Spring is around the corner and house hunting season is upon us. I always know when spring is arriving when the screams start early in the morning and go till sunset. No it is not only my wife screaming at the predators eating her song birds. But the hawks coming back to stake out nesting sites. The screams start as soon as they arrive in the neighborhood and go till the eggs have been laid. Then once the young hatch the get back to screaming till the young are out of the nest.
I always keep and eye out for the Waxwings each winter, they are my winter friends. Making my day brighter with their amazing colors.
This winter I have been keeping my eyes open for the Waxwing invasion and nothing. They have been around town but not at my house. Then yesterday as I was working outside I heard all these birds calling but did not put one and one together as to what type of bird it was. I was in the garage when I looked out to see the sky darken with a massive flock. There must have been a couple hundred!!! They were on a neighbors roof drinking the runoff from the melting snow.
I worked my way into the house and grabbed a camera to get a couple pictures. They were really flighty, more so than usual for some reason. Could have been the strong winds making so much noise that they were on edge.
I love this picture as it looks like the one with the berry is giving a lesson to the other ones. “This is the berry we are having for supper”.
The color of the Waxwing blends in well with the plum tree
I started a collection of old farm prints many years ago. Most where black and white with a few color added for contrast. Somehow the pages for the collection got removed from my website over the years with all the updates and the collection was forgotten to the passing of time.
When I shot this image I immediately knew what collection that I needed to add this to. SO after 15 plus years I am working on rebuilding the collection and will be bringing it back to the web site and for sale once again.
I am starting with these two and I will work on the entire collection in the next few months.
Winter Fence At Sunset
Printed on gloss metallic paper. Image size is 12×18, paper size is 13×19 Ready to mat or frame Limited edition of 250 prints
I was out driving through southern Alberta one cold winters day and I kept seeing fences that were in a state of major disrepair. They seemed to be more prominent with the snow around them separating them from the rest of the prairies.
The saying “In the winter of your life” kept playing in my mind. Adding to the overall look of the image is the long reddish rays of the low sun. In late winter the sun starts tossing more color and longer shadows on the prairie just before it makes it climb back to the high summer arch. The low late day sun works perfectly to light these scenes and brings out the rough texture of the wood and adding a warmth to the wood that counters the cold blue of the shadows.
Winter Fence At Sunset #1
The barbed wire in the background plays against the force of the foreground posts.
Order Winter Fence At Sunset #1
Winter Fence At Sunset #2
At one time you know all the wire had a purpose, now it forms a metallic spider’s web.
Order Winter Fence At Sunset #1
Order both prints and save on the prints and shipping
So I tried doing a test for groundhog day and that did not work. I tried convincing my Gopher and Marmot subjects to come out for a picture this morning and they turned me down. So to make the prediction for southern Alberta I went outside to see if I could see my shadow. The result is that I did not see my shadow! I did get snowed on and I did get frost bite, but no shadow.
So seeing that I could not get a picture of anything close to a groundhog on this cold snowy morning here are a couple pictures from past years when it was warmer.
This gopher had built it’s home in a huge pile of dirt. One of the exits was about 8′ off the ground giving it a view that the other gophers envied.
So this past Saturday I made another mountain frame. I like the ones without a back but I wanted this one to have a picture behind it, after all I am a photographer 🙂 Made the frame, stained and painted it and took it with me to the studio. Then I started going through my files to see what I wanted to put behind the mountain frame.
Found a really nice picture of Red Rock Parkway from this past summer. It was PERFECT!!! I resized and cropped it and was getting ready to print when I thought I should look at a few more and BINGO. I hit on the best picture yet for my mountain frames. My son and I were in Waterton this past fall and we stopped at Maskinonge. It was a perfect day with snow, blue skies and blue water. I shot a few dozen pictures and made a really cool pano, from that series one picture stood out and was saying I will look great in a mountain frame.
Now my issue is that I have another frame I don’t want to sell 🙂 Oh well as soon as it warms up I have another idea for a frame and will make another one like this one and try one with my new idea as well.
I like them without anything on the shelves
But I like them even more with items that have a significance to them.
Mountain shelf hung on the wall at the studio, I do like!!!!!
If you are interested in a mountain frame I do sell them. At this time I have three at the studio – two without pictures behind them and this one. This would look amazing in a den, living room, bedroom, office or cabin.
Back in November I decided that it was time to update my business card. I sat down and designed a new business card with the main emphasis on having the information so it is easy to read. I also wanted a new look with an updated photo so I tied out a few different photos and could not find what I wanted till I came across the Meadowlark! It was perfect bright, happy and NO SNOW 🙂
After laying out the back I sent them off to get printed. A day later, November 24 I got a notice that my business card order was shipped. Perfect timing for Christmas. Then the post office went on strike and I was told they would not be here till December 18. On the 28th I contacted my printer as the order still showed they were in Windsor and had been since November 24. The printer apologized, redid the order and shipped it out by courier. This morning at 10am they showed up!
I am VERY pleased with how they look, bright and easy to read!! I guess the wait was worth it.
A funny side note. I am at work on January 15, 2019 and in walks the courier with you guessed it my lost order. Well better late than never. Again did not help me to get my cards out for Christmas but I now have a lot of cards. So if you come in and get a few cards in with your order please hand them out. May as well put them to good use.
