Warm Night in the Suburbs

Tonight I debated this question: Do I go outside and photograph something new, or work on older photos I have not yet processed?  Here's my answer.

-Tom

More Winter Birds

Female House Finch

Female House Sparrow

Song Sparrow

All of these birds took my instruction to "look to your left" quite well.

Tom

Brothers

-Tom

Northern Cardinal

Today I again hosted "the lodge" at Deer Haven Preserve in Liberty Township, Delaware County.  This nature center is a great place to watch and photograph any bird that will come to a feeder.  This male cardinal caught my eye on a gray afternoon.  He kept preening his feathers- allowing the darker patches of underlying skin to show through.  It was interesting behavior to watch, but those two patches don't make for the best photograph.  Unlike a fashion photographer, I can't just yell "wardrobe!" and have three assistants rush in to re-arrange the feathers. 

-Tom

Welcome the Gray

Fall is over- the only leaves that remain green are on the non-native bush honeysuckles. The landscape is devoid of color, but with the leaves gone, the underlying structure, patterns, and lines are revealed.

-Tom

Today in Delaware County

The corn is off the fields, finally.

-Tom

Big Run Preserve Sneak-Peek

Ben Gelber, meterologist for our local NBC affiliate, recently interviewed my friend Frank about the future Big Run Preserve in Delaware County. I haven't been there, but from Frank's interview, it looks like it is a spectacular area.  I've always wondered if any of the ravines of the Olentangy between Columbus and the city of Delaware had red-backed salamanders- and now I know.  I commend Ben Gelber for spotlighting central Ohio's natural history.  You may remember his piece from 2009 on Gypsy Moths at Highbanks Metropark that featured yours truly.

-Tom

Tech Highs and Lows

I had been on a roll, photography wise, through October. Recently, several things have conspired against me that have resulted in a throttling of my creative flow.

First, I had a memory card go bad. And it was the second time that this memory card had failed. It became corrupted on a trip to Maine but I was able to recover the lost images that included my best dragonfly-in-flight image to date. but this time I had no such luck. I'm throwing the card in the trash. Technology fail #1.

Late last week, we upgraded to Time Warner's Road Runner Extreme cable internet service. It was great for a few hours. I mean speedy, you might even call it Ferarri fast. But then we would keep getting breaks in the internet flow about once very hour. It was maddening- I had to troubleshoot everything- the cable modem, our router, our uninterrupted power supply, our cables. When I finally determined the problem wasn't on our end, Megan called Time Warner. They gave her the typical "there is intermittent service in your area and the technicians are out working on the problem". What a load of B.S.!  When our service continued to be wonky the next day, Time Warner came out and replaced our cable modem. Technology fail #2.

Couple the two tech fails with two 2:40 a.m. wake-up calls this week, and I've been thrown far from my creative groove. I'm looking to find it again this weekend.

-Tom

Frosty Morn'

'twas a hard frost across northern Delaware County this morning.


- Tom