Reconnecting with nature through hiking, camping, and paddling
When I arrived at the edge of the lake, this stump was absorbing the sun. As the dark wood warmed snow was converted into a small cloud of steam. As a result, this photo shows all three forms of water: frozen (snow), liquid (water), and vapor (steam).
The dark-eyed junco is a common bird in Richmond during the colder months. When the weather warms they will migrate to the Appalachians and Canada, not to return again until autumn. They make for tricky photography subjects as they are small, quick, and almost never still. I waited until this junco hopped into a patch of direct sunlight to get a shutter speed fast enough to catch it.
I would like to give some credit for this photo to Cornel Apostol. If you’re not familiar with Cornel’s blog, check it out at http://apostolcornel.wordpress.com. On several of his posts he’s mentioned throwing a sheet over his head to get closer to birds. That inspired me to rig up a simple blind which I used to capture this image.