On my last post, I included a picture of some seeds floating away from a thistle flower. I liked that picture, but there was one part I was unhappy with–I had wished for a more even, green background behind the flying seeds. I went out the next day to try again and captured this image:
One of the most interesting things about photography is trying to capture an image that matches your vision. When photographing in nature, it’s often impossible to accomplish this. Try as I might, the birds refuse to listen to my direction and pose in the perfect spot. Thistle seeds and wind are equally difficult to direct, but this time I was lucky (and also persistent) and I did get the shot I was envisioning. I love when that happens!
One Picture at a Time 
Very nice capture!
Thank you!
Beautiful. I went out yesterday evening and fiddled with the camera… I braved the manual focus for the first time in awhile. My subject was a thistle, too, but a flower not yet opened that had such a beautiful purple. . We’ve had a different type of thistle with a smaller head and lighter purple this year. I wonder if it is a native?
I could hardly comment on the last post. That was too upsetting. We’ve tried stepping in when people did not show respect to animals, most often children, and didn’t have the same reaction as you received. I do not know what the police would have done except in regard to the threat toward you, but maybe have your state’s DNR number with you. The ducks are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. And sadly, this is not an isolated case. Right now the Wisconsin DNR is looking for info regarding the killing of Common Tern chicks. 😦
I love that purple color of the thistle. It looks so beautiful against a green background. And it is so sad that my situation was not an isolated one–there are way too many examples of people not respecting the world we live in and all its creatures.
What a fabulous shot Carol. Photos like this often take lots of patience as well as technical know how. And going back to make a shot with those flying seeds clearly give it a lovely sense of motion which isn’t always easy to do. Well done! ~ Rick
Thank you so much. I’ve really fallen in love with this shot–I keep going back to it. I’m thinking of having it printed on a large canvas. It did take a lot of patience and next time I need to remember my tripod–that 100-400 Canon lens is heavy!
Yep, they sure are heavy but it’s hard to beat the range it gives you. As for a tripod, I’m honestly a bit in awe of this shot you did handheld. Seriously! I shoot well over 90% of all my images with the camera mounted on a tripod. From the sharpness of your images and what must be a very steady hand, I’m guessing we don’t have a similar passion for drinking lots of coffee :-)))
LOL–I could easily be a coffee addict, but I limit myself to two cups a day! I very rarely use a tripod, usually never with nature photos but sometimes with portraits of people. With my 100-400, 4.5-5.6, I find as long as my shutter speed is roughly 2x my focal length, I’m OK. That means there are a lot of times in the woods I can’t really use this lens, but when I have the light, I love it.