Frogs make excellent subjects, on land or in the water. Sometimes they blend in so well that you might only notice one if it jumps and catches your eye. The Leopard Frog in the first photo, didn’t make any sudden moves, I only noticed it when I was trying to track the flight of an insect. The second photo was taken before a recent rain, when these green frogs were easier to spot because the water was so shallow. I like the spider “tattoo” on its cheek.
At first I thought this was a sparrow but after a bit of research I believe it’s a female red-winged blackbird. Both the male and female blackbirds are striking, although quite dissimilar looking. It’s nice to find something in a photograph that sets it apart, in this case the bird’s head crest adds some interest. The bird was well into the woods when I spotted it so the photograph was quite dark. A few adjustments to the contrast and exposure brightened things up.
The common grackle is another bird I look forward to seeing in the spring. If the lighting is right their colouring is pretty dramatic and their brilliant yellow eyes give them a determined look. It’s always nice to catch a bird doing something, in these shots it appears to be gathering nesting material. Although they cause a lot of crop damage, in the wild they are fun to watch and photograph.
Two weeks ago Yellow-rumped warblers began appearing in large numbers. These photographs were taken over a period of a few days. These birds are another welcome sign of warmer weather and are one of the many birds that pass through on the spring migration. They are colourful and easy to spot but never stay still for long enough. I like the different poses of these three, they seem to be trying to say something.
One of my first blog posts featured a male mallard on the same lake just as the ice was beginning to form. This is another of the shots I took that day. The lighting was particularly nice as the duck gingerly made her way along the ice. I thought the shot would lend itself to black and white and I used Tonality Pro in Photoshop to create the monochrome version. This is one of my first photos in black and white and I will do more in the future as I find it can make for a more detailed and nuanced image.
I took this photograph last summer at the edge of the river. The bird kept flying in and out of the light but I kept my eye on it and this is the result. I love spotting a new bird and hope to see more of this variety over the course of the summer as flycatchers breed here in the warmer months before they migrate south.
BELINDA GROVER PHOTOGRAPHY 