Spring is Coming!

It is suppose to be near 70 degrees today. While not the beautiful sunny spring day we all want and love, it has not been this warm here for quite some time now. So I will gladly take the warmth, even if it is a little gloomy looking. The best thing about the warmer temperatures is the things it triggers in nature to start the change into spring. I know it's a little early, but as a photographer spring is a great time to get outside and get some great shots.

Usually the American Robins will start showing up in force. Now you will see them occasionally throughout the winter as they are year-round residents here. But usually in March they start showing up in large numbers feeding on the worms and bugs emerging from your yard. Males and females look quite a bit alike, but females tend to be more gray and dull colored such as this female in the photo above is.

The Crocus flowers are pushing through now and will bloom very soon. This will start the explosion of color to follow with all the later flowers such as these daffodils' in the these two photos. This is a great time to start on your macro photography skills. This is the type of photography that you can do in your own yard. 
All you need is your camera with a macro or good close focusing lens, a tripod, cable release, and some patience. Getting down low to the same level of the subject you are shooting is critical to creating that good composition. Use a shallow DOF to create that soft out of focus background that makes these types of photos look so good.

Of couse this then brings out all the insects!  As a lover of macro photography, this is a good thing. So I am hoping for a continued warm up to kick spring into high gear. It also triggers the instincits in me to get out and start searching for new subjects to photograph.