JDW Photos and Life

This is a box I made about 6 weeks ago as I continued to practice my 45° miter plus spline joints. It was dimensioned to contain stationary for a friend. It is happily on his desk these days. The bloodwood is messy to cut as it makes a very fine dust even on the table saw. Yes, I wore a respirator and had all filters and vacuums on high. Final sanding colored the white maple splines making them look more like cherry than maple. I doubt I use bloodwood again due to all of this in addition to it being considerably more expensive than similar woods. It is finished with semi-gloss lacquer. Outside dimensions are 7-1/2"W x 10-1/2"L x 2-1/2"H (w/o lid). Still learning. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

I am not 100% sure that this flower is a Mexican Hat - AKA P rairie Coneflower . It is the best match I can find that seems reasonable for our area. This photo was taken at the same location as the Orchard Oriole shared earlier -  clump of trees in Anahuac National Wildlife Reserve. There were not a ton of flowers still in bloom but these certainly added to the beauty of the place. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

This guy was in a grass field too far away but I took the photo anyway. This was taken at a clump of trees in Anahuac where a lot of birders go to see this and similar migratory birds in the spring. Neat looking bird - I just wish I got a little closer look. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

This message contains the last of the sequenced shots. Be sure to look at the last (4th) photo if nothing else. You see his prized lunch in his beak. Like many photos, I had no idea what was causing the chase at the time and was surprised to see the bug in the beak when I began my edits. I'm guessing it is a dragonfly just emerging from the nymph stage. You see the bird picking it off a short branch. Who knows what it was other than green but it took a lot of effort so it must have be a tasty morsel. I decided to add a 5th photo with a tighter crop of the bird/bug. The tighter crop highlights too much blur but maybe you can see the bug better if on a phone instead of a larger screen. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

This guy kept on flying and I kept my finger down on the shutter button. He was obviously chasing something but we could not see it. The flight was a magnificent display of fighter jet dogfight moves turning on a dime while staying in the air and focused on the target. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

This red-winged blackbird was skimming the water surface in search of lunch (yes, at Anahuac again!). The sharp contrast of their wing colors makes them a favorite. Photographing them is not so great as a solid black bird is hard to capture details. These photos took a bit of editing to bring out the shades of black. To be continued in a second message..... Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

There were quite a few black necked stilts in Anahuac the day we visited. It is such a small bird (around a small seagull) for such long legs, there is little wonder how it got its name. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

Though a pretty common bird in Texas, a cardinal in full breeding colors is always nice to see. I struggle to decide if the fence post contributes or distracts in this photo. I usually prefer a shot with the full body of the bird but this shot has its own quality given the sharp detail of the cardinal's head - particularly his erect crest and very black mask. The "extra" darker coloration in his wings also makes this shot a bit different than other cardinals I have photographed. I was a little surprised by the deflection in the rope as I would have guessed the cardinal would not weigh enough to have much impact. Maybe is says more about the lightweight rope and proximity to the post than the cardinal's weight. Regardless, he's a good looking bird! Photographed at Anahuac NWR. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

This green heron at Anahuac has taken posing lessons and knows exactly how to stand with the forward leg bent, chest slightly turned, and looking off into the distance. The old and new barbed wire with the old cedar post completes the photo. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

This is another shot of the warbler on the post. He is looking for his next landing spot. In the previous photo I shared, the body of the bird was parallel to the camera and allowed the full body to be in decent focus. In this shot, the bird's body is roughly perpendicular to the camera and you can really see the impact of bokeh when using zoom lenses and high aperture (low f-stop) in low light conditions. The depth of field is very narrow - maybe 1" max. This camera has an animal eye detect focus option that I was using. It nailed the eye but cannot do anything about the blur/bokeh of the body that is just a small distance behind the eye. Even its feet are far enough back to be blurred. If you look closely, you can see a spider web from the beak to the forehead. You can also see the location of the ear and detail of the nostrils. For the photographers, the shot was taken at ISO 12800, 1/1600 sec, f/8, and 560 mm. The photo crop is not tight (the body of the bird was the major...