Saturday, March 16, 2013

Snowless Winter, but COLD!

We probably had one of our coldest winters here in Memphis, but all without snow or ice.  We might have had half a day of ice, but not enough for wintry looking photography.  Since most of my photography is outdoors, that means a drought, because I braving like cold, gray, and windy days less than I like photography.  I did manage a couple of brief trips over the winter, and there were times when I managed to get outdoors.  I don't have a consistent theme for this post, other than "here are the few things I was able to do with photography over the winter."  One of the quick trips was to New York City, where I briefly lived decades ago.  I managed to get a photo of one of my favorite places in NYC--the Museum of Modern Art.  If you go there, start at the top floor where you find the Van Goghs, the Picassos, etc.  Here is the patio area.  I would have liked a wide angle lens for these photos of buildings, but am glad I at least got some blue sky in New York.


Photography takes a back seat on most of my trips, and it certainly did on my trip to Japan, where I greeted my newest grandchild.  Here is my self portrait (with an iPhone), which I now use as my Facebook profile.  Can you understand that most of my photography in Japan involved my new grandkid? 

Well, we certainly can't leave out Shelby Farms photos or heron photos, or other bird photos.  One fairly nice day I captured my first reflected heron with a fish, and my best reflected flying heron.  Oh, let's not forget other birds, and a nice dawn with the Patriot Lake Isand. 





Now, from Audubon Park, a junco 


 Although we had no snow, I did get a photo of a migrating snow goose in Shelby Farms.
  
On a particularly cold weekend at the Tennessee River, I happened to get my best photos ever of a northern flicker.  I took these through a window because I was not going to brave the thirty degree windy weather.  Did you know that the northern flicker is the only type of woodpecker that sometimes feeds on the ground.  They do make a racket in trees, though, too. 



 I do very little indoor photography, and when I do, it mostly has to do with family.  I was the photographer for my grandson's sixth birthday party, and it was much more fun than any of the other duties I might have been assigned (cutting and serving cake, hanging up coats, passing out pizza, cleaning up).  Flash generally isn't needed indoors any more.  My camera is not really quite up to getting good action photos in low light though, so I do lack photos of kids jumping on all the equipment.  

It is finally warmer, and I am ready for action, and hopefully some spring photos!