Photographing Honey

Pick up a food magazine, or do a search on the internet, and chances are good some reference to raw local honey and its health benefits will appear. Researchers traced human use of honey back 8,000 years, and it played an important role in traditional medicines. It lives on in the natural medicine world, and slowly makes its way into modern medicine based on scientific research.

When I began experiencing seasonal allergies ten years ago, several people recommended I start taking a spoonful of raw, local honey daily throughout the year. Several claimed that their allergies completely disappeared with this regime. I began taking it occasionally, then regularly, and now try to get a spoonful daily. Anecdotally, I notice a lessening of my symptoms, but still require over the counter medication to get me comfortably through the 6 – 8 weeks of oak pollen. Karl, whose symptoms tend to be much less than mine, finds it really helps him.

Recently I wrote an article for a newsletter on some of our raw, local honey. Since we set up the studio for the shot of the honey to accompany the article, Karl and I continued to try different shots for our own use. Karl worked the camera, I did the food styling. After a number of compositions, we settled on this one. The two small bears full of honey, the larger bear more than half full (it had been ¼ full and didn’t produce the look we wanted at that level), and a honey pot I picked up in my travels.

We had fun since we haven’t done much still life studio work. Food photography is one of those areas of photography that is getting to the top of the To Do List.

Further science based information:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3758027/

The Singing Cardinal

Singing Northern Cardinal

Many years ago someone posted a beautiful photograph of a Northern Cardinal on a birding site. A new birder, this person captured the red bird in a delightful way, and expressed their excitement in discovering birding. Then the comments started, most of the initial ones negative. Why did this person post such a common bird? Everyone sees these birds all the time. Finally, a regular poster and experienced birder came on to chastise the negative comments and point out that we all were beginners once and it was wonderful that this person took such joy in watching and photographing the bird. I don’t recall ever seeing another post from that person.

This minor incident many years ago came to mind recently. While hiking at EcoWalk with birding friends we all heard a beautiful song coming from above. We looked up and saw a stunningly red younger Northern Cardinal singing loudly and purely. Every time he stopped his tuft would flatten. Then he tilted his head back, raised his tuft, and sang again. We stood for several minutes enjoying this impromptu aria before he flew away.

All of us are experienced birders, one with 40+ years of experience and a life list that evokes envy, and we chose this hike looking for migrants and other birds to add to a trip list. Yet, this most common of birds stopped us in our tracks for several minutes. It reminded me of why we started birding, and why we continue. The thrill of following the sightings and seeing live a bird that eluded us in the past continues to inspire us, but the everyday wonder of a singing bird still causes us to pause in our quest and just plain enjoy.

We have the good fortune of living on a tidal creek. The invasive Brazilian Peppers which grow on the banks of that creek, just the other side of our property line, provide shelter and food for a variety of wildlife. I know the arrival of spring by hearing the call of Chuck-wills-widow through the open door, and often prepare meals or clean the kitchen listening to the unending and ever changing songs of Northern Mockingbirds.

I managed to get only one shot of the Cardinal while singing, I was honestly too busy listening.

 

Spring Bird Migration and Fallout

 

Female Summer Tanager

I wondered through the early part of the Spring 2017 migration if the sources I consulted for information stopped reporting or posting. When our birding family members came for their traditional Easter and birding vacation with us, I doubled my efforts to find reports of migrants. The only information I found indicated that the migration, for the most part, passed us by. We experienced a beautiful winter this year, at least for the snowbirds and tourists. No rain, which put those of us who live here in a drought but made their vacations perfect, and sunny skies every day with pleasantly warm temperatures and just enough humidity. I suspect that also made perfect flying weather for the migrants, so they just kept going.

Last week a cold front, really a cool front as temperatures never fell much, came through with a lot of wind. Suddenly the reports came alive, we had a mini fallout. For those of you who don’t bird, and never saw the 2011 movie “The Big Year” with Steve Martin, Jack Black, and Owen Wilson, a fallout occurs when migrating birds encounter a weather front and must land and stop migrating until the front passes. Our visiting family returned home several days before, so Karl and I grabbed our binoculars and cameras and hit a few of the reported sites. We did see some migrants, and in one also encountered the native and very annoying no-see-ums in record numbers. Sightings happened, photography didn’t.

The beautiful weather returned, and most of the birds continued on their way. We still heard occasional reports, but it became clear that the migrant birding this year concentrated itself in a two or three day window. The only decent photo I managed to take this year happened at Brooker Creek Preserve on our monthly photography hike this past Saturday. We set out in what would end up the hottest day ever recorded in April, smashing previous records, with humidity to match. One of the hikers saw a flash of yellow, but try as we might we never saw the bird again. We stopped at one of our regular talking point stops, and a reddish flash went across the trail. Too far for all the zoom lenses of our hikers, and barely within range of my 400mm, sat a female Summer Tanager. She posed for a bit, and took off.

I usually get at least one really good photograph to add to my bird portfolio during Spring migration. This year I missed, so here’s hoping for a really good Fall migration.

Photographing a Necklace of Flowers

Karl does a lot of flower photography. He did macro photography portraits for a series on Florida Wildflowers, which someday we plan to publish in book form.

Recently we hiked at O’Leno State Park shortly after a rain. We walked by a tree, and the flowers forming a necklace around the dark, still wet bark attracted both of us. We kept walking, but then Karl turned around and went back, shooting from several different angles and zoom lengths.

This beautiful photograph is unlike his prior flower portrait photography. Maybe a new project or book is on the horizon?