Merry Christmas

Two days ago I took some pictures of the moon, and I finally got the chance to process them.  I was very happy with how they came out.  I was having a lot of trouble getting my lens focused on the moon, but I finally did get it centered. 

I also looked at the star photographs that I tried to take.  I noticed a weird anomaly in the images.  I first thought it was probably light reflecting off my lens from how bright the moon was but I am starting to think now that its not.  I knew that you were supposed to be able to see Saturn but I'm starting to think that the other round shapes are also planets.  I think they were blurred and look doubled because they would have been moving, and my exposure was 25 seconds or so.

I know its not the best image, but I'm hoping that someone may be able to tell me if my assumption is right.  I tried to go out again last night but a storm had moved in and it clouded over.  Maybe soon I will be able to try again. 

Bald Eagle Season Has Started

My father and I decided to take a trip over to the lake yesterday and I was surprised to see so many Bald Eagles.  A couple days earlier we had only seen one, and where happy.  Over the last couple days I have seen more than 10 everyday.  I was lucky that one Eagle landed on the old wooden structure that's in the lake.  So I walked in and took dozens of photographs.

It has been really fun watching them fly around.  I have really enjoyed these last few days and I'm hoping that it continues.  I will be taking trips out to the lake everyday unless there is bad weather. Both of these photographs were taken with my Bower 650-1300mm manual focus lens.

I also took some pictures of the moon last night and I'm working on processing them.  Also I tried to take pictures of the stars because I read about being able to see Saturn.  I'm going to try again tonight if the sky is clear.  I hope you all enjoy the photographs, and I hope you all have a happy holidays.

No Luck Today

I went out for several hours this morning, and didn't see anything close enough to get any shots.  I did see another Bald Eagle, and I did see plenty of geese.  I also saw a few mallards, and some other small birds.  I am going to keep trying different areas until I find a good spot.  I am really eager to test my new memory card that is the fastest I have ever had.  Im hoping it helps when I need to shoot flying shots of eagles, because it should allow me to shoot more bursts.  I will probably go out again tomorrow.  So I will let you all know if I get anything.

First Day Out In A While

Now that I am home from college I have a little more time to focus on my photography.  Yesturday I went out to one of my favorite spots to photograph bald eagles.  It was a very slow start but I finally  did see one.  I also saw a kingfisher but I did not get any good shots.  I was happy that I saw an eagle, but Im starting to pray for some colder weather, because the colder it gets the better my chances are of seeing bald eagles this winter.  Last winter was so warm there were less eagles that migrated south for the winter.  So Im hoping its a litter colder this year.  Tomorrow I am getting up early to see what I can find at the Bashakill Wetlands.  Im hoping for some good conditions  to shoot in, and im eager to see some wildlife.  I also read online today that jupitor will be visible by the moon in a couple days so I am probably going to try and do some photography of the moon again this week and see if I can actually see jupitor.  I have high hopes but I have no idea what I'll actually be able to see.  It will also have to be a really clear night in order to get some nice shots.  I am looking forward to getting a nice variaty of photographs over the next week, and if I do I will post them shortly after.  Till next time. 

Winter Break is Almost Here!

I am sorry I didn't upload anymore  images the last few weeks.  When I got a chance to look them over a lot of them were coming out dark, and were unappealing.  But there is only 4 days until I go home for my winter break which is about 2 months.  I've been really busy lately with all he work I have to get done.  Once Im home I should have plenty of time to get out and take some photographs, and I really can't wait. The winter season is my favorite time of year in my area due to the abundance of Bald Eagles that inhabit the area. Every year now when I think about going out to go Eagle watching, it brings up all kinds of memories of my childhood.  Ever since I was a child my father and I would always go to the lake and look for eagles.  Then within a few years I got my first minolta film slr camera as a christmas gift.  Ever since photography has been something I have loved to do.  I spent years buying new equipment and finally a couple years ago I was able to buy my Canon T1i.  So hopefully this winter can be the best one yet.  I go home next wednesday, so Im hopeing next thursday will be a good day to get out and take some pictures.  As soon as I start getting some good  images I will start posting them.  Until next time.    

Great Break for Photography

This break has been my favorite in a while.  Not only did I get to see my family but I also got to try out my new hunting blind.  It worked better than I thought it would and it allowed me to be closer to the wildlife than I had ever been.  I photographed Cardinals, Blue Jays, Black Cap Chickadee’s, Tufted Titmouse, Squirrels, and a Red Bellied Woodpecker.  Over the period of a few days I’ve taken hundreds of photographs and I have been working on going though them to see what I really got.  I was quite pleased with them overall.  I’m looking forward to my Christmas break because I know I will get some better shots of the birds with the snow in the photographs.  Also the Bald Eagles will be coming back for the winter and I can’t wait. 

I will hopefully be able to upload more images over the next few days.  But I will be really busy with work, because there is only two weeks left of school before the semester ends.  Hope you enjoy the photographs.

One More Week Till Break!

I have one more week till I get to go on break for Thanksgiving, and I can't wait.  I really need a break so I can get outside and enjoy the outdoors.  I havn't taken one photograph while I was at school this year.  So Im hoping while Im home for a week I will finally get a chance to get some good photographs.  Then in about a month I'll be home for winter break.  Which is my favorite time of the year because the bald eagles will finally come dowm for the winter.  Im hoping its a little colder this year because last year was a warm winter and the eagles stayed further north so there was less of them to photograph.  Which cuts down on your chances to get a good picture.  I will hopefully be updating some new pictures during my break.  Till next time.

Marbled Orb Weaver Spider

I am very sorry that I did not get to upload these photographs during my break.  Then I was back in school and very focused on my work.  I finally got a chance today to go over the photographs from my break.  Break was fun, but not long enough.  I spent one day with my father out looking for anything to photograph.  We spent most of the day at the Bashakill Wildlife Management Area, and I got a few shots of a Great Blue Heron but didn't see much else.  I was disappointing to find that the images of them were not great so I decided not to post them.

But when I got home from the trip I took a look around the yard for the first time in a while and I found two crazy looking spiders about the size of a quarter or larger.  I had never seen anything like them before.  There were just so bright in color.  Then I looked them up and found out they were Marbled Orb Weaver Spiders.

I thought it was funny because exactly the same spots that they were in, a few months before there were Micrathena spiders that I took pictures of.  So it was amazing to me to actually get my best shots right in my yard.  This always seems to happen.  Whenever I go out in my garden I always find crazy things.  I was a little disappointed with the last shot because I think the light reflection in the bottom was caused by the white gutter that runs down the house there.  But overall I was happy with them.

I thought this would be a perfect time to upload them just in time for Halloween.  Hope you enjoy them. 

A Break From School!

Finally I'm on a break from school, and i will finally get a chance to get out and do some photography.  It has been raining all day today but I plan on going out tomorrow.  Hopefully I'll find something to photograph.  If I get some good shots I will post them within the next few days.  

Last Trip to State Lands

I am very sorry that I did not get a chance to upload anything in a while.  I have been extremely busy with my classes and have not had a chance to do any work on my blog.  So these two images are the same dragonfly, but one is much closer than the other.  They were both cropped.  The trip was a lot of fun.  I only got a few shots of dragonflies and Butterflies, but none of the Butterflies came out good enough.  The lighting was very poor that day.

So far up at college I haven't seen very much wildlife at all.  I see Ravens, and crows mostly.  Nothing that really interests me.  I'm just hoping to get out and relax one day, and hopefully see something.  The moon was amazing here the other night but I missed my opportunity to get a shot.  I'm very happy to see people are leaving me comments.  It is truly exciting to know that the information I can share is actually being used.  I'm hoping to at least be able to upload weekly until I go on break.  Hope you enjoy the photos.  

Back at School

Today I returned to school and thus ended my summer.  Im hoping that maybe I will be able to photograph some lightning or the moon or maybe the occasional bird or maybe flowers. I wll find something.  Im going to be uploading some photographs from my last trip to the State Lands near my house.  I believe that I at least I got one good shot of a dragonfly.  I did see kingfishers but they stayed to far away.  I should be uploading new photographs in the next few days.

More Photos from Trip

I decided I would post a few more images form my trip to Nyquist-Harcourt Wildlife Sanctuary from last week.  I went through my pictures again and decided to post on of the duck photographs from the trip.  Also I got a photograph of a what I think is a Coopers Hawk.  But I'm not sure.  So if any one can identify it from the photograph I would appreciate it.

I'm hoping to get out at least once this week before I go back to school at the end of the week.  While I'm at school I will probably talk more about techniques and maybe some equipment and stuff, because I have less opportunities for photographs.  Hope you enjoy the photographs. 

Butterflies

Earlier this week I took a trip to New Paltz to the Nyquist Harcourt Wildlife Sanctuary and saw an abundance of wildlife from Swans, and Herons, Hawks, Hummingbirds, Ducks, and many more.  It was a great morning.  I only got a few shots of some of the small birds and the ducks, but the hawks and hummingbird shots appear to be over exposed from what I can see.  It was a really bright sun and I never changed my settings to compensate for the sky background compared to the ground background.  The herons stayed to far away and the swans stayed hidden, but they seem to stay in the shade in the same area, because they were in the same spot last time I was there.

On my way back I stopped at the Bashakill Wildlife Management Area in Wurtsboro, New York and didn't see very much, but there was an abundance of Butterflies.  I did get some nice shots of them so I decided I would post them first.  The one shot is a Monarch Butterfly but I'm not sure what the yellow one is called.  I'm hoping to get out a few more times before I go back to college, because I'm very limited when I get to school because everything has to be within walking distance.  Hope you enjoy the Butterfly photographs.

Slow Week

I have not had many chances this week to get out and take any pictures this week.  I've been preparing for classes to start again and I've been busy shopping and moving furniture.  So I'm hoping that in the next few days that I can get out and get a good shot and get them posted.  I really need to get out and take photographs because it helps me relax and I'm running out of time before I go back to college.  So I need to take advantage of the time I have left.  Because once I get back to school I'm limited to the kind of pictures I can take.  Being at school makes it real hard to do any wildlife photography.

Arrow-shaped Micrathena Spider

I have a recent post about Arrow-shaped Micrathena Spiders.  Follow the link to check it out.

I have been quite busy lately and I have not had to many opportunities to get out and take photographs.  I have been mostly testing my new reversing ring and trying a lot of Macro Insect Photography.  I was quite amazed with the one spider I found.  I had never seen one before and after some research I found out it is called an Arrow-shaped Micrathena Spider.  So I took a couple of shots of it.

I took a ton of shots the last couple days but not many were any good.  I'm still getting used to focusing by moving closer or further away from the object.  Later in the week I would like to make a post about Photo Stacking and also I would like to do a Review on the Reversing Ring that I bought.  So my next two posts should be more informal.  Until Next Time.

New Equipment Finally Here!

I finally got my reversing ring and my shutter release cable.  Even though they are cheap parts, I'm hoping they will improve my photography.  I can't wait to try macro photography using reversed lenses.  Before when I shot reversed I had to hold the lens, know I can use the ring.  I also plan on trying to use my fathers 3x teleconverter with my reversed prime lens to see what kind of macro shots I can get.  I am also working on finding out how to stack photographs to improve the depth of field.  I attempted it with some old flower shots and it did work.  I'm doing it manually though with GIMP.  So I'm not sure with insect photographs that I will be able to get it to look right.  So only time will tell.  I'm hoping to get a good day soon to try out the Reversed Lens Technique with Insects.  I'm really hoping I get some nice shots.

Nyquist Harcourt Wildlife Sanctuary Trip

Last week I took a trip to Nyquist Harcourt Wildlife Sanctuary and was very pleased with the experience.  It was the first time I had ever been there.  The trails are very well kept and I was surprised by the abundance of wildlife.

Crossing over the first bridge I saw some ducks on one side including wood ducks and black ducks I believe and on the other side there was some Mute Swans with babies.  The shots I got of the Mute Swans didn't come out well so I am not going to post them.  I was rather disappointed with the shots of them.

I did get a couple shots of the ducks and there babies as well as a fly catcher.  I also saw tanagers which I don't see that often.  It was a shame I did not get a good shot at them either.  I also saw some Herons but they were not cooperating.  They kept hiding in the marsh.  I also saw a downy woodpecker but he only stayed for a second.  But I was very happy with the trip and did manage a few good shots.  The only thing I didn't like about the fly catcher shots was the shadows from the harsh sun, but other than that I was very pleased.  Hope you like them.

How To Photograph Fireworks

Photographing fireworks is a lot of fun, and can yield some very interesting photographs.  Every photograph is unique.  In order to photograph fireworks you need to have a tripod.  Without a tripod you will not be able to have the long shutter speeds that you need to photograph the fireworks.  Because in order to photograph fireworks you need to use long shutter speeds somewhere between 2-4 or more seconds, depending on how many fireworks you want in the shot.

Here are the camera settings you need to use.
1.  Low ISO settings, 100 or 200
2.  Shutter Speed about 4 seconds
3.  F-Stop around F18 to F22
4.  You also need to use a timer or a shutter release cable to minimize vibration

You need to use low ISO because the fireworks are so bright so you don't need a high ISO,  also the higher the ISO the more smoke you will pick up in your photograph.  The smoke drowns out the fireworks so you really should not use high ISO.  Shutter speeds need to be long in order to capture the exploding firework shells.  If you try and shoot with a fast shutter speed you most likely wont get the desired shot.  F-stops need to be high as well because it will make the aperture opening smaller which will cut down on the amount of light that is allowed into the camera. This is necessary because the fireworks are so bright compared to the dark background and you are also using long shutter speeds so you can't allow as much light in.  I also highly recommend using a timer or shutter release because you do not want the tripod to shake at all, including you clicking the shutter release.

This is how I photographed my firework shots.  So try it out and play around with these settings.  These settings seemed to work very good for me, but depending on the camera, different settings may work better than others.  Also if you photograph single fireworks you can put them together after words using photo editing software.  The shot above is 4 separate images together.

Fireworks Show

I did get a chance to get out to the fireworks show in White Lake, and I photographed fireworks for the first time.  I was really happy with the shots.  The photographs I'm posting are just a few of the images that I captured.

The finally picture had too many fireworks explode but it looked cool.  I guess 4 seconds was a little long for a shutter for the finally, but it was my first time shooting fireworks, so hopefully next time I will do even better.

I also got a chance to get out to the wildlife sanctuary in New Paltz.  I am currently processing them and they will be up soon.  I decided that I would also make a post about how to photograph fireworks for anyone who is interested.  So my next post will be about how I photographed these shots, and things that you need to do in order to get these shots.  Let me know what you think of the shots.  If you have questions please comment.

Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July to everyone.  I hope everyone has fun and remains safe.  I might be going to a fireworks show tonight but I'm not sure yet.  If I do I will try and get some photographs.  I do know that tomorrow I'm going  to Nyquist-Harcourt Wildlife Sanctuary in New Paltz New York.  I am really hoping that I get some great shots.  I am leaving really early in order to try and beat the heat.  I've never been there before so hopefully it pays off.

Garden Flowers

Here are a couple of images that I took of flowers in my garden.  I was testing my fathers new 90mm Macro lens.  He was having problems with it focusing but I had no problems.  I'm not sure why his camera would not auto focus with it.

I have not been able to get out to any wildlife areas in a while.  So I have been relying on things much closer to home.  I am also working on making a blind for bird photography.  As well as setting up a place to get woodland bird photographs in my back yard near the woods.  Also I was outside the other day and noticed that we have a rabbit that is eating out of our garden.  So I'm hoping that I can get photographs of him.  But no luck yet.

Twitter Test

I have not had a chance to get out this week.  I'm hoping that I get the chance to get out soon.  I do have a couple flower shots that I took from the garden in my yard for a test of my fathers new 90mm macro lens.  I was surprised with the result so I am processing them and will upload them soon.  Also I had been updating my twitter feed manually every time I updated my blog so I am testing a third party item to see how it posts to my twitter feed every time I update automatically for me.   

A Couple More Dragonflies

I finally have the images processed from my last trip.  I only really got two good images.  Just two more dragonfly shots, but I am really happy with them.  The first shot I was extremely happy with.  The color was nice with the contrast of red and blue in the eyes to the yellow orange color in the tail.

I was very happy overall with the dragonfly shots that I have been taking.  I am in the process of ordering a reversing ring and I am hoping that the reversed lens on a set of extension tubes will take even better images.  I am also ordering a shutter release cable so I can take more shots of the stars with long exposure, because before I was limited to 30 seconds know I should be able to take as long as I want.  Let me know what you think about these images.  Feel free to ask questions and comment.

Bashakill Trip

I took a trip today out to the Bashakill Wetlands.  It did not go as I had planned but I did get a few dragonfly photographs.  I still have to process them but hopefully within a few days I can post them.  I was hoping to see more birds and other wildlife because most of the photographs I have been taking recently are all dragonflies.  I was looking to change it up a little.  But I didn't see much else so I only got a few dragonfly photographs.  The trip started off with a bee coming into my car and trying to sting me.  Not very fun.  Thankfully I didn't have another run in with bees during the day.  Last time I was at the Bashakill I was stung multiple times when I sat on a bee in my car.  So I guess its just bad luck that every time I take a trip there I have problems with bees.  Hopefully my luck will change.  

More Dragonflies

It has been a slow week.  I have not done much photography, but I did photograph a few more dragonflies at Lake Superior State Park.  It was not easy to photograph them because it was a little windy so they were swaying back and forth in the wind, making it very hard to get crisp focus.

I have also been working on collecting some driftwood from the river and some of the lakes from the area.  Hopefully soon I will set them up outside and hopefully I can get some of the woodland birds to come.  I believe that it will help me get some really nice woodland bird shots this summer.

I hope you enjoy the photographs.  Let me know what you think.  Please comment.  Feel free to ask me questions. 

Dragonflies at Lake Superior State Park

Well I did not get out much this week.  Plus the rain in the begging of the week hampered my chances.  But I did get a chance to photograph some dragonflies at Lake Superior State Park.  I was quite happy with the way they came out.

I also made a trip looking for driftwood, to set up a bird sanctuary in my back yard for some woodland bird photographs, but I ended up cutting up a downed tree for some logs to start with.  I'm hoping to set up a place to take nice photographs of the summer birds.  I have never tried this but this year I'm going to try and bring the birds to me instead of going after them.
 

I'm looking to set up stations for woodpeckers and small birds.  I would really love a photograph the woodpeckers in the area.  Plus I will probably set up a hummingbird feeder.  I was out photographing a few days ago and was buzzed by one.  I'm looking to photograph all kinds of birds.

Macro Shots

Here are the macro photographs that I took last week.  I was really just testing my fathers set of kenko extension tubes with my 55-250mm lens.  It seemed to work very well.  But I just would like to get even closer.  It was good that I could stand at a distance away so I did not spook anything, but it was about a 1 to 1 ratio, and I just would like to get really close to the subject.  Macro photographs of insects are amazing and I would just like to get one great shot.  The bee photograph came out pretty good.  I think the color is what made it stand out to me.  Plus I noticed the different color in the bees eyes and thought that was cool.

I also photographed some of the flowers out in the garden outside.  This shot seemed to be the best.  I liked the crisp focus and then the soft blur towards the middle.  I am on the verge of buying some new equipment.  I know I'm going to get a reversing ring, plus a shutter release cable, but I'm also looking into getting a set of extension tubes or a bellows.  I'm hoping to order them this week.  Please let me know what you think of these photographs, and let me know about any macro equipment that you would recommend.

Good Week

Last week I did get a couple of chances to finally get outside and get some photographs.  I was very happy to see some wood ducks, but only got some shots of the male.  Plus I also photographed a Great Blue Heron that was just in a swamp along the side of the road while I was driving.  It was quite a surprise and I was very happy that I had my camera along with me.

I was very happy with the heron shots.  I wish on the second shot that I got the entire reflection but the grass took out the reflection of the head.  But overall I believe these shots were pretty good. 

This wood duck shot was a little overexposed but I still like it, so I decided to post it.

The wood ducks were a great surprise.  Normally they stay hidden and are hide to find close enough to get good shots.  So I was very lucky to see them, and it was much better to see wildlife than my white dorm room walls.  I also tried my fathers set of extension tubes with my canon 55-250 mm lens and it worked quite nice.  But I still wish I could get the objects to appear even closer, while still standing at a distance.  I will try and upload the macro shots tomorrow.  I still have to process them.

Long Day

Spent most of the morning out today.  I believe that I got a shot of a great blue heron, and also hopefully got some macro shots of bees.  Also have some macro flowers.  I'm hoping that tomorrow I will get a chance to upload photos from my last few trips.  I'm hoping that I got at least one nice shot. 

First day of photography in a while

I finally got a chance to get outside today, and photographed some flowers using my 55-250 mm lens with my fathers set of extension tubes.  I was really interested to see the results.  It started to rain really quickly though so only took a few shots.  Hopefully tomorrow it wont rain as much and I may be able to get a few good shots.  Plus I would like to try and photograph some insects.  I'm working on getting an adapter to reverse mount my lenses but I have not bought it yet.  But I did try out my fathers extension tubes for the first time.  They seem to work very well.  I really want to try the extension tubes with a reverse prime lens.  I'm hoping to get some really nice macro insect photographs this summer.  Plus while I was outside today a hummingbird buzzed over me, and I'm hoping to get some shots of him too.  I will try and get some nice shots and get them uploaded.

Home!

I'm finally home.  But wont be around this weekend.  I'm hoping to finally get a chance to get out and finally take some nice photographs.  Woke up this morning to the sound of a pileated woodpecker.  It was pecking at a tree in my back yard.  So I'm hoping that he starts to frequent the area and I may be able to get a chance at some shots.  I cant wait to take my first trip out to the bashakill and hopefully get some shots at some small birds and warblers.  I have seen a few orioles and I would really love a shot of them.  I will hopefully have some shots by the end of next week.

HTML for Photography Blogs

I had some free time today after my final, so I decided to add some html to my blog.  It will no longer allow viewers to right click on anything.  So you can no longer right click and copy an image.  This will not stop everyone from copying your images, but it will definately hinder them.  I believe this is a good thing for most photographers who are trying to protect their work.  If anyone wants to know how to do this for their blog, just send me a message or comment.  I will get back to you as soon as possible. 

Finals Week!

Finals week has arrived!  Next tuesday is the last day of school, then hopefully once I'm home I will finally be able to get out and relax.  Cannot wait to get out and take some photographs.   I really hope I can take some amazing  photographs this summer.

Sorry

Sorry I have not had a chance to upload in a while.  Its the last week of college and finals are next week.  So I've been very bust keeping up with my school work.  Hopefully after finals I will be able to upload on a regular basis again.  I really can't wait to go home and walk the Bashakill Wetlands.  It should be awsome this time of year.  Hopefully it wont be to buggy.  But even then it will be better than the white walls of my dorm room that I see every day.

Tree Blossom

I was going through the pictures from my hike and I realized that I really overexposed most of the photographs, to the point were they were unusable.  Only one of the photographs was okay.  I was using the reversed lens technique and I think because the aperture was wide open I allowed way to much light in without realizing it.  So I still have to work on using my lenses that way.  So when I get a chance at insects I don't mess it up.  I probably wont have many photographs to upload while I'm still at school, especially with finals coming up.  But once I get home I'm sure I will be able to photograph something.  So hopefully I learned my lesson about using the Reverse lens technique and won't mess it up again.

Hike

I took a hike last weekend but I did not get a chance to work on the photographs this week.  School kept me very busy.  I am hoping to get the images up of the hike.  I took mostly pictures of blossoms on trees, Plus I took a couple photographs of birds, but I was not sure what type of bird it was.  I'm not sure if the photographs of the birds were any good, but it was a change to actually see something while I am at school.  So within the next few days I should have a new post of my hike. 

New Canon Camera for Astrophotography

The constant succession of new Canon and Nikon DSLRs has a certain predictability, but an unusual model will soon be available: Canon's astrophotography-oriented EOS 60Da.

The 60Da is a close cousin to the Canon EOS 60D, but it is a higher-end 18-megapixel model geared for enthusiasts. But the 60Da has one big difference: its infrared filter has been modified so it doesn't screen out so much "hydrogen-alpha" light, a deep-red 656.28-nanometer wavelength of light produced by excited hydrogen atoms.

By letting in three times the amount of hydrogen-alpha red as the regular 60D, the 60Da can capture much better photographs of nebulae, Canon has said. 

Canon last released a camera like this since 2005, the EOS 20Da that was also for astrophotography.  Canon has not released any successors in seven years, even though they had no competition in the niche.  In the meantime the technology has improved a ton since 2005.

So if you’re an astrophotography enthusiast you should really look at this new camera.  You can check out the specs on canon’s website.   The link will be posted below.  

http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/products/cameras/slr_cameras/eos_60da#Overview

More Bashakill Photographs

These are a couple more photographs that I took on my trips to the Bashakill Wetlands.  I included another photograph of the mallards.  There is also photographs of a tree swallow that was sitting on a bird house that was out in the water at the boat launch area.  It seemed like they were probably nesting in the house because they kept coming back to it.  So I snapped a few shots of them.

 Also there was a ton of painted turtles and musk turtles.  So I took a few shots of some painted turtles on a log.  I did not see any of the snapping turtles that I normally see thankfully.  Last year I walked right past one sitting on the ground.  I thought it was a large stone, until it moved.  It was probably about 40 lbs or so.

  I also took several photographs of red winged black birds on my trip, but most were not good.  Its not a great shot because the branches in front of her but at least the head is not covered and the image was clear.  For some reason my bird pictures were foggy.  I think it was because the grey background from the fog, and clouds.  So they were really unappealing.

 I hope to get out and do some photography while I am here at school, but I never seem to get a chance.  I am hoping soon the leaves will start growing and the spring colors will start to come out.  But the Rain has moved in this weekend and kept me from doing anything outside.  Hopefully next weekend will be better.

Bashakill Mallards

My trips to the Bashakill were not as good as I planned but they were fun.  Everyday there were plenty of waterfowl and other birds, but the fog in the morning and then bright sun in the afternoon made it a challenge.  I noticed that in my shots a lot of the water is overexposed but I still think they are good shots.  I decided I would post some of my mallard photographs because I got more of them than anything else.  Most of my photographs were of the female mallards but I did get a few shots of the male.  I had a hard time with the male because the green head for some reason was always real bright or discolored due to the bright sun.  Also because of the fog in the morning some of the pictures were very dull.  I was very happy that I got a shot of the female mallard flapping her wings.  I was surprised that I actually got the shot.  It could have been better if the male mallard was not cut off the edge of the photograph and the water was not overexposed but I like it a lot. 

Overall though I was very happy with my shots and I believe that the photographs show the true beauty of the female mallard, even though she lacks the color that the male has.  I will be looking over more of my photographs in the next few days and posting more of my photographs from my trips to the Bashakill.  Hopefully now that I am back at school I will be able to get out a little on weekends and try and do some type of photography.  Enjoy the photographs, and please comment or send me questions.