FEATURED PHOTOS OF THE MONTH #8 (December 2003) |
December 2003 was quite a busy and very productive month. I went several times to
Boise Papineau Park in Laval to shoot birds at feeders. Even though my main objective - Redpols -
were not present, I had plenty of oportunities there. A lot of beautiful House Finches,
both Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers, Goldfinches, Sparrows, Cardinals and some other species were
present and quite cooperative.
Here is the first picture - a male House Finch. Some individuals, like this one, are extremely red
and I am happy that I got this picture. I especially like the slanted branch and the pose of the bird.
I focused on background, and position myself to have a clean, nice background without
interupting elements. This is not so easy at Boise Papineau.
House Finch, male (Carpodacus mexicanus)
December 13, 2003; Boise Papineau, Laval, Quebec, Canada
The second photo from Boise Papineau I have chosen for this month column is female Downy Woodpecker.
Woodpeckers are not easy to photograph. They are black and white and exposing is difficult. The best result
I achieved during overcast conditions. If the sun is very strong white tends to overburn or there is no detail
in blacks. Woodpeckers are aslo very fast, so many images I made were unsharp due to slow shutter speed.
Downy Woodpecker, female (Picoides pubescens)
December 6, 2003; Boise Papineau, Laval, Quebec, Canada
During Christmas I spent 2 weeks in Florida with my wife. It was an amazing experience and we had a lot of fun.
Florida is amazing. I was lucky to find the only place in Florida where Venus Flytrap grows wild and I was thrilled.
I found several frog species, which I never seen before. Birds were plentiful, especially at Fort Myers Beach.
From the hundreds of photos I made during the trip I have had time to process only handful. I have chosen the
following two of them. First one is a photo of Venus Flytrap and the second one is American Oystercatcher,
the first one I have ever seen in my life. Enjoy and more to come in January.
Venus Flytrap (Dionaea muscipula)
December 23, 2003; near Hosford, Florida, USA
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