A while ago I read the words of a photographer. He said he takes photos of flight, not of birds.
Somehow, that statement was intriguing for me. What does it mean to take photos of flight? If there is no flying object, there is no flight. So he is not interested in birds, but in the way they are flying.
White stork and House sparrow
I started to think, what do I want to capture when I press the shutter. Is it the bird? Is it its flight? Is it what?
After a while I realized I am interested in bird’s freedom during its flight.
So, for me it is all about its freedom during each flight.
It was a hot day and I was walking slowly on a country road.
Rich smells of sunflower, of grass and corn were everywhere.
It is so amazing how much beauty is around us and how many interesting beings.
But, in front of your screen, you will never able to feel the wind bringing the scent of sunflower. In best case, seeing this image you will recall a beautiful moment from the past.
(Un)fortunately, I have been very busy but I tried my best in reading your posts and writing comments.
I have so many photos to share with you but there is a fear that what I have it’s not good enogh for you.
On the other hand, so often I think many of you would be interested to see photos of sceneries from the place I live (which are so different from the palces you live), animals, birds etc.
I am sure I would find a way, soon.
Time…
It is very interesting how we spend our time. We invest a great part of time in things which don’t last in time, and we ignore so many beautiful moments which take place everywhere around us.
We have time for TV shows, but we don’t have one minute to take one photo of our family.
We have time to socialize, to give likes, to write comments but we never say hi to our neighbour…
We have so much time for nothingness… and we forget we will never have some chances again.
It is like a dance.
The dance of some leaves full of thorns.
Days come and go but I must admit some of them are sad. And this is not because I am sad but those around me are too sad, too mad, way too busy with nothingness.
I cannot give any advice. In fact, giving an advice is such a hard thing… Not only you need experience, you also need power to say things out loud. And, so often people don’t need your honest opinion, they want you to validate their options. What can you do more? Just remain silent…
The photo above shows you the garden’s fence of one of our neighbours. For me, this moment is the perfect expression of melancholy.
I think it’s not a technically good photo but it allows me to fully express my mood. The photo below is similar.
Bees do not visit all the flowers without discrimination, nor indeed do they seek to carry away entire those upon which they light, but rather, having taken so much as is adapted to their needs, they let the rest go.
Today, Petrel41 from dearkitty1.wordpress.com nominated me for an award. For some reasons I don’t like awards, but even so I still like to share with you some blogs I follow for more than one year and I enjoy reading them. And because there were some questions, I will respond here. Maybe Petrel41 want to know these answers.
1. Where do most visits to your blog come from?
Most of my visitors come from the USA.
What is your favourite sport?
I don’t think I have a favourite one, but I always enjoy watching ice skating.
What has been a special moment for you so far in 2016?
Nothing special in 28 days, yet.
What is your favourite quote?
“We see that it is not the task of Christianity to provide easy answers to every question, but to make us progressively aware of a mystery. God is not so much the object of our knowledge as the cause of our wonder.”
― Kallistos Ware, The Orthodox Way
What was your favourite class when still at school?
I liked more than one, but I always enjoyed Painting classes.
Ladies and gentlemen
please welcome to the stage the smallest bird of Europe: the Goldcrest (Regulus regulus).
This very special encounter took place a few weeks ago and I must say, it was awesome.
Three facts about Goldcrest:
* 9 cm in length
* 15 cm wingspan
* 6 g weight (Twenty pence coin weights 5.0 g, one loonie coin weights 6.27 g and Two-cent piece (United States) weights 6.22 g)
When shall I see the white thorn leaves agen
And yellowhammers gath’ring the dry bents
By the dyke side on stilly moor or fen
Feathered wi love and natures good intents
Rude is the nest this Architect invents
Rural the place wi cart ruts by dyke side
Dead grass, horse hair and downy headed bents
Tied to dead thistles she doth well provide
Close to a hill o’ ants where cowslips bloom
And shed o’er meadows far their sweet perfume
In early Spring when winds blow chilly cold
The yellowhammer trailing grass will come
To fix a place and choose an early home
With yellow breast and head of solid gold.
We are surrounded by so many beautiful things and we don’t even know it. Or, worse, we say there is enough time for all.
Maybe there is enough time, but what if there is no more enough time for me (or you)?
What if this is the last day when I am able to see?
You don’t want to think about such things but yet…there are chances, unfortunately.
I keep asking myself what I will do if one day I will be a blind man?
How others will know what I was enjoying? How I will be able to show them the world as I saw it and yet not seeing it anymore?
My answer is: through the photographs I have taken.
There are some creepy portraits.But even these terrifying insects have their own tender moments. In the photo above, this insect was cleaning(?) its antennae using gentle his left foot.I found this butterfly standing on this flower. The light was poor and it was windy.
How incredible are its antennae!
I try to document many things like my belongings, our garden, our street, our neighbours, my dogs, our neighbour’s plants, the fields around our village, the forests, clouds, trees, bugs, and many other things. I take photos of my family, of my friends and of strangers.
AsterLittle insect, almost unnoticeable floating on water.
You might say these things will always be there, or at least for a long time starting now. But the real live has proven to me that …you never know when you see something for the last time.
And I will give you two examples:
First one: about two years ago I was off for a while. When I returned home, I took my bicycle and had a ride. I was shocked to notice that somewhere, about 3 kilometers away our house, a large area of forest has been cut down.
By chance, just a few weeks before I had taken a few shots of some trees, branches and leaves from that place. I was sure they will still be there for a couple of years and I will keep returning year after year. I was so wrong…
Second one: my grandmother was blind for way too many years before she died…Then I didn’t understand her and neither her special needs. Maybe one day …I will…
Enjoy this journey called life. Take photos of your wife, husband, children, grandparents, friends, neighbours, even of yourself, of your belongings, of your street, of your town, of everything you enjoy and of many things which you think will be there at least for many years. You never know when they will disappear…
Have you noticed how beautiful are the wings of honey bees?Their last pair of legs are special. They have a sort of baskets.Honey bees collect pollen and carry it to the hives. Can you imagine the work behind your jar of honey from your kitchen?A flower for my grandparents…For all these photos (except the one of butterfly standing on flower), I used this lens
I have a tendency to see almost all the time only the empty part of the glass, and this fuels my fears. It’s something which must stop, but this process of healing requires a great amount of will and time… and patience.
To be honest to yourself it is the biggest gift for you and for those beautiful persons around you.
Lately, I have been exploring ‘small worlds’, ‘microcosmoses’. I started doing this because of a constraint: my camera. This was the glass half empty.
But I am a creative person and there is no limit for your creativity except your fears.
I found this lens.
I was embarrassed only by the thought of posting this image, of my ‘lens’.
But I decided to say “So what? What’s my problem? I take photos using this lens, too, so what?” Now we(me and you) may laugh, there is no problem.
This lens are from a slide projector and sometimes I hold it with my left hand, and other times I use adhesive tape to attach it to my point and shoot camera.
I think spending time in field enlarge your vision, makes you even more creative and, the most important, gives an experience which is invaluable.
Now, I am more grateful for all I have.
I found this little buddy in our garden. Even if it’s little, it’s smarter than you may think.
European bee-eaters are very colourful, incredible beautiful birds.
At the beginning of May they return from Africa, where they winter. They eat insects (especially bees, wasps, butterflies and dragonflies).
Bee-eaters are 28 cm long, under 70 gr weight and have a wingspan of about 40 cm.
They live in large colonies. After they return from Africa, they dig tunnels in clay banks and make their nests inside. At the beginning of August, their chicks learn how to fly and how to catch insects.
After yellowhammers, bee-eaters are my favourites birds.
Since I was a kid I know their calls even if, at that time, I had no idea how they were looking like.
I think this is a juvenile bird because I noticed that adult birds have two elongated central tail feathers.
Do you remember those annoyed long eared owls I photographed a few months ago?
In case you don’t remember, you can read more here.
A few weeks ago I heard some strange sounds in the trees of our garden. I searched on Internet and I discovered these sounds belong to Long Eared owlets.
I think there are three owlets.
I didn’t discover their nest but I heard them many times.
When I heard this for the first time was a bit creepy.
Unfortunately, I don’t have any photo of these owlets.
An amazing bird!
Cornell's photos and words 
