A bigger zoom would have been nice :)

Saturday morning while I was making breakfast, I heard a racket outside. It was lots of screeching, I mean A LOT of screeching. I knew there was a Hawk out in the yard (something I have been waiting for here, for a long time) I ran out onto the back porch to look around the yard and saw several up in the sky flying around. I counted 4!! I was so excited I ran back in the house to grab a camera to take some pix of the group flying around. When I ran back out onto the porch, just as I was opening the screen door to step out on to the deck, one flew right over the roof of the porch and over me landing up on one of my maples. As soon as it landed it turned and looked back right at me. ( you will see this in the second picture, that was actually my first shot)

This made FIVE red tails all circling the skies over my house at the same time! It was something to see !!




f/8
1/500 sec.
ISO-200
WB-5200k
Tiffen UV filter
300mm
Freehand

f/8

1/500 sec.

ISO-125

WB-5200k (sun)

Tiffen UV filter

300mm

Freehand

Odd Duck

So, this seems to be my mantra from time to time but, I blew a pretty good opportunity with this duck. I could have snapped him on the beach right by a bed of sea grass. I was walking along the sea coast on the cape and as I was ducking under docks and over rock walls I startled this lone Eider Duck into the water. They are a pretty patterned North Canadian sea duck for the most part but they are notorious for being early nesters so I am thinking that with the early rising temperatures we have been having on the Cape they are going to set up shop locally this year. Yes he was alone on the beach unfortunately. I will check back on him to see if he has a mate.

Note to self ... start taking walks with bread to lure the animalies closer for pictures :)

f/22

1/80 sec.

ISO-400

WB-5200k

UV filter (see notes below on that)

260mm

Freehand

No flash

f/22

1/100 sec.

ISO-400

WB-5200k

UV filter (should have been the polarized but, I could not swap it off of the 18-55 mm fast enough)

260mm

Freehand

No Flash

A sad, sad story

Being someone from the solid waste industry as well as a naturalist .. (I know what you are thinking but believe me they do indeed go together) I hope by now some of my readers can start to see how much the natural beauty of the world around us, means to me. I am a believer in the idea that we have to be able to learn to live with the earth in harmony. This is a concept that has been ripping through the solid waste industry since at the very least, the beginning of my time in that sector. How can we push to recycle cleaner and more effectively? How can we drive consumers to buy into this and actually recycle or recycle more? Are we recycling everything that we can? Is there more we can do? It is on the solid waste industry to pioneer these innovations. It is their responsibility as well as all of those involved in the industry. How can we be forward thinking enough to halt the negative impact that we as a society are having on the planet?



I was surfing around the web tonight and came across this article in a blog posted by someone in "Think Green" one of my professional group forums on http://www.linkedin.com/ My first thought was that this was amazing photography. As I read on I got the message. While I know this may not be the space, so to speak, for me to reach out on awareness but, this got me thinking. It is always the right time and place to think about such things.



In this disposable society where it is cheaper to replace than to repair etc. etc.. We as consumers should be diligent in taking the time to pause and think about issues that arise from cutting corners and from industry innovations. I am not saying that you should jump to any conclusions from this article. I am not suggesting in any way that you should stop eating meat or dairy products. I know I will not be doing either of those two things. I love a good steak :) I am not suggesting either that you should not go out and buy that 65 inch TV for your home theaters (believe me !) I am simply asking that we are aware. That we are informed consumers and not consumed consumers. That we make an effort to make the right choices for the future.



I have not done any back round checking into the facts of this post. It simply caught my eye as I was reading through my updates from the forum. I thought the photos were interesting enough to pass on to my readers as well as was the message that can be received from the tragedy that has fallen upon this sleepy little town.


This really has nothing to do with the TVs, clothes, batteries and, all of the disposable items we purchase everyday. This is geared more towards the agricultural industry and the use of their pesticides and steroids and other man made remedies to help out their industries. It just got my gears turning about allot of things I could be doing differently to make my small positive impact for the planet.






Check out the link below and thanks for listening to me rant for a minute :)


http://www.greenwala.com/profiles/linda-lucille/blog/4922-Trippy-Pollution-Photography-Can-Something-So-Ugly-Actually-Be-Beautiful







Going green, one step at a time...... future generations will thank you !

Reflections of the day

I have always admired the use of water for reflections in landscape photography. The reflections on the surface of the water always seem to add such a depth to any photo. The impact always seems to have a little more pop in the colorful fall foliage season but, it still makes a pretty nice appeal to the eye even in the bare winter season.


A reminder: If you click on the pictures you will get the blown up"full screen" image. To get back to the blog simply hit the back button on your browser or use the backspace button.

f/4

1/100 sec.

ISO-400

WB-5200k

18mm

Tiffen CP filter

Freehand

I feel the image above is a little more washed out than the one below but, The sky is still missing that Deep blue that I would like to have seen. Sometimes mother nature just does not want to co-operate.

f/5.6

1/25 sec.

ISO-125

WB-5200k

18mm

Tiffen CP filter

Freehand

Crystal clear skies

It is amazing the oportunities you are presented with in the cold winter skies. The clarity achieved in the colder months is outstanding due to the absolute absence of humidity and haze.

I have to say, I like the second picture the best for color balance.

f/5.6

Exposure 1/1250 sec

ISO-400

WB-5200k

18mm

Tiffen Circular ploarizing filter
Freehand

f/5.6

Exposure 1/3200 sec

ISO-400

WB-5200k

18mm
Tiffen CPF
Freehand

f/5.6

Exposure 1/3200 sec

ISO-400

WB-5200k

18mm

Tiffen CPF

Freehand

Same settings on this shot however I gave the circular polarizing filter a 1/4 turn. I am still learning how to use this filter however, that 1/4 turn seems to have darkened the picture up a touch.

Tales from the darkside

Man oh man did this shot come out really dark! My issue is that I really liked the way the sky came out so blue in this first shot however I really dislike how dark the tree bark detail came out.


f/8
1/100 sec.
ISO-400
18 mm
WB-5200k (sun)
UV filter
Freehand
No Flash

f/8

1/40 sec.

ISO-400

18mm

WB-5200k (sun)

UV filter

Freehand

No flash

Couple of things that I may have been able to do to change things here.

1) Polarizing filter?

2) 1/60 sec. exposure ?

Anyone have any input on this? I actually had a similar situation yesterday afternoon where I had a foreground of snow with a mid of deciduous wooded area and an end field of a low sunlit, cloud tattered sky. I know it would have been a breathtaking shot if I nailed it. I still have to take a look at the exposures tonight to proof for the blog.

Thanks for looking !!

C~

For Sale

Hurry, just in time for the summer season. Move right into this beautiful single family home with spectacular water views. Just waiting for the right growing family to make this house a home :)

A tad washed out on this exposure. The light (sun) was present but low and filtered behind the swamp grass.


f/7.1
1/200 sec.
ISO-400
75 mm
WB-5200k (sun)
UV filter
No flash
Freehand



I thought the branches reddish color popped nicely on this shot. The background became a little washed out, but that is the point of this shot. It was all about the nest and not the grass.

f/4

1/400 sec.

ISO-200

70 mm

WB-5200k (sun)
UV filter

No flash

Freehand