31 Jul Photo Magic | July 2026

Magic in Photography

Passion Flower

Few people rely on magic in photography.

Consider the above photo of a flower.

As you might expect, the process is straightforward.

First you find the flower. Then you frame, focus, and press.

So you obtain this photo by using a predictable process of small, simple successes that lead to a result.

Northern Mockingbird

Now consider this photo of a Northern Mockingbird.

Certainly, the process used for a flower no longer applies. Unlike the flower, this bird refuses to stay still for a photo.

So instead, we use a process of deliberate failure.

That is, I will focus on where the bird might be. Then, I blanket that space with photos.

As a result, I collect hundreds of failures: Photos of empty sky, blurry photos of a bird, photos of toes, and so on.

Add to this the weird fact that any useable photos happened without my seeing them in the camera’s viewfinder.

So I discover those good photos when processing the collection that I collected.

You could call this magic, where you obtain a surprising result without expecting it.

Gulf Fritillary

By the way, I used the same approach to capture the above photo of a Gulf Fritillary.

Thus, this process works more than once.

This reminds us that sometimes we can achieve success by deliberately using failure.

We begin by accepting, even welcoming failure.

And then we overwhelm failure with effort.

And this must be strategic failure chosen to facilitate a result.

Much success,

Steve Kaye

Find More at:

Nature’s Pollinators

Butterfly Photography

Moth Photography

Did You Know?

The most effective way to help birds is to buy land.

Here are three organizations that excel at doing this.

1) American Bird Conservancy

2) The Nature Conservancy

3) The Trust for Public Land

Please visit their web sites to learn about the work they do.

Here’s an excellent book: The American Bird Conservancy Guide to Bird Conservation

You can help – Please share this blog with others.

Inspiring Respect for Nature, one bird at a time.

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