Call & Response

The Call: Building a Nest — Jessica

This morning, as I was sitting at my computer checking e-mail and tweeting out the call for the day, I noticed a dove hovering in front of my window. Since there was a twig in her mouth, I assumed that she was busy building a nest in the big bush in our front yard. I quickly set up my camera on a tripod and stuck it out the window it see if I could get a better shot. I connected the remote and then waited. It didn’t take too long (twenty minutes?) before she was back and I managed to fire off a series of shots. This was one of the better ones — although it did need some post-processing help.

After cropping it, adjusting the contrast and decreasing the luminousness of the yellows and greens, I had to take it into photoshop to add a bit of blur to the background. Since I wasn’t sure where exactly the dove would hover, I used a really small aperture so everything was in focus.

She’s still busy flying back and forth, building her precious nest, but I don’t dare get the camera out of the window again. I don’t want to spook her. If she builds her nest, there will be plenty more bird shot opportunities!

Response: Bleeding Hearts — Cheryl

I’m not good at building things, because I’m not good at planning. Two years ago, I bought two bleeding heart plants and stuck them in the ground on the shady side of the front door. I love seeing them bloom, but I’d likely love them more if they were part of some cohesive landscape layout.