Doug Rudnik Photography

The music is already there. We decide whether to sing! 🎶 Northern Parula (Wood Warbler family)

Let it spark, let it smolder—let love’s torch burn ever bolder

Doug Rudnik PhotoArt

Rodie

Let’s talk about honesty in photography. There are a lot of (crap) photos generated by AI in our social feeds. I have no problem with fun AI apps or artistic creations, but it’s dishonest to present these as “real” life images, imo. I want you to be clear about what I post. I will probably never post an AI generated image. If I do, I’ll tell you. If I create a DougArt, I’ll tell you. I do use AI-based editing tools with the goal of producing excellent true-to-life depictions of what I actually saw with my own eyes. For example, in this photo, Scissor-tailed Flycatchers were very annoyed by the presence of this Red-tailed Hawk and kept buzzing the hawk’s head and tapping it with their beaks! This little warrior actually landed on the hawk’s head! Eventually the Hawk got the message and flew off. This was a real event, however, it took place way beyond the reach of my long lens, so I cropped the photo to fill the frame and I used advanced editing tools to add clarity and reduce noise. While this does create an image that is better than the one I captured with the camera, the scene itself remains life-like. All professional photographers will do this. I also detest fake over-saturated colors, but I do bump up saturation when I feel I did not capture the full spectrum of what I saw with my eye. This is my version of honesty in photography. Everyone will find their own. Some people don’t care about honesty, they just want to create/post pretty pictures, and that’s fine, to each their own. There are no rules here. Just don’t be naive and comment about “God’s handiwork” when God’s not the one that created it…🤔😜🤣😂

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Red-Tailed Hawk
South Carolina

Explore Ralph Waldo Emerson with me through three versions of the same photo. Click on each photo to continue reading excerpts from “Nature,” and then ❤️ the photo version you like the best.

Sharkstooth
Rocky Mountain National Park
Doug Rudnik Photography

Bald Eagle
Colorado

We’re so fortunate to have “another moment” with our favorite poet Gwynneth Green. Today she has been inspired by my recent Colorado River frost photo to make us wish for only a moment more. I love this! Thank you, dear friend, for blessing our lives!

Pleasase share!

Budding Green Productions

wishing only a moment more – budding green wishing only a moment more February 19, 2024 a poet's playground, alternate avenues groggy in the tween of sleep and wake haze slowly lifts while dreams drift revisiting scenes peaceful places now confused distorted illusions of reality not ready to leave this state wishing moments more wishing the....

These popped up in my photo memories from a year ago, worth reposting. I normally prefer to post pics with the bird completely in the frame. On this occasion the two eagles left their perch and flew in my direction, catching me by surprise. The extremities were slightly cut off, darn it, but these were still my favorite shots in the series. I just love making eye contact with nature!

Bald Eagle
Colorado

Merlin (female) My first decent photo of a Merlin!

Horned Lark…hey, when you’ve got an itch, scratch it!!