Colorado At The Speed Of Life
Birds of Summer
Posted by Dornbrau (Colorado Springs, United States) on 6 April 2007 in Animal & Insect and Portfolio.
This picture was taken last year during the last week of October. There was a winter storm in the forecast but it was hard to believe on that warm autumn day. The normally rambunctious redwinged blackbirds seemed unusually subdued and sang melancholy songs to each other, as if they knew that it was to be their last day together before winter set in. The storm hit late the following afternoon. The blackbirds were already gone, leaving me to face the cold alone.
*Fountain Nature Center, Fountain Colorado
Zing from Hamilton, New Zealand
Great capture! Lovely silhouette and background colours.
6 Apr 2007 5:32am
Lydia from Ottawa, Canada
Amazing photo! Great silhouette in the foreground and beautiful fall colours in the background- hard to believe there was a storm brewing!
6 Apr 2007 6:13am
@Lydia: That particular storm dumped about 8 inches of snow on the area. I don't think anyone that afternoon took the forecast seriously, except for the birds.
Amarjit Singh from hoshiarpur, India
very nice picture ... colours are very nice ... well done
6 Apr 2007 7:00am
Shuva from Hyderabad, India
Good description, but the picture is fabolous. You need good eye to compose stuff like this. Well done!
6 Apr 2007 8:33am
@Shuva: Thank you. This was more patience than anything else. The was the last of a series of about 8 shots of the same bird. The last time everything game together almost perfectly.
Kheoh Yee Wei from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Wonderful tones and colors behind the silhouette ! Well done
6 Apr 2007 11:40am
Sandra from Philippines
Wow.. country-like picture.. hhmm.. really awesome photo.:)
6 Apr 2007 11:50am
Anurag Sharma from Pune, India
I wish I could capture something like this someday. I hope to start shooting again very soon, the moment I finish my current project.
6 Apr 2007 1:53pm
Yvon from Meerkerk, Netherlands
Beautiful shot, the blue and (golden)brown in the background are amazing.
6 Apr 2007 2:23pm
Stunner from Kingston, Jamaica
Great capture Dornbrau! Maybe they were telling goodbye and that they were flying to the tropics lol.
6 Apr 2007 5:15pm
Stephanie from Hesperia, United States
Great shot. You can feel the calmness and solitude. Very serene...thanks for sharing.
6 Apr 2007 5:46pm
Helen from Melbourne, Australia
I love everything about this photo, particularly the colours and the softness of the reflecion.
6 Apr 2007 10:15pm
Makoto from Sapporo, Japan
Wonderful silhouette. And the gradation of the background is so beautiful.
7 Apr 2007 1:44am
Sarah from Gainesville, United States
fabulous color in the background. excellent shot.
7 Apr 2007 2:44am
Alex Lee from Jeju, South Korea
I really like the gradient background colors. Is it a reflection of brown plants and sky on water?
7 Apr 2007 3:39am
@Alex Lee: Yes. I was standing in the shadow, to the south end of the pond, facing north east. The reflection of the drying cattails in the setting sun was gorgeous, and the water seemed bluer than usual.
Miguel from Stockholm, Sweden
I have to agree all before me. I'm weak for shadows and silhouettes so I love the picture.
7 Apr 2007 6:21am
Alfredo J. Martiz J. from Tokyo, Japan
Wonderful Silhoutte, really nice photo Dornbrau!
7 Apr 2007 3:06pm
oot skoot from United States
This is a sweet shot. Did you do any post processing?
7 Apr 2007 3:35pm
@oot skoot: Thanks. As far as post processing, I sharpened the image (standard when I post images online), increased the contrast a few clicks to darken the silhouette and I strengthened the saturation to intensify the soft hues. Everything else is pretty much as it was, even my crooked waterline at the top. (I forgot to straighten it before posting).
Anne from White Rock, Canada
Beautiful photo - I love silhouettes and bird photos - this one was worth your wait - thanks for sharing and thanks for your comments on my "Rain" photo. :-)
7 Apr 2007 9:26pm
Mike Cash from Kiryu, Japan
It is stunning how so many little things came together to create the wonderful effect here....the way the bird sits at exactly the right level amongst the horizontal bands of color, the way it is in perfect silhouette, the way he had his head turned so his beak would show, the way the light was working. I cocked my head to see what it might be like if you had straightened the waterline (which I didn't even notice until reading the comments). I think it would have made the bird look as though he were teetering there.
8 Apr 2007 5:54am
benjamin from singapore, Singapore
love the story... complements the photo really well. it does seem sad for the bird, having to leave due to the cold. and the image captures this very well. great shot=)
8 Apr 2007 5:59am
Rui Borges from Sintra, Portugal
Nostalgia, that's the whole feeling, image + text.
Make us wish for their return. ;-)
9 Apr 2007 9:51am
Nikon D70
1/1000 second
F/9.0
450 mm (35mm equiv.)