JDW Photos and Life

This guy wanted a formal headshot for his business card. Feel free to count the feathers! Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

Well, we have been in Kodiak the past two weeks visiting our daughter and son-in-law. It was a great time and we got back to our house about 2:30 this morning. The 3 hour time difference was the reason for mid-morning Texas update for those 2 weeks. I hope to get back to a normal schedule tomorrow and will start sending out photos from that trip soon. Knowing we would be gone for 2 weeks, I created enough draft messages to be able to keep the messages going. I still have little idea what happened to those messages where no photo was seen. Once I hit send, I could not retrieve the photo to resend. Lesson learned - copy the photos to the cloud for such storage in future trips. Showing off making a sharp turn! The fighter jet of the bird world! Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

It only made sense to go ahead and set it up with food for dinner that night. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

I decided to add a cheese board to the collection. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

I still get out to my woodshop every once-in-a-while. This was a project just for the fun of it. It made me do a few things I had not done in previous work. As with everything new, I know how I could improve on the next go-around. Obviously, this is a holder for a bottle of wine and a couple of wine glasses. It also includes a tray for some food. The base, top, and tray are cherry. The legs are maple. It is finished with 3 coats of tung oil. The wine was selected because it is local and it is our daughter's favorite. No judgement needed regarding the screw top! Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

I will probably send the missed photos when I get a chance. I am still struggling to understand what happened with some messages this past week. OK. This photo was planned to be the last of the hummers for this round. I could keep going but I think I covered most everything that was a little unique. With the drought this year, we did not have patio plants to capture them in flowers. That is clearly a goal for next spring. This "photo" is four shots overlayed on top of each other. I took out a fifth shot in this sequence as it did not add much other than clutter. You see the bird coming in hard and fast to the feeder and transitioning into a hover and eating while hovering - about 1/4 second in time. It's not a perfect edit but good enough for me unless I print it some day (not likely). Until next spring.... (or a few later this week) Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

A collage of some of my favorites. I am considering a 16 x 20 metallic print for my wall - though specific photos are still up for debate. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

Just another sky dance. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

Posing in the sun! Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

What did he put in this drink??? I'm falling....! Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

It gets crowded around the feeder at time making it hard to grab a snack! Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

Another two-shot sequence. In this case a young male, with just the start of his gorget feathers, is coming in and forcing the other bird off the feeder. The in-focus bird has just lifted from the feeder in the first shot and is putting some distance between him/her and the young male. The wing positions of the feeder bird are interesting. In the both shots, you can see just how much the outer wing feathers are flexing as the bird is applying a lot of muscle to leave the area quickly. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

I guess yesterday was a test and everyone failed! I sent Hummers - 13 instead of Hummers - 10. I guess I failed in counting! I typically get a series of shots ready at the same time and leave them in my draft folder. Oh well, enjoy this one. This is an interesting shot in that a single gorget feather catching the light of the sun to reflect back the characteristic red color to my lens. A very slight change in angle and his whole throat would have reflected the ruby color. As seen, there is always competition and posturing near the feeder. The second photo shows the gorget feathers reflecting a bronze color - not as brilliant as a red reflection but still pretty. A small change in angle and it would show ruby red. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

Somebody is always picking a fight! Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

Here is a three-shot sequence (each 1/20 second apart) showing an attack at the feeder. In the first shot, you see the male on the feeder catching a side glimpse of the incoming dart. In the second shot, you see the gap close and the male about to leave to avoid the attack. In the third shot, things look serious and the male has almost left his perch on the feeder. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

This first photo is one of my all-time favorites of a hummer backside. I do not have a single photo like it in the many 1000's of photos I've taken over the years. The wings are touching and even a very slight cross at the tips - with such a graceful curve. Notice the green iridescent feathers on the head peeking through the base of the wings. I can only guess that this is the first wing flap in the transition from a hover into forward flight. The second photo is much more typical of what I see in a backside shot - pretty, but not unique. In a hover such as this, the wings are going back and forth but not all the way back touching like the first photo (at least I've never captured that range nor seen it in other's photos). I hope you appreciate these as much as I do. Zoom in to see the details! Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

Another two-shot sequence separated by 1/20th a second. Enjoy and appreciate the tail feather work in these photos! Tired of hummers yet? Hope not - more to come! Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

I mentioned yesterday to speed of the bird and camera. These two shots were taken using the electronic shutter which is capable of 20 frames per second. The photos are uncropped and only lightly edited for color/contrast/etc. It is almost impossible to believe that the bird transitions between these two poses in this short a time. Absolutely incredible. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

The agility of a hummingbird is beyond compare in my view. The only competitor for this title might be a bee but feather control sure seems more difficult than a structured wing like the bee. The hummingbird is controlling each feather like a finger. As the bird dives in to a target (typically another bird), they often pull up into a hover like the photo yesterday. The first photo shows the bird putting on the brakes at the end of a dart. The photo taken after this one (1/20 sec later) has the bird in the upright position. The speed of flight control is hard to imagine (not to mention the camera keeping focus)! The light reflecting off the throat feathers (gorget) make this photo extra special. The bright red color comes from  iridescence as the actual color is a rather dull red/brown. The second photo shows the incredible agility and control of the wings. Here the bird is making a sharp turn and you see the wings in very different positions from each other to make such a turn. Eve...

This season, I am typically seeing 4-8 birds around the feeder and I'm sitting 8-10 feet away taking photos. The first photo is typical of what I like to share. It shows feather details of the bird - so unique to a hummer. This shot also shows the wing movement as the bird hovers. The wings have just started moving backwards in their stroke. The second shot is the same photo just cropped to show more perspective of location and aggressive posturing/action. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

I encourage you to look at these photos at full resolution (zoom in). When the lighting is right and I'm willing to take a lot of photos, I can reliably capture photos like these. It fascinates me to think someone sitting on their porch can capture such beauty. This in-flight feather detail cannot be seen (by me, anyway) with your eye. The first photo is at 1/3200 seconds exposure and the second is at 1/2500 seconds. These birds are moving fast yet the camera is maintaining focus at incredible speeds. The amazing acrobatics of a hummer are in part due to their elbow and wrist bones being fused together and they rotate their wings in a figure 8 motion to hover and even fly backwards. Their motion is more like a helicopter than an airplane. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

These little guys are so agile and fun to watch. The number of body and wing positions seems endless. I will sit on my porch and just watch until I can't stand it and go get my camera if good light is present. The next thing I know, I have 2000 photos to deal with! An interesting tidbit from a site discussing the anatomy of a hummer: " Hummingbirds to some extent have the largest heart of all animals. Their heart is 2.5% of their weight. 250 beats per minute is their average heart rate, which increases to about 1,220 beats per minute in flight. The state, known as torpor, allows hummingbirds to conserve energy and lower their basal metabolic rate. They do this by lowering their body temperature from a normal 105 degrees F, down to 70 degrees F." Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

Hummingbirds migrate through our area in the spring and fall. For some reason, it has been over a year since we saw more than 2-4 birds at our house. We have a decent population visiting our house this month. I have no idea what happened but we are happy to have them back. They are just fun to watch. We probably have 20-30 birds which is much below our typical (before the past year) but still very entertaining. Ounce for ounce, they may be one of the most fierce animals on the planet! The aerial swordfights happen fast and there is luck involved in catching the action. I take around 100 photos to get a shot that I will share. My first photoshoot this year was with heavy clouds and lighting was poor which prevented me from setting shutter speeds fast enough to fully stop the action. I'll be sending hummingbird photos for the next few days. These birds are very territorial over food. They clearly carry grudges against some and tolerate sharing the feeder with others. Obviously, these...

Well, maybe not what you were thinking though these photos are the results of somebody's labor. If you ever had much doubt about the money in liquor, these photos may sway you. Their tasting room building had a lot of custom glass work that was beautiful. This stained glass window is spectacular with some of the owner's heritage plate/platters incorporated into the glass. The hallway to the tasting room had a ceiling full of Chihuly custom glass commissioned as part of MM's 50th anniversary. I always wondered who could afford such glass and then to see so much of it in one place was special. I didn't count the number of panels but I'm guessing around 6 in this hall similar to the two shown below. Some amount of liquor evaporates out of the barrels during aging and is referred to as the angel's share. Chihuly incorporated that concept is several of the panels and you see one of the angels in the first photo below. We walked under some serious weight in those pane...

Here is the obligatory photo of barrels and barrels of whisky (their spelling, not mine). The guide stated the bourbon is aged between 4.75 and 7 years - supposedly released by taste and not time. This is a very commercial tour full of brags and such - not my thing - by an overly enthusiastic guide - also not my thing. Despite these drawbacks, I enjoyed seeing the facilities though I recommend a weekday tour not in August so you can see the bottling and printing operations. The tour concluded in a tasting room with 5 different versions of Maker's Mark. Can I taste the difference? Yes. Is it significant enough for me to justify premium pricing for some? Not for my palette. No bottle followed my home at least in part due to flying the next day with carry-on only and that has liquid restrictions. Maybe I'll see/taste something different in a tour of another distiller in the future trip to Kentucky. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

I shared the distillation column photo from Maker's Mark yesterday. The photos today were taken at a 2013 tour of Bayou Rum just east of Lake Charles. The tour guide was very knowledgeable of the process and our tour group was small enough for me to ask a few questions. After the tour knowing I was a chemical engineer, he took my family group up on the column platform for a closer view and allowed me to take a few photos. All I had was an iPhone 4 at the time so this is the best I can offer! A more technical discussion is included with the photos if you are interested - otherwise, enjoy the pretty photos and construction of the column. The two distilleries are different in that Maker's Mark is producing bourbon using a mix of wheat, rye, and malted barley. Bayou Rum is obviously making rum and uses sugar cane to provide the sugar for fermentation. This is the upper portion of the column - where the real work/distillation/purification is taking place. Just below each sight glass...

After a few hard days with the move to Kentucky, we relaxed on Sunday and drove to Maker's Mark distillery for a tour. The location is relatively remote with beautiful grounds. It was one of the few on the Bourbon Trail that had tickets matching our schedule. There are better bourbons on the trail and we may visit one or two of those in a return trip to Kentucky one day. I drink/sip very little liquor and certainly don't have a discerning palette so such tours are more about the scenery than the bourbon for me. Once on the tour, we learned that the production side shuts down for the month of August for maintenance. Why August? Because it is the hottest month impacting operations (probably cooling efficiency is my guess). Distillers swear by copper and brass distillation columns as an aid to their flavors. This is the only column we saw though the guide stated there were three on the premises. It was a pretty dark room and the photography angles were poor so these are my best sh...

First day of full retirement. I am fortunate. My flight back from Fort Knox was delayed with the thunderstorms Monday. The first 30 minutes of the flight was a little bumpy out of Louisville but then very smooth. As we descended into Houston the clouds were multiple layers with clear skies between them. This is a shot from the window that gives you a little idea of what I saw. The sun was setting about as fast as the plane was descending. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/