Tag Archives: BIRDS
FeatherFest 2013 Recap…
I had a GREAT time at FeatherFest down on Galveston Island last weekend! If you like birds…and you like making photographs of birds…this is the show for you…
As I mentioned in my last post, I was asked to serve as a Liaison for several of the Event Leaders. The speakers/presenters I had the privilege of working with were outstanding…Larry Ditto…Sean Fitzgerald...Kathy Adams Clark. I did two field trips and two workshops with Larry, and workshops with Sean and Kathy.
When I wasn’t helping with a field trip or workshop, I was allowed to audit any course being offered. I enjoy attending workshops with both Kevin Karlson and Tim Timmis.
I hope the organizers of FeatherFest will invite me back next year…SEF
Green Jays
I’m pretty fortunate to be shooting at the Texas Photo Ranch for the Coastal Bend Wildlife Photo Contest! Not every photographer in this competition has a ranch with pit blinds…concrete-lined ponds…and LOTS of different species of birds and wildlife.
I like Green Jays. They’re just drop-dead gorgeous…pretty aggressive…and you almost always hear them before they come to the perch. They are LOUD! These Jays don’t hang around too long at the feeder, so you have to be ready to “hammer away” when they do show up.
This snappy-looking guy is a pretty good representative of a Green Jay. I doubt that he’ll make my final cut for the competition, but he’s a handsome bird…on an attractive perch…good head-angle…good eye contact…and is appropriately exposed.
Weather conditions have been difficult since the contest started on February 15. There’s been NO decent light! Mornings have all been heavily overcast…and that makes creating high quality images a real challenge. I have a couple of tricks up my sleeve that I’ll put to use next time….
Photography is fascinating to me! It combines both science and art…and not always in a straight-forward way. One of my goals for participating in this photo competition was to simply to become a better photographer. I may not win the contest, but I know the lessons I learn will be invaluable…SEF
Near Miss
Sometimes you’re the windshield…Sometimes you’re the bug…
Things don’t ALWAYS work out for nature photographers. As my friend Wyman Meinzer is fond of saying…”These are not zoo animals!”
My shooting for the Coastal Bend Wildlife Photo Contest is going just fine. I believe that I actually have made a few contest-quality images already. This isn’t one of them…
I can’t even begin to tell you how crushed I was when I “chimped” this image. Chimping is when you check the image on the LCD screen on the back of your camera right after the click. I knew right away I had missed a potentially GREAT image…
OK…I’ll just keep on keeping on and hope to get a similar image without clipping the bird’s wing. So close…
Texas Photo Ranch
After MONTHS of hard work, the brand new pit blinds and concrete-lined water holes at the Texas Photo Ranch are ready! These are world-class blinds that allow ground-level viewing of birds and mammals feeding and drinking. Photographers, birders, and all nature lovers now have the opportunity to enjoy this remarkable ranch…
These are a couple of images that owner Wade Grassedonio and photographer/friend Steve Cashell sent over to me. The guests enter the blinds from the rear…walk down three or four steps…and find themselves with a perfect ground-level view of the ponds. Each of the five blinds will hold up to three people very comfortably.
I’ll be spending hours and hours every day in these blinds as I represent the Texas Photo Ranch in the Coastal Bend Wildlife Photo Contest starting in just 15 days.
Please give Wade a call at (361) 549-4929 to book some time. I’d also be happy to answer any questions you might have about the VERY special place…
Rockport SeaFair II…
OK…The 2012 Rockport SeaFair is over. It was a long weekend…but worth it!
It took me all day Friday to get the Stephen Fisher Photography booth set-up and organized. Sharon was traveling on business, so I was a crew of one. The organizers opened the area for set-up at 8:30 am, and SeaFair started at 5:00 pm. The hours of this show are brutal for this “in bed by 9:00 pm guy”! Friday…5:00 pm to 11:00 pm…Saturday…10:00 a, to 11:00 pm…and Sunday…11:00 am to 6:00 pm.
A cold front came in on Sunday morning dropping the temperature and bringing in 20-30 mph winds! It just seems to never fail. I hang my large pieces of art on mesh panels attached to the tent frame. MOST of the time it’s as secure as possible, but that much wind creates real problems for me. I took everything down early Sunday when I arrived…got it all bagged in their individual protective sleeves…and just did the best I could…
In spite of the hard work and long hours, the 2012 Rockport SeaFair was very successful for Stephen Fisher Photography. I sold a LOT of my art, met some nice gallery owners, and had a pretty good time. I have one more show this month. We’ll be exhibiting at the 2012 ARToberFEST on Galveston Island on the 20 & 21st. This should be fun…
Texas Photo Ranch
I had the opportunity to get back out to the Texas Photo Ranch this week. I’m starting to learn my way around the ranch. At least I can FIND all five of the photography blinds now!
The photography blinds here are very nice. Four of the blinds have small ponds, feeders, and natural cover for the birds and mammals. The raptor blind sits up on one of the ranch’s highest points and has several natural snags and perches close to the blind. I saw both Black and Turkey Vultures along with a Crested Caracara circling overhead the blind. As a matter of fact, we saw raptors all over the ranch.
I spent the first couple of hours Thursday morning back at the resaca. The light was perfect, and the pool at the north end of the resaca was holding LOTS of birds. Great Egrets, Roseate Spoonbills, White Ibis, and White-Faced Ibis are just SOME of the species I saw that morning.
There were also feral hogs and deer drinking in the resaca when I pulled up. This is a VERY special place and I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to shoot here. Let me know if you have any questions about the Texas Photo Ranch.
Roseate Spoonbills…Old and New
The Rookeries…
It’s that time of the year…
All of the rookeries are full of mating/nesting birds… and they’re all decked out in their FINEST mating plumage.
We’ve (Mike Collins and John Martell and myself) been spending some time out there…and the production has been rewarding. Everywhere you look there’s “life” happening. The amount of interaction between the various species is unbelievable! I made over 4000 images these two days. Of course they weren’t all keepers….
Please take a look at the Roseate Spoonbill and Great Blue Heron galleries for more new images of the rookeries. I’ll be adding more soon…
Roseate Spoonbill Mystery Solved…
I’ve been thinking about it a LOT! I’ve ALWAYS wondered…
This is an image I’ve posted before. It’s called “Good Morning”…and it’s one of my favorites. I had “Good Morning” printed BIG (30 x 40) on canvas, and placed it in the Member’s Gallery at the Rockport Center for the Arts several months ago. Member’s are allowed to place one piece in the gallery every month. If the piece “Red Dots” (sells), the owner gets the proceeds less gallery commission. It’s a nice benefit of being a member and supporting the Rockport Center for the Arts.
Well…”Good Morning” was sold early in the month. I was tickled for a LOT of reasons. I’m one of THOSE artists who enjoy the positive reinforcement of selling their art! I know it’s probably not exactly right, but thats how I keep score. I really like making killer images…and I REALLY like to sell them!
Many days I would think about who bought “Good Morning”. Where did he/she hang it? Is it a major focal point of their home? And on and on and on…
OK…So I was at the Rockport Market Days last weekend. This relatively young man walks into my booth and starts to look around. Out of the blue he says that he is redoing a historic landmark home here in Rockport and had purchased “Good Morning” as a prominent piece in their home! I was blown away…in the BEST of ways. He told me how much they enjoyed the piece and was going home to get his wife to come back and look. Unfortunately…they didn’t make it back…
I know exactly the house where this “Good Morning” lives now. Mystery solved! Every time I drive by this 100+ year-old home I smile…SEF
Rockport Market Days…
Rockport Market Days happens on the last Saturday of every month. It’s ” kinda-sorta” a combination of a flea market, a garage sale, and an arts/crafts show all rolled up. You can see it ALL here at Rockport Market Days…
I’ve been trying to display here for several months, but the weather just hasn’t cooperated. Last Saturday…the weather was PERFECT. We arrived around 8:00 AM and the place was already packed with vendors. It didn’t take too long to get the Stephen Fisher Photography tent up and all of the products displayed.
I didn’t really expect to sell a lot of stuff at Market Days (and I didn’t get disappointed!). It’s really not a fine art photography crowd. I don’t mean that in any derogatory manner. I’m VERY proud of my images, and have priced them appropriately. I use high end Canon gear. Ron Brant uses the finest quality archival ink and canvas for the printing. I painstakingly assemble every piece like it will hang in my home. Most of the Rockport Market Days attendees are looking for bargain merchandise. I really don’t have too much of that…
My goal for showing here was to do some market research. I’m trying to establish the Stephen Fisher Photography brand. I wanted to know which of my images garnered attention. Which one(s) evoked a response? Which got purchased? (Again…not many!) Do people prefer framed or just matted 11 x 14 prints? What size of canvas gallery wraps work? And then the BIG question I have…Do enough people really want an image of a BIRD in their home?
OK…So I didn’t run out of inventory on Saturday. I still had a great day with Sharon sitting there in the sun. I enjoyed seeing people react to my art. I REALLY soaked-up all of the flattering comments. It was a GOOD day…SEF