Backyard Baby

A small tree in my backyard held a little surprise.  A nest with three eggs.  I told myself I’d photograph the progress frequently….then I got distracted (squirrel!).

By the time I took my camera outside, one baby had hatched and grown up!!

Baby Bird - Tressie Davis Photography

Mama bird was NOT very happy that I was looking in her nest…

Bird on Wire - Tressie Davis Photography
Bird on Wire - Tressie Davis Photography

The next time I went to check, mama bird had kicked the baby out of the nest!!!  All that was left was the two eggs that never hatched.

Robin Eggs in Nest - Tressie Davis Photography

The End.

ps – if you have a little time to waste and want to watch something cool, check out this video of a robin hatching from its egg.

Matthaei Botanical Gardens, Ann Arbor

What better way to spend time on Memorial Weekend than with fellow photographers at Matthaei Botanical Gardens?  It was beautiful, and what a great place to look for critters and practice “seeing” details.

Our first friendly visits were with geese, frogs, turtles and a muskrat.

Mama Goose and Goslings
Gosling
Frog
Muskrat
Turtle

We were kinda hoping that the mama goose would bite Brian, but we weren’t that lucky.  She just hustled her babies away.

After the critters, we concentrated on color, texture and tiny details.

Matthaei Botanical Gardens Ann Arbor
Matthaei Botanical Gardens Ann Arbor

One of my favorites of the day 🙂

Matthaei Botanical Gardens Ann Arbor

And my partners in crime, Kiah and Brian.

Matthaei Botanical Gardens Ann Arbor

Suggestions for our next outing?  I’m all ears!

The Windy City – Chicago Rocks

The view from my hotel room

The last weekend in October, I left my family for a short trip to Chicago.  The “official” purpose of the trip was the Zenfolio Zoom Tour, where I would learn about all kinds of ways to make my website better.  Hopefully in the next few months I will be implementing what I learned.

“Unofficially”, I wanted to take pictures in Chicago and visit with my dear friend Vicki.

I signed up for a workshop with John Batdorff, to walk the streets of Chicago and to see it from the perspective of a resident.  I was not disappointed – no only did John show me lots of cool places to shoot, I learned a lot about shooting subjects that do not have eyes.  This is a struggle for me you know.

With John, I practiced seeing in black and white – spotting patterns within a scene or subject, and thinking about black and white conversions while I shoot.  I am by no means a landscape or architectural photographer, but I love how learning an unfamiliar type of photography can bring so many ideas and inspiration to the type of photography that I DO shoot.  And it was FUN.  Between shooting locations John and I chit chatted about our families, our photography, and very interesting things like the difference between a Booty Call and a Butt Dial.  But that’s a story for a different day.

Don’t forget to look up!!

A bonus Chicago tip from John:  The Ghirardelli store gives out a free chocolate to each person that walks in.  Dessert on John! (don’t worry, I won’t tell everyone you’re a cheap date)

Lunch with Vicki, shopping on the Miracle Mile, and some street performances rounded out the trip.  (Vicki I won’t tell the story about how you mailed post cards to my girls 4 years after they were written…love you xo)

I think I need to do this more often…



Even the pigeons were cold
Yay for beautiful friendships…

My First Haiku

I’m not sure what prompted me to google Haiku – perhaps my recent fascination of origami and other beautiful things originating in the Japanese culture.  This Wiki-How article does a great job of explaining the difference between a traditional Japanese Haiku, and the English version (5, 7, 5 syllables) which is longer.  It goes on to say that the 5-7-5 rule is no longer considered the standard, though that is what is still taught in American schools.  I much prefer the Japanese view, that a Haiku should be able to be expressed in one breath (according to WikiHow that would be a total of 10-14 syllables).  And who wants rules imposed in their creativity anyway?

With all of that in mind, as well as inspiration found in the rest of the same article, I looked out the window and my brain immediately formed the following thought – my first (10 syllable!) Haiku.

~~~~~~
Rain showers
A new beginning
Believe
~~~~~~
What do you think?