Birds of a Feather

These aren't the greatest pics of birds. They are a little too dark and I wish the eagle was looking at me. But I still like them. They are also from the Living Desert - usual suspects D200 & 28-105. I would also have liked to use a flash, especially on the owl but that would have been rude. Both of the birds are unrealeasable. The eagle was found and hand raised and doesn't know how to hunt so it can't be released. I can't remember why the owl can't be. A lot of the birds that are there have been rescued.

This is a Golden Eagle:


And I think this is a Screech Owl???

Butterflies Alive

I went to the Living Desert on Saturday with my friend, Jackie, from work. Her brother and his wife went also. It was my first time there and it was good to have Jackie (who is a member) there to be our cruise director. There is an exhibit there called Butterflies Alive where you can get up close and personal with them while they flit about you. I loved it. I've never taken a picture of a butterfly before. Oh sure, I've chased bees around but never a butterfly. Anyway, I had a blast and it was quite challenging because, you know, they don't stay still long. I only wish I'd had my 70-180 macro. All of these are with my D200 and nikkor 28-105 lens.

This one is my favorite. Some kind of sulphur butterfly.


This one is a Giant Swallowtail


This one is a Julia


This one is a Zebra Longwing


Another Julia


Another Sulphur

A few of my favorite things

You know what's cool. I remember exactly where I was and the exact moment I pushed the button of every picture I've taken. Every photo for me is a memory keepsake of a new place, a beautiful sight, someone I love, or just plain fun. These are a few of my favorite photos and memories.

This one was taken at Joshua Tree with my 4x5 view camera. The kind with bellows and you have to use a black cloth over it and your head and you have to load the film one by one in the cartridge in a black bag. It was cool, late afternoon, silent. No one else was around for miles except the coyotes, birds, snakes, lizards. I remember hauling that camera and all my gear in my backpack over rocks and thru the desert. I almost fell backwards one time because my backpack was so heavy. I only took a few shots with the 4x5 but it was definitely worth all the effort.

This one was taken at Bryce Canyon on a long weekend I took to celebrate my birthday. I took it with my Sigma 35mm camera (which I don't have anymore) and it was freezing cold that morning, literally. I remember driving in the dark to get to the park before sunrise. There were a couple of other photographers there waiting for the sun to come up just like me. We were all blowing on our fingers to keep them warm. I took my camera out of my bag and put it on the tripod and got only a few shots before my batteries died from the cold! The waiting was the hard part. Waiting for just the right light.

This one is of Zion and I took it on that same trip. I used my Yashica 124G box camera, an old camera where you have to look down thru the viewfinder and there's a crank to wind the film. Love that camera. It shoots 6x6 squares. It was warm and there seemed to be tons of people in Zion that day. I remember waiting for people to finish crossing the bridge so I could take it.

This one is also from Bryce and I took it with the Sigma. I remember walking up to the rim and seeing this tree standing there and being so amazed I almost forgot I had my camera. Then I bracketed the shot to make sure I got it just right. This one and the one of Joshua Tree at the top are, I think, my two best landscape shots.

Leaf Musings

I picked up a few leaves on the ride home from work a couple of weeks ago. I thought they were colorful and interesting. This one I shot on top of my light tablet. It's what gives it the white background and it's what gives it that glow. I was afraid it might come out cheesy but I like the floatiness of it. Oh yeah, that's a technical photography term. No cropping.

This one was lit by room light and flash. It's of the underside of a leaf. I thought it was more suited to black and white. I also applied a slight antique tint to it. Again, no cropping.

This one I cropped to 8x10 (as opposed to the normal scale of 8x21) and it is also lit by flash and again from the back. I liked the curl of the leaf on this one and the almost leathery texture. As you can see, it's also the underside of the leaf. I often shoot flowers and leaves from their backsides. I also chose a black background for this to isolate it.

Last, but not least...an extreme closeup. God, I love my macro lens. It's as sharp as a pin. This one is also lit from behind by the light tablet. I wanted to fill the frame with the leaf. It's almost like a view from a plane of some exotic other world with roads and fields and rivers. No cropping on this one either.

What A Triathlete Looks Like

So what does a triathlete look like? You never know. It could be the man next to you in line at the grocery store. It could be that mom picking up her kids from school. Heck, it might even be one of those school kids. The other day I ordered pizza and I answered the door wearing my volunteer shirt from the BOD (Bonelli Olympic Distance tri). The delivery guy said "oh, I raced there that day". Small world, eh? Sports photography is a new thing for me. I'd never tried that til this year. When injuries prevented me from doing the Danskin, I thought I would go and take pictures of it. And what do you know? I love it. These are some of the photos I've taken at recent tris.

My Grandma

My grandmother's birthday was Monday. She would have been 82. I miss her. You know, it's because of her that I consider myself a photographer. She bought me my first real camera - a Canon AE-1P. She claimed she bought it so she could have really good photos of the family. But then she asked me to learn how to use it and then I was assigned to taking the pictures from then on. Funny how she worked that, don't you think? I'd always had fun taking pictures before with my little Kodak camera that I had and used to try and catch people with. But it wasn't til that camera that I paid attention to what I was doing with it. I wish she were alive today to see all the photos I've taken of Morgan, Madison, & Max. I think they definitely would have made her laugh.

Some of my favorite memories of her:
*Waking up on cold dark mornings and sitting at the kitchen table while she fed us tortillas w/butter hot off the grill.
*Shopping trips that always ended up at Thrifty's for an ice cream.
*Watching her and my grandfather dance every chance they got.
*How every telenova was going to be her last one and then when it was over, she'd start watching the next one.
*Driving my sister & I around town in the boat (a 59 Chevy Impala - mint).
*Going to all the kids movies with her even when I was in my 20's, okay 30's too.
*Watching her talk to & take care of the birds that she'd rescued.

You know what the best part was? The fact that I knew she loved me totally and unconditionally. Me, the stubborn, moody, sometimes bratty one who wasn't always easy to love. I loved her for that and I hope to God that she knew it. I hope she knew how much she gave me. And I hope I gave a little back to her as well.