Bird Pairings

Face it: Almost every species of bird has been photographed a million times already. Even if you have a great picture of a nuthatch, big deal, there are hundreds of better ones than yours already available on the internet, in magazines, etc.

But what's rarer, and equally interesting, is pictures with *two* birds in the picture, of different species. For example, a nuthatch and a woodpecker clinging to opposite sides of the same tree trunk, one going up and one going down. Or a white-throated sparrow and a song sparrow competing for seeds right next to each other.

These photos are usually an accident, and that's sad because they are often strange and inspiring. I think people should seek them out. Sometimes a mockingbird, which on its own is a commanding creature, is dwarfed by - of all things - a Canada goose which has climbed out of the water to investigate the grasses. A pairing of a mockingbird and goose together is sure to fetch high prestige in the new photographic art of Bird Pairing.

Camera experts will also enjoy the new challenge of keeping two birds in focus at the same time; equal attention must be given to both of them, but there is still creativity involved as to how the exposure type should affect the characterizations of the two subjects.