Aberrant Centrarchid

2011-10-05T18:45:00.004-05:00

Obviously a picture of my daughter in a local parade. This is another picture I would have never been able to take before I got my new lens. 300 mm, ISO 200, F/13, 1/25 sec exposure.

2011-09-17T16:56:00.004-05:00

I originally got my telephoto lens to take close up pictures of wildlife without scaring my subjects off. However, I've noticed that it also allows me to take pictures of my family without them knowing I'm taking a picture of them. I have been pleased with the results. I took this picture of my kids at the bus stop on the same foggy morning as the previous post. 210 mm, ISO 200, F/13, 1/50 sec exposure.

2011-09-15T19:55:00.002-05:00

Fall is a great time for taking morning pictures. The increasing hours of darkness allow the air to cool to it's dewpoint and creats some great morning fog. 145 mm, 200 ISO, F/13, 1/80 sec exposure.

2011-09-07T18:37:00.004-05:00

Last picture of a monarch caterpiller, this time a small one. If I was a good photographer, I would have photoshopped out all the dead flies and milkweed "milk", but that would take too long. 300 mm, ISO 200, F/13, 1/3 sec. exposure.

2011-08-29T20:09:00.002-05:00

Captured the end of the monarch butterfly life-cycle in this shot as it's being consumed by a common garden spider. 180 mm, ISO 200, F/13, 1/6 sec exposure.

2011-08-25T18:21:00.002-05:00

This is a different monarch butterfly caterpillar. I used the diagonal line created by the leaf as a guide while cropping. 300 mm, ISO 200, F/13, 1/3 sec exposure.

2011-08-21T13:55:00.002-05:00

I saw one of these monarch butterfly caterpillars the other day by our ponds and finally got down there with my camera recently. I often times have trouble producing a really sharp image of small objects and this one was not different. However, I did reduce the aperature to increase the depth of field and it seem to make things slightly sharper. 300 mm, ISO 200, F/13, 1/15 sec exposure.

2011-08-20T20:45:00.003-05:00

Looked, but couldn't figure out what kind of flowers these were. I found them near a pond. 300 mm, ISO 200, F/13, 1/5 sec exposure.

2011-08-15T20:42:00.003-05:00

Same location, different storm. This one occurred a little earlier in the day so a higher aperature setting and less exposure. 18 mm, ISO 200, F/5.6, 20 second exposure.

2011-08-12T20:24:00.003-05:00

This is the last photo I got of this storm. I decided not to crop this one so that the whole storm can be seen. 26 mm, ISO 200, F/4, 16.6 sec exposure.

2011-08-09T21:01:00.003-05:00

More lightning from the storm. 28 mm, ISO 200, F/4, 24.6 sec exposure.

2011-08-08T20:14:00.003-05:00

Sometimes I get lucky and the storms come to me. This storm developed 10 - 20 miles southeast of our house and gave quite a show. All I had to do was go outside. Plus I had the added benefit of being too far away to get killed by my subject. 26 mm, ISO 200, F/4, 25.3 sec exposure.

2011-07-09T11:50:00.003-05:00

This is the last picture in this storm series. I've cropped in a bit tighter on this picture than the others, because the lightning is more hidden behind the clouds. I thought it was this detail that shows up better when it's cropped in, is what makes this picture interesting. 18 mm, 200 ISO, F/8, 19.6 sec exposure.

2011-07-07T20:30:00.002-05:00

Rain started during this shot and a couple drops got on the lens, had to do a little touch-up work with the clone stamp to hide them. 18 mm, 200 ISO, F/8, 8.5 sec exposure.

2011-07-06T19:30:00.003-05:00

This was the sweet spot where the storm was far enough away to get some cool shots, but not close enough to drench me with rain. 18 mm, 200 ISO, F/8, 13.4 sec exposure time.

2011-07-05T17:53:00.001-05:00

Same storm, as it drew closer. 18 mm, 200 ISO, F/8, 7 sec exposure.

2011-07-04T11:26:00.003-05:00

I've been out trying to get some new thunderstorm pictures many times this year without much luck. Finally a couple of weeks ago I went out and was just about to give up when a very electrically active storm moved in from the North. This picture shows this storm when it was still off in the distance. Also starting with this image I've decided to start posting the camera settings for the picture in hopes that I'll start paying more attention to what settings are required for certain picture environments. 18 mm, 200 ISO, F/8, 67.8 s exposure.

2011-07-01T19:20:00.003-05:00

I think these are young tree swallows. I took this one with my new lens, which allowed me to be far enough away to allow them to act normally, though the mom dive-bombed me occationally.

2011-06-30T20:02:00.001-05:00

This is a leopard moth that was perched on our front porch.

2011-06-28T19:16:00.001-05:00

My last cicada picture, demonstraiting how numerous they were.

2011-06-27T19:56:00.002-05:00

This is probably the best picture I took of a cicada.

2011-06-26T14:26:00.012-05:00

This year was the hatch of a 13 year cicada (batch 19) around here. I've been around for a few hatches, but never lived out in the country. The experiance is quite different, with the sound truely defining for a solid week and a half. The hatch itself was amazingly syncrinous which allowed me to take this series of pictures documenting an emergence.

2011-06-17T20:44:00.002-05:00

This shot is from roughly the same position as the last, but later on, allowing the already setted sun to light up the clouds a nice golden and red color.

2011-06-15T20:36:00.002-05:00

I really like the lighting and composition of this picture, except for the fact that the light in the sky is too bright. I'll have to try this shot another time and see if there's a way to stop the sky from getting washed out.

2011-06-08T19:54:00.002-05:00

Move forward a couple of months now, and this is one of my first pictures with my new toy, a 70 - 300 mm lens. Of course I was out looking for something to take a picture of with my new lens and this goose was quick to volunteer.

2011-06-07T20:16:00.002-05:00

Ice on the picnic table.

2011-05-23T21:09:00.004-05:00

I really liked this picture from the icestorm in February. I'm no expert on photography, but I think it works because a lot of the branches from the tree are making diagonal lines across the frame and some interesting lighting. I also decreased the contrast to soften the image slightly.

2011-05-22T15:04:00.003-05:00

This is from an ice storm this past February that I finally got around to downloading off my camera. Though I don't remember planning for it, I really like the light streaks coming off the sun.

2011-03-07T19:23:00.002-06:00

Been a while since I've posted, kinda got burned out posting all the vacation pictures. Anyway, this was a picture I took back in September, trying to experiment with long exposures at dusk. Really cool glassy effect on the water in the lake. I also like the ways the cool colors are brought out in the fading sky.

2010-12-21T21:11:00.001-06:00

Somewhere over Colorado with the moon visible just on top of the wing.

2010-12-18T14:36:00.001-06:00

Monument Valley from above.

2010-11-23T20:02:00.001-06:00

An interesting desert landform.

2010-11-13T17:31:00.001-06:00

The Grand Canyon.

2010-11-07T18:16:00.002-06:00

Lake Mead.

2010-11-04T20:48:00.003-05:00

Guess where this picture was taken? These last few pictures from the vacation seem to be dragging out, mainly because I'm not as interested in them as I was in the earlier photos. I do think these last few are sorta neat, so I'll still post them over the next few days.

2010-10-25T20:15:00.001-05:00

Another view of the Golden Gate Bridge, shrouded in fog.

2010-10-21T21:03:00.001-05:00

Alcatraz.

2010-10-19T20:13:00.002-05:00

Lambert Street in San Francisco.

2010-10-12T19:55:00.000-05:00

The Golden Gate Bridge.

2010-10-11T20:10:00.001-05:00

Fog descending over the mountains near the Golden Gate Bridge.

2010-10-07T21:49:00.002-05:00

A seagull on Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco.

2010-10-04T18:59:00.002-05:00

I couldn't go to San Francisco without taking a picture of a streetcar.

2010-09-30T21:59:00.003-05:00

Not sure what kind of crabs these are, but they were all over these rocks near Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco.

2010-09-29T19:28:00.002-05:00

This is the last of my pictures of Yosemite. I was lucky enough to have those thunderstorms building over the mountains during our last view of the valley.

2010-09-27T20:05:00.001-05:00

A view of the top of Bridal Veil Falls. I liked the color of the rock face in this picture.

2010-09-26T15:46:00.001-05:00

Bridal Veil Falls.

2010-09-25T19:32:00.001-05:00

Horse Tail Falls.

2010-09-23T18:55:00.000-05:00

El Capitan.

2010-09-21T19:06:00.002-05:00

This is one of my favorite pictures of Half Dome as viewed from Mirror Lake.

2010-09-20T19:12:00.001-05:00

The lower Yosemite Falls after we hiked up to it.

2010-09-17T19:58:00.002-05:00

Yosemite Falls both the upper and lower portion.

2010-09-15T20:00:00.002-05:00

Not the greatest picture, but this is my attempt to get Yosemite Falls with a smoothing effect by leaving the shutter open for a longer duration. It was a little too dark and a lot of the detail is lost.

2010-09-13T19:02:00.002-05:00

Half Dome at sunset from Glacier Point.

2010-09-12T20:16:00.003-05:00

Sunset on Glacier Point.

2010-09-11T21:54:00.001-05:00

Half Dome as seen from near Glacier Point.

2010-09-10T19:18:00.002-05:00

The sun setting on Yosemite Falls. I think the lighting turned out really well on this picture, especially the light still illuminating the cliff wall.

2010-09-09T20:18:00.002-05:00

A classic view of Half Dome.

2010-09-08T19:59:00.003-05:00

I just liked this high Sierra scene looking over a field that hadn't greened up yet after snow-melt, the distant mountains and the clear blue sky.

2010-09-07T19:55:00.004-05:00

Lembert Dome.

2010-09-05T21:41:00.004-05:00

This is Tenaya Lake in Yosemite National Park. One of these days I'll figure out how to smooth out the gradient in color from one picture to the next when stitching them together, but so far I've been unable to figure it out. If anyone knows, let me know.

2010-09-04T18:31:00.002-05:00

A little different perspective on the same scene.

2010-09-03T19:54:00.001-05:00

Looking the other way from Olmstead point. An awesome scene that my pictures can not do justice to.

2010-09-02T21:33:00.002-05:00

This is the view from Olmstead Point looking down towards Yosemite Valley. That is Half Dome in the background.

2010-08-31T20:59:00.002-05:00

An expanded view of the previous picture.

2010-08-30T20:51:00.003-05:00

This is getting into an area on Tioga Road (near Olmstead Point) that had some of the most spectacular scenery I have ever seen. It's hard to mess up a picture when this is your subject.

2010-08-29T11:25:00.001-05:00

Quaking Aspen Falls, along Tioga Road.

2010-08-28T19:38:00.002-05:00

Snow! This is Siesta Lake along Tioga Road. I was going for the reflection in the water, which turned out ok.

2010-08-27T19:40:00.003-05:00

This is Tamarack Creek Falls (again, I think), another one of the many falls along the drive to Tioga Road.

2010-08-26T20:23:00.003-05:00

This is Cascade Falls (I think) which is right on one of the roads out of (or into) Yosemite Valley. We were on our way to Tioga Road which ended up being one of the most breath-taking parts of the Park, in my opinion.

2010-08-25T20:12:00.000-05:00

The Fallen Monarch.

2010-08-24T18:25:00.001-05:00

More sequoia trees from Mariposa Grove.

2010-08-23T19:40:00.002-05:00

This is Grizzly Man, a sequoia tree with limbs that are larger than any other species of tree in this grove.

2010-08-22T11:50:00.002-05:00

The sequoia grove in the Mariposa Forest.

2010-08-21T10:14:00.002-05:00

This snowplant is from Mariposa Grove.

2010-08-20T21:38:00.002-05:00

I believe this is North Dome.

2010-08-19T19:57:00.001-05:00

Another waterfall visible from the trail to Vernal Falls. This one was not labeled however, so I don't know it's name.

2010-08-18T18:56:00.001-05:00

Yes it's just a squirrel, but I rarely can get this close to even a squirrel anywhere else.

2010-08-17T19:38:00.003-05:00

This is Illilouette Falls which is visible from the trail up to Vernal Falls.

2010-08-16T20:42:00.003-05:00

On the trail up to Vernal Falls.

2010-08-15T12:49:00.003-05:00

I didn't get a great picture of this, but I liked the dark and light stripes on the cliff here.

2010-08-14T13:55:00.002-05:00

This is my last picture from the photo walk. A cool picture of Yosemite Falls falling through the frame of some trees. I chose this as one of the pictures I blew up to poster size to remind me of this trip. The large size is spectacular. If anyone is interested in finding a good place to a picture poster sized, I used www.elcocolor.com for a great price and amazing results.

2010-08-13T20:02:00.002-05:00

The sunlight is finally starting to hit the falls, making for an interesting picture with just a small lit patch of water.

2010-08-12T18:38:00.003-05:00

A beautiful view of both the upper and lower Yosemite Falls. This is also from the photo walk and also too early with most of the falls in shadow.

2010-08-11T20:07:00.003-05:00

This is another picture from the photo walk. The framing of Yosemite Falls with the trees is really cool. The one thing I don't like is that the falls are in a shadow. The photo tour guide even made a point about getting the falls when it's highlighted by the sun, which made me wonder why they planned the walk when they did especially given that the falls were in full sunlight maybe a half hour after this shot was taken.

2010-08-10T18:40:00.001-05:00

It's not a bear, but I am a biologist so I have to include any wildlife I captured while on vacation.

2010-08-09T19:01:00.002-05:00

On our second day at Yosemite, I went on a morning photo walk sponsored by the Ansel Adams Museum. I'm glad I did it as it took us some places I wouldn't have found on my own. This shot features the back side of El Capitan with a hint of it's reflection in the wetland in the foreground. We were told a few weeks prior to this the water was a little higher and the grass lower so that the reflection was much more pronounced.

2010-08-08T12:53:00.003-05:00

This is upper Yosemite Falls. This was during our first day in the park and we happened to be there just as the falls were beginning to be covered in shadow. It made for a good picture with the lower part of the falls in shadow and the rest still in sun.

2010-08-07T14:04:00.001-05:00

A closeup of Bridal Veil Falls.

2010-08-06T19:34:00.003-05:00

This is looking out from tunnel view at Yosemite National Park, the most photogenic place I have ever been. The bulk of my vacation pictures were taken here and there will be many pictures of waterfalls and rock faces over the coming weeks. All the major elements of Yosemite can be seen here, Half Dome, Bridal Veil Falls, and El Capitan. I loved my time in the park and hope to go back some day.

2010-08-05T19:34:00.002-05:00

These are the foothills of the Sierra mountains. I really liked the the look with the golden grasslands populated by sparse green trees.

2010-08-04T21:13:00.003-05:00

This western sagebrush lizard posed for me on a rock overlooking some of the high peaks in Kings Canyon National Park.

2010-08-03T19:35:00.002-05:00

As we were driving out of Sequoia, we briefly passed through Kings Canyon National Park. This is a view of the mountains framed by some pine trees.

2010-08-02T18:30:00.001-05:00

More big trees along the road out of Sequoia National Park.

2010-08-01T12:29:00.001-05:00

More sequoia trees.

2010-07-31T13:47:00.002-05:00

No Sequoia National Park album would be complete without General Sherman, the largest tree on Earth.

2010-07-29T18:06:00.004-05:00

Despite it's color, I think this is a black bear. It was one of 4 bears we saw while out west and probably the closest I've ever been to one.

2010-07-27T19:13:00.003-05:00

I'm using my daughter in this picture to serve as a good reference for these large trees.

2010-07-26T18:36:00.000-05:00

A different perspective on a Giant Sequoia.

2010-07-25T13:07:00.002-05:00

This is my first Giant Sequoia tree. It's difficult to have references that provide the right scale, the trees around this giant are normal sized trees though they don't look it.

2010-07-24T13:51:00.002-05:00

A rock outcropping on the road up the the Giant forest at Sequoia National Park.