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September 28, 2007
Friday Feathers
I caught this female Ruby-throated Hummingbird perched on a tree branch; typically they're zooming and zipping past and not sitting still.
This female hummingbird is duller in coloring than the male, as is the case for most female birds. Regardless, she gave me a number of opportunities to practice what I refer to as motion freeze.
The image above is close to what I was aiming for but not quite there. Since the wings are blurred (yes it indicates motion but...) I'll just have to keep shooting until I get it right.
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Congrats to Zoe!
Triple crown winner for Best European Blog Zoe McCarthy celebrates the birth of her book, "My Boyfriend is a Twat: A Guide to Recognising, Dealing, and Living with an Utter Twat" ...
... now available via Amazon UK (currently unavailable on Amazon/U.S. -- pfft.)
With the publication of her book, the tiara-wearing Ms. Zoe (an occasional commenter 'round here) is busy preparing for her television debut on the show 'This Morning', due to happen on Monday. Hopefully someone will tape the show and post it on YouTube. :-)
Anyhoo, congratulations Zoe! If you're nice to me, I'll consider adding your book and a link to my sidebar. *snicker* :-)
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September 25, 2007
After the Fall
It wasn't tragic.
I was at the top of a mountain planning to photograph raptors but things became a bit crowded at the lookout and I turned to head off to another area. As I began walking away, I put the lens cap back on and thought I'd opened my bag to put the camera in. Instead, it slipped down the side of the bag and onto the ground. *THUD* The camera lens (the 200-500mm) actually softened the blow, as a corner of it hit first. Amazingly, the camera body landed as it would if you placed the camera on a table.
Unsure of whether or not any damage was done, I wiped the dirt off the lens casing and took a photograph. Everything seemed to be in order, but the experience left me wary, as the area I was in had rocks and boulders everywhere. The fall didn't quite register on impact; as mentioned previously, the gasp of fellow photographers was what left me stupified for a moment. I think I even proclaimed that all was okay, of course after uttering the unsurprising expletive that flew out of my mouth. *shrug*
My raptor quest now shrouded in a bit of a black cloud, I didn't bother taking any other photographs while there. The next day I picked up the camera again and took a few photographs of (gee, what else?) birds. Here's what I got in that round 'o photos:
My first thought when I saw that photo was Oh no! The camera is screwed up! Then I remembered that I was playing around with the settings on the camera the day before. Though it's not a perfect, in-focus photograph, I like the accidental ghostly look of it. All seems okay with the camera, all things considered.
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Fall
... aka Autumn ...
... when people or things go *boom*...
... when the camera and telephoto lens slip from your hands ...
I don't know which was worse; the gasp from the group of fellow bird photographers on the mountain or the moment when the camera hit the ground. *sigh*
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September 14, 2007
Friday Feathers
This White-breasted Nuthatch had its eyes locked on something sticking out of the snow.
The bird's backside is the only part in the image that's really in focus.
I think this second image is much better than the first.
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September 13, 2007
Quote
I'm not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know I'm not dumb ... and I'm also not blonde. - Dolly Parton
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September 11, 2007
Six Years Later
In solemn remembrance of:
the fathers ... the mothers ... the sons and daughters ...
the families ... the children ... the husbands ...
the wives ... the girlfriends ... the boyfriends ...
the brothers... the sisters...
the citizens ... the colleagues ... the clients ...
the friends ... the neighbors near and far ...
the bravest ... the finest ... the heroes ...
all who perished.
Posted by me, of course!
September 7, 2007
Friday Feathers
The Great Egret was hunted to near extinction in the 1800s and early 1900s for its long white plumage.
I love photographing this bird, whether it's in flight or perched, as it was on the day I captured this image.
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September 5, 2007
So what's YOUR technical irky?
We all have things that irk us in one way or another. When it comes to understanding technology, if you're not the person building a better mouse trap, then writing the manual for that whiz-bang contraption, a feeling of dumb and dumber overtakes you. You've tried, and you've tried, and you've huffed and you've puffed and there's steam blowing out of your eardrums. You're frustrated because you just can't get it to work. I imagine that even rocket scientists encounter the occasional hiccup when attempting to do something of a technical nature. So what's your technical irky?
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September 4, 2007
Technical Irkies
My brain hurts.
I spent a good portion of the weekend pouring over a book about my Nikon D200. You see, when it comes to photography, I'm not a photographer, I just play one on TV. What that means is that my brain fails to comprehend shutter speed and aperture. Though I've been lucky on occasion with some of my bird photos, I remain unable to fully understand settings.
My plan was to produce a photograph where motion blur was a key element of the composition. The idea, taken from a recent Digital Photography School blog post, was to take a photograph that consisted of two elements: an object in focus and a motion-blurred sky. I thought I could figure it all out and make the shot; unfortunately the results proved otherwise. Every single photograph I took was in focus, the brilliant blue sky with its billowy white puffs of cotton-ball clouds also in focus. Where's the blur? ARGH! What, pray tell, was I doing wrong?
I was stumped, so I hit the books in an effort to absorb and comprehend. As is often the case when I do this to myself, I find the self-induced pressure produces nothing more than a Texas-sized headache. For me, learning how to do something properly typically involves someone showing me how to do it and/or explaining it in a way you'd explain something to a 10-year-old. (I am fully aware of my, uhm, learning disabilities.)
That's only the first of my technical irkies. The second is my inability to comprehend my Sony HandyCam. I've had this camcorder for quite a while now and have managed to record some fun bits; however, I can't figure out how to port what I've filmed to my laptop. Surely this should be a simple thing. The HandyCam uses cassette tape or Memory Stick. My initial recording was via cassette tape, which is where the fun bits reside. I just can't seem to move the data from point A (camcorder) to point B (laptop). I even read the manual from cover-to-cover. Any suggestions?
*sigh*
My brain hurts.
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