Up Close

One of the things that I've decided to do more of during this career change process is take pictures.  As I went about purchasing a new camera, I did some thinking about what I would use it for.  I bought my new camera, a Nikon D5000, thinking that I would be taking more long-distance, nature photography given my apparent career direction.  After all, as a naturalist and a birder, it's not often that a choice sighting will sit still for a close-up portrait.  So I thought about long lenses and fast shutter speed, a light camera, and no tripod.  I only started to realize when I began really taking pictures that what I love in nature is the close and the intimate. 

Much of my photography of late has been portraits of extremely small objects that I set against different backgrounds.  I've been interested in how light affects composition (obvious for a photographer, but please forgive me for being obvious since I'm new to this game) and how color and texture can set an object apart. 

Anyhoo, enough of this artsy gobbeldy goo.  Here are some recent photos that I've liked of spring images (believe it not, that leaf just fell last week), with a snow photo in there to remind us why we deserve the great weather we've been having.

That is not to say I didn't get some great photos of monkeys playing in the trees above my head in Panama.  But that is for another day.