Tufted Titmouse in the Snow

It was snowing again when we woke up, and the birds were very hungry. My husband took several rounds of chopped peanuts and fresh water out for them. I watched the feeding frenzy from a nearby window, taking photos. By the early afternoon, we had another 4 to 6 inches of snow.

Above is a photo of one of our regular visitors, a charming little tufted titmouse. It was waiting its turn on a branch of the big rhododendron bush out front, which is apparently awesome habitat for birds. Especially given its proximity to the bird feeding trays. Location, location, location!

One of the fun things with a snowy day is that now that I'm retired, we don't have to go anywhere if we don't want to. And so I can come up with little photo projects. These ideas often involve my well known cast of characters, such as Tiny Tiger or the Crittergators. But on this day, I had another idea.

I had been thinking it might be time to try a photo shoot with a CD/DVD and some water droplets and light, and any other cool things I could think of to add to the mix. Just to see how it would look, mind you! For it turns out I am gifted with extreme curiosity as well as an excess of whimsy. These two things can take you far as a photographer, or at least send you off in some interesting directions!

In somewhat related news, slowly but surely, I have been working on rebuilding my photo libraries. My big 2.36 TB library, with my entire 10 years of digital photos in it, tanked back in November, and I'm working on creating four little photo libraries to replace the one big one. Access to a backup of the photo library from last March saved my hide.

When I feel like it, if I have an hour or 90 minutes to spare, I select a month and import the master photos into the newly created library. I import the photos upload by upload, making notes, checking my work. It's tedious but I also get to relive some of the loveliest moments of my life while doing so.

It also takes me back to a time when both our cat Dexter and my beloved big sister were alive; looking at their pictures is a way of walking with them again. Some happy/sad moments there for sure, every single time.

It's also a glimpse into my life in the pre-Covid world, where I drove my car and stopped for photo shoots nearly every day, and ate out, and saw my friends, and went recreational shopping, and wore pretty shoes to work. *sigh*

This past weekend, I stumbled across photos from a water droplets-on-a-CD photo shoot from October 2017, and I resolved to revisit it. So I got out my supplies, which included a CD/DVD, a container of room temperature water, a water dropper, some boxes of colorful candy, a head lamp, a flashlight, three red candles, and some glass critters. And I cleared a spot on the bathroom sink where I could work.

I tried all kinds of things. Photography with the lights on. Photography with the lights off, and just a single candle or head lamp lit. Different angles. Different attempts. I spent about a half-hour on it, just trying stuff, seeing what it would look like. Clicking the shutter. Trying something else.

My husband, of course, thinks I am nuts, standing in the bathroom in the dark taking pictures of a CD with water droplets on it. But it's a good kind of nuts, I think. Here's my personal philosophy: If it's harmless and interesting, and it makes you happy, by all means, GO FOR IT!!!

The soundtrack song is this one: Sheryl Crow, with If It Makes You Happy.