The Western Tanagers are in. I just found out a few days ago,
on a short hike in Killian Canyon, where I was lucky enough to capture this
image. The subject is sublime, even the situation with spring green leaves and red
branches of dogwood creating the backdrop is ideal. The execution leaves room
for improvement, and I'm looking forward to trying.
Really the only thing wrong with this image is the blurry foreground branches cutting across and cluttering the frame. However, they're also likely what's making this bird comfortable enough to stay put for a moment at close range. The compositions in my mind may require a lot of time in the field or very cooperative birds, and quite possibly both.
Not too many weeks ago I was staring at the snowy ramparts east of Salt Lake and daydreaming about photography in the high cirques of the Wasatch. Seeing flashes of red in the greening canyon bottoms has fixated my mind on other photographic goals. Right now is the time to be in the green zone photographing brightly colored birds alighted on flowering branches, as if in an Audubon print.
