When I am out in the field birding I often can’t resist taking pictures of birds even when I know that the light is such that I am not going to get a very good image. Sometimes this means low light, sometimes this means that the birds are backlit, sometimes this means that the bird is obscured. I never know what to do with such images.

I think you can figure out where this post is headed. That is if the title didn’t tip you off from the get-go. Here are some allegedly “artsy” shots (and maybe some legitimately artsy shots) of some of the birds I have seen since arriving in southern California nearly a week ago. Enjoy!

Golden Eagles

Golden Eagles in low light (click to embiggen)

Yellow-rumped Warbler

motion-blurred and out-of-focus Yellow-rumped “Audubon’s” Warbler

Pied-billed Grebe

Pied-billed Grebe in low light (click to embiggen)

Black-necked Stilts

backlit Black-necked Stilts (click to embiggen)

Yellow-billed Magpie

Yellow-billed Magpie in low light against a cloudy sky

Common Yellowthroat

Common Yellowthroat and its reflection

What do you do with your pictures that are not quite ready for prime time?

Written by Corey
Corey is a New Yorker who lived most of his life in upstate New York but has lived in Queens since 2008. He's only been birding since 2005 but has garnered a respectable life list by birding whenever he wasn't working as a union representative or spending time with his family. He lives in Forest Hills with Daisy and Desmond Shearwater. His bird photographs have appeared on the Today Show, in Birding, Living Bird Magazine, Bird Watcher's Digest, and many other fine publications. He is also the author of the American Birding Association Field Guide to the Birds of New York.