Arkansawyer Photography

05/30/2026

Last summer I was excited to find that a hummingbird had made her nest in the tree right in front of the house. Only a little out of reach. And I got a blurry shot of some eggs in the nest while precariously standing on a short stepladder.

A couple weeks ago I found myself buzzed several times when I'd step outside and thought maybe she was greeting me, then I looked up and saw some fluff on the Christmas lights still hanging there and the light bulb went off.

The funny thing is the nest was maybe 3 or 4 inches from the storm door when it was wide open. I figured this would never do, so I restrung the lights carefully moving them down a foot or so.

The next day, after watching her continuing to build, I did it again, putting it a little more distant from our daily path.

Yesterday I captured a video of her bringing fluff and packing it in. I thought I'd do more of that but this morning she was staying put. She even let the family walk through the door and past her without flying away.

When I got back this afternoon, I looked and found this. As I type she is sitting on it again and I am again capturing some video.

I guess getting more photos of the nest building is past, but now we watch and wait.....




Camera: Google Pixel 8 Pro
Aperture: f1.7
Shutter speed: 1/357s
ISO 18
Focal Length: 6.9mm

(Some of these reported numbers seem suspect but it is a phone. Basically it was shot in portrait mode).

05/30/2026

When I remember to stop and experience it, I recognize that our world is an amazing place. This scene is across the road from my house, here in beautiful Powell's Valley, at a time of day where I am usually still just getting up or sipping coffee. I am glad that day that I stepped out to see this lovely morning.

Even as the billionaires try to convince folks that climate change is a hoax, so they can keep selling goods and services that enrich them without regard to the problems they create, we continue to see impacts in our daily lives. Last fall we went many weeks without a drop of rain. This year, so far, was like a freezer box for far longer than in recent years and then when it warmed up, the thermometer yoyo'd so long that many of Pennsylvania's fruit crops were destroyed.

And yet... We see a morning like this and it gives me hope that the earth is resilient. That we, too, can be resilient. We can find moments of beauty and grace and change the world into a better place with just one little act of kindness, or one plant planted, one bunny rescued, or even one act of putting our voice into the world in such a way that we can bring a bit of positivity and light into the darkest moments.



Camera: Pentax K-1
Lens: Pentax HD D-FA 28-105 F3.5-5.6 ED DC WR
ISO 100
Shutter speed: 1/125sec
Focal Length: 73mm
Aperture F8.0

05/24/2026

For the past few days, when I would walk and stand on the front porch, a hummingbird would come fly in front of me and hover around. I thought maybe I had finally been elevated to the status of hummingbird whisperer. But a few minutes ago, I looked out the door and saw this on the wire hanging just in front of the storm door.

This is the early beginnings of a nest. I went out and moved the whole string a few inches to the left so it's not almost being hit by the door when it opens. If she continues her building, I may shift it a few more inches in a day or two so it'll be a little further from our path.

05/22/2026

The world feels a little wilted right now. That is not to say that there is not beauty. Doesn't it feel like, sometimes, that we might get sucked into a big black hole.

What we must attempt to remember and I am reminding myself of this, is that the sun comes up tomorrow, and the seasons will change..

If nothing else, this is a miraculous world.



Camera: Pentax K-1
Lens: Sigma EX DG Macro 70mm F2.8
Settings: f8.0 ISO3200 1/20s 70mm
No post processing.

05/14/2026

We found some bunnies a couple days ago in our old overgrown garden. Later that evening, we had walked over there and a small bird seemed trapped by the fence. We "helped" it get away. Tonight I walked over and "helped" her again in the same spot. After she flew away I looked again, thinking it must be no coincidence that this bird was doing the same thing in the same place on two different days.

05/06/2026

Every good photograph has a backstory, even if we don't quite know who took it.....

Thanks to fan Jose Ramon Acosta for sharing!!

https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/photography/books/this-famous-photo-of-new-york-workers-eating-lunch-on-a-steel-girder-has-been-seen-by-billions-but-the-daredevil-story-of-how-it-was-photographed-can-only-now-be-told

A new book unpacks the untold story behind Lunch on a Beam, the 1932 publicity photo that became a 20th-century icon

05/01/2026

The one thing about our ping-ponging weather is that springtime has been extended. The dogwoods are still pretty.

04/24/2026

Survived the freeze, a little bit wild...

02/14/2026

Happy Valentine's Day!.

01/28/2026