aerial antics, set 2
July 31, 2017
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3 Comments
The end of July into early August, the hummingbird population on the mesa is at its apex, with anywhere from 425 to 475 birds visiting our feeders daily. But this year, as was true last year, the numbers are fewer, which is worrisome. There are roughly 250 broad-tailed, black-chinned, rufous, and calliope hummingbirds here this year. Could the lowe...
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on the move
July 24, 2017
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4 Comments
One of my consistent photography challenges comes in the form of those aerial daredevils otherwise known as hummingbirds. They are true wonders of nature, and I never tire of trying to capture them in interesting ways, not so much at feeders, but in the air. Here is the latest collection from five different sessions (shoot, download into the comput...
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fine stemware
July 16, 2017
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7 Comments
Human beings create any number of both artful and utilitarian objects using nature as a guide. Frequently, what some might consider pedestrian, such as the humble goatsbeard seed head, lend themselves to both the artful and useful.
Goat's beard or yellow salsify (Tragopogon dubius) is part of the aster family, and is similar to the common dandelio...
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backdrops and depth of field
July 09, 2017
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2 Comments
I have been thinking about portraiture and commercial art lately, and how the backdrop for a portrait can either compliment it or create a distraction. I see things in nature that seem to provide the perfect backdrop for a clothing shoot, a jewelry shoot or an environmental portraiture or straight portrait session. So I gave myself an assignment th...
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patience
July 02, 2017
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5 Comments
At almost any time or for any reason - large or small - patience in a human being can vary wildly. For photographers, patience is required at almost all times, but especially when photographing nature. Photographing butterflies demands both patience and constant movement to keep up with their movement.
During the heat of the day, butterflies are e...
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looking upward
June 26, 2017
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With the Bonita fire still burning roughly 10 miles west of us, our habit for the last several weeks has been to look upward and outward at the sky on a fairly regular basis. There are, unfortunately, a number of fires burning throughout the western United States, Portugal, and other places around the world, and the smoke from those fires alters th...
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Broadway on the mesa
June 19, 2017
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7 Comments
Another show opened on the mesa today. This time, it was the hedgehog cactus, and I must say, costume designers for Broadway musicals must have seen these babies in bloom. Check out the headdress.
Although it looks like an anemone, the strawberry hedgehog cactus, Echinocereus fendleri, is known for its blossoms' retina-piercing color. The body o...
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outside the box
June 12, 2017
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There are days when I feel like the Julia Child of photography - happily experimenting, adding and changing ingredients, flinging flour into the air, reaching for eggs only to have them explode and land in a gooey mess on the floor. She was just a little outside the box in her approach to cooking. I would consider myself no more than a basic cook,...
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timing is everything
June 04, 2017
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6 Comments
On our planet, terrestrials - animals and plants alike - are controlled by the passing of time. Day into night, night into day, days into weeks, months, and years. Whether or not a creature or plant measures it in the same way humans do, everything is governed by it. The leader of a photographic workshop I took at Point Reyes, California years ago,...
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remembering
May 29, 2017
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Today is Memorial Day, a day set aside for remembering those who died while serving in the country's armed forces. Although Veterans' Day is the day we celebrate all veterans, I will take the liberty of attempting to list all we know who served and live, while remembering those who died. I am also thinking about those, unknown to me, who are still...
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other worldly
May 22, 2017
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2 Comments
Perhaps it is because I have been reading Truk Lagoon: Legends Beneath the Waves, vol. 1 by Andrew Marriott, and viewing the truly spectacular underwater photographs Marriott has taken to accompany his text, but I am seeing underwater and slightly otherworldly scenes in the New Mexico landscape. Much of New Mexico was underwater at one point millio...
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garden variety
May 15, 2017
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2 Comments
Looking back at my blogs this year, I realize there has been a preponderance of them featuring flowers of assorted varieties. Flowers and blossoms offer nearly endless photographic possibilities, waiting for your camera. Buds are just as captivating as the flower when it opens, and again when it fades. All stages are up to the interpretation of the...
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solar living 101
May 07, 2017
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13 Comments
This week, Fred and I celebrate the 40th anniversary of our first solar house. Then, as now, we felt strongly about energy conservation, and, on 10 May 1977, we embarked on the construction of our first solar home. Fred and I built it all by hand, without power tools. Fred finished building the bed on Thanksgiving day, and put the turkey in the woo...
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and the winner is...
April 29, 2017
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3 Comments
...Coyote Pup. It received Honorable Mention at the Santa Fe Reporter Photo Contest. The silent auction held by The Reporter on Tuesday evening, 25 April, for the benefit of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government, featured 12 pieces of photography printed on linen by Monsoon Design. The work is included in the newspaper's "Annual Manual" of...
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life blood
April 24, 2017
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4 Comments
The one thing that differentiates our planet from others is water. It is life blood coursing through our veins. El Agua es la Vida. Water is particularly evident at this time of year when snow melt is filling streams and rivers and ponds, overflowing and spreading its wealth over the land. Although in New Mexico we have a tiny percentage compared t...
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© Daryl A. Black