The Oil Gusher March 2012

[stee71]

Robert, I forgot to mention that you are of course welcome to draw and paint from my photos, in fact here is another that turned out ok, this one is a chaffinch who is another colourful beauty, i've added a full frame crop of the head too, this new lens is living up to my expectations so far and reducing some of the guilt over how much i spent on it ....ok who am i kidding I don't do guilt , the auto focus is generally pretty good and as you can see the detail is amazing for a hand held shot from what is essentially classed as an amateur lens. the down side is it is big and heavy so not a take everywhere accessory.

[mudcat3]

Originally Posted by stee71

Yes Pat/Robert the bird is a European Robin, very different in size and shape and in fact from a totally different genus to the American Robin, they both have the stunning red breast though. There are loads of the little stars in my garden this year, they are currently singing their hearts out or battling over territory and mates, the spell of warm days seems to have kick started mating season.
It's funny to think that you guys don't easily recognise them as it's synonymous with christmas over here, i would hazard a guess that at least 1 in every 10 christmas cards that is a painted scene features a robin so it is perhaps the first bird kids learn to recognise and put a name to. I do find your thrush like robin to be a handsome fellow too though, are your robins associated with xmas also?

American Robins fly south for the winter, so they are not around for Christmas. Their return is usually considered one of the first signs of spring. The bird usually associated with Christmas is the Cardinal. The red feathers make for a nice contrast with white snow and dark green evergreens.

[robertsloan2]

Steve, thank you! I love all three of these photos, they are so spectacular. I hope you do host an OP challenge in the future! Drooling at your wonderful camera - though I'm much happier with my iPhone4 camera than any that I've ever had before. The nice thing about the phone is that I always have it with me so I've been using it more than any previous camera.

[Pat Isaac]

Awesome photos, Steve. So sharp!

Pat

[oldrockchick]

I know we have a new thread but as it is relevant here i'd like to make a suggestion to Steve

as you kindly gave permission to paint from these - and as yu know I LOVE to paint birds and would love to do these

could you perhaps post them over in the travel thread as we are now at the start of a new month....meanwhile could I 'snag' these to paint from - esp the chaffinch close up - do you have a higher res you could email me please - yu know how I love birds - not sure when I will get round to doing them but I'd like to keep them 'on file' as they are so spectacular....

now off to the new thread..... (as we all should be) - before Pat gets out her big stick...

[Shirl Parker]

Originally Posted by Shirl Parker

Time for a new chat thread. Click here.

Ahem...