I was sitting on the bank of the lagoon the other day to get some more shots of the Wood Ducks and as I was waiting for them to move closer for a shot (they never did) some movement on the far bank caught my eye. A beautiful Mink was slipping in and out of the water as it made its way down the bank. It was pretty far away but I don't get to see them very often (only my second time) so I take what I can get even if it means a shot from afar.

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Tags:   blue jay

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I love that I could spend more than 12 hours a day photographing Ruby-throated Hummingbirds if I wanted to. Although they aren’t active for the entire time, they start flying by 6:00 a.m. and are still feeding past 7:00 p.m. This creates changing lighting conditions and provides different atmospheres for the photos, depending on the time of day. It also requires varying photographic techniques. For instance, this photo, taken at about 7:00 p.m., required a slower shutter speed due to the available light. This allowed for some wing blur, which imparts a sense of motion to the image.

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Waxing Crescent Moon. Set-up the tripod and put the camera in manual mode. Tried a few different shutter speeds to get this. Wanted to keep the iso low. Used a 2 second timer for the shutter to minimize camera shake.

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This is one of my favorite poses of Ruby-throated hummingbirds. They often perform this stretch as they prepare to fly after being perched for a while, or during preening. This is a juvenile male.

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