Hummingbird Medicine

Young female (I think) rufous hummingbird, Magdalena, NM, August 2012

Just outside my bedroom window a tiny messenger came calling this morning, perching quietly on the old peach tree for a good bit. She stayed long enough for me to get my camera, take a few photos, and enjoy the rare sight of a hummingbird at rest. Some people believe animals carry specific meanings and messages, so just for curiosity's sake I looked up what hummingbirds mean and found this:

What is hummingbird's message for us? First of all, adaptability in life's many situations and being able to "roll with the punches." If you have hummingbird medicine, you adapt easily to whatever situation you may find yourself in, and make the most of your new circumstances. You don't waste time looking back and wishing for "what was" for you are concerned with making the most of "what is." 

The second message is inner joy.... You take great pleasure in spreading joy and love and beauty to all around you, and have the gift of taking that inner joy into new and different surroundings.

So, be adaptable and nurture my inner joy as I move forward. Turns out to be a fortuitous message for today: I finally received my official license to practice therapy (under supervision for 2 years) and can now truly move forward into my new career! I start working part-time in Albuquerque on Tuesday, and will also interview next week for a more local job that seems both challenging and promising. Four years in the making, my journey begins a whole new phase. As busy as I'll be, though, I truly hope I continue to enjoy moments like this morning's, just watching a bird pause in its own busy life.

"Hope is the thing with feathers..."

Evening at the ranch, Magdalena, NM, June 2012

“Hope” is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all -
And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -
And sore must be the storm -
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm -
I’ve heard it in the chillest land -
And on the strangest Sea -
Yet - never - in Extremity,
It asked a crumb - of me.
-Emily Dickinson (still my favorite poet)

A bird's song can stop a mind from writhing in darkness, and hope can keep a person moving forward despite setbacks and obstacles and doubt and fear. Ten days ago I finished my Masters program in marital/family therapy, three years and nine months after setting out on what seemed like a last-ditch effort to rebuild a life worth living. It was hard work, but the structure provided a sort of scaffolding and every success an essential block in a new foundation. I pause now to catch my breath and enjoy the summer with my kids, and to prepare for the next phase: living what was in the beginning a sketched-out dream sustained mostly, and sometimes only, by hope. I could not have done this alone and have so many people to thank for encouraging and supporting me along the way....

Pastoral Breakfast (19/366)

Sandhill cranes, San Acacia, NM, Jan. 2012

Thanks to this 366 photo project I've been making an effort to incorporate photo shoots into my Albuquerque commute, and in most cases leaving home a half-hour earlier gives me plenty of time as long as I've planned where and what to shoot. Today my first two appointments cancelled, so I had plenty of time to stop in San Acacia (yes, the link goes to a commercial site; this is a great outfit!), an agricultural town 15 or so miles north of Socorro. San Acacia is at the southern edge of the Sevilleta NWR, and sandhill cranes seem to like grazing the dormant alfalfa and corn fields during the day. These birds migrate into the area in late autumn and leave in March, and although the most popular place to see them is the Bosque del Apache NWR you can find them in several other places along the middle Rio Grande.

I noticed them a few weeks ago during my morning commute and decided to make this a photo shoot, hoping the birds would cooperate and stay around the near side of this field so I could get some nice closeups. No, they replied indignantly (I would imagine), and before I could get set up they were off to the other side. I'll try again another time, with the camera pre-mounted on the tripod and ready to go, but in the meantime I got some okay shots, and I really enjoyed the spent standing at the edge of this pasture watching and listening to them.

Edit (1/29/12): Here's another, experimental version of the photo, rendered in the Opalotype filter of Topaz Labs' B&W Effects:

Do-Over: Two Trees

Two Trees at Sunset, Bosque del Apache NWR, Oct. 2011

It is sunny and WARM (mid-50s) today, so I'll just be a moment before heading outside with the kids and the dogs. Based on feedback I received on the original posting of this photo, I've been wanting to re-process the image to give the trees more "breathing room." I know I tend to crop in too closely, probably fearing that details (like the bird perching atop the dead tree above) will be lost in a larger image, but really the point of landscapes seems to be large ideas rather than small details. I still need to work on that. Meanwhile, here's the revised image, and I do indeed like it much better than my earlier version. I always appreciate feedback, including constructive criticism; nothing like another set of eyes to offer a different perspective.

What A Real Pro Can Do

Rosy Finch in a whole new light

I asked a friend to help me learn more about Photoshop and bring a bit more "art" to my photos, and WOW did I learn a lot. Watching a professional work was a great experience in itself, and to come up with this result, which may or may not be "finished" (I think it's already fabulous), was beyond what I'd hoped for. So, what am I gonna do during my vacation (besides finally finish my course project)? Play, play, play! And, not that I need another reason to want to hang out with this great person, but hey, I'm sure I'll need a refresher course soon. Next up: a re-do of the hummingbird pictures; thanks to your feedback and my great tutelage I have some ideas of how to make them... outstanding? Well, I'll try.

Post-Processing Experiments: Hummingbird Images Revisited

I am staying up way too late these days playing in Photoshop, lately with the Topaz B/W plug-in. Working with the latter I am finally breaking free of my visual literalism (or whatever you'd call it) to consider what other elements of an image besides stark realism might express the essence of the subject. I always want the most crisp image possible and recall being disappointed when I first opened these images; without a ridiculously expensive fast telephoto lens, hummingbirds are close to impossible to capture "perfectly."

Last night I opened three hummingbird images I took during the summer and started abstracting them; the results were nice, but... still very realistic. Tonight, having had so much fun earlier with today's bird images, I opened the hummingbird images again and went further into abstraction. The blur works here; especially in the top photo I marvel at the clarity of the little dude's eye and head/neck feathers.

I still need to work with the tinting; I see these as a series, perhaps matted or at least hung together, and think the color should be consistent among them. But I can't decide between a warmer or a cooler tone... what do you think?

Birds at Play

Rosy Finch, Digital photo in Opalotype style, Magdalena, NM, Dec. 2011

Dark-eyed Junco

It is still snowing here in Western New Mexico, and it is lovely. I refilled the bird feeders this morning, knowing my little buddies wouldn't be able to get to much of their natural food thanks to our heavy snow today, and here they are, giving me and the kitties a wonderful show. The front feeder has been taken over by doves, who drop enough feed on the ground that I'm hoping some quail will come by later. I don't see them often because I live in town and many dogs roam around, but when the weather keeps the dogs (and people) hunkered down the quail probably feel safer coming out from their brushy cover.

Female Finch

We have a feeder in the back yard, too, and I moved it closer to the sliding glass doors in the living room so I could get some good shots of them feeding and fussing. I used my 55-200mm zoom lens for these images; I was going to sell this lens because I've never been impressed by its optics but decided to hold off to see if it gave better results with the new camera. These are good enough for now, I think. I processed them as always in Photoshop, then ran them through the Topaz Labs B/W Effects filter to add a vintage feel by desaturating (though I never can bring myself to eliminate the color altogether), adding grain and vignettes, and so forth. These images are all done in the "Opalotype" style, which mimics an early photographic process of printing images directly on milk glass (also called opal glass). Like many black-and-white prints opalotypes were often hand-tinted with just a blush of color. I'm in LUVVV with this style, so please bear with me as I work it to death in the next few processing sessions....

Mr. and Mrs. Finch at dinner

Post-Processing Experiments: Tone and Texture

Bosque Sunset, Bosque del Apache NWR, NM, Nov. 2011

A great conversation with some artists recently inspired me to push myself out of my comfort zone in photo processing. I tend towards realism, which makes photography a perfect medium for me (not to mention I can't paint or draw worth a plugged nickel), but sometimes a photograph captures a moment that might be better expressed less literally, more figuratively... I'm not sure what the best words are to express this, so I've spent the past few days playing visually to see how I respond on a gut level to various effects.

I saw right away that this photo in its raw form was kind of flat; the composition was okay, the detail was pretty good but not good enough to zoom in (have I mentioned that I'm dying for a fast telephoto lens? Next year, perhaps), and the color was good but not striking enough to carry the image. So I applied Photoshop's black-and-white filter, which was okay but not fabulous (I do much prefer color to B/W -- my own visual bias), and then slowly ramped the color back up and added sepia and selenium toning (using Topaz Labs' new B&W Effects, which is a fun and fabulous Photoshop add-in) to "antique" the image. This seemed to bring out the snow geese, which helped me realize that I didn't really have one stand-out focal element in this image -- oh, pretty birds! oh, pretty trees! oh, cool lines! -- and that perhaps this is what I struggle with most in landscapes.

So, food for thought. Please feel free to offer whatever feedback you have on this image; it's definitely a work in progress. I'm really enjoying the process of experimenting and letting go of the idea that I have to create a "perfect" image, and I'm open to suggestions and inspiration.

Summer Skies

Nighthawk at sunset, Magdalena, NM, August 2011

Reason #843 I love photography: I can't paint. Tonight's sunset was beautiful even if not splashy and neon, but just after the sun fell below the horizon it splashed color across the clouds that stopped me in my tracks. The texture and colors of the clouds made me think of the ocean, perhaps because my grandfather created similarly colorful, detailed skies in his oil paintings of 18th-century clipper ships. He grew up near the ocean and spent many vacations in "Down East" Maine, where his family came from, but I think if he'd ever come out west he would have found the skies here just as enchanting.


Sweeping sunset

Forest Sentinels: Working with Art Beads

Forest Sentinel, featuring owl pendant by Spirited Earth and ceramic button by Beadfreaky



Woodland song, featuring Summers Studio ceramic bird


I'm finally working my way through my art bead stash -- I guess I can't hoard them forever, right? I seem to be leaning toward cool forest tones lately, probably because the ongoing drought and wildfires throughout the southwest make me crave rain and cool green woodlands. We have one more month to endure till our summer rains come... so expect more cool offerings in the coming weeks. The necklace above, shown in progress in last week's BTW post, features an amazing owl pendant by Spirited Earth (I have another one in adobe pink tones that will show up in an entirely different piece soon) and a ceramic button by Beadfreaky, along with Czech pressed glass leaves that I can't seem to get enough of (had to order more yesterday because I'm putting them in everything lately). I added the brass chain and wirewrapped leaves after spending some time contemplating the pendant on just the leather cord with the ceramic and wood beads for some time; that was a nice simple look, but I wanted to fill in the space above the owl, which I think the leaves do very nicely.

The necklace below is simpler, using the same ceramic and wood beads along with a little brass bird to frame a Beadfreaky button that I darkened and sparkled up a bit with gold acrylic paint and Renaissance Wax. Both necklaces coordinate with the bracelet above, featuring a ceramic bird by Summers Studio and yet another ceramic button by Beadfreaky (obviously one of my favorite suppliers). So that's my walk through the cool green forest for today; more cool-toned offerings will appear later this week, I'm sure, as I continue to seek mental refuge from the heat.

Creekside, featuring Beadfreaky ceramic button embellished with gold paint and used as a pendant

BTW: Desert Oasis



Desert Oasis: Necklace in faceted glass, shell, pearls, and brass



I haven't participated in Bead Table Wednesday lately because my beading area is just a disheveled, unmanageable disaster lately thanks to lots of work in the garden and puppy training. My works in progress are so messy I can't even see what I was thinking when I started laying them out, and even though I know BTW isn't about showing how neat and tidy our workspaces are (because they usually aren't when we're in the midst of creating), mine is kind of hideous right now. Miraculously, though, the necklace above emerged from the chaos over the past few days. It's mostly glass -- Michaels has had some gorgeous faceted glass on their racks lately, and I got the glass leaves and flowers from Etsy seller yashmacreations -- along with dyed shell chips, a few wirewrapped pearls, and a brass dragonfly and swallow on antiqued brass chain. I had started laying this piece out in sterling silver (I was going to use a blue lampwork focal) but didn't have enough chain and was appalled to find that silver has risen past $40 per ounce; actually, though, I much prefer the warmth that brass brings to this piece. So, what's on your table today?

Art Bead Scene April Challenge

Spring Wine, Necklace in Shell, Pearls, and Vintage Brass

This month's Art Bead Scene color challenge did indeed challenge me, until I found some amazing wine-colored shell components at Michaels earlier this week. The wonderful flowery lentils caught my eye right away, and I easily found coordinating pearls that I strung with glass seed beads for an "airy" feeling. The shell fan is actually half of a set; the other 6 pieces will probably become matching earrings. The 3 brass filigree beads on the left side, just below the shell button clasp, came from a 1960s necklace of my mom's that is slowly making its way into new pieces. The shell birds came from the Thunderbird Supply sale bin; you'll be seeing these in many colors in upcoming designs. I made a matching bracelet, too, and will finish the earrings this weekend and list the set on Etsy by Sunday. I missed the deadline to be part of the blog hop, but be sure to visit the blogs listed to see some really beautiful pieces by wonderfully talented designers!

They're Ba-aaack!

Female Rufous Hummingbird, Patterson Canyon, NM, Sept. 2010

I saw a hummingbird yesterday, right on schedule -- they usually come back up here around the 2nd week of April, buzzing around looking for food after what must be a long journey for them (or anyone, really). He flitted around right outside the dining room glass doors, first inspecting the bobbling glass and copper hummingbird garden ornament, then hunting for open flowers, then hovering right in front of the door as if to bark at me, "So, where are the feeders already??" They're cleaned and ready to go, tiny sir, and I'll get the hummingbird bar open for business pronto. The hummer shown above is a female Rufous, and those little feisties don't come back till after the summer solstice; that gives our early arrivals (the Black-Chinned and Broad-Tailed hummers) time to nest and acclimate before the real feeder turf wars begin. We can't wait!

Mosaic Monday: Flight Patterns

Mosaic Monday has really helped me stretch my creative... uh, wings -- no pun intended, really -- because not only do I get to think of a theme but I also get to go through my photographs and see if I can improve any of them. I was surprised to see how few bird photos I've taken because I absolutely love birds, in all art forms, and while I know they can be difficult to photograph I see now that I need to make it a point to try whenever possible and figure out the challenges. Here are a few of my favorite bird photos, three shot in 2010 and one, the cranes up top, actually shot back in early 2007 with my wonderful Konica-Minolta point-and-shoot. I tried the same shot with my Nikon D3000 in November 2010 and got far inferior results because this otherwise decent entry-level SLR does poorly in low light. If I hadn't scratched the KM's lens I'd probably still be using it because it was an excellent camera. In any case, I can't wait to begin chronicling the spring migrations and capturing some of our fair-weather friends. Lucky them, hiding out in warmer climes during this bone-chilling winter.

Bird Sanctuary

Ring-Necked Doves Huddling against the Cold, Magdalena, NM, Feb. 2011

Greetings from the frozen southwest... I know we're not the only ones with crazy-cold weather so I'll try not to whine too much, but DANG it's cold here! It barely breached zero(F) yesterday (-20 or so C) and as soon as the sun went down, so did the temperatures, to at least -20F (-30C) and possibly lower but it was too dang cold for me to get out of bed and check at 5:30 a.m.! I did manage to keep the pipes from freezing by running a faucet indoors and also setting the washer and dishwasher on timers to run in the middle of the night, sequentially. So this morning I awoke to running water AND clean clothes and dishes -- looking on the bright side, yes indeed! And it's already up to 15 degrees, with strong sunshine that is warming the house nicely and even melting a tiny bit of our near-foot of snow.

Finches and Juncos in the Perennial Bed, Feb. 2011

One cool thing about snowstorms is that if you keep the bird feeders full, the birds come en masse and provide plenty of entertainment for humans and cats alike. My dad has been awesome about keeping the feeders full and also keeping the fire going, so despite a bit of cabin fever we're getting through this okay. I look forward to a weekend in the mid-40s, though; that's closer to normal for here and, you know, I live here instead of my old hometown (Philly) or Colorado or wherever because I like sunny, not-frigid winters. I do love how the snow dresses things up and have been trying to get some good photos (I confess that I shot both of these from indoors, sacrificing a bit of clarity to avoid frostbite!), some of which will surely appear in Monday Mosaics over the next few weeks. What I'm really looking forward to, though, is making photo mosaics that show the transition from winter to spring. All this snow will make for some happy roots and, eventually, happy flowers. Eventually.

Subtle Hues of Winter

Winter Song, Bracelet in Natural Coral, Onyx, Smoky Quartz, Bone, and Brass

Here are some more bracelets, a genre I neglected (along with my jewelry in general) last year but am loving now because it allows me to try new ideas and techniques and offer new jewelry at affordable prices. These bracelets both use brass -- a metal I've been growing fond of lately, especially as silver prices surge -- and wonderful natural coral rounds with a warm, earthy texture and color that actually work better with brass than silver. They both are in uncharacteristically (for me) muted colors and were inspired by a photo I took earlier this month -- a creative crossover I should continue to foster. 

The bracelet above has a hand-carved onyx raven focal bead and the last of my faceted onyx "pillows"; it closes with a button clasp based on a hand-carved bone button from my sewing stash. The bracelet below is all ocean: the coral rounds, dyed pearls, and two exquisite faceted ocean jasper teardrops "wrapped" in what could well be seen as seaweed. These and several more (which I'll probably show tomorrow) should be up in my Etsy shop by tomorrow. If any good movies are on tonight I'm hoping to finish some new, more springlike offerings that mix sari silk (my favorite new medium now that I've figured out how to use it in jewelry) and glass. Maybe I can get some inspiration from some of the many flower photos I took last spring. If you find inspiration from any of these, I'd love to see what you come up with!

Winter Shores, Bracelet in Natural Coral, Pearls, Ocean Jasper, and Brass

Shifting Perspective

Getting a Better View: Raven on Yucca; Altered Photograph, May 2010/Jan. 2011, Socorro, New Mexico



I've been playing with this image for a good part of the day, trying to reclaim a so-so photograph (good composition but not-so-good light or crispness) and finally, FINALLY breaking out of my strict adherence to "reality." I love many different kinds of art, including less-than-realistic forms (though I'm not a big fan of abstract forms). But I am not adept at very many of them; in fact, some time ago I joked to a friend that I take photos because I can't paint or draw worth a damn. Photos are "supposed" to be realistic, so when I process my photos I stay very close to the original details and almost never play with brush strokes, textures, and other more artistic manipulations that Photoshop and other programs offer. Today, though, I just wanted to play. When I took this photo last May, this raven was playing, too, hopping from one yucca stalk to another and chattering at another raven (a potential mate? a competitor?). My original photo was not very well focused, so I didn't manage to capture the creature's personality very well -- it really only emerged as I ventured further and further from "reality" in manipulating the image. I hope you like it.

"I heard a bird sing in the dark of December..."

December Dusk, Bracelet of Ceramic, Leather, Turquoise, Coral, and Copper

 I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December
A magical thing
And sweet to remember.

"We are nearer to Spring
Than we were in September,"
I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December.

-Oliver Herford

Just like this time last year, I have had a strange burst of creativity recently that seems out of place in the cold, dark weather typical of late December. This year it seems to be jewelry, specifically bracelets, which, unlike necklaces, offer a fairly constrained format that keeps me from getting overwhelmed as I experiment with new techniques.

Another constraint I'm imposing on myself is to use what I have: years ago I remember Christopher Lowell (oh how I loved Interior Motives! It always left me with a smiling heart full of happy) talking about how limited resources can actually spur our creativity, and over the years I have repeatedly found this to be true. In fact, in addition to the creative possibilities I find while poking around in my stash for treasures like the beads and charms in the above bracelet, perhaps the constraints of cold and dark have awakened or highlighted something that I might not notice when the weather is sunny and warm and I'm outside taking pictures of flowers and bugs. Kind of like how a candle is barely noticeable until the lights are dimmed....

Okay, so I won't get too corny on you, but yes, work with what you have -- it always turns out to be much more than you thought. Creativity comes from within; materials help, but nothing happens to them until a spark within you illuminates the possibilities.

I bid you all a happy new year full of creativity and joy.

Who Knows Where the Time Goes

Black-Chinned Hummingbird (Archilochus alexandri) female, Magdalena, NM, Sept. 2010

Across the evening sky
All the birds are leaving
But how can they know
It's time for them to go?
("Who knows where the time goes," Fairport Convention)

Our first hummingbirds arrive in mid-April, a good month before the last frost, and the last ones leave in early October, so any day now they'll all be gone... and the garden will be much quieter. The fiesty Rufous hummers come later and leave earlier -- funny that the most aggressive are also least tolerant of the vagaries of our mountain weather -- so the hardier, more peaceable Broad-tailed and Black-chinned hummers have lately had a few weeks of relative calm in which to fuel up for their winter journey. Many range maps don't put the Rufous hummers in our area, or just note them as passing through during their seasonal migrations, but anyone up here who has a feeder can attest to their strong presence for about three months every summer. Even the females, as shown below, are fiesty and territorial, often dominating feeders to the point where nobody can get a good drink for all the fighting. They're amusing to watch but I must admit that sometimes I just want to shoo away the Rufous so that everyone else can have a peaceful meal. But now that they're gone, with the rest soon to follow, I miss the excitement and drama of their aerial acrobatics.

Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus) females, Magdalena, NM, Sept. 2010

In Flight

Rufous Hummingbird, Patterson Canyon, NM, Sept. 2010

I learned first-hand on Monday why photographers pay dearly for "fast" lenses (large maximum aperture, e.g., f/1.2): even in bright sunlight I found it nearly impossible to successfully photograph the dozen or so hummingbirds buzzing around my friend's feeder. Of the nearly 150 images I shot maybe a dozen came out okay, and only a few really capture the essence of these feisty little guys. I have an all-purpose zoom with a maximum aperture of f/4 to f5.6 (depending on zoom level), and that just won't let in enough light for me to speed up the shutter enough to stop-motion these birds' hard-working wings. Lucky for me I find the blur compelling because it strongly suggests the motion... I was, in any case, pleased to get any decent shots at all because these birds are just so much fun to watch but also so beautiful to behold. I'll miss them when they leave next month.

Rufous Hummingbird, Patterson Canyon, NM, Sept. 2010