A congregation of crows

I was out photographing in the light rain yesterday afternoon around dusk. Birds of all kinds were active, but a group of crows were fighting with each other for the best position on the dead branches of this tree, and the action caught my eye. I could not discern their strategy, but I knew I wanted a classic ‘birds on dead branches silhouette’ image, if you know what I mean. I had a fast 50mm lens mounted on my professional rig, a digital camera with a boat load of megapixels. The focal length was kind of short, but I knew I could crop like hell in post, so I shot away.

Ominous trees

A few years ago, I was starting a new role at work, and was unsure about the future. I was getting some training about how to be a decent 'team leader'. The Kool-aid sure was delicious, and after the day's indoctrination was over, I spent an hour or so wandering around Winston-Salem, NC where I saw these unusual trees. I still have no idea what they are, but I thought they would look kind of ominous in silhouette, so that's how I shot 'em. From the EXIF data on the file, turns out I was using the Fujifilm X-100S. Now, that was a camera that I really had a lot of fun shooting.

 

Photography and baseball

The photogram is one of the oldest ways to make an imprint on photosensitive material. The silhouette could perhaps be considered a kind of in-camera photogram, or at least a safe way to come close without causing damage to the camera, film, or sensor. Today's photograph is a macro silhouette of the tendrils shot out by the parasitic vines that emerge around here in Spring. Presented this way, they look like a kind of calligraphy. I've never made an entire body of work based on photograms and silhouettes. Perhaps it is something to explore a little bit. I am reminded of a quote from Harry Callahan: "There are no rules in photography (that's why it's so much better than baseball)".