October 2020 was the most incredibly beautiful autumn in many years. Ironically, because of the pandemic, I had the time to run around to the woods and trails and parks to photograph as much as I could, and it was a fairly safe thing to do in that time.

And the time was perfect to capture this photo, especially the time of day when the angle of the sun cast minimal shadows as the maple trees around the duck pond layered color on the rippled water with tiny bits of sky as a backdrop to the pair of perfect mallard ducks.

Artwork vs. photography

Typically I like to share my artwork in my monthly desktop calendar, and I considered painting this image. In fact, I could see my hands, my brushes, my watercolors, watch myself trace those amazing ripples and shapes, the details on the mallards…but I also consider what my work as an artist can add to the image. This would truly be a feat of endurance and patience to paint, and I would love every minute, and the intimacy of creating every stroke of it on paper by hand does give an image a specific depth that sometimes rings truer and looks more interesting to the human eye than a photo.

But when I study those details in the photo, and remember how hard I worked to capture this image, and how much time and skill I used to adjust it to the brilliance and clarity you see, how much I’ve studied and practiced to capture and create an image like this even before this photo came along, I’ve already applied a lot of my painterly skills to it as well as photography skills. In fact, it was preparing this image to be painted, to be certain I had the colors and clarity accurate, that made me work so hard to achieve the image you see here. At this point, I know that this image probably already tells you all it can about this moment.

Still, I can tell you that, like “Blue and Yellow,” the painting that just won Best of Show and which waited 16 years patiently waiting to be painted, I feel that someday I’ll be painting this one too. And I hope I’m not 77 years old when that happens!

Where to find this photo

Click here to register for your account to order your free print. When I receive your registration I’ll send you an email with information on how to order.

See other New Member Gifts

You can also find this photo in my galleries of Nature and Wildlife photography if you’d like a different size or type of print.

Get a print of “Swimming in Gold”

Register for an account and get a free matted print

The featured artwork also becomes one of the New Member Gifts for the month it’s featured as well, so if you’ve been waiting to register for an account, here’s another good reason. This New Member print is a signed digital print of my photo “Swimming in Gold”. Prints are made in archival inks on Epson Silky photo paper. This print is 8″ x 11″ with a white black cor mat to fit an 11″ x 14″ frame.

Click here to register for your account to order your free print. When I receive your registration I’ll send you an email with information on how to order.

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This month’s desktop calendar

Wallpaper calendars are free to download. You’ll find them below along with instructions.

If these sizes don’t work for your device, or if you have problems, please let me know. Often I can troubleshoot the reason an image won’t download or won’t load on your device, but if I just can’t figure it out I can just email it to you and hope that works.

How to download and use your desktop calendar

1. Click on one of the images below that matches the dimensions of your monitor to open the image in a new page.
2. For desktop computers and laptops, right-click on that image and on a desktop computer choose “save as desktop wallpaper” or “save as background” or whichever option your operating system gives you to be able to do this. You may also simply save it to your hard drive and set it as your background from there.
3. For mobile devices, press on the image to bring up a menu and choose “open in new window”. Go to that window and press until a menu appears and choose as “set as wallpaper” or “set as lock screen” or whatever you’d like—this is slightly different on all devices.

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Horizontal and HD monitors and screens

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Square monitors and screens

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Small Mobile Devices and Tablets

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Cell Phones and Smartphones

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Take a look at other featured artwork and desktop calendar posts.

Each month I feature a piece of artwork or a photo from the archives to the present day, tell its story, and set it up as a free downloadable desktop calendar for just about every electronic device available.

Other items with the same art or design To find all items on this site with the same art or design, use the search box for the name of the artwork and you'll find all that's available.

Don’t miss any new items or opportunities!

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For art, photos and writing as I develop it, visit my blogs.

See feline art and photos as they happen on The Creative Cat, along with feline news, health, welfare, rescue stories and more.

See daily photos as I post them on Today.

Read poetry, short stories, essays and more on Paths I Have Walked.

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© 2022 | www.PortraitsOfAnimals.net | Published by Bernadette E. Kazmarski

All images used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission. Please ask if you are interested in using one in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of this image or a product including this image, check to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms.