Although it is exciting to search for new birds or for unusual interactions, I love to return to familiar subjects, like this male Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) that I photographed last week.
There is nothing complicated about this image, a blackbird perched on a cattail, but the small details make it special for me. I like the angled body and the turned head. The feathers seem unusually glossy and the eye is shiny too. There are a few wispy feathers that are matched by the “fluff” from the cattail. The background is brown, but there are a wide variety of shapes and shades.
What does it take for you to be satisfied as a photographer? For now at least, I am content to stay relatively close to home and photograph whatever I can find as well as I can. Life doesn’t have to be complicated all of the time.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
I’m not sure that I’ll ever be completely satisfied as a photographer, but for me trying for that perfect photo is part of the fun. Like you, I like to stick close to home most of the time, because there is plenty to see. I never knew that RW blackbirds were so shiny, and that’s part of what I love about nature photography-you can learn so much from even a “simple” photo.
To quote the old Rolling Stones song, “I can’t get no satisfaction, but I try….”
I agree, the glossiness on the feathers that you’ve managed to catch is great. Good stuff, Mike 😀
Great photo. The image is what satisfies me. The subject matter doesn’t need to be exotic. I find some of my best images are of simple plants/things around our yard.
Thanks. It’s easy for me to love beautiful images of exotic creatures. I’d love to see tropical birds, for example, and maybe I will someday. However, I’m finding that there is beauty that surrounds me all the time and I am seeking to discover it (and photograph it).
I am usually satisfied if my subject is in focus! Action, backlighting, gleam in the eye, expression, highlights, textures, star bursts, I can always hope for, but am rarely able to capture. Too many things to think about at one time for this old brain.
Indeed there are so many things to think about, but I have found that in the past 18 months or so that I have been shooting regularly, some of those elements have become almost second nature. For me, there is always a kind of tension between the technical aspects of taking photos and the creative side of the process.
The details matter and you pointed out some good ones.
Thanks, Lyle. Sometimes I feel a little strange pointing out the reasons why I like one of my own photos, but I find value in trying to understand (and articulate) the factors that produce what is essentially an emotional response.
I agree there is value in those discussions whether we initiate them or others do. I have learned a lot from them and I generally find it interesting to know why people like photos.
Besides the excellent photos, your comments about them are priceless. M