joel conison, photography
Songbirds
American Goldfinch
American Redstart
Baltimore Oriole
Blackburnian Warblers
Black-headed Grosbeak
Black-throated Green Warbler
Blue Grosbeak
Blue-headed Vireo
Bluejay
Bob-O-Link
Bohemian Waxwing
Brown-headed Cowbird
Cape Robin
Cardinal Female
Common Grackle
Dark-eyed Junco
Eastern Bluebird
Eastern Meadowlark
European Starling
Fox Sparrow
Gray Catbird
Great Crested Flycatcher
Horned Lark
Indigo Bunting
Magpie
Nashville Warbler
Nightingale
Northern Oriole
Painted Bunting
Prothonotary Warbler
Purple Finch
Purple Martin
Redwing Blackbird
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Rufous-sided Towhee
San Blas Jay
Shrike
Summer Tanager
Tui
Vesper Sparrow
Water Pipit
Yellow-breasted Chat
Yellow Rumpled Warbler
Yellow Warbler
This series is a continuation of the birds in portrait series except more local. Whether you live in the country, suburbia, or an urban neighborhood, songbirds are present. We might take them for granted because they seem plentiful. Unfortunately that is not the case. Songbirds are under great stress, especially migrating birds. As with many animals their habitat is shrinking & these wonderful creatures are decreasing in many cases.
The dichotomy of changing the context of how we perceive these birds affords the viewer the chance to view them in a different way. Neutral backgrounds allow the color, pattern and feather to be appreciated without conflict. Each portrait is then additionally treated with background lightening and darkening as if in a studio situation. The profile orientation enables one to see each bird, and the similarity of body shapes is a reminder of the songbird family, but without direct eye contact. Though the birds may be somewhat different sizes, all of them fill the frame in the same way to emphasize a common concern.