How to Take Pictures of Hummingbirds

Female Ruby Throated Hummingbird

I think most everyone who like to take pictures, wants to get a good picture of a hummingbird. That is not always an easy task! They are fast little birds and don't stay in one place for very long.

I can get pictures of them at the hummingbird feeder, but like most everyone else, we want something that is more natural. I found an easy solution!

I do have a hummingbird feeder hanging from the eve of the house, right outside my dining room window, so I have hummingbirds coming close to the window most of the day. Sometimes they will land in one of the trees close to the house, bit it just isn't close enough or its to high to really get a good picture.

Here is what I did.  I found a tall tree branch that had fallen from one of our trees and I stood it up against the house, close to the feeder and in front of the window. It has several small branches extending from it, so the hummers have lots of places to sit while waiting for the turn at the feeder.

Now, I just wait for the sun to shine on those branches and I break out my camera and snap away!

Nature Abounds

Turkey Tail Bracket Fungus

Nature truly abounds everywhere! While walking through the woods looking for morel mushrooms yesterday, which I did not find, I came across a fallen tree limb with this beautiful bracket fungus growing on it.

This type of bracket fungus is called "turkey tail". It gets it's name from the shape of the fungus as well as the stripes of colors which make it look similar to a turkey's tail. It had just rained earlier that day, so the colors are so rich and vibrant.

I will be going out again today to see what other of nature's beauty I can find!

This shot really made a beautiful rustic picture and can be found on my Pixels.com website as well as  turkey tail bracket fungus art for sale on Fine Art America.

Funny Face Giraffe

Are you taking my picture?

A trip to the Arbuckle Wilderness Park is a great spring, summer or fall treat. There are so many different types of animals there, some that have been rescued from bad situations. This is everything there from lions, tigers, and even giraffe! 

This friendly giraffe had stuck his head inside the car window and we gave him some feed out of a large cup that we had purchased at the entry to the park. I don't remember how much it cost, but I know it was not expensive at all. We bought several cups of it! 

The giraffes are in an enclosure just tall enough to keep them inside, but low enough that they can stretch their long necks over and down to your car. The drive through the park is really a lot of fun.

Arbuckle Wilderness is located near Davis, Oklahoma and is right off of I-35. If you get the chance to stop by, you will have a great time! Be sure and take your camera as there will be lots of opportunities for some cool pictures!

This picture is for sale at my Pixels.com website or for you can find more giraffe art for sale  at Fine Art America.

Purple Bearded Iris

Photo Source: Sheila Brown aka Rockcreek Photography

If you are looking for some beautiful color in your spring flower gardens, this beautiful purple iris is a must! I only wish I knew the name of it!

These iris were already planted here when we moved in and I have no idea of the name of them, but they are stunning when they bloom alone or in a group. They also have a very sweet scent and you can smell them by just walking by.

My iris have not started blooming yet this year, but should be very soon and I can't wait to see and smell these beauties again! If anyone knows the name of this beautiful bearded iris, please let me know as I would love to get more of them!

If you enjoy the picture, it is really beautiful in a matted frame and is for sale at Fine Art America under purple bearded iris art for sale .

The Myriad Botanical Gardens in Oklahoma City

Beautiful White Cascading Orchids

If you are planning to take a trip to the Oklahoma City Botanical Gardens, be sure and visit there during the spring, summer or fall months, Hubby and I went at the end of last winter, just because we were nearby and we were quite disappointed. 

They had several varieties of plants and "hot house" flowers inside, but not the variety we expected. They did have a beautiful variety of orchids growing inside along with some tropical plants, but I had expected to find more colorful flowers inside. 

Beautiful pink orchids

Zebra Plant

They were also supposed to have a variety of butterflies inside, but we only ever saw one species, the zebra heliconian, and they were so few in number and stayed so high up in the trees that I never got a decent picture of one.

Just a note to self, don't bother to stop by in the winter season.

Remember, if you like any of the photographs here, they are for sale on my website:

Sheila Brown Pixels.com or you can find more white orchids photographs for sale, at Fine Art America.

Our First Rattlesnake of the Year

Well, hubby found our first rattlesnake for this year! This velvet tail rattler is about 4 feet long and had 7 segments to his rattle. He is not the largest rattler we have seen here, but he was pretty big!

Hubby was working down at his shop and walked around behind a flat bed trailer to be met by Mr. Rattlesnake. He came running through the living room and when I asked him what was going on, he said, "snake, big rattlesnake!" He grabbed his rifle and ran back out the door.

Now he knows that I am a little weird and I like to get pictures of the snakes we find BEFORE he shoots them, but he was afraid this one would get away, so had already shot him once before I got there with my camera. I got a couple of pictures before he finished him off with another shot.

Hubby has left some snakes alone, like bull snakes or garden snakes, but the rattlers have to go! I do keep their rattles and have quite a collection of them!

Juvenile Blue Jay on Tree Branch

Juvenile Blue Jay

I was asked recently how I got so close to the blue jay to take this picture without them flying away. The person asking said they can't even begin to get close the these birds before they see him coming and off they go. I completely understand! I have gone out walking and try to catch a picture of one of them as can't get near close enough.

Well, my answer to him was.... I cheat!  I don't really think it's cheating, but I don't go looking for them anymore, I make them come to me.  What you don't see in this picture is the table that the dead tree limb is laying on, or the sunflower seeds that are spread out on the table. 

When I know I am going to have some time to take pictures, I let my bird feeder to dry and put the bird seeds on the table nearby. Then I found a dead tree branch and laid it across the table, so the table wouldn't be in the picture. Then I went in the house and set my tripod up and just waited a little while. 

You do need to be sure that there is no "junk" in the background, the green in the background here is just the grass in my yard. Once you zoom in on the subject, the background will be blurred anyway, but I usually like a "clean" background.

The picture above is available on my website: Pixels.com website as a canvas print, acrylic, or metal print as well as pillows, tote bags, greeting cards and more! You can also visit Fine Art America for more  Blue jay photographs for sale!

Tiny Little Tree Frogs Can Be Dangerous

Tiny Little Tree Frog 

Yes, I know....this tiny little tree frog is just so cute, right! Cute can be deceiving!  

As some of you know, I enjoy sitting out on my back porch early of a morning had having my coffee, watching the wildlife and working on my lap top. Little did I know, I was about to have a very unusual morning!

It was a very warm summer morning and I had on a tank top and shorts. As it was very early and the sun had not come up yet, I had the back porch light on, which attract many little flying insects that make a great breakfast for a little tree frog.

Well, as I am typing away I feel this cold, wet, "flop" feeling on the back of my shoulder! Yes, this tiny little tree frog had just jumped onto my back. I don't know here he came from, but his feet were cold and clammy!  

Needless to say, I jumped to my feet with a bit of a squeal and almost knocked over the patio table and succeeded in spilling my coffee. Now I and am flailing my arms like some kind of crazy person, trying to reach this little fellow with the cold feet.  Just as I think I have him, he jumps....right down my back! 

Now I am doing some kind of crazy dance thing, trying to get my shirt off as quickly as possible. I feel his little cold, wet body against the skin on my back and I can't get my shirt off quick enough! My dance leads me to the edge of the porch where I scrape my toe on a planter sitting there. After saying a few choice words, I get my shirt off and throw it to the ground. 

In the mean time, the frog has fallen to the ground and hopped away. Now I am left on my back porch with spilled coffee, shirtless and with a bleeding toe! I swear I heard that little tree frog laughing as I went in the house!

Don't let little and cute fool you! These tiny little tree frogs can be dangerous by just making YOU hurt YOURSELF!

This cute little guy is available on a greeting card on "My Zazzle Store" .

Vacation at Lake Murray State Park Oklahoma

Tucker's Tower-Lake Murray, Oklahoma

Life has been busy and I have been away for a while. I really have too many "irons in the fire",but now I am going to add another one and get back to my blog!

Hubby and I went on  short vacation a couple of weeks ago and spent some time at Lake Murray State Park here in southern Oklahoma. My oldest step-son, Aaron and his family camped out there also, so we go to spend a lot of time with the grand kids. Of course, our daughter Jenna and her new husband and Jazzy and the new baby, Ariel spent some time out there with us as well.

We all had a great time, the kids did a lot of skiing, tubing and swimming.  Aaron's wife, Kim had prepared all the dinner time means for us, it was great! Hubby and I did take a relaxing late afternoon boat ride around the lake and I took  few pictures.

I really liked this picture I took of Tucker's Tower. With the late afternoon lighting, it all had such a golden glow. I just wish the water looked blue!  One of my new "irons in the fire" is selling my photography at Fine Art America where you can find this picture as well as many other beautiful canvas prints for sale.

For more information about Lake Murray State Park and all the great things to see and do, visit Come Visit Beautiful Lake Murray State Park in Oklahoma

Creating Art From a Walk in the Woods

Our treasures from the woods.

Fall is one of my favorite seasons of the year. I love all the beautiful fall colors or red, gold, orange and yellow. Sometimes, I want to bring it all together and create something from all of it.

During a walk in the woods with our granddaughter, she would spot a pretty leaf on the ground, a pine cone or an acorn, among a few other things that I really didn't want to bring home. We saved the "good stuff" and when we got back to the house, she spread them out on the table to admire what we had found.

I decided then that I wanted to show her how we could create something to keep our memories of this walk forever. We arranged and re-arranged our treasures until we came up with the picture above.

She thought that was pretty cool and we printed the picture out for her to take home and show her mom.

You never know what memories become precious and walking among nature is always special to me. I hope I instill this in my children and grandchildren.

If you like the picture that Jazzy and I created, I have also used it on some products in "My Zazzle" store

Bacon Cheeseburger Pie - A Delicious Quick and Easy Meal

Delicious Cheese Burger Pie

Are you looking for something a little different to fix for dinner? It seems like sometimes I cook the same old things and if I get bored with it, I know my family does. This is a quick and easy meal that is a little out of the ordinary and my kids loved it! This bacon cheeseburger pie has everything that we love in a bacon cheeseburger, bacon, ground beef, cheese, mustard, pickles and you can leave out the onions if you prefer.

This recipe takes about 15 minutes to prepare and another 15 minutes to cook, so you can have a delicious meal that your family will love in just about 30 minutes!

Ingredients:
1 regular pie crust
4 strips of bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled
1 lb lean ground beef
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1 8 oz can of tomato sauce


1 teaspoon dry mustard
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup chopped onion
1 pickle, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1.  Bake the pie crust as directed, but just until it begins to brown, then set aside.

2.  Brown the hamburger meat, drain and mix in the salt, pepper, dry mustard, bread crumbs, pickles, onion, bacon  and 1/2 of the can of tomato sauce and 1 cup of the shredded cheese, mix well.

3.  Pour this mixture into the pie crust top with the remaining shredded cheese. Bake this at 425 just long enough for the pie crust to finish browning and for the cheese to melt.

4. Mix the remaining tomato sauce with the Worcestershire sauce and pour over the top just before serving.

Now you have a delicious meal in a flaky pie crust! Add a healthy green vegetable or a salad and you have a quick, easy and healthy meal that is not the "same ol thing"!  I hope you enjoy! 

A Herd of Turkey

A Large Rafter of Wild Turkey

Actually, a group of turkey is called a “rafter”, but when I called hubby to the window yesterday I told him there was a whole “herd” of turkey in the front yard. For some reason, that just sounds more appropriate to me! From what I could tell, this is a group of “jakes”, which are young male turkey.

The light wasn’t very good for taking pictures of them and you can’t see the beautiful colors of their feathers, but they were really quite colorful. Females don’t have the coloring that males do, the females are a rather dull brown.

These turkey were on the move and there were so many of them, they were hard to count. Several of them would take off running, chasing bugs or each other. They best we could count, there were 32 of them passing through the yard. That is a lot of Thanksgiving dinners!