I’ve borrowed the title of one of my favorite Bob Dylan’s songs for the title of this blog. There are changes in the air and I’m getting ready to place them before you.
The first change is that we are probably experiencing our last few days of summer-like weather and it’s changing the conditions under which I take photographs in the yard. The best light for photography is changing almost daily. Just a few short weeks ago there were just a couple of periods in the day when I did NOT have good light on the yard and watercourse. The conditions have now reversed and there are just a few times a day when I DO have good lighting conditions. The sun is quickly sinking lower in the sky, and as it falls along the ridge of the large fir trees to our south the yard becomes a patchwork of light and dark which changes from minute to minute and, with the clear skies we have been having lately, adds a high propensity for backlit subjects.
So it has become time for me, for the first time in several months, to switch my base of operations from the yard to the greater county. My first fall excursion occurred on Wednesday (9/10/2014). My first good photographic find occurred just north of Fir Island when, with the help of a little pishing, I discovered a Black-capped chickadee and at least FOUR Bewick’s wrens… and those birds are the ones pictured in this blog.
Of note was a Spotted sandpiper at the boat launch on the HQ tract on Fir Island and a large number of Lark sparrows along a ditch in the vicinity of Dodge Valley Road. While I did obtain photographs, they were not good enough to post here.
The second change you should see is new banners at the top of some of my pages. I’ve been remiss in not changing those for several months and since I was out on a mini expedition I took the opportunity to take some pictures of the local flora.
The final change that’s occurring is a technical one in which most of you won’t be interested, but since it’s occupying a considerable amount of my time and attention and is of considerable importance to this blog, I’m laying it out anyway. I’ve just about reached the capacity (1T) of my internal hard drive. Up until now I have been able to store ALL of my photos on my laptop’s internal hard drive, but that is coming to an end. I could have purchased a 2T internal hard drive but for various reasons too technical to get bogged down in here I’ve decided to move ALL my photographs to a 2T external hard drive. I’ve successfully copied all my photographs (64,627 images @ 575GB!) to a new external hard drive and now I need to figure how to link Adobe Lightroom’s catalog to the photographs in the new location. That last step is still pending!
As fall progresses I’ll be switching more of my photography to vehicle excursions and I probably won’t get as many really good photographs as I manage in the more controlled/favorable conditions in my yard. In addition to the photos I’ve displayed in this blog, I’ve already added more to the hopper but first want to wait for all the technical matters to be resolved before I process any more photos. But I think you’ll enjoy what you see in my next blog.
With regard to the seasonal changes mentioned in this blog I would like to draw your attention to some appropriate music for the occasion. Two of my favorite folk songs address the changes of the seasons that we’re experiencing… the song, Changes, sung by Gordon Lightfoot/Phil Ochs (not together) and Simon and Garfunkle’s song, Leaves that are Green. Happy autumn!