It has been a VERY long time since I posted anything to my Grateful 365 Project but better late than never!
I made this photo a couple weeks ago while we were spending some time at a friend’s cabin just outside of Red Lodge, MT. Both Sue and I had been very busy; Sue and the kids with school (she teaches in our kids’ Christian school) and I had recently been out of town a few times for work. Needless to say, we were desperate for a little R&R and the cabin in Red Lodge is always a fantastic get-away that is easy to get to.
I brought my camera and laptop and vowed to catch up on some processing that sat neglected for far too long. While I was sitting at the kitchen table cleaning my lenses while waiting for the nearly year’s worth of photos to download off my cards (see, I told you I had been negligent) I saw this pretty little fella land on the fence post about 20 yards away. I happened to have my 300mm zoom lens on and carefully made a couple shots through the sliding glass door. As you can imagine, shooting through the glass didn’t produce the best of images, but I was afraid to open the door and risk frightening this little beauty away so I made a few more and carefully opened the door and slid out to the patio to test my stealth skills. Thankfully my years of sneaking up on (and scaring the be-geezus out of) my kids paid off and I was able to get fairly close and make this photo. A little bit of post-processing tweaking and I settled on this version.
My wife, Sue, loved the print so much (she loves birds and blue, so it was a natural match!) that I made an 8 x 10 and it now graces our living room wall.
I probably don’t need to explain, but I am grateful for this photo because it will always remind me of that relaxing, do-nothing weekend with my family.
God speed,
Jerod