A 52 week photo project interspersed with photos from the past 40 years.
A Mourning Dove feeding in the grass.
One of the first photos from last Sunday morning. Taken before I raised my ground pod a couple of inches. I also moved back a bit once I realised how tight in the frame the birds, squirrels and chipmunks were going to be.
Sunday morning saw me lying in the yard behind the camera. I had set up my ground pod to try for some shots of the Squirrels, Chipmunks and whatever bird species decided to feed on the ground. I was expecting Common Grackles, Blue Jays and other larger species. I wanted to get as close as possible to eye level with the subjects.
A few weeks ago I got a low profile ball head for the ground pod. It would allow the lens to be about 3/4 inch lower than the ball head I had been using. Coupled with a couple of other changes I could now get the lens more than an inch lower to the ground.
So my initial set up was as low to the ground as possible. I then remembered a lesson learned in the 1980s. You can get to low, it’s hard to see through the viewfinder and you can’t see smaller species for vegetation sometimes.
So I swapped the 3/4 inch bolts that act as legs on the ground pod for the 3 inch bolts. This allowed me to see the juvenile Pine Siskin as it fed in the grass.
An Eastern Chipmunk checking what the photographer is up to.
I was using my ground pod to get as low to the ground and as close as possible to eye level with the birds, squirrels and chipmunks in the yard. As a result, the Chipmunk would occasionally stand up on its hind legs to get a better view of me. For some reason, in my mind it’s got a belligerent Cockney accent.
