Photo Phails

Happy April Fool's Day!!

I post a lot of photos on my blog and some of them are pretty good.

But obviously I don't post the failures

which a LOT of them are. 

I usually delete the blurry, distant photos

of questionable subjects.

I noticed I had quite a few that SHOULD

be deleted...and I will delete them after I share a few with you.

Just for phun :)

The photo below is an example of the many bad photos I have been taking while sitting in my car or hiking along the river trying to spot the osprey couple who annually take up residence in the ball  park near where I hike.  I thought this might be an osprey due to the shape of the wings but I'll never know for sure as the bird is too small. I did try to get a closer-up photo but the bird (probably a gull) disappeared behind the tree.

The photo of the cardinal below isn't terrible except that the bird's head is turned slightly away and it's a bit small. I took a bunch more and got bigger and better focussed photos where he was looking my way. Practise makes perfect.

I actually like the photo below although I didn't get the photo I was after. Back in university days when I was taking photography we called these "happy accidents." There was something over by the trees I was interested in but the camera focussed on the dried plants in the foreground and blurred the background...but I quite like it.

Sometimes I include my "shadow" in a photo but I didn't mean to in the photo below. I wasn't

paying very good attention I guess. When I do include my shadow it's usually the subject of the

photo, not some little object in the lower corner!

Timing is everything when taking photos of wildlife. I did eventually get a few

photos of these Canada geese where heads weren't blocked by twigs.

If I didn't have more photos of this I would have no idea what I was trying

to take a picture of! I saw this black shape far away across a field and wondered what it was.

It was just large black plastic bags which were being used to kill invasive species but had been displaced during the flooding. Definitely not photo-worthy!

The two photos below show me trying to get a picture of the downy woodpecker that was pecking away in its quest for bugs...it doesn't stay still long enough for me to focus and shoot!

Same with the hawk below. Trying to track it with my camera

isn't something I'm very good at!

The photo below was very disappointing to me - it was my first white-tail deer sighting this spring and I totally fluffed it! Blurry due to the camera focussing on the dried plant (lower right) and just too much crap (trees, underbrush etc) between me and the deer. They knew I was there and were on high alert. You can see one white deer tail almost dead centre and another close to the left side of 

the photo. They had just started to run away when I snapped this blurry mess.

Photography 101: get yer durn fingers outa the way!

Get the whole bird in the photo!

Below: While not the best photo ever taken it is the only "Cooper's" Hawk I have ever seen! I took this photo through my patio doors while it sat on a branch in my maple tree. I was sitting by the window, reading, when movement in the tree made me take notice. Then I had to find my camera, sneak up on the window to get this photo - a second later he flew away.  His head is turned slightly toward the tree so it isn't the best of shots but I was thrilled he hung about munching on a mouse (or some little rodent) til I got this photo. They don't usually come into an urban environment so it was quite exciting.

And there you have it - I'll keep this photo and the "happy accident" photo but will delete the rest.

I hope you are having a lovely Easter Sunday - I'm heading out after the laundry is done to see if the ospreys have arrived - I just can't stay in while the sun is shining! I hope it is shining on YOU!