I was standing at the back door overlooking Fargo Brook when I heard the unmistakeable call of robins. Grabbing my camera and long lens, I headed outside and found them over by the winterberry bush munching on a few remaining berries. They took to the willow over the pond as I approached and were nice enough to pose for a few shots.
Panasonic GX8, Lumix 100-300mm lens @ 300mm, ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/500″ exposure.
The recent heavy rains kicked up many big blocks of ice along the Huntington River. I took a walk along the banks at the Audubon Nature Center here in Huntington yesterday. This is a close-up of a broken 6″ thick slab. I like the air bubbles trapped in the ice.
Panasonic GX8, Lumix 14-140mm lens @ 55mm, ISO 200, f/13, 1/320″ exposure.
A little experimentation with motion blur in the Audubon Nature Center woods this morning…
Panasonic GX8, Lumix 14-140mm lens @ various lengths, ISO 100, f/22, 0.2″ exposures.
The season of wacky winter weather continues. Yesterday morning’s icing event coated our backyard magnolia (and everything else) in a good layer of ice before the south winds drove the temperature up to 51 by mid afternoon.
Panasonic GM5, Lumix 14-140mm lens @ 88mm, ISO 800, f/10, 1/60″ exposure.
Now that there’s finally some snow on the ground, the opportunities for a little abstraction are more abundant. We walked up to a nearby beaver pond yesterday afternoon. The shadows of the surrounding forest fell across the flat, snow covered ice creating an abstract field of line and light.
Panasonic GM5, Lumix 14-140mm lens @ 77mm, ISO 400, f/13, 1/500″ exposure.
Our temperature got down to -24f this morning. I knew there would be some lovely ice crystals forming along the fringes of open water in Fargo Brook. I wasn’t disappointed! These delicate “frost feathers” are only about 2mm across. Fine indeed!
Panasonic Lumix GM5, Lumix 30mm macro, ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/160″ exposure.
We started the day with 2 degrees above zero and it’s been dropping since. This male purple finch was all puffed up keeping warm near the feeders.
Panasonic Lumix GM5, Lumix 100-300mm lens @ 300mm, ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/320″ exposure.
My breakfast this morning was disturbed by the sound of bluejays screaming outside the windows by the feeders. Looking out, I saw them scatter as a fast moving shape slammed one of them to the ground. A sharp-shinned hawk had found its breakfast!
The hawk flew the still struggling jay over to underneath the apple trees near the brook to finish its prey off. I was able to get a few shots from the living room window before it flew off into the woods to finish its meal.
Panasonic Lumix GM5, Lumix 100-300mm lens @ 300mm, ISO 3200, f/5.6, 1/250″ exposure.
John Hadden Photography 