I began this last week scouting for a good location to photograph Eastern Bluebirds. I quickly found them, plus the usual abundance of Tree Swallows competing for their nest boxes. The light was good, but I did not have time or tools to prepare the location for the best results. At right is what I captured for a Tree Swallow. The light is good; the bird is in an active pose. The background is nice too. BUT, the white plastic pipe is plain ugly. The technical details were fine, yet more is needed.
I returned a few days later with a pocket tool in hand, so I could add a natural perch to the nest box pole. Swallows and Bluebirds frequently perch above the nest box that they are defending from interlopers. The first Tree Swallow to approach immediately chose the dead stick over a plastic pipe. I positioned the camera so that the background was very distant and entirely featureless. Isn't that a lot more pleasing to view?
There was also a tangle of briars that had been brush hogged in the fall. Some of the briars had remained. Noting that the Bluebirds were hunting from a perch on a briar stem, I jammed another dead stick into the pile to add another option for the birds. That, too, brought immediate results.
It only took me fifteen minutes to find some nice branches and stick them into place. The results were pretty immediate.
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