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About the Feathers
Feathers are the defining aspect of birds.
They are the most complicated and multifunctioning covering of any creature,
way surpassing human clothing.
Strong, light feathers make flight possible, they are the best insulation,
they keep diving birds bodies dry, their beaty and patterns help them hide or attract mates,
and feathers serve the bird in a bunch of other ways.
Because most birds lose (molt) and renew their feathers about once a year,
single feathers are easy to photograph without harming the bird.
Most pictures here are of molted feathers.
Most of these feathers were borrowed to photograph from museums, zoos, and private aviaries.
I collect photographs of feathers, not the feathers themselves--except Argus
pheasant feathers seen in gallery 7.
About the Images
The best way to see feathers is on birds.
But a picture of a single feather gives us a different perspective of the bird both in form, beauty, and function.
It is a different way to connect with birds we already know.
These feather pictures speak for themselves; nature creates here.
I just provide the right lighting and arrangements.
I strive to represent the feather colors exactly as they are seen in good light.
So I limit my post photographic modification toward showing the feathers as they truly are, straight from the bird.
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