Make some friends

Through the years I have always enjoyed photographing birds and animals. They are not always easy to catch but when you can it is well worth it.

This bird pictured above I happened to catch one day when I just decided to go on a walk around the farm. I had watched this one and it's companion flying around the field but was not able to get very close until nearly the end of the walk when this one finally decided to fly up into the top of one of my little pine trees. I quickly fired off a shot and it flew away. Birds don't take a fancy to long photo shoot sessions.

I was hiking in southern Utah to a place called Lower Calf Creek Falls when this lizard was running around on the rocks near the trail. I used to catch these little guys in my youth but have since found it more fun just to photograph them. I have decided we are the animals in the large zoo called outdoors and the animals love to get a look at us just as much as we like to look at them. They won't linger longer than needed but never the less they will give you time to take their picture as they size you up before moving on to the next thing on their agenda called "survival". That's if you are ready and don't take your time shooting the picture.

I spent 20 minutes in the early morning hours with my camera ISO set to 1600 trying to photograph a bunch of little birds fleeting from branch to branch. It was just before sunrise so there wasn't a lot of light but they were active and I wanted to get a shot or two of them and out of the 30 or more I took , well, let's just say I got one good one as this little guy stopped long enough for a snapshot. As you can tell from it's fluffed out feathers it was a little cold at that time of the morning.

Another hike around the farm and I caught this magpie getting a look at the nearby grassy area where it was out looking for a little food. I have a number of trees planted in my yard so it isn't always easy to get a clear shot and for some reason they like to perch where they can see you but you can't clearly see them. However here again a little patience will pay off.

Finally I just had to add a picture of the little more easily photographed animals called "your pet". This was my families dog "Pee Wee" on a camping trip with me near my home in Duchesne, Utah when I was 14 years old. Pee Wee liked the tent but she also liked to watch the traffic that we could see from our farm on Blue bench. The highway was across the valley from where we lived but she was always spell bound by the cars and trucks. At least that seemed to me to be what she was always watching.