White Deer Twins on the Riverwalk

White Deer Twins on the Riverwalk
These rare white deer twins were born this summer and have found a safe home at Dan Daniel Park and on the Riverwalk
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My name is David Hoffman. I teach English and journalism at Averett University, but I have two side interests - writing and photography. I also enjoy walking daily with my English setter, Sadie, and my wife, Elizabeth, on the Danville, Virginia, Riverwalk. As a novice to studying nature, I am fascinated by the slightest facets of the great outdoors, but most of my pictures are of birds - I don't know a lot about them, but I am learning more and enjoying taking pictures of them daily. I also take pictures of plants, other animals, and insects. All pictures posted for each day were taken on the day of my blog entry.

Leave a comment if you have the time or e-mail me at dhoffman@averett.edu


CHECK OUT TIFFANY AND PATRIK'S WEDDING PICTURES (click picture below)

Sunday, August 22, 2010

BACKGROUND CHECK ON THE RIVERWALK


(AUGUST 22, 2010) INS didn't come to the Riverwalk this morning looking for illegal immigrants, but there were plenty of background checks going on.

In the nearly 200 pictures taken this morning, I checked each one to see what the background would be since I have had more than one photo ruined because a tree was going out of a bird's back or a pole in the background looked like it was impaling the main subject. See the picture of Sadie and how the background fence looks like it is coming out of Sadie's head making her look like a merry-go-round animal.

However, there are times when the background over-shadows the main subject. For example, this morning the sky was beautiful. I took a picture of a small bird on a wire and captured some of the morning sky in the background. The silhouette of the bird is nice against the sky, but the sky becomes a picture within itself.

Woolly worms were out in plentiful numbers this morning. I saw two white woolly worms and a green one. The white ones were on green leaves, moving slowly around. The green contrast with the white worm helped to provide the contrast, but it also showed the worm in its natural setting.

The green woolly worm was on a fence post. The texture of the wood provided an interesting picture within itself. The green worm, with black dots on its back, moved slowly along the board.

Upon first getting to the trail this morning, I saw a heron sitting on a dam in front of the Brantley Steam plant. The bird was perched on a dry part of the dam with a large wall behind it. The wall was concrete with some white stripes. The reflection of the wall in the river provided an interesting photo in itself.

A goose in the foliage, a flower among the brush, and a tiger swallow tail butterfly sitting on a group of flowers all provide their own unique backgrounds. As a photographer, it is just as important to look at what in front as well as what is behind.

OK . . . here comes a little philosophy. Life, itself, is kind of like that. We can see what's in front of us, but we carry a background that is either attractive in itself or not so attractive. We cannot erase our own backgrounds, our histories, but, thanks to Photoshop, many a photo wrecked by a crummy background has been saved. Just thought I'd toss that in.

It was another beautiful day on the Riverwalk.

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