23 Mar 11. About 8 miles from our home in Ballard sits Meadowbrook Pond, considered by some to be the best kept secret park of all the Seattle parks. It is part of a water shed and I think it is fed by Thornton Creek, but I cannot find anything definitive on it. The area has been sculpted by artists and is a quiet refuge from the busy city although it lies barely one block off a main drag. In fact, you could drive right by it for years and never even know of its existence. A good friend introduced me to it a couple of years ago and I paid it a visit with him Tuesday afternoon to photograph whatever was there, hoping for at least a Wood Duck and a Common Merganser pair. I wasn't disappointed and got to see a bit of a show as the Wood Duck has apparently mated with a Mallard hen whom he vigorously defends against all the male Mallards. We got to watch several chase scenes and a bit more. The photo I'm sharing today took place just as the Wood Duck was chasing off a group of Mallards, both drakes and hens. It could have been a wee bit sharper, but I felt the slight softness gave a feeling of motion that isn't all that distracting and may even add a bit of realism to the image. The Wood Duck can be seen directly behind the Mallard in the very middle of the image and an American Widgeon sitting at water's edge behind the hen taking off on the left of the image. ISO 200; 1/320 sec @ f / 5.6.
24 Mar 11. While waiting for the second half of the Mountaineer's Basic Photo class to convene Sunday afternoon at the clubhouse on Magnuson Park, I drove down to where the old airstrip used to be located. It has been removed and in its place a series of ponds have been created to make an attempt at returning the area to what was fundamentally wetlands prior to the construction of the Naval Air Station after WWI. There are now a series of ponds that have been created to look very natural with a cement walkway allowing you to meander around all of them. Depending of the timing of your visit, they can be bustling with life, seeming devoid of it, and everything in between. As I was walking along the path between two of the ponds, I was aware of a lot of crow activity very close to me, but they didn't seem to be all that excited by my presence. So I stood still for a few moments trying to determine the source of their activity and then suddenly I realized what was happening. Perched on a log not 10 feet from me was a beautiful raptor quite intent on watching some of the ducks swimming a few yards away. I slowly raised the camera and began to push the shutter. After more than 10 minutes of rearranging electrons, I decided it was time to move on and let the critters do what they were intending prior to my interruption. Several of those shutter presses turned out O.K.; this is one I particularly liked. Since the area is very busy vegetation wise, I elected to use a medium large aperture to soften the background. ISO 200; 1/400 sec @ f / 6.3.
25 Mar 11. Saturday will be the final outing for the Mountaineers Basic Photo class and once again we will meet at Fisherman's Terminal. For my taste the class convenes too late at 0700 to get the really great photos of the boat's lights reflecting off the surface of the water, so I arrive 90 minutes prior while it is still very dark, the water flat calm, the reflections great, and with time to do my own work before assisting the students. That is unless it is raining, and the weather guessers are calling for just that for Saturday morning making it doubtful that I will be able to get the material I want. Why the program Chair insists on holding the classes in March is a mystery to me as the 4 years in which I have participated have seen as least twice as many rainy days as sunny ones, but still we stand firm in our resolve. Believing that the weather will not be cooperative - I hope I'm wrong - I've picked a shot from last year with similar weather and modified it to make a hopefully interesting image although not what anyone would have seen. Nonetheless, what you are looking at should be very obvious, not nearly as obfuscated as some early Neiman paintings, which are currently selling for the tens of thousands, but still abstract enough to give you pause to see it clearly. ISO 200; 1/30 sec @ f / 22 on a tripod.
