Good Birding Day - Bad Lighting Day

As the soon to be winter sun has settled lower in the sky, no matter where we shot today, the light was not in our favor. It seemed as the best shots were always in to the sun with no way around to find a better angle. I guess if we could have walked on water we would have been all set. Despite bad lighting, is there really ever a bad day birding when the variety is exceptional?

A couple of shots came out okay. Mr. Hawk once again allowed us to take plenty of shots and have an extended period of observation. That made the day worth it. The Waxwings, Bluebirds and Gold Finches were plentiful and lively. The antics of the Gold Finches are fun to watch as they position themself to get that perfect treat.

So what do you do with those less than perfect shots? Sometimes they are the best for applying a little artistic license and play with various filters to get a nice effect. I have found them a very useful tool as I am trying to teach myself watercolor painting. Another idea I employ is to resize the photo to around 4x5 inches. I made a computer template to fit some blank gift cards and bring the photo into a graphics program. It makes for a nice one of a kind card and the subject matter can be anything that fits the person receiving. A good example of an ideal photo to play with is like this one of a Cedar Waxwing. Very bad lighting but these make the best to play with. To this photo I applied several filters ending with watercolor.

Top it the original, second is the simulated watercolor.