Crows in Snow

We're having the most intense snowfall of the winter today. Forecasted at 1" yesterday, 1"-3" today, it's already well over six inches here and still coming down heavy. It even brought a murder of crows to my feeder.

Crows in Snow, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX100

iso 200, f8, 1/60 sec.

 

I used the "Toy Camera" filter built into the LX100 for this shot. I think it suits the scene quite well.

 

I am / was a huge fan of the DMC-LX7, which I still have. The LX100 is missing a few features that LX7 had, but so far, the image quality from the LX100 is impressing me. Having wifi connection to my iPad is also really handy for blogging.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

On Equipment, Resolution, Detail, and Mood

I just took this picture with my iPad camera (which is so bad, I rarely use it).
 

Through A Low Resolution Blind, by Reed A. George

iPad Camera

 
I noticed yesterday, looking through this same blind, that the weave of plastic making up the blind results in a pixelated view of what's outside, sort of like a low resolution digital sensor.
 
To me, this is a picture of a crow. In fact, the crow in the picture is literally represented by just two completely black, square "pixels." Do you see it, on top of the closest streetlight? Two pixels out of about 12,000 by my quick estimation. Completely black - no color or even gray level information.
 
I know that the crow was there. To me, it's a picture of a crow. To anyone else, it is certainly not a picture of a crow.
 
I am using the left side, the descriptive side, of my brain when I say it's a crow in the picture. I label those two pixels "crow." But, the feeling I get when looking at the image (from the right side of my brain) is definitely affected by a crow being there. This feeling would not be transmitted to other viewers with this low resolution image.
 
 

Ospreys in Flight, by Reed A. George

Nikon D700, Nikkor P 500mm f4 Lens

 
On the other hand, if I am photographing birds in flight, the shape and orientation of each feather adds to the experience of seeing it first hand. If I can't capture that, I've lost something in the process.
 

Mystery in a Street Scene, by Reed A. George

Leica CL, M-Rokkor 40mm f2 Lens

 
But, then there's mystery. Sometimes I want to obfuscate some details, specifically to allow me to share the feeling of a scene, rather than all of the details. This image makes me think "Woah. What's going on there?" even though I took the picture.
 
To me, this is why all of the technical terms associated with equipment, and the techniques that we share with each other, matter at all. But, matter they do. I hope this helps to explain why I believe that equipment and technique are important, and illustrates a little of what I mean by "Exploring the Interface Between Equipment and Creativity in Photography."
 
DMC-365.blogspot.com
 
 

On Crows and Urban Naturalists

 

Image Source: http://www.dianevarner.com/index.php?showimage=408

 

This is the absolute perfect image for me today. I found it on Diane Varner's Daily Walk blog. There's a little prose to go along with it.

 

(Click Here) to see the post on Diane's blog.

 

 

Why does this fit my thoughts today? Well, I just finished reading a great book about urban naturalists and crows last night. It's called Crow Planet, by Lyanda Lynn Haupt (see the link below). This is a great book. It centers discussion around crows and how they thrive in urban environments, but is really about how to be a naturalist without living the true wilderness. Haupt does a good job of helping us to be realists about the "highly disturbed" nature of our greenspaces and yards, yet study nature for what it is today. She carries binoculars and a magnifier with her every day in her life in Seattle, Washington. She welcomes spiders into her home. My kind of gal.
 
So, you can see why I was drawn to Diane Varner's picture above, I think.
 
DMC-365.blogspot.com