One late morning in early autumn, I strolled down to the main street of our picturesque, seaside town to photograph my winged friends in all the colorful foliage, capturing painterly compositions with my telephoto lens along the way.
As I walked up First Avenue, I noticed a small flock of chestnut-backed chickadees flitting from one of the ornamental trees down into a planter full of sunflowers that had gone to seed. I was captivated by these tiny birds foraging next to the sidewalk where people were busy heading back to work after lunch. And so, I decided to squat down a few meters away, trying to stay out of the foot traffic while I kept my camera focused on my subjects, darting daintily back and forth to pluck one seed at a time. Lights and bright hues from the buildings across the street helped me to create a lovely, soft autumnal backdrop for this shaggy sunflower and this sweet chickadee in flight.
