#I tried to rely on the drawing of a clown as an example!

[gudriva]

HEYA GUYS!!!

Am I late??? Anyway, happy pride month!! ;)))

[god-fucking-dammit-mizutani]

What are some of your favorite things about Taishiro?

I was about 2K in when I realized this could have simply been a short list but since I’m the Queen of Not Shutting TF Up, here’s some terribly rambly not-quite-meta:

1. Their characters! I really think as separate characters they’re really fun to sit down with and just consider what makes them tick. It’s been years since I dipped my toes back into the fandom and I have honestly never been bored of them. I love a lot about the other characters of course, but there’s something about Taichi and Koushirou and their stories and their growth and development that feels — I don’t know, timeless? To me, at least. I also just think Koushirou’s arc is Really Important in general, but that’s for another time. I also love the way they interact in the canon and how their personalities kind of work with each other which leads me to:

2. Their Dynamic! It’s easy to say they’re the quintessential Lovable Jock and Nerd archetypes, but overall I think one of the biggest appeals to me is how they don’t really fall back on typical tropes too much and they honestly compliment each other as characters rather than contrast. I think in the digital world specifically they were both on equal footing— they were both pretty important exactly for the reasons that made them different. Taichi was a people person, so he led them. He was a go-getter so he fought with raw power and heart. Koushirou was a thinker, a planner, and so he used his skills and knowledge to unlock secrets, to get them home, to understand their circumstances more. It could have led to a lot more fighting and shrugging each other off to see which side worked better: brawn or brains. Not to say they didn’t have squabbles, but the above was never really the exact conflict in itself iirc? There were quite a few times Taichi had to lean back on Koushirou’s skills and ask him for help, and there were plenty of times most of the kids relied on Taichi and Agumon’s strength— but that didn’t mean Koushirou shied away from fighting either (let’s not talk about the clown episodes pls). They fill in for each other’s weaknesses and I think that’s both in the digital world and just their relationship overall. Koushirou is more calm, more collected and strategic, more of a listener, and Taichi is the more brash, the more emotional one for better or worse, sometimes more optimistic to Koushirou’s realism, which I think evens out in some way. This also kind of feeds into how I feel that:

3. They better each other! Taichi has a bit of an impulsivity issue with a yo-yoing icarus complex. His heart is always in the right place, I believe, but sometimes his action takes precedent or he gets swept up or overwhelmed to the point of frustration-- which I think is where we see his occasional outbursts of anger or complete dejection. Personally I think he needs someone steady; more reasonable to even him out when things get too much. There’s a scene in the novels about the Nanomon part where Sora even thinks as much: “If Taichi didn’t have at least one person around to scold him and shake him up, he would never get back on his feet.” She thinks she’s the only who fits the bill in this particular scene at least (her attempt doesn’t work but overall I agree she’s a really steadying presence for Taichi, too), but I do also personally think it also spells out Koushirou fairly well. One thing I’ve kind of noticed, and it might just be my own poor interpretation/memory or something idk, is that he never really feeds too much into Taichi’s anger. He might be some part of the cause or the receiver of his frustration at times, but he doesn’t feed it back with the same level of anger and fists and I think that helps Taichi a lot. Most of the time Taichi seems to understand what he did wrong right after losing his temper, apologizes, lets out some of his frustration through venting maybe, and then they feel like they move on. Koushirou doesn’t throw it back in his face, but he doesn’t necessarily openly excuse it either (usually appearing more Stern I guess when speaking back), and Taichi doesn’t come off like he’s been secretly agitated by Koushirou for five hundred years— like it generally seems just a product of the time, like it stemmed from outside frustrations and internal struggles and they find a way to move on. And even with all the respect he shows towards Taichi, I don’t think Koushirou is blinded by it. For all his issues with people and believing he can’t know them without knowing himself, I think Koushirou is actually pretty good at reading people to a certain degree (maybe not all of their cues, but definitely them on a core basis). There’s a scene in the novels where Yamato tries to vy for the leadership position, telling Taichi he’s too soft-hearted, and Koushirou jumps up immediately to Shut It Down, specifically saying he won’t recognize anyone else but Taichi. Surprised by this, Yamato tries to spin it as Koushirou just being one of “Taichi’s fans”, to which he also Shuts That The Fuck Down with an accurate description of why Yamato could never replace Taichi (spoiler: it’s that he’s too emotional and Yamato concedes because he can’t argue lmao). There’s a specific line in that scene which says Koushirou, “wasn’t speaking out of loyalty to any one party,” so I think the point of it all is that, objectively, Koushirou believes Taichi is the best leader solely because of his qualities and not just because of Koushirou’s own personal biases. He’s loyal to Taichi because he knows him, trusts him, and believes in him as a person (and he’s so right to). I really don’t think it’s some sort of hero worship-- I think Koushirou can look at Taichi and see all the cracks in his armor, but instead of hollow space he sees potential; he sees the pieces welded together with gold and all the good Taichi wants to do, can do, will do, and Koushirou is willing to support him, which sometimes means telling Taichi when he’s faltered along the path and not just going along with it. I just think this is a pretty profound thing from a character who spends a lot of time distancing himself from others, including his parents up until the episode they hash things out. Essentially I think he wants the best for Taichi and he’s not going to pull the proverbial punches when needed, and I think that’s good for Taichi on an emotional level sometimes. Like his mellow compliment. He respects Taichi, and the thing is, I feel like Taichi respects him in kind. I know there’s a scene where Koushirou gets mad at him and Taichi is like, “No please don’t be,” in 02 but I’m drawing a blank as to the why right now (it’s been longer since I rewatched that than 01 haha)… but it’s a very big difference imho on how Taichi reacts to other people being angry at him. Like, he doesn’t want to disappoint Koushirou, like his opinion of Taichi matters to him. I think Hikari falls into this, too, and Sora probably, but just not the point of this post. But in general Taichi realizes Koushirou’s strengths and utilizes them. The biggest example is when they try to open the gate and Taichi asks Koushirou for his opinion on how to place the cards. This flusters Koushirou because he’s not exactly an attention seeker. Nothing he has done in the series has been towards the goal of recognition-- just simply knowledge. And Taichi knows this. He knows Koushirou is smart and lifts him up and literally tells him he’s important and the group openly agrees (here’s also how the manhwa interpreted it lmao). It is so much more blatant in the 2020!Digimon series lmao but I do think it’s sprinkled in the OG series, too, with the kids being a little less overt and little more Complicated regarding these kinds of interactions. Also on the subject of bettering each other, Taichi is the sole reason Koushirou decides to go to the camp in the first place. This is something that used to be explored in a looott of fics back in the Hay Day but essentially my point here is: Taichi is someone who will bring Koushirou out of his comfort zone, but I don’t think he’d actually intend or suggest something that would bring him discomfort. The camp itself is very blatantly not Koushirou’s Scene, but we know he doesn’t make decisions lightly. He doesn’t do it to advance his social skills, either. He does it because Taichi asked him to and he trusts Taichi enough to have his best interests at heart and I think it does in some way lend to Koushirou coming out of his shell overall. But again, that could just be me  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

4. They trust each other! I went through a lot of that above I think so I don’t have more to add at the moment, but it’s worth pointing out specifically.

5. They’re also not Perfect! Sounds counter intuitive from everything else I’ve said, but it’s true?? It makes thinking about their dynamic really interesting and fun to explore because they feel more like real people with flaws and their relationships with each other and others have flaws and I just love when shows can do that?? Like just give subtle enough nuances to characters and their relationships so they just feel more realistic— like you could meet another person like any of them off the street?? I digresssss. But more specifically for taishirou it makes wanting to explore their relationship more interesting— what would happen in this one scenario? What is it like when they grow older? I think for instance communication is probably an issue of sorts between them for a while. I can’t come up with the words for it right now and there’s been better stated meta before haha, but I do especially think that Koushirou would have a hard time opening up on a more emotional level for some years and Taichi would eventually begin to see that in some way as rejection until he felt the need to say/do something about it. Like I think, accidentally, Koushirou keeps some of his walls up and maybe while Taichi’s scaled most of them effortlessly, there’s like a glass left that if they’re not trying to see it, almost looks like it’s not there. If that makes sense? But this isn’t something I think is permanent, because I think there’s a section in the novels, too, where Taichi is elated that Koushirou speaks openly and honestly with him, something like, “It made me happy you spoke so casually to me, like you opened your heart to me.” So I think in a matter of time Koushirou would open up more, it’s just hard because he struggles with a lot of self worth and just… existential dread—this child I swear??? But I’m very interested in considering how they grow more, grow into each other, the way they’d learn to work better together not only on saving the world, but I don’t know like, splitting up the chores. Better people have put better words together, but I tried…!

6. Friendship is a wonderful basis for a romantic relationship! It doesn’t have to be the basis of every ship/relationship, but I think it’s a grand thing to forge as a foundation and merged with everything above just makes it better to me. They can be best friends and lovers haha. Also just childhood friends into lovers is still a good trope, yes, thank you. But, I do also love their friendship just as friendship. Again, I just really love their dynamic on the whole—I just also really love them being in love lmao.

7. They fit a “Quiet, but profound” love kind of feeling for me and it will be my end! Again this is personal interpretation, but the way I kind of feel about them is that they’re this very quiet sort of love. Like it’s There and it’s grand, but it’s not as loud as some others might be. It’s small smiles and the brush of their hands, it’s the silent, “Are you alright?” It’s dinner reheated and left by the computer; a small neck massage because Taichi sees the way Koushirou’s scrunching his eyebrows together and that means he’s going to get a headache. It’s Koushirou deciding to buy expensive tickets for a soccer match, not because he’s dying to go, but because he wants to enjoy something with Taichi that he enjoys and it’s worth the pretty penny (still not over this being technically canon). It’s the quiet stare when Taichi comes home and everything’s overwhelming and Koushirou just knows he needs to talk it out, for someone to listen. It’s looking at the other person, knowing them, seeing all the cracks and thinking, “I want to wake up to this every morning.” It’s a gradual thing, but it’s also a built thing. Years of self discovery and growth, of being at each other’s side, of integrating into each other’s lives so that it’s just all natural. Years of mutual pining. Because I’m human and I need this.

8. They fit this quote and it fucks me up: 

Obviously none of this is to down play the enormous help that Agumon and Tentomon were to their respective growth. I also think the rest of the cast is wonderful and unique in their own way. Like I think Yamato pushes Taichi to Do Better in his own way, is the perfect foil, but also friend who much later on kind of Gets Him on a level others don’t necessarily, you know?? I honestly Love Them All So Much,  I just…. feel like I need to point that out haha. But there is something special in the Taichi/Koushirou dynamic that has kept me invested for over a decade and I’m terrible at the meta/word thing but these are definitely some of the things I love about the ship.

[ajokeformur-ray]

Match up // Arthur Fleck+Joker

@x-avantgarde-x said: Girl, it can't be that I'm the only one who hasn't asked you for a match-up with our boys! So bear with me, I'm gonna ask you for one >:3. The name is Marta (thought you already know that :b) I'm 4'11, really tiny. I'm a mix of soft and vintage aesthetic. I love any colour, and I always try to wear something that fits the season. I'm super soft, kind and polite. I'm super supportive of those I love and super caring. Though I can be truly rude if you get on my bad side. (Part 1) (part 2) I'm a huge nerd. I'm studying humanities and I love literature, music and movies. I live for acting, drawing, reading, writing, etc. Anything that's related to arts I'm into it! I even act at a theater company. I work really hard to improve my both my mental health and self-esteem. Though leaving with anxiety, depression and body dismorphia can be truly hard sometimes I try to stay happy and bubbly most of the time. I believe a smile and a kind word are the most powerful things ever.

Arthur Fleck

You’re 4′11 and Arthur is 5′8, which means that he’s got a good head and shoulders on your height. If you think he’s protective of his s/o, then when his s/o is able to perfectly fit in his arms and he has to bend over a little just to kiss the top of your head, his protective streak increases by 1000000% because you’re so small. The one and only time he ever caught you standing on a chair to reach something in the kitchen cupboard, he near enough had a heart attack. The resulting laughing fit lasted almost fifteen minutes. Now, you make it a point to ask him to get you things high up. He does it, of course he does. He practically sprints to assist you just to be sure that you’re not gonna attempt to climb his countertops again. You really scared him that day.

Whereas Arthur likes to wear natural colours and seems to rely heavily on his yellow hoodie, you’re more than happy to wear an assortment of styles, colours and combinations. One of his favourite parts of the morning is finding out what you have chosen to wear that day. Is it based on your mood? Is there a reason for each outfit? Which one is your favourite? If you ever dressed like him, he’d be more than a little taken aback and definitely confused. He’d always compliment you on your outfits. The biggest compliment he could ever give you, though, is simply being unable to look you in the eye because he’s blushing so prettily and help him he’s so in love with you.

You’re both soft, caring, supportive and so loving. As such, arguments and the like are very rare between the two of you. You’d rather give Arthur space than say something you might regret, and he’s too afraid of losing you to even consider saying something which may potentially take you away from him, even for a little while. However, if someone even dares to say something against Arthur or yourself, then the other person goes apeshit. Arthur can, has and will punch people out for insulting you in his presence, and you lay into people thickly when they call Arthur a freak for simply being his own pure, precious self.

You have a huge creative streak and this shows in almost every walk of your life. You and Arthur both work in the arts, though your own pursuits are more rewarding and liberating than his own, and he’d love nothing more than for the two of you to put your own shows on together in the living room. There’s no audience because it’s not for the world to see. It’s for you and Arthur only. In those moments, the world can truly get fucked. When Arthur is trying to cheer you up or calm you down, he’ll invite you to sit on the sofa so he can put on a show for you; he’ll even put proper clown makeup on for you. Or, better yet - he’ll do some clown makeup on you so you match him.

You both suffer so much more than the world, than Gotham realises, but you both fight your own battles and you support each other and you love each other and you’re fighting in your own and each other’s corners. Sometimes things explode and you do have a small confrontation but Arthur will bring out his joke book and make you laugh until you’re crying and can’t remember why you were arguing in the first place. Arthur would love for you, and he would never let you doubt that for a second. You are his entire world, the only good he has in his life, and he’ll be damned if anyone tries to take that away from him. Your smile is Arthur’s all time favourite sight and he’d die just to see it beginning to grow at the corner of your mouth. The first time he made you smile, he thought he’d died and gone to Heaven. Or Hell. He was unsure but it was the sweetest torture and he wants it again and again and -.

Joker

Wahhhhh you’re a smol bean and even though Joker is much more liberated and more comfortable in himself, that protective streak never goes away. If anything, Joker is so much more protective than Arthur ever was. If Joker ever walked in on you actually climbing the counter to reach something, or standing so far up on your tip toes that you’re shaking, he’d swoop in with his hands on your waist, fingers gripped tight in silent admonishment but also to reassure himself that he’s not going to drop you, and remove you from the situation. He’s also definitely the type to leave something precious to you high up so that, when you inevitably have to climb or stretch to reach it, he can come up behind you and press his crotch into your bum, just to hear you squeal. When you spin around, his lips are on yours. He’s the master of distracting you.

You like to wear colours that match the seasons, whereas Joker is always wearing the same three piece suit. He has multiple suits that are all the same, and rarely does he switch clothing; unless he’s masquerading or Arthur or he’s letting his guard down just a little when he’s at home. Wearing colours that would complement Joker’s outfit would be the quickest and easiest way to get him horny asf (if that’s your goal) but it would also be a really sweet, silent way of expressing your love for him. When you wear something new, he compliments you sincerely, though he probably has an ulterior motive for it. For example, “as much as I love that colour on you, I think it’d look much better on the floor...”

You’re polite, soft, loving and giving, endlessly supportive and a total ray of sunshine until you’re not. Joker would love seeing you get angry. He’d love seeing you totally rip into people, including him, if the situation ever called for it. If you ever do seriously argue with him, though, and went to leave, he’d dart up and quickly block your exit. You will sit down, you will listen to each other and you will communicate with each other and no one leaves until the situation is resolved. He’s not above pouting and actually sitting on you to make you listen to him. Stay long enough, and you’ll find out why he’s so insistent on talking it out: Joker is scared. He’s scared to lose you, and though he doesn’t show it very often, he really does think the world of you. Where Arthur used to punch people out, Joker would kill them in brutal ways. You don’t wanna know the details, even as he tells you that the blood on his clothing isn’t his.

Joker loves to dance, put on shows, and the fact that you act too? A match made in heaven!! He is so often pulling you up and out of your chair just so he can dance with you (in more ways than one if you get me lmao wink wink), spinning you around like no tomorrow and dipping you just so all you can think about is kissing him and ruining his face paint, and then you do kiss him and then the rest of the plans you had for the day is cancelled because you’re not going anywhere now. When you’re studying, like watching a documentary you forgot to take notes on, or when you’re writing or drawing, Joker loves to have you sat on his lap, his arms wrapped around you. He just loves having you be as close to him as possible so that a) he can protect you from any dangers and b) because he loves you. 

You try to stay happy and you smile at people who you meet in the street and you try to laugh through your pain and god do you feel pain, and Joker is always so proud of you. He knows how hard it is to live sometimes, he knows what it’s like to always be fighting yourself. He sees you and though he’s not as supportive as Arthur, he’s still there and won’t ever leave you. If you ever tried to apologise for your conditions, he would wave you off with a, “We’re in love, sweetheart. Ride or die, remember?” or something similar to make you blush prettily and smile. Just like Arthur, he’d do anything to preserve your smile, and I do mean anything.

[bobsfilmblog]

Spider-Man: Homecoming

Spider-Man: Homecoming is a 2017 superhero film directed by Jon Watts. It is based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. It is the second Spider-Man film reboot and the sixteenth film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film was critically and commercially successful.

The story picks up with Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tom Holland), after having fought alongside the Avengers during the events of Captain America: Civil War, now anxious to fight crime and take on a new assignment. However, Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) urges him to stay in school and build his skills before attempting to tackle “Avengers-level ” threats. This becomes difficult for Peter when he stumbles across the operations of Adrian Toomes/The Vulture (Michael Keaton), the former owner of a salvage company who has since retooled his operation into a dangerous gang who turn Chitauri scrap into advanced weapons. Despite Tony’s attempts to dissuade Peter from pursuing the Toomes, Peter tries to prove himself and disrupt The Vulture’s plans, all while attempting to balance his life as a normal high school student.

Fun, light, and easily consumable, Spider-man: Homecoming is the MCU Spider-man film audiences have been waiting for. As the reboot of a reboot, it draws obvious comparisons to the previous incarnations, and while Sam Raimi’s early 2000’s franchise is stiff competition, Homecoming distinguishes itself with positive results. Unlike 2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man, Homecoming does not feel bound to rely with strict adherence to the source material, but rather adapts the comics in a way that incorporates elements that work and envisions new dynamics when appropriate. For example, instead of Flash Thompson being a big tough football jock, the film reimagines him as a “rich smug kid”, a “social media bully”. This was done with the aim to reflect modern views of bullying. (http://www.cbr.com/interview-spider-man-homecoming-tony-revolori-flash-thompson/). Changes of this nature keep the film fresh while maintaining the original appeal of the source material.

One of the central features which makes Homecoming a success is its talented cast. Tom Holland, at 19, is significantly younger than previous incarnations of the character (Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, were 25 and 26, respectively). Additionally, Peter Parker in Homecoming is intended to be 15, and there’s a strong contrast between Maguire and Garfield, adults playing teens, and Holland, a teen playing a younger teen, particularly in how the character comes across. Homecoming’s Peter Parker lacks experience, confidence, and feels more genuine. What we see is less a Hollywood portrayal of an actor playing a high schooler and more a high schooler playing Peter Parker. Holland imbues Peter with a quick wit and an indomitable spirit. The supporting cast is strong, diverse, and well chosen, particularly Donald Glover and Martin Starr in their small, but highly visible roles. Homecoming is a superhero film, and Marvel has been quick to point out - it's not an origin story. However, it's still a tried and true Spider-Man film format: a coming of age story. The cast got together to watch John Hughes movies in preparation, including The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Pretty in Pink. There are key "coming of age" moments throughout the film: Peter going to his crush's party, missing the academic decathlon, going to the homecoming dance. Then there are the "superhero coming of age" moments interspersed in the Spider-Man story arc, such as how Peter's identity is revealed to his best friend (Jacob Batalon) and how he reroutes the training protections in the super-suit given to him by Iron Man. All these beats work together to show how not only how Peter is coming of age as a young man, but also as a young superhero.

While Homecoming is easy to watch and hard to dislike, the one negative may be that it lacks a certain memorability. While watching the film, there are laughs and thrills, but once you walk out of the theater it’s difficult to recall a particularly hilarious moment or an especially emotionally moving scene. That said, the film is entertaining, but Marvel’s greatest achievement with this production is almost certainly having secured their deal with Song to share the character rights, allowing them to integrate Spider-Man into their Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Overall, I enjoyed this film. I would be interested to see other films by Jon Watts, especially Clown and Cop Car. I would recommend Spider-Man: Homecoming to fans of superhero movies, coming of age films, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise.

[timbersnakestudios]

The Carolinas Raptor Center...and a moral question.

So next weekend I am going to the Carolinas Raptor Center outside of Charlotte NC. Nearer to Huntsville actually. What do they do there? Glad you asked. From their site:

Carolina Raptor Center: Conserve. Educate. Inspire.

Mission Statement: Carolina Raptor Center is dedicated to the conservation of raptors. 

As a charitable 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, CRC relies on public financial support to fulfill our mission goals that include environmental education, the rehabilitation of injured and orphaned raptors, and environmental stewardship. Carolina Raptor Center is currently celebrating the 40th year since the first patient, a Broad-winged Hawk, was brought to Dr. Dick Brown in the basement of the biology building at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

So most of their focus is on rehabilitation of injured raptors (and there are a lot of birds in that category you wouldn't normally think of. ) to release back into the wild. Birds that cannot be released post injury are kept onsite and used in educational programs. Lots of environmental education for school kids. Plus they have really fun events there at the center where they bring out some of the birds and do lectures on habitat, food sources, and the like. A good place to spend some time with your kids.

But twice a year they close the center down for the morning on Saturday and Sunday and invite local photographers (and some folks who are just genuinely interested) to come and take pictures of some of the residents. They call it PhotoWILD

Owls and eagles and hawks, OH MY! These birds are ready for their close-up.

Amateur and professional photographers alike will enjoy this professional photo shoot featuring Carolina Raptor Center's resident raptors. Each day highlights over 20 different raptors in unique settings each day. The morning starts with an early-bird breakfast at 7:30 a.m., followed by six, thirty-minute sessions, including a free-flight rotation with some of our flight show superstars.

They place perches around two or three open areas and rotate a variety of the raptors around the perches on half-hour schedules. It makes for some interesting activity as some of the birds are just as docile and happy to be sitting around with a bunch of folks taking pictures and talking and some..well..

A beautiful example of the American Kestrel. Indigenous to NC, but I have never gotten anywhere NEAR as close to one as this guy. Wanna see why I was able to?

Because he was quite happily sitting on the glove of his handler. They are terribly skittish birds and this one took the better part of 30 minutes before he would sit on the perch, rather than on the glove, without just being as agitated and fidgety as all heck.

Notice what I did not do here. Edit out the jesses from his legs. Could I? Sure. I am fairly proficient with Photoshop (See Monday Mugshot Makeovers). But I don't want to try and pass this off as a 'wild' bird. I have shots of Kestrels in my portfolio from the wild. Just not this close up. And that is what produces the moral question.

I have talked before about how most of the INCREDIBLE shots of birds you see in magazines like Audubon, Bird Fancy, even titles like NAT GEO and such are shots that are taken over bait, drip water attractants, and even completely fabricated perches with fresh foliage and suet or seed added directly before photos to make sure they look 'just right'. There are folks out there that make big money, like $350k plus a year, doing workshops where they setup such and have 6-8 deep pocketed semi-pros (or straight up working professionals) come out and shoot dozens of species. One of my favorites is one where the ad states you walk 40 yards from the back porch of the luxurious bed and breakfast, to the blind they have setup over a small pond that had perches customized to the 3 or 4 types of birds they are hoping to shoot that morning. Of course they get the pictures, the birds are likely sitting on the porch going "HEY...where are the fat guys with the cameras? We are ready for breakfast damnit!"

Now these birds are a bit different. They litterally are tied to what they are sitting on. Most of them could not really fly away, but they could flap about and likely hurt themselves again. Or get far enough away they could not be recaptured and maybe starve or end up trying to eat something off the highway. Which is how a lot of these guys wound up here in the first place.

The first time I went I was amazed at how close we could get. I had my 300mm with me so could stay a good bit away and still frame in tight on the birds. But there was a younger guy there who actually complained to one of the staff because unlike years before, they were asking the photoghraphers to stay at least 8 feet from the birds at all times. Some, like the very skitterish Kestrel, even a bit more. He said that the was not made aware of these limitations and he did not bring adequate lenses to have to be so far away. WHAT?!?

When he moseyed off, I stopped the volunteer and told her that he was full of shit and that it was HIS responsibility to have the equipement he needed and moreover, the most important thing was the safety and comfort of the raptors. She thanked me and said that she had never had anyone complain before but that she would certainly mention his viewpoint to the head staffers.

I caught up with the 'pro' that had complained and asked him if he really felt that the staff should allow us closer, even if it made the bird uneasy. That is when he dropped his cards.

"I edit these slightly and sell them as wild captured images to stock companies. They don't want captive bird images and they want images that are as close as possible."

I have to admit, I started laughing. Why? Because I had spent the weekend before on Jordan Lake, in cold temps, shooting photo after photo of Bald Eagles that were FAR on the other side of what my 300mm f2.8 lens, even with a 2x Teleconverter, could adequately capture for what I would have even thought of putting on a blog. Much less selling to Stock. And this clown was going to sell his Photoshopped shots of jessed birds for stock images? And was COMPLAINING about it? After I saw that he sort of realized he was being an ass I asked him if he had longer glass (I recall his having a 80-200 mm zoom on his DX body so decent reach) why didn't he just bring it along incase and he admitted that he didn't own such, but rented when he needed it.  

I let it go. I wasn't going to change this kids mind. But hopefully I made him think a bit. 

Made me think though. Should I post these images? Should I put in big capital letters "CAPTIVE BIRD" so it is clear. Should I care? My favorite photo from the day was...

See that lil Hoot sitting there just as casual as can be. If he could talk, he would have the same voice as the Ant in the old Ant and the Aardvark cartoons.

This owl was shy and kept turning her back to us. When the handler talked to it and encouraged it to turn around and be pretty, it made a sound just like a cat when you are talking all silly to them. 'mewh' 

This is a mature Auger's Hawk. Or Auger's Buzzard. Depend on how you want to sell it. The next weekend after I took this, the Auger that the Seattle Seahawks football team uses for their mascot flew away from its handler and landed on a fans head in the stands. This one was making gouges in the telephone pole it was perched on as it tried to get the leash off. Saw at least a hundred stories about them after the football game event. Would a stock photo of this one with the jesses photoshopped out sold for a stock image. Maybe.

But here is the one that really is close. This is a Eurasian Eagle Owl. We don't have them here. But jeez, this is a huge bird and some of the shots of it in flight between the perches are incredible. Could I photoshop out the lead?

Sure. Light colored, mixed in with leaves and such. No problem. Did I? Nope. I did this instead.

Better angle on this Barn Owl. Colors were nicer and the bokeh of the background worked. So I removed the tether on this one instead. Wrong? Maybe. Have I sold a print of it? Nope. Wouldn't unless someone wanted one after I told them it was altered and then I would give the money to the Raptor Center. 

So I am going back. I have my 600mm this time so I can stand even further away and still get crazy close up shots of the birds. And I actually have an idea for a 'posed' shot to do during the flight session if I can talk the handlers into doing it. If I do, it will be awesome. And it will be honestly presented as staged. I guess that is where I draw the line. Disclosure. I have no need to hide or lie about a photo since I have no intent of 'getting rich' from this. Nope, it ain't the camera. It is the image at the end that we hang our name and thereby reputation on.