Rose-breasted Grosbeak

"Rose-breasted Grosbeak"
graphite
small leather sketchbook

My father told me on Sunday to keep an eye on my bird feeder for rose-breasted grosbeak, as he had seen them near his more southerly home.  They are migrating north to their nesting grounds, and were likely to pass through my neighborhood.  Sure enough, on Monday morning as I was looking out my kitchen window, I saw a single male rose-breasted grosbeak.  Throughout the day, I saw the same group of three males and one female visit my feeder.  The males would often have little spats, one hovering as the other prevented him from landing.  It was a beautiful day, and I had all the windows open in my house, so I could hear their plaintive calls wherever I was.  Dad said "It's like sneakers on a gym floor" but the noise seems so soft and subdued to me, that it's more like mice wearing sneakers on a gym floor.  These feisty and attractive seed-eaters were the inspiration for this sketch.

Dusting off my cameras

Dusted off the D300
digital photograph
Nikon D100

Having a little bit of time off after the holiday rush led to me dusting off the Nikon D300 which I got for Christmas last year and used... once.  It sat staring balefully at me through its lens cover, neglected for nearly an entire year, sending little tingles of guilt through me every time I glanced its way.  Both of my cameras and nearly all of my accompanying equipment are very generous gifts from my dad, who does some amazing bird photography for his own blog.  I originally pilfered his old Pentax film SLR for my photography class at Mason Gross.

One of the most important and lasting lessons from my professor, LaToya Frazier, was trying to take the shot so that little to no editing is required.  This (can sometimes) result in quality photographs, and requires patience; taking many shots as various aperture settings, compositions, and shutter speeds are adjusted; and an understanding of lighting and your subject matter.  Doing all of this with a film camera and developing my own film was both highly stressful and rewarding.  I remember sweating in the dark room, fumbling with rolls of film as I transferred them from the camera to the spool for developing, praying that I didn't wreck a few hours worth of shooting.  I felt like a wizard dodging and burning the photosensitive paper, and putting the paper through its chemical washes.  I also keenly felt the high prices of film and other equipment.  Often, I would not take more than the minimum three shots recommended per composition so that I would not have to buy as much film.

Access to a DSLR and a computer took away a lot of that stress, but also a little bit of the magic, too.  Digital photography is a boon for a hectic schedule, yet even so, my photography dropped off during my long artistic hiatus.  Of course, my battery life was nearly exhausted for my D300, so instead, I got out the D100 while I began charging the lithium batteries, which is a slightly older and heavier model.  I currently have a 77mm telescopic lens on it.  I just stuck around the house for my re-entry into photography, taking advantage of the slanting winter light streaming into my home.

Ficus Leaves
Digital photograph
Nikon D100