Usually I attempt to wait until a bird is on an attractive perch or at least in an an appealing environment. Some birds, however, do not frequent such places often.
The first shot, a Western Yellow Wagtail, was taken in Portugal near some salt pans. I followed this bird for over 15' as he foraged along the mud flats. This was about the best perch/background I could get him on.
The next two shots, are of European Bee-eaters. These birds make their nests in mud banks and spend much of their time either on wires waiting for insects, or on the clay banks they like to dig their nest holes in. Again, not very picturesque, but the beauty of both these species of birds makes up for the lack of environmental attractiveness.
All three of these shots were taken with a Canon R5, a 600 mm f/4.0 lens with a 1.4 extender from a car window.
I found that birds in Europe were much less approachable than many I deal with in North and South America. Rarely would a European bird let me exit the car without flying. Although the guide/driver I had was excellent at maneuvering the car, it still limited my choices as to background and perspective.

This is a longhorn beetle that I preserved in diluted "White Vinegar" six months ago as an experiment to compare preservation between using denatured alcohol and white vinegar as an alternative.

I was pleasantly surprised to see how well the beetle had preserved and maintained a fair degree of mobility of its limbs. Denatured alcohol is a good preservative, however, it tends to stiffen the specimens and the colors tend to fade over time. This does not appear to be the case with white vinegar's acetic acid when diluted with distilled water to 3 to 5%.

I staged this focus stacked session using the 85mm 1X-5X super macro lens and the LED soft light panel with no diffusion.

When not capturing Buckingham Fountain last month, I was also looking up and around at the Chicago skyline. The images below are mostly from Memorial Day 2022, but also some images around Chicago from other recent years.

Chicago Skyline - May 2022 by Paul Sager, on Flickr


The Willis Tower (pronounced locally as "Sears Tower") is a 108-story skyscraper in Chicago. At completion in 1974, it surpassed the World Trade Center in New York City to become the tallest building in the world, a title that it held for nearly 25 years.

Willis Tower


During the Great Chicago Fire, started on the night of October 8, 1871, the fire swept through the city along a four-mile corridor. Three hundred people died, 100,000 were made homeless and 17,500 buildings were destroyed. Chicago roared back to life following the disaster. The city centre was laid out on a new grid. New forms of fireproof construction went rivet-on-rivet with the latest building materials and components.

Chicago Skyline - May 2022


Charged with bringing their city back to life and pre-eminence, and to outdo New York, Chicago’s architects used the newest mass-produced, high quality, low-cost steel to build sky high. Until the mid-19th century, five stories had been the normal maximum height of commercial and residential buildings. The world’s first skyscraper was the 10-story Home Insurance Company completed in 1884. Chicago now has 52 buildings standing 600 feet or taller (183 meter).

The Reid Murdoch Building


Known as the Sears Tower from its construction until the naming rights were included in a 2009 lease with the Willis Group, the Sears Tower served as the headquarters of retail company Sears from 1974 to 1994.

Chicago at night


The Aon Center (the taller building in the center, below) was completed in 1974 as the Standard Oil Building. With 83 floors it is the fourth-tallest building in Chicago, the Trump International Hotel and Tower (on the left of this image) is taller but further from the camera from this perspective.

Chicago Skyline


The Railway Exchange Building is a 17-story office building, built in 1904 for the Sante Fe Railroad. In July 2012, the Santa Fe sign was replaced with an illuminated Motorola sign when Motorola Solutions began a lease on one floor of the building. Reading about this change, I went back through my files and found I have images that include the older Sante Fe sign, but not at night in keeping with the theme of this post.

Railway Exchange Building


Chicago is the birthplace of the skyscraper. Of the fifteen tallest buildings currently in the United States, five are in Chicago.

Some Gave All