Tag: #nature

• Noise, one of the enemies of clarity in photos—and, a solution!

  Once upon a time, in the days of film cameras, photographers struggled against “grainy” shots. “Noise” is the equivalent in the era of digital photography. If you blow up one of your photos you might be surprised to see irregular blotches throughout. Blurriness is a different problem. Blurriness is caused by camera jiggle or movement…

  jwilce

  October 21, 2021

  #photography

  #Arizona, #nature, #northern Arizona, #photography, post-processing software, Topaz Labs softare

• Dragonflies mating mid-air

  One of my favorite places in Flagstaff is Frances Short Pond. It is a hotspot for members of the Order Odonata— dragonflies and damselflies like the one below, which is, I believe, a “bluet.” But now the show I promised—a shaky video of two orange dragonflies and their mid-air mating dance. The still photos on…

  jwilce

  September 30, 2016

  #dragonflies, #FlagstaffArizona, #insects, #mating rituals, #northern Arizona, #outdoor photography, #photography, #photonarratives, #wildlife photography, #wings, animal behavior, Arizona, insect behavior, insect photography

  #Arizona, #insects, #nature, #parks, #photoblog, #photography, #wings, Flagstaff

• What’s With the V-Formation?

  It is an inspiring, though common, thing to see flocks of ducks or geese flying overhead in V-formation. A duck flying alone is also beautiful, as is this mallard… http://www.wilcephotos.com/Northern-Arizona/JMW-Birds-Bees-Etc/i-qndbZbn/0/Th/BIF-Duck%3B%20BubblingPonds%3B%20IMG_9073%20C1PSD1-Th.jpg … but a group of birds synchronizing or coordinating their behavior presents us with a different kind of beauty.  This group of Canada Geese flying…

  jwilce

  February 18, 2016

  #northern Arizona, #photography, #wings, Arizona, bird photos, outdoor photography, wildlife photography

  #birds, #nature, #northern Arizona

• Hawks: Chasing and Being Chased

  Anywhere you see hawks you are likely to see them being chased by smaller birds and not just chasing after them. The following photos (some of which are links to wilcephotos.com) tell two stories. The first story consists of a single photograph of what we might expect to be most common—a bigger, more carnivorous bird…

  jwilce

  February 18, 2016

  #accipiters, #bird photography, #FlagstaffArizona, #hawks, #northern Arizona, #outdoor photography, #photoblog, #photography, #photonarratives, #raptors, Arizona

  #Arizona, #birds, #nature, #northern Arizona, #photography, #photonarratives

• Monarch Discovery

  Google Doodles— the graphics atop Google’s splash page that change every day—are sometimes worth taking the time to consider. Such was the case with the 9 January 2016 Google Doodle. The Doodle acknowledges the “41st Anniversary of the Discovery of the Mountain of the Butterflies” The mountain in Mexico where the monarchs “overwinter” is the…

  jwilce

  January 11, 2016

  #butterflies, #outdoor photography, #photography, insect photography, outdoor photography, rural America, wildlife photography

  #insects, #nature, #photography

• What Wikipedia calls the “default desert bird”

  If you have never heard of Curve-Billed Thrashers, you probably don’t live in or near a desert. But if you google “default desert bird” you’ll see a lot of text etc. devoted to Thrashers.  Unfortunately, the phrase “default desert bird,” with or without proper attribution is a misquote. At least Wikipedia rightly cites Dunne as the…

  jwilce

  December 6, 2015

  #bird photography, #outdoor photography, #photography, #wildlife photography, Arizona, bird photography, bird photos

  #Arizona, #birds, #desertbirds, #DesertBotanicalGarden, #nature, #parks, #Phoenix, #photography

• Laguna Beach sojourn

  I’ve spent the last week in southern California— in Claremont (subject of a future posting) and Laguna Beach, a lovely smallish city lapped by the waves of the Pacific Ocean, some-time home to dolphins, with attractive old cottages in the town above, overlooking the ocean. Photos from this trip can be found here: http://www.wilcephotos.com/Beyond-northern-Arizona/ I…

  jwilce

  August 9, 2015

  #California, #photography, #photonarratives

  #birds, #Crescent Bay, #Hummingbirds, #insects, #Laguna Beach, #nature, #Pacific Ocean, #photography, #photonarratives, #publicspaces, #Shorebirds, #Southern California

• Looking back: New and old photos

  I was looking through some photos that are up to a decade old today, because I remembered some of them fondly. Three cameras are represented here— a Konica-Minolta DiMAGE Z6 (2004-2008), a Fujifilm Finepix S6500fd, and my current Canon Powershot SX50 HS (with just a few shots between the Finepix era and the Powershot era…

  jwilce

  July 30, 2015

  #accipiters, #digital cameras, #hawks, #photography, #photonarratives

  #Arizona, #bees, #birds, #bumblebees, #hawks, #insects, #nature, #photography, #photonarratives, #raptors, #technological improvement, #technology

• Another great day for insect photography in Flagstaff

  Until just two or three weeks ago it’s pretty safe to say I knew nothing about butterflies and moths (except that they like milkweed), let alone other insects.  (Well, of course I knew a bit about honeybees, bumblebees, wasps, flies, mosquitos…) But did I know anything about butterflies? Only monarchs. Dragonflies? Re. the order “Odonata”…

  jwilce

  July 19, 2015

  Uncategorized

  #insects, #nature, #photography