The End Of A Blog

Well, I’ve decided to just post my pictures on Facebook instead of trying to keep up both Facebook and a blog.  You can find me over there (http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=1614433559).  I may be back to this blog some day… who knows?

Burrowing Owl In Flight

There were at least four burrowing owls this day.  I’ve had other people tell me that they’ve had owls sweep down and knock their hat off or dive bomb their dog.  So far, the owls have always screeched and flown circles around me.

Canon EOS 7D w/ EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM +2.0x
ISO 400, 400mm, f/5.6, 1/200 sec (Cropped)

Coyote In The Hay

After seeing an owl in our backyard, I was inspired to pay a visit to a nearby parliament of burrowing owls.  As I rode up on my bike this lone coyote trotted up and didn’t seem to have much regard for me.  It keep about 20 yards away at all times, but didn’t seem to mind me being there.  It roamed around, presumably looking for the owls nests.  These burrowing owls are great at distracting you with their calls as they try to lead you away from their burrows.

Canon EOS 7D w/ EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM +2.0x
ISO 800, 380mm, f/5.6, 1/50 sec (Cropped)

This coyote stayed around for a while and eventually took off to the other end of the hay fields.  It was at sunrise and it was close enough that I wish I wouldn’t have had the 2x extender in, but I didn’t want to take the time to take it out in case it took off.  I’ve got some great owl shots coming next, Seattle, and some family portraits of the Robinson family.

Backyard Owl

There is an owl that visits us every once in a while.  This is the first time I’ve tried to photograph it though.  Unfortunately, I was not ready for it.  Fortunately, I learned a lot about the shot I want and will be better prepared next time.

The first hurdle was lighting, I ran into the problem of not wanting to use my flash.  I figured I would scare it off if I did.  So, I was left to handholding long exposures at first.  Too blurry!  Solution A, I got out my tripod. But I soon found that the owl didn’t want to hold still for long exposures even if my camera was still.  Solution B, a flashlight didn’t scare it off, but lighting up the power lines along with the owl didn’t make for a great shot.  Alternatives: Using a flashlight might produce a good looking shot if I’m prepared with my longer lens and can get close-up enough to cut the power lines out of the picture.  I could also crop it, but the low light brings out the noise more on a crop.

The second hurdle was focusing in such low light.  It was easier when the owl was lit up with a flashlight, but without it, I was guessing and trying to manual focus.  Next time I’ll try my 50mm f/1.4 lens and see if it able to focus better.

The best picture I ended up is one that I want to improve on next time.

Canon EOS 7D w/ EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM
ISO 250, 145mm, f/2.8, 1.0 sec

I still like the shot, but the 1.0 second exposure left the owl’s edges a little blurry.  I think it would have been a great shot if the moon was sharp as well as the owl.  The only way that would ever happen though is to have a very small aperture and a very still owl for an even longer exposure.  Or maybe I’ll take an additional photo with the moon in in focus and blend the two shots together to make one photo with both the owl and the moon in focus.  That sounds like an easier plan to me versus relying on the owl to sit still for 20 or 30 seconds.

Our Seattle Trip

Christi and I spent this last weekend in Seattle visiting her sister’s family.  It was a very relaxing get away.  Lindsey and Preston were great hosts and tour guides.  I’ve got a load of great pictures from the plane, Pikes Market, the downtown underground, our ferry ride to the peninsula, seals, eagles, bison, the locks, waterfalls, the tulip festival, and more.  This should keep me busy for a while.  He’s one that Preston took of us.

Canon EOS 7D w/ EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM
ISO 100, 17mm, f/4.0, 1/800 sec – Cropped

The Carnival Reception

The carnival theme was great!  Casual and easy going.  Everyone wore t-shirts and jeans while they enjoyed their cotton candy and funnel cakes instead of the traditional wedding cake.  I wish we would have though it for our reception.  Here are some of my favorite pictures of the fun.

Kim and Seth’s little boy was feeling much better on this day (see previous pictures from the day before when he had an ear ache).  Here he is checking out his spoils from a piñata bust.

Wedding Day Hands

I recently photographed a wedding with my sister in law, Leah.  It was a great day and a very fun family to photograph.  Leah had a great time whooping and hollering for them.  The kids loved it!  And when the kids are having fun, it’s easier for the adults to have fun too.  This family had a lot of character and it made for a lot of fun photos.  It’s going to take several posts to cover their wedding day and their carnival themes reception.

While Leah was up close getting the family to pose, I stood off with my 70-200mm and tried to get different angles and details.  Here are some of my favorite photos of hands from the day.

Then there was the bride’s little boy who was sick and had an ear infection.  I felt sorry for him and them that day, but he seemed to be bright eyed and bushy tailed by the next day at the reception.  Here are some with him from the wedding day.

One more favorite with one of the cousins that was sitting off by himself holding the balloons they had brought (to keep with the carnival theme).

My First Photography Contest

I just entered my first photography contest with Popular Photography magazine.  The theme for the month was backlighting (http://www.popphoto.com/contests/2010/08/share-monthly-photo-challenge)  Here are the three pictures I submitted.

Picturing the Temple at 60 MPH

Here is a picture of the Gila Valley temple spire that I took on our way back from Texas.  I’ve included the exposure info below it.  It came out sharp even when I took it from the passenger seat of the RV while going 60 MPH down the highway.

Canon 7D with my EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM
1/2000 sec at f/2.8 and ISO 100

Feral Hog Hunt in Texas

WARNING: I have lots of pictures on this one, but I’m trying to catch up… My brother, Doug, organized a hog hunt for my Dad and all my brothers on a ranch in Texas.  Even though I saw more deer than hogs, we had a great time.  I go along with my brothers on their hunt and take my camera to shoot with.  I got to test out my 2X extender with my EF 70-200mm f/2.8 IS II USM.  With my Canon 7D crop sensor, the 2X extender, and my lens, I could get out to the equivalent of a 640mm lens at f/5.6 and 18MP.  Here are some of my favorites from the trip.

Here are a couple of my Dad as we hiked around searching.

Aa hog’s skull we found while Hiking

Most of the hunting was done from blinds near feeders.  While sitting there for hours, I had to take pictures of what ever I could.  I liked the backlit fuzz on this tree.

There was plenty of wild life around… foxes, armadillos, hawks, cardinals, and a ton of deer, goats, and sheep and more.

These particular goats where fenced in around the main ranch.

Every night I would get about an hour to take photos of the stars before clouds would roll in and block it all.  Here is a 8.5 minutes shot pointing at the North Star (54mm zoom at f/2.8 and ISO800).  If I would have had more time, I would have liked to have made it much longer and zoomed in closer.

And here is my favorite photo from the trip.  Some of the guys where in the barn with the lights on.  I gave it a 30 second exposure at f/2.8 and ISO 1600 with the 17mm end of my EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM lens. 

Wood Working

The boys have been working hard around here on wood projects.  On top of helping out with the fort, they recently built wooden swords for mock sword fights.

Caleb and I put together a new dog house for Lucy (our dog).

And Josh had me help him put together this bird house.

They recently built pinewood derby cars too.  That’s for another post though.

Disneyland–How we left

Here is the final results of 3 days at Disneyland. 

Some left Happy.

Some left sad.  Here is Simon trying to throw a keychain Buzz Lightyear gun that is attached to his belt loop.  It was sad… but hilarious.

Some left changed

And we all left a little crazy!

It was fun.

Disneyland–Final Abstracts

Grizzly Rapids

Grizzly Canyons

Mickey Balloons

Disneyland–Family

Disneyland–Jonah