Photography

US Embassy, Wandsworth, London, UK, 2025.

All the pixels, none of the awkward diplomacy, at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/54586230547/in/photostream/

#photography

Juvenile Eurasian Robin wandering around the woodland floor this morning

#nature #birds #Wildlife #photography #NaturePhotography #BirdPhotography #BirdsOfMastodon #UK #BirdScrolling

Flycatcher in the Morning Light

I often capture audio recordings of birds I never get the chance to see. One of those elusive voices belongs to the great crested flycatcher (Myiarchus crinitus). One evening, months ago, as I sat outside with my camera, one finally appeared—perching high atop an oak tree in the forest. I managed to take a single photograph, and to my surprise, it turned out remarkably well, despite the distance.

My photo gallery features over 1300 carefully selected images. While most are chosen for their visual appeal, a few stand out as novelty shots. Feel free to explore my gallery at:

https://swede1952-photographs.pixels.com/

#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #wildlife #nature #bird #birds #birding #birdwatching #birdphotography #GreatCrestedFlycatcher

#PhotoOfTheDay is a closeup of the trunk of a tree that I nicknamed "The Introvert Tree", at the McBryde & Allerton National Tropical Botanical Garden, Kauai.

It reminded me of the old Far Side comic titled How Nature Says, “Do Not Touch." :)

#photo #photography #hawaii #kauai #nature

Air Beneath Their Wings

I spotted a flock of yellow-crowned night herons soaring through the open sky, low above the Caribbean Sea, with no land in sight for miles. Their graceful flight, suspended in the vast expanse, felt like a fleeting glimpse of nature’s quiet mastery.

Explore a curated collection of heron and egret images in my photo gallery. Take a look!

https://swede1952-photographs.pixels.com/

#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #wildlife #nature #bird #birds #birding #birdwatching #birdphotography #herons #shorebirds #YellowCrownedNightHerons

This is another professionally "wrangled" amphibian from my macro day, all were released back into the wild by the property owner/wrangler after the class was over (a couple of hours) but it's still up to you if you consider this wildlife photograph... i think i just consider it macro photography

#amphibian #frog #poison #PoisonDartFrogs #nature #Photograph #Photography #Macro #MacroPhotography

little Wasp bouncing around our grape vine

@[email protected]
#wasp #gilroy #california #year2025 #neatobuilds #SonyA7RIII #laowa #green #nature #macro #photography #darktable #insects

I don't often get to the top of the bridge but last night I walked home after dropping off my car at the airport for a friend. A lovely evening after a couple of hours of soaking rain. #Sitka #Alaska #photography

there's a stadium directly below this balcony to provide view of the games

so i assume these baffling barriers are for safety--
we don't need rowdy hotel guests throwing bottles of beer down on the opposing team now do we? 🤣

#Fensterfreitag #WindowFriday #Photography #View #City #Photograph

Bethesda Fountain, Central Park, NYC, 2013.

All the pixels, none of the carefully landscaped nature, at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/10374715704

#photography

Opaque Windows #photography #triptych #BlackAndWhite #windows #EastCoastKin

Pelicans Over Open Skies

This is a flock of six white pelicans that I saw while crossing the Calcasieu Ship Channel, which connects the Intracoastal Waterway to the Gulf of Mexico, on the Cameron Ferry in Cameron Parish Louisiana.

If you enjoy nature photography, check out my photo gallery here:

https://swede1952-photographs.pixels.com/

#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #wildlife #nature #bird #birds #birding #birdwatching #birdphotography #pelicans #WhitePelicans

PhotoOfTheDay is of a little kid, happy and cozy nestled inside a warm sleeping bag, inside of a tent.

If there's a sleeping bag and a tent, my son is happy. When he was little, there were times when we'd set up a cheap, small tent in his room that he liked to sleep in.

#photo #photography #camping #RoadTrip #backpacking

Echoes in Monochrome

A couple of days ago, we crossed paths with this red-bellied woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus). When I first spotted it, it was little more than a shadow clinging to a tree. I could tell it was a woodpecker, but at first, I thought it might be a red-headed woodpecker. Only when I lightened the image did its true identity emerge. I decided on black and white for the final version—I hope you like it.

Explore more chic woodpecker photos by visiting my photo gallery.

https://swede1952-photographs.pixels.com/

#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #wildlife #nature #bird #birds #birding #birdwatching #birdphotography #woodpeckers #RedBelliedWoodpecker #blackandwhite #monochrome

I've been in a bit of a funk lately due to life and (mostly) work, and I found myself looking through some photos I've taken over the years. Thought I'd share some over the next bit and hopefully brighten up someone else's day as well.

This one was taken in 2009 and is a multiple-exposure tone-mapped image. Location: Pyramid Lake in Alberta, Canada.

#PyramidLake #Alberta #Mountains #Lake #Nature #ToneMapped #Photography

Good morning. ☕☕☕

12 June 2025

Today was supposed to be a day off, but instead, we’ve scheduled an appointment for COVID-19 vaccinations. According to the CDC, individuals over 65 are advised to get another shot six months after their last dose. No matter what you’ve read, 65 is not the new 35—protecting yourself is essential. Honestly, even if you’re 35, I’d recommend doing the same.

The biggest difference now compared to the height of the pandemic is that we have medications capable of defeating the virus if taken within a specific timeframe. Some, however, are fairly invasive and require hospitalization.

At the end of the day, no matter what some cray carys might say, vaccination is the safer choice—me thinks.

"Immunization is not just a personal choice; it is a responsibility we have towards one another." — Dr. Soumya Swaminathan

"There is no vaccine against stupidity." — Albert Einstein

#morning #wildflower #flower #vaccination #covid19 #photography

Washington ("Hinckley") Hilton, Washington, DC, 2023.

All the pixels, but no room service available, at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/53007102796

#photography

I moved on from this lens too quickly (it's a crop sensor lens but at 23mm it gives me about 33-34mm on my full-frame camera and manual focus, so I thought I wouldn't like it for daily use) but rather than dreaming about another new lens I'm going to stick to this for a bit and get a good use of it, other than shooting my (very accommodating) girl cat.

(Lens is TTArtisan 23mm f1.4) #photography #FediFelines #CatsOfMastodon

Obel Tower, Belfast (the tallest building on the island of Ireland #photography #building #architecture #BlackAndWhite #EastCoastKin

Philadelphia anthropologist, playwright and poetic ethnographer Kimmika Williams-Witherspoon recently collaborated with photographer Joseph V. Labolito on a project where she performed a poem to accompany his 1980s shot of a little girl hanging out with her dad. Here's what she wrote — seven stanzas of pure love called "There Are Black Fathers; To Daddy, Father's Day, June 19, 1983" — how she composed it, and what it means. "Because of stereotypes and popular culture – media, movies, news stories – that tend to demonize and pathologize Black men, there’s a myth that men in our communities are all cut from the same cloth," she told @[email protected]. "For me, the poem discounts that stereotypical narrative and celebrates the African American men that I knew growing up – Daddy, my uncles, the deacons in our church, the neighborhood dads on my block."

https://flip.it/zh0lZv

#Photography #Poetry #FathersDay #Culture #Literature #BlackMastodon @[email protected] #Parenting #Fatherhood

#PhotoOfTheDay More dramatic geology along the dirt road approaching Titus Canyon, Death Valley National Park.

#photo #photography #DVNP #DeathValley #NationalPark #California #desert #offroad #overlanding #4x4

A wider angled photo of the Roe Deer I saw on Sunday

#nature #deer#Wildlife #photography #NaturePhotography #DeerPhotography #DeerOfMastodon #UK

Juvenile Long-tailed tit

#nature #birds #Wildlife #photography #NaturePhotography #BirdPhotography #BirdsOfMastodon #UK #BirdScrolling

This Carrion Crow landed on a fence pole so close I couldn't get it all in frame.

#nature #birds #Wildlife #photography #NaturePhotography #BirdPhotography #BirdsOfMastodon #UK #BirdScrolling

Got my first Cuckoo photo on an after work walk today. Thought it was a Kestrel, but no a lovely Cuckoo!

#nature #birds #Wildlife #photography #NaturePhotography #BirdPhotography #BirdsOfMastodon #UK #BirdScrolling