Posted in animals, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged adolescent Bambi, Bambi, Canon SX50, deer, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Odocoileus virginianus, white-tailed deer, Woodbridge VA on September 13, 2018| 9 Comments »
I spotted this curious little White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) on Monday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The deer appears to have moved out of the cute little Bambi phase and seemed more like a gawky adolescent to me (though I confess I know very little about deer development).
I like the fact that you can still see some of its white spots, which look to be a little faded.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Posted in animals, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged buck, Canon SX50, little buck, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Odocoileus virginianus, white-tailed deer, Woodbridge VA on August 26, 2018| 4 Comments »
This little buck seemed more curious than fearful when he spotted me on Monday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. He continued to forage in a marshy area for a while before he finally disappeared from sight.
I know that we have a herd of White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) on the wildlife refuge, though I see deer only on rare occasions. This little deer seemed to be alone and I was really struck by the shape of his antlers. It looks to me like they might be his first set of antlers, though I confess to knowing almost nothing about the stages of development of a deer. The shape of the antlers reminds me of photos that I have seen of several species of antelope in Africa.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Posted in animals, Cat, Nature, Photography, Portraits, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon SX50, Cindy Dyer, Kingstowne, Lobo, Pixel, Queso, Tamron 180mm on July 18, 2018| 11 Comments »
I tend to be more of a dog person than a cat person. Cats have always been somewhat mysterious creatures to me, a bit wild and uncontrollable. Nonetheless, I am usually the go-to person to watch her three cats when my neighbor and fellow photographer Cindy Dyer goes out of town.
This past weekend I watched and fed the three male cats and, as is usually the case, I attempted to take some photos of them. Cindy often manages to capture them in wonderful candid moments, but it was hard for me to get them to cooperate. I am not used to shooting indoors with limited light, so that was an additional challenge. I learned pretty quickly that the 180mm macro lens that I happened to have on my camera is not optimal for this task—it was tough to get far enough away to capture the cats’ major facial features.
Eventually I was able to capture a portrait of each of them. Queso, the orange cat who was rescued in the bushes outside of a Mexican restaurant, is the youngest one; Pixel is the one with the pixelated hair who loves to roll over to have his tummy scratched; and Lobo, the gray lone wolf of the pack, fixed me with a fierce stare when he finally let me take his picture.
I should be back to my more typical wildlife shots tomorrow in case any of you were concerned that I had abandoned my butterflies and dragonflies. I enjoy the challenge of a different set of subjects and I must admit that it was nice to shoot in the coolness of the air-conditioned indoors rather than in the hot, humid summer weather we have been experiencing.
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© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in animals, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Agelaius phoeniceus, Bald Eagle, fox on a frozen pond, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, injured Bald Eagle, red fox, red-winged blackbird, Vulpes vulpes on July 7, 2018| 35 Comments »
Six years ago today my photography mentor Cindy Dyer sat me down and told me that I was going to start a blog. She showed me the basics of WordPress editing and navigation and helped me set up my initial pages. I don’t think that either of us anticipated the degree to which I would grow to love the process of blogging, a process that has allowed me to express myself creatively in both words and images
WordPress data show that I have published 2768 posts and have had approximately 170800 views. Those posts have included 429649 words (about 155 words per posting) and well over 3000 photos.
The importance of my blog, though, cannot be expressed merely in numbers. More significantly the blog has helped me to develop relationships with a lot of different viewers, to share with you the different steps on my meandering journey into photography. Thanks to all of you for helping me along the way and sharing your comments, suggestions, and recommendations. I especially owe a debt of gratitude to Cindy Dyer for motivating me throughout this entire period, for pushing me at times when I was hesitant, and for serving as my muse. Thanks, Cindy.
To celebrate this anniversary, I thought I would reprise a few of my favorite photos. These are not necessarily my most popular images or my “best” images, but they are ones that are particularly memorable to me. I am also including links to the original postings so you can read the accompanying text and additional commentary about the circumstances under which they were captured.
Links to original postings: Visible Song (8 March 2016); Fox on a frozen pond (31 January 2016); and Rescue of an injured Bald Eagle (4 November 2014).
Thanks again for all of your support and encouragement over these past six years. The journey continues onward.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in animals, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged beaver, beaver swimming, Canon 50D, Castor canadensis, North American Beaver, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, swimming beaver, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on April 29, 2018| 12 Comments »
As I was looking over some images from about a month ago, I realized that I had not posted any views of this North American Beaver (Castor canadensis) that I spotted swimming off of Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge one early morning. At that hour we both were moving pretty slowly—one of us on land and the other in the water.
As the beaver altered its course , the light falling on its face and body changed, occasionally catching a bit of sunlight from the just-risen sun. I love the way that the water was tinged with light blue and pink and how the mostly still water picked up the reflections of the swimming beaver.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in animals, Birds, Nature, Photography, tagged bantam rooster, barbed wire, calf, Canon 50D, farm, Montpelier VA, Red Angus cow, rooster, Tamron 150-600mm, Turdus migratorius on April 20, 2018| 12 Comments »
I grew up in the suburbs, so even domesticated farmyard animals seem exotic to me, like this bantam rooster and Red Angus cow with her calf that I encountered last weekend in Montpelier, Virginia while I was out of town for a wedding.
I am also including an image of an American Robin (Turdus migratorius) that I also captured on the farm—I like the way that the color of the rusted barbs matches that of the robin’s breast and how their shape mirrors that of the robin’s clawed feet.
Posted in animals, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Canon 50D, early morning light, muskrat, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Ondatra zibethicus, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on March 26, 2018| 14 Comments »
All wild creatures seem especially beautiful in the early morning light, like this cute little muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus) that I spotted last week in one of the small ponds at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
