Minneapolis Photographer Mitch Rossow presents daily photos of Minneapolis. Cityscapes, People & Perspectives: Mitch explains composition and techniques.

The true sign of spring is the American Robin. His little cheer-up cheerio song brings hope and a longing for summer. They stomp along the ground trying to get earthworms to move and thus give away their presence. The saying The Early Bird Gets the Worm is referring to the robin. Though I enjoy getting up early to go shooting, a squishy worm is not much of an enticement to me.

Tomorrow: The Red-breasted Merganser, Mergus serrator

Minneapolis Photographer Mitch Rossow presents daily photos of Minneapolis. Cityscapes, People & Perspectives: Mitch explains composition and techniques.

The monsters of the midwest have returned as bird week continues here on Mitchster.com. This big guy let out from behind a tree as I was photographing a loon. Luck was on my side as I quickly drew a bead on him and fired away. The high-speed focusing of the Nikkor 70-300mm VR is incredible, only three out of over twenty shots was out of focus.

The Great Blue always makes me think of wise old men. They walk carefully on the shore inspecting as they go, looking as if their hands are folded behind their back. When they take off, they are so slow and deliberate. When I accidentally disturb one, I feel the need to apologize.

Tomorrow: The American Robin, Turdis migratorius

Minneapolis Photographer Mitch Rossow presents daily photos of Minneapolis. Cityscapes, People & Perspectives: Mitch explains composition and techniques.

These chipper little chirpers bring a little joy to the long winter, but now seem more plentiful and active. I have been able to get closer to them as well.

Interesting fact: The chick-a-dee-dee-dee song is used to maintain contact and keep the flock together.

Shallow Depth of Field

This Chickadee was close enough for me to use a shallow depth of field. Depth of field (DOF) is the area that is in focus in an image. In the case of this photo, it is very shallow in that the chickadee is in focus, but not much else is, only a few inches of the branch he’s standing on is in focus. The DOF is determined by the size of the aperture, the focal length and the distance to the subject. In this case I was able to push all three meters toward a shallow DOF. I used a 300mm focal length lens set to f/5.6 and was about 10 feet from the subject.

The shallow DOF is the playground of the rich. Large aperture lenses are very expensive — go look up f/2.8 or f/1.8 lenses and you will see. The longer the focal length, the more expensive the bigger apertures. The one meter not affected by price is the distance to the subject. If you can focus close-up on something, you can get the shallow DOF effect with any lens. But if you want to get this effect on live wild birds, you need the big glass.

Tomorrow: The Great Blue Heron, Ardea herodias

Minneapolis Photographer Mitch Rossow presents daily photos of Minneapolis. Cityscapes, People & Perspectives: Mitch explains composition and techniques.

The birds are returning to Minnesota! This Red-bellied Woodpecker allowed me to take a few pictures before he vanished. By that I mean, I could hear him, but couldn’t see him. He stayed in the same leafless tree, but I walked around looking for him to no avail. Do they do that squirrel thing where they walk around the tree to avoid you?

Odd fact about the Red-bellied Woodpecker: they are named for a small patch of reddishness on their belly that is almost impossible to see in the field.

To celebrate the return of the birds, I’m declaring this Bird Week! Kinda like shark week, only a bit more reserved. Tune in tomorrow for the Black-capped Chickadee.

Minneapolis Photographer Mitch Rossow presents daily photos of Minneapolis. Cityscapes, People & Perspectives: Mitch explains composition and techniques.

The Ice is retreating from the the lakes, the dark patches in the water are ice.  What’s Cell Phone Sunday all about?

Minneapolis Photographer Mitch Rossow presents daily photos of Minneapolis. Cityscapes, People & Perspectives: Mitch explains composition and techniques.

I found a fort in the woods by Cedar Lake. Pretty interesting, it’s bigger than my living room! Who ever built it surpasses me for creative use of spare time. Probably the local kids, if so, much better than video games and punking in front of McDonalds.

Check out the fire pit and the seating! The forestry crews have been cutting to deadwood in the park, so that’s probably where the seats came from. Looks like the roof is ready for some branches.

Very cool guys. If you made this or know who did — please leave a comment, I’m impressed!

Minneapolis Photographer Mitch Rossow presents daily photos of Minneapolis. Cityscapes, People & Perspectives: Mitch explains composition and techniques.

I haven’t figured out what it is about this image, but I can’t stop looking at it. There are so many contrasts and the color balance was very tricky. This photo would have been nearly impossible with film — it took me several shots to get the exposure right.

What’s with the preponderance of green and blue glass on buildings? Is it to keep them cool?