Bird on the Wire

Of course I’m reminded of the opening lines of Leonard Cohen’s great song:

Like a bird on the wire,
Like a drunk in a midnight choir,
I have tried in my way to be free.

I’ve never been a drunk in a midnight choir, but some would say I’m drunk on photography. And while I photograph primarily plants, I have occasionally taken pictures of birds. To do good bird photography normally requires a long (and heavy) telephoto lens, a tripod, and lots of patience. Not my usual thing. Nevertheless, armed with a 200mm image-stabilized lens and 1.4x converter I marched forth several times this past fall to photograph the grackles (Quiscalus mexicanus) that were massing for weeks on power lines in certain parts of Austin as late afternoon gave way to evening each day.

The birds were dark, the sky was bright, and some high contrast processing led to what seems to be but isn’t a black and white image.

© 2011 Steven Schwartzman