Characteristics of many Rock Doves do not vary very much. For example, most have purple and green colored feathers on their neck. My favorite feature of this photograph is the beady orange eye.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Feral Rock Dove
Characteristics of many Rock Doves do not vary very much. For example, most have purple and green colored feathers on their neck. My favorite feature of this photograph is the beady orange eye.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Salem Seagull
Wait, let me guess! You are saying "He's back and he's talking about birds again? WTF!" I don't blame you but I did say that airplanes and birds were my favorite subject matter when it comes to my photography. And it turns out that the latest subject is rather photogenic if you ask me.
Now one thing I like to do with my blog post (as you have noticed) is to inform as well as report as I do not want to get stuck in a reporting mode when it comes to photography. I want all as visitors to be able to learn something when they/you read my posts; something that you might not have known beforehand.
One thing I notice (which is not uncommon at all) is that many just refer these birds as "seagulls." It is a very general and broad term of which I have no problem or will ever have a problem with (as I do call them "seagulls" in company). However, this specific type of "seagull" is called a Ring-billed Gull. If you take a close look, you can see that this bird's bill (beak) has what looks like a black ring around the tip, hence its name. I was very glad to be able to capture one of these as I do not see very many from my normal spotting areas. I did get very lucky today as I took a drive up to Salem, MA on the north shore which yeilded me some fantastic opportunities to get close up to these creatures. There are a couple more photos to come from this shoot. Please stay tuned, and please check out the new website http://www.maxmatteraphotography.com/.
Saturday, November 5, 2011
New Website Up and Running!
Hello everyone. Please sustain from firing blunt objects in my direction as I know I have not posted since June. Reason being is that I have been working on a website to be able to sell my protographs as prints. The URL is www.maxmatteraphotography.com.
This is a project that I have wanted to start for a long time and now finally, it seems as though it has become a reality. The prints that will be offered for sale at this new URL are ones I consider to be my best work, the highest quality of my collection. Right now, I only have six (6) photos up for sale, but more will definitely be on the way. Check the site for frequent updates and new additions.
Please! Don't write this blog off! Keep following. Keep coming back. I will still be making posts on here similar to those that I have written before. Both sites will be updated very often (yes, I really do mean it this time). Links from my new URL to this blog will be up shortly. I am very excited about all of this and hope you enjoy.
--Max
This is a project that I have wanted to start for a long time and now finally, it seems as though it has become a reality. The prints that will be offered for sale at this new URL are ones I consider to be my best work, the highest quality of my collection. Right now, I only have six (6) photos up for sale, but more will definitely be on the way. Check the site for frequent updates and new additions.
Please! Don't write this blog off! Keep following. Keep coming back. I will still be making posts on here similar to those that I have written before. Both sites will be updated very often (yes, I really do mean it this time). Links from my new URL to this blog will be up shortly. I am very excited about all of this and hope you enjoy.
--Max
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Aircraft on Approach
First post of June! And what better to do that than to include photographs from February! Haven't been able to get much new material lately so I decided to go back a few months (maybe a little more than a few) to a time when I was getting out a little more often.
All of these photographs were taken right underneath the final approach flight paths. This is a Continental Airlines Boeing 737. My favorite feature of this airplane is the hamster-cheek engine shape. As you can see, the air intake or inlet for the engine is not a perfect circle like most other aircraft engines are. The original version of the 737 (737-100) and its follow up variant (737-200) had smaller (albeit louder and less fuel-efficient) engines that were positioned directly beneath the wing. When Boeing decided to re-engine their 737s, they ran into a little bit of a problem. The 737 design (based on the earlier 707) already sat very low to the ground. The larger engine made ground clearance an issue. Boeing and their engine supplyer for the 737 solved this problem by moving the engine forward of the wing instead of directly underneath. Then, in order to increase ground clearance, they moved the gearbox to the sides of the engine instead of putting it directly at the bottom (which gives the engine its unique shape). This low ground clearance for this airplane is an advantage to any airline that operates it. It is so low that ground and ramp crews at airports are able to easily reach up and open cargo doors. They can easily interact with the fuselage of the airplane instead of spending extra time bringing in equipment that brings them up high enough. This really increases turnaround time.
This aircraft is a JetBlue Airbus A320. It is the direct competitor to the Boeing 737 in the commercial aircraft market. It looks like a pretty average aircraft. It does not really have any notable features that really stand out on the outside. However, for a domestic short to medium haul aircraft, it does have a slightly more spacious interior than the 737. It is for that reason why an airline like JetBlue opts for this aircraft instead of the 737. Although the 737 is a cheaper aircraft to operate, JetBlue does have flights that go from coast to coast. For example, JetBlue flies from Boston to destinations like Oakland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Jose. They use their A320s on routes like these ones. For the shorter domestic routes, they will use their Embraer E190s more often (although A320s are also used on these shorter routes as well). They want their passengers to be more comfortable when flying long distances. Some people say that the 737 feels a little less comfortable on those longer routes. One reason for them to fly JetBlue is to have that "comfort." However, "comfort" can mean something totally different to others. Many people instead choose to fly Southwest Airlines, a direct competitor of JetBlue. Southwest operates an all-Boeing 737 fleet. Since the 737 is a more economical aircraft to operate, Southwest is able to offer much cheaper fares than JetBlue. Southwest passengers choose them for the "comfort" or "piece of mind" knowing that they saved much more money on what would have been the same route.
To finish off this post, I give you this American Airlines Boeing 757. This photo was taken as the sun was going down. I really like how the sun shines off of its silver fuselage and how the winglets make the wing look more elegant (not all 757s are equipped with winglets). In a way, I really don't want to write about this, mainly because there is really nothing I can say about this airplane that is going to do it justice. I feel that whatever I say will just not be enough and I will leave something out. However, I feel as though I should try. The 757 is and has been a workhorse in so many airline fleets. Delta Airlines alone operates more than 140 of them. United Airlines and Continental Airlines together operate 158 of them. It is invaluable because of its versatility. It has been constantly pushed to its limits and has always seemed to deliver. Whether it be a short, medium, or long, domestic route, or a transatlantic flight, airlines can always count on it to handle the job. There are a few things that make this airplane special, other than the reasons I listed above. For one, it was designed in tandem with the Boeing 767, a longer range and widebody aircraft (757 being a narrowbody single aisle aircraft). The systems on these two aircraft are, for the most part, identical. This gave (and still gives) airlines the advantage of being able to have pilots certified to fly both aircraft. For example, if you were licensed to fly the 757, you became automatically licensed to fly the 767, and vice versa. Another thing about this aircraft is that it is one of the longest, if not THE longest, single aisle passenger aircraft in service. It allowed for more passengers to travel on popular short to medium domestic routes than the 727 and because of its economics, increased revenue for its operators. The 757 is also known to produce higher amounts of wake turbulence than other aircrafts. Because of this, air traffic controllers have to make sure other aircrafts hold a little longer before taking off or landing behind one. You can actually hear its wake pass over you about 10 seconds after the aircraft passes over head. I am not a frequent flyer, but most of my flights have been on this airplane.
As you can see from a previous post, I live in very close proximity to Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts. The most unique aspect of this airport is that it is on the coast but at the same time, surrounded by many different communities. There is always a place to spot for almost any situation. Last time I chose to photograph taxiing aircraft. On this occasion, I chose to focus on aircraft that were on final approach.
All of these photographs were taken right underneath the final approach flight paths. This is a Continental Airlines Boeing 737. My favorite feature of this airplane is the hamster-cheek engine shape. As you can see, the air intake or inlet for the engine is not a perfect circle like most other aircraft engines are. The original version of the 737 (737-100) and its follow up variant (737-200) had smaller (albeit louder and less fuel-efficient) engines that were positioned directly beneath the wing. When Boeing decided to re-engine their 737s, they ran into a little bit of a problem. The 737 design (based on the earlier 707) already sat very low to the ground. The larger engine made ground clearance an issue. Boeing and their engine supplyer for the 737 solved this problem by moving the engine forward of the wing instead of directly underneath. Then, in order to increase ground clearance, they moved the gearbox to the sides of the engine instead of putting it directly at the bottom (which gives the engine its unique shape). This low ground clearance for this airplane is an advantage to any airline that operates it. It is so low that ground and ramp crews at airports are able to easily reach up and open cargo doors. They can easily interact with the fuselage of the airplane instead of spending extra time bringing in equipment that brings them up high enough. This really increases turnaround time.This aircraft is a JetBlue Airbus A320. It is the direct competitor to the Boeing 737 in the commercial aircraft market. It looks like a pretty average aircraft. It does not really have any notable features that really stand out on the outside. However, for a domestic short to medium haul aircraft, it does have a slightly more spacious interior than the 737. It is for that reason why an airline like JetBlue opts for this aircraft instead of the 737. Although the 737 is a cheaper aircraft to operate, JetBlue does have flights that go from coast to coast. For example, JetBlue flies from Boston to destinations like Oakland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Jose. They use their A320s on routes like these ones. For the shorter domestic routes, they will use their Embraer E190s more often (although A320s are also used on these shorter routes as well). They want their passengers to be more comfortable when flying long distances. Some people say that the 737 feels a little less comfortable on those longer routes. One reason for them to fly JetBlue is to have that "comfort." However, "comfort" can mean something totally different to others. Many people instead choose to fly Southwest Airlines, a direct competitor of JetBlue. Southwest operates an all-Boeing 737 fleet. Since the 737 is a more economical aircraft to operate, Southwest is able to offer much cheaper fares than JetBlue. Southwest passengers choose them for the "comfort" or "piece of mind" knowing that they saved much more money on what would have been the same route.To finish off this post, I give you this American Airlines Boeing 757. This photo was taken as the sun was going down. I really like how the sun shines off of its silver fuselage and how the winglets make the wing look more elegant (not all 757s are equipped with winglets). In a way, I really don't want to write about this, mainly because there is really nothing I can say about this airplane that is going to do it justice. I feel that whatever I say will just not be enough and I will leave something out. However, I feel as though I should try. The 757 is and has been a workhorse in so many airline fleets. Delta Airlines alone operates more than 140 of them. United Airlines and Continental Airlines together operate 158 of them. It is invaluable because of its versatility. It has been constantly pushed to its limits and has always seemed to deliver. Whether it be a short, medium, or long, domestic route, or a transatlantic flight, airlines can always count on it to handle the job. There are a few things that make this airplane special, other than the reasons I listed above. For one, it was designed in tandem with the Boeing 767, a longer range and widebody aircraft (757 being a narrowbody single aisle aircraft). The systems on these two aircraft are, for the most part, identical. This gave (and still gives) airlines the advantage of being able to have pilots certified to fly both aircraft. For example, if you were licensed to fly the 757, you became automatically licensed to fly the 767, and vice versa. Another thing about this aircraft is that it is one of the longest, if not THE longest, single aisle passenger aircraft in service. It allowed for more passengers to travel on popular short to medium domestic routes than the 727 and because of its economics, increased revenue for its operators. The 757 is also known to produce higher amounts of wake turbulence than other aircrafts. Because of this, air traffic controllers have to make sure other aircrafts hold a little longer before taking off or landing behind one. You can actually hear its wake pass over you about 10 seconds after the aircraft passes over head. I am not a frequent flyer, but most of my flights have been on this airplane.
As you can tell, my favorite subjects so far are birds and airplanes (apparently things that fly) and I enjoy sharing what I know about them with everyone. If you have any questions, suggestions, or want to share something I might have missed, feel free to comment or email me.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Locust Silhouette
Warm weather on the east coast makes for some fantastic nights to just sit out the deck, have a drink, and just relax. That is precisely what I was doing! I figured a fantastic, productive week at work deserved as much. My backyard is lined with trees behind my fence. There are two types of tree that grow back there. One is the immediately recognizable maple. The other is the Robinia, more commonly known as a "locust." Locusts make up the majority of trees that hang over into my yard. I never really knew what they were called. I guess it was because there is nothing really overly spectacular about them. I remember one person describing them as "tall, overgrown shrubs." Trees like maples, elms, willows, oaks, and beeches all seem to have very distinguishing features whether it be the bark, leaves, or the seeds it drops. Pardon me please. I seem to be straying. Every June, without fail, I will have to clean up all of the small, white petals that this tree drops in my backyard and in my pool.While sitting out this past weekend, I did notice a pretty cool looking sky. I took the original shot without really tring to include any of the trees. However, I quickly realized that the locust silhouetted very nicely against the evening sky. I then took this one to include more of the tree but also with enough sky for some color.
I haven't done silhouettes in a while. If anyone has any opinions, please feel free to comment!
Friday, May 27, 2011
The Yardbirds continued...
Finally! Out with the bad weather and in with the good! Unfortunately, work has been hectic resulting in less time for shooting. I did manage to get these just before and after the weather broke though. Hope you enjoy!
A continuation of the last post with another photo of Mourning Doves. This time, I finally had some better light. Combine this with the low ISO setting and I got a nice sharp and colorful image.
Unable to identify this one. My best attempt at classification would be some breed of house sparrow as they are frequent visitors to my yard. If anyone knows for sure, please comment or email me as I would like to know exactly what kind of bird it is.
Sun was in and out when this shot was taken. This Common Grackle looks a little fatter than normal. This is a result of its courtship ritual. It consists of puffing out its feathers and making quick herky jerky movements with its head.
A continuation of the last post with another photo of Mourning Doves. This time, I finally had some better light. Combine this with the low ISO setting and I got a nice sharp and colorful image.Unable to identify this one. My best attempt at classification would be some breed of house sparrow as they are frequent visitors to my yard. If anyone knows for sure, please comment or email me as I would like to know exactly what kind of bird it is.Sun was in and out when this shot was taken. This Common Grackle looks a little fatter than normal. This is a result of its courtship ritual. It consists of puffing out its feathers and making quick herky jerky movements with its head.
I was surprised to get this close (about 15 feet away, zoomed to 250mm). Common visitors to my lawn, this North American Robin was feeding on the new seed and worms. Quite disappointed about the position of the walkway lamp. The location of the bird and the position of the lamp make it difficult to crop effectively (in my opinion that is) as I am not a very good photo editor.
First post in over a week, I know. My consistency will improve for sure. Please stay tuned!
Monday, May 16, 2011
The Yardbirds
No, not the English rock band of the 1960s. Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Keith Relf, Jim McCarty, and Chris Dreja will not appear in this post except for in this sentence. As the rain works its way through the northeastern United States, I have gotten little chance to get out and really get lost in a full day shoot. However, in the small amount of time between rain showers, I was able to capture a frequent visitor to my back yard.
If you ask me, Mourning Doves just seem like a cleaner, less colorful pigeon. Almost seems like a bird that you would expect to see hanging around a local underpass (or overpass, whatever you prefer) or perched inside the "a" of a Shaw's Supermarket sign. Take this one for example (above). There doesn't seem to be anything overly spectacular about it at first look. It just sits there perched on that branch seeming very uninterested about the man with the camera pointed at it. But, that is what I started to find very likable about this bird in particular. My normal experience when trying to photograph birds up close involves me trying to find out how close I can get before the bird starts to turn and walk away or shows me that it is aware that I am there. This proves to be irritating at times as I will frequently miss out on a good shot because I was trying to get to close. This one, however, just seemed to hang around. It definitely seemed to know I was there, yet it didn't really seem frightened enough to fly away so I used this to my advantage.
This is the same bird pictured above. Since he was intent on staying around, I started to inch closer and closer. No sudden movements were involved as I did not want to take the current situation for granted. As I moved closer, it started to inch down the limb of the tree into a different position but it was still not frightened enough to leave. I was able to take position about 4-5 feet from the limb with the bird about 10 feet above me. About 30 seconds after this shot, the skies opened up again and the sound of thunder frightened the bird enough to get him to fly off to a different location.
The forecast for this week doesn't look to promising, but I will try to look for some opportunities between the showers to sneak out and see what I can find.
If you ask me, Mourning Doves just seem like a cleaner, less colorful pigeon. Almost seems like a bird that you would expect to see hanging around a local underpass (or overpass, whatever you prefer) or perched inside the "a" of a Shaw's Supermarket sign. Take this one for example (above). There doesn't seem to be anything overly spectacular about it at first look. It just sits there perched on that branch seeming very uninterested about the man with the camera pointed at it. But, that is what I started to find very likable about this bird in particular. My normal experience when trying to photograph birds up close involves me trying to find out how close I can get before the bird starts to turn and walk away or shows me that it is aware that I am there. This proves to be irritating at times as I will frequently miss out on a good shot because I was trying to get to close. This one, however, just seemed to hang around. It definitely seemed to know I was there, yet it didn't really seem frightened enough to fly away so I used this to my advantage.This is the same bird pictured above. Since he was intent on staying around, I started to inch closer and closer. No sudden movements were involved as I did not want to take the current situation for granted. As I moved closer, it started to inch down the limb of the tree into a different position but it was still not frightened enough to leave. I was able to take position about 4-5 feet from the limb with the bird about 10 feet above me. About 30 seconds after this shot, the skies opened up again and the sound of thunder frightened the bird enough to get him to fly off to a different location.The forecast for this week doesn't look to promising, but I will try to look for some opportunities between the showers to sneak out and see what I can find.
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