Backyard birding 101 and how to start
Several years ago I purchased a very nice bird feeder pole for my backyard. I say "very nice" but I have to admit this is the Cadillac of Bird Feeding Poles. This tall pole has two arms jutting out from the base, a small metal suet holder and a small dish near the middle perfect for either small seeds or extra nesting material. It even has a red cardinal weathervane perched on top, calling to its live counterparts to drop in for a snack. The pole has been staked into the ground for about 5 years or so and hasn't let me down yet. Problem is I neglected it and the bird feeder tubes have been barren for quite some time.
So this past weekend I started my bird feeding station off with a bang. I purchased two long tubes for the two metal arms leading off from the pole and filled them with basic bird seed. I'll most likely switch one of the tubes out with either black sunflower seeds or a berry bird seed. I then added a small thistle seed sock for the middle of the pole, perfect for enticing finches. Even though is springtime the birds still go for suet so I put in a fresh sunflower seed suet block to add some variety to the station. Soon I'll be adding another extension pole for other seeds and maybe "squirrel repelling" cone (lets see how well it does!)
Any suggestions for my new/old bird feeding station? I'd like to get a total of three or four seed options for songbirds. The area around the pole is empty; no trees or shrubs within twenty feet or so. My task for this week is to take some old sticks from the yard and prop them up around the base of the feeding station. I've been doing a lot of research on attracting birds to feeders so I know I need a few resting areas. My goal is to have a few angles to photograph birds from as they come in to feed. I'm planning on photographing birds more often so my feeding station needs to be up to standards, so to speak. A lot of tutorials say placing sticks or wood in the ground without any leaves or stray branches on them is better for taking pictures. This way I can get a clear shot at the bird as it rests after eating a beak full of sunflower seeds. So far, my feeders are still full so maybe word isn't out about the newest bird restaurant in town!
A trip to Wild Birds Unlimited in Toms River should help out with the missing bird conundrum. I'll have to post more updates when I finally have visitors to the feeders. Don't forget, our next show is this Saturday, April 30th at the New Jersey Folk Festival in New Brunswick, NJ. The event also happens on the same day as Rutgers Day which drew approximately 20,000 people last year! The festival will be held on the lawn of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at 191 Ryders Lane. For more information visit: www.njfolkfest.org.
J. R.
Washed Ashore Photography
Saturday seal photos up today.
As a photographer, its fun to look at your older work and reminisce. I look back on my photos thinking what I could have done differently; Maybe the light was harsh or perhaps the shutter speed was too slow. This Saturday I opened an old storage file to find several unseen photographs.
It's always a good idea to save your work on multiple sources. I used to store files on CD's, but now it seems they are becoming as obsolete as film. My work is stored in three locations: an online cloud storage system, my current iMac's hard drive and an external hard drive. The thing about saving photos in digital format is you have to open them and view them once you shoot.
Today I remastered/edited two old photos taken almost 5 years ago to the day. Our newest images are of a young Grey seal resting on the beach in Island Beach State Park. These two photos are new to our online portfolio and are available to purchase in a Special Edition Canvas Gallery Wrap only. If you've seen our seal photos before you know how amazingly photogenic it was!
Bashful Seal - a young Grey seal with its left flipper over its face. She looks like she's shy but that wasn't the case at all. This seal was such a ham in front of the camera!
Portrait of a Seal - taken in tight with no crop. Our other seal photos are fun and silly. After about an hour of photographing the seal it gave me a serious pose.
We hope you enjoy seeing these new/old photos on a dreary Saturday afternoon. Hopefully they will brighten your day.
Don't forget: our next show is next Saturday, April 30th, at the New Jersey Folk Fest in New Brunswick. We'll be in attendance from 10am until 6pm. For more information please visit them online at: www.njfolkfest.org
A photography mission to Island Beach State Park.
This past weekend Washed Ashore Photography had their first show of the 2016 season. It's was the Smithville ArtWalk and this was our third year in attendance. Tia and I love this show; it's always the first one of the year and it's such a nice show to do. While in Smithville we had several people stop by our tent to ask the same question: "Do you have any fox photos?" Much to my dismay I answered "No". So I set out to change that for this week's photography challenge.
I've seen a ton of fox at Island Beach State Park over the years. The foxes at IBSP are not shy at all. They're so used to people with the park being open year round they often stroll up to a fisherman's truck to steal whatever bait scraps they can find. But as many times as I've seen a fox I've never been able to get a photo. One of two things happen: either I bring my camera and never see a fox or I leave the camera at home and spot several fox frolicking along the side of the road. This past Monday I was going to capture a good photo of a red fox at Island Beach State Park. And I wasn't leaving until I had one.
Bright and early Monday morning I'm up, heading into the park on a mission to find the foxes. Typically, you'll see a fox walking down the road in the early morning/late afternoon. I've seen several foxes sprinting in and out of the shrubs chasing red-wing blackbirds or field mice. One time I saw a fox laying down on the side of the road watching the cars drive by without a care in the world! There he was: sunning himself, his eyes half closed with a few subtle flips on his tail. I was certain I could find at least one fox jogging across one of the paths this past Monday.
Two hours into my trek I was still lacking my fox photo. Didn't see a single tiny red dog in six passes up and down Island Beach. So I parked my truck and started out on foot. I hit the first walking path in the park and walked for about an hour. Still I was foxless by noon. Where could they be? It figures when you're looking for something it never shows, but the one time you aren't searching for it you find it. I was running out of time on my fox adventure when I tried one last path.
The Spizzle Creek Bird Observatory Blind is located near the end of the park. It's near the Nature Center if you ever want to stop by. It's a nice walking path complete with a view of the back end of the Barnegat Bay. A short walk leads you to a sign where you turn left to the actual bird blind area. As I'm walking along the path I notice the many osprey nest poles along the waterline. It's always a great day when you can spot these awesome birds of prey. They aren't called the fish hawk without good reason - these birds are expert anglers in their own right. A majority of the ospreys spend the winter in South America and migrate north to the United States during the spring and summer. As soon as April hits the ospreys are back ready to start another year of fishing for white perch and striped bass.
While on the lookout for an elusive fox I see a single osprey perched in an Atlantic White cedar tree, probably a hundred feet or so away from me. This is pretty close for osprey photos. Most of the time the nest poles are a couple hundred yards away from the paths to keep people away. As I start to take photos of the one osprey another one flies into my frame with a bunch of dead tree limbs in its claws. These two birds were a male and female making a nest for the spring. Well, actually the male was making the nest, tidying it up for the female who was watching closely. Male ospreys build a nest for the females to lay eggs at the end of April or beginning of May.
After a couple hours of hopeless fox watching I settled in to photograph the ospreys who spent the better part of the next hour building/supervising a new nest. It was exciting to watch these two love birds starting the next generation of ospreys along the Jersey Shore. The female seemed like she was missing her right eye. From the photos it looked like her right eye had either been scarred over or perhaps lost in a fight with another bird. So I named her Left Eye, lovingly. The male was a fine looking young osprey; a truly strong looking raptor. He was diligently making the nest, patting it down with his talons while watching out for his young bride. He would fly by her caressing her back with his claws every twenty minutes or so. I named him Brutus because he looked like a solid, strong bird.
Soon enough I had to leave the lovers to go home. Never did get my fox photo although I did see one walking by the side of the road as I was leaving. Can't make it up, folks. I had already packed my camera and lens in my back seat. It's ok. I now have a pair of ospreys to look for next time I'm at IBSP. Hopefully they will start to raise young chicks for the coming summer months. Since the nest is so close to the walking path I might have to stop in and see them again soon.
J. R.
Washed Ashore Photography.
Old Barney and the Jetties
I think naming your photos is one of the most important things a photographer can do. It gives the viewer a name to the face after seeing the image. Either funny, powerful, dramatic or simply descriptive; a name can do so much for a photo. As a photographer the name states what you want the world to think of when they see your work.
Sometimes an image and the name are a perfect fit. Our most popular image, Together Again, was named soon after I was done editing. It just came to me when I viewed the final outcome. The idea behind the photo was two starfish were reunited on the beach after being lost at sea. I could have named it Reunited or Glad to see you, but they don't have the same appeal as Together Again. Being together with that special someone after a long period of time can feel amazing. My intent was to give these starfish purpose, as if they felt that feeling of happiness just as you or I would feel. When customers see this photo they smile and most of the time they smile wider when they hear the title.
Normally I name photos after I see the final product, or sometime close to the final edit. On occasion I name the photo first before shooting. With our photo called Shall we dance? I had the idea of dancing starfish before finalizing the scene. It was only a matter of time until I had the right starfish in the right place before completing the photo. With most of our shell photos I try to keep the title simple, unless it's a really complex photo. Photos like 3 Strawberry Shells Close-Up or Dual Queen Miter Shells tells you exactly what you are looking at. Seashells usually have two names: one is the Latin name or Genus Species while the other name is known as the common name. I try to stick with the common name when identifying shells in my work because the full name can be tricky to say. I haven't had a marine biologist ask me about my work yet, but I'm sure I'll try my best to name the shells they point out. It's been awhile since the days of the M.A.T.E.S program so I hope I can still remember the names!
With this featured photo, Old Barney and the Jetties, I had to stay with something simple yet play a little with the wording. Old Barney is the loveable name for the lighthouse and of course the rocks in the frame are called jetties (although small ones in this case). But when I named this photo I was thinking more along the lines of a rock band; with the lead singer going first and the rest of the band getting a cool name. Earlier in the week I posted a photo from across the inlet, with Barney being very small in the picture. Today I figured I would get a little closer to the subject and see how it looks next to its neighbors, the jetties. Let us know if you like the photo and the name.
Don't forget, our first show of the season is this Saturday, April 16th in Smithville from 10am until 6pm. It's been a long time since our last show, but we're ready to get back into it. Stop by and see us if you're in the area on Saturday!
J. R.
Washed Ashore Photography
Bright and early for the view
6:24 am.
That's when the sun officially rose on Monday morning. But you need to be up a little earlier than that to catch it on film. You have to be in place, ready with your camera long before sunrise. This means you'll be setting up the lens, camera, tripod and various filters often in pitch dark. And you only have a few seconds to get it right.
When I first started fishing in Island Beach State Park I would drive down to the Barnegat Inlet just to look at the lighthouse. To get there you need a beach pass and four-wheel drive. Island Beach State Park and Barnegat Lighthouse State Park are divided by the Barnegat Inlet; a place I've spent years fishing. But lately I've traded my Tica surf rod for a Canon wide angle lens. So far it's been a good trade. I think of it this way - the lighthouse is always there, ready to be photographed. How many times have you been fishing and the fish never show up?
It's a simple lighthouse; a plain red and white color scheme. You can see Old Barney up-close by visiting Barnegat Lighthouse State Park, but I like the view from across the inlet. Photographing a lighthouse is something anyone can do. It takes time, patience and above all a sturdy tripod. But you need the weather to cooperate. When I got to the North Jetty to set up my shot I was greeted by a 16 mile per hour wind. With gusts past 25 mph I had one hand on the tripod most of the shoot. Even though my Vanguard tripod is pretty stable I never take any chances with my gear. In the moment of scurrying to get the shot thousands of dollars worth of gear could be lost.
I always like to see some clouds on the horizon when I shoot lighthouses. It adds depth and scale to an already beautiful scene. They can make a scene great by adding complexity around the structure. Or, storm clouds can destroy an image rendering the scene too dark and ominous. Just the right amount of sky really makes a photo. The wind, even though it made things difficult, added a nice bit of moving water to the scene. It played havoc with the green channel marker in the picture, but it settled down in between shots. During the half hour or so I spent photographing, several scallop boats were pulling into port. We were both there to do the same thing - bring a bounty home for people to enjoy.
I hope you enjoy our first of many lighthouse photos to come in the next couple weeks. Let's hope the weather holds out long enough for more photos soon!
J. R.
Washed Ashore Photography