I love the suggestion of detail in the duck's body and face, the occasional hints of green in the cattails surrounding her, and the beautiful undulating waves moving away from her.  It is a very peaceful image to me.  Hope you like it.  Cindy

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Hot Off the Press: My Article in Pop Photo Magazine!

Well, you can imagine how excited I am right now, having just received my own copy of the article in Popular Photography Magazine about my available light food photography techniques. In my wildest dreams, I had imagined that it might be a small sidebar with a thumbnail version of my photo, not a WHOLE PAGE! You can click on the article to read it larger, or if you are one of my photographer pals who actually subscribes to this magazine, check it out for yourself on page 23! The only disappointment I have is that they messed up my web address, transposing the fw to wf in the http://www.cfwphotography.smugmug.com . Details, details though. . . Hopefully the first of more articles to come!

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Cello Dreams. . .

Last night, my daughter, Maya, participated in the Portland School System's All City Music Concert for strings and band.  They sounded surprisingly good!  At the end of the concert, as it is the end of the year, the students who had rental instruments through the school had to turn them in, and we suddenly found ourselves cello-less! 

So this morning, I went to Frost Gully Violins in Freeport, Maine to rent another Cello for her, as she would be having her next lesson this afternoon. 

The new cello was so much more beautiful than her old one that I just had to put on my 50mm f/1.4 lens and take some detail shots of it.  I love the way a cello or violin scroll looks: like a fiddlehead fern top in the early Spring, all curled up.  The shapes of these instruments are so sensuous and lovely to look at and I thought they would look best, emerging from the darkness of my black velvet background. 

I hope you enjoy the new shots!  Cindy

Friday, June 4, 2010

Kermit's Big Day Out

It was a busy morning at Audubon's Gilsland Farms in Falmouth, Maine today.  Everyone was buzzing about the arrival of a real celebrity of the natural world:  Kermit the Frog!  He apparently arrived in a trench coat and dark sunglasses the night before at Portland Jetport, but you know how it is with celebrities:  the more they try to blend, the more they stand out. 

And the other thing you know about celebrities is that no matter how much they might grouse about the Paparazzi, sometimes they love to pose.  I was on assignment for Portland Magazine.  As soon as I whipped out my camera, Kermit began to strike poses for me: looking frankly into the camera, soaking demurely in the water, and of course, I easily captured him talking about all the movies he's worked on and what a diva Miss Piggy is even behind the scenes!  (Don't breathe a word to Piggy though. . .)

The only stipulation about the photo shoot was this:  "NEVER shoot my bad left side!"  So like the good Paparazzo that I am, I stuck strictly to his good side.  He was thrilled with the results.

Just between you and me and the lamp post:  he may try to get me on the set of the Muppets soon!

Cindy

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Maine, the Way Life Should Be. . .

These are some of the many colors of a Maine Spring.  (Not necessarily in the order I've provided, of course.)  The first flowers are often Crocuses, which the bees, hungry for real flowers after a winter of fasting, crawl avidly over.  Apple Blossoms and tulips follow, along with cherry blossoms, lupines, roses, lady's slipper, peonies, tiny blueberry blossoms, and so many others that the landscape feels to me like it is singing!  Sometimes I can't keep up with all of the flowers that I enjoy photographing, but this spring, I've made the most of it and really gotten out there. 

You can click on any of the photos to enlarge them and then click the BACK button to come back to the blog.

I hope you enjoy my photographic tour of Spring in Maine as much as I enjoyed taking the pictures.  Happy Spring everyone!  Cindy

Cindy

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