Mommy and the kids

I was sitting in my backyard when this family went by me on their way home after a day of foraging. I had to get my camera and that set the nervous mom to walking a little faster, but I think I did pretty good anyhow.

olc

A leaf in ice

I was sitting in my back yard when these guys passed by on their way home from a days foraging. Unfortunately, I had to get my camera and that started Mommy and they all started to walk away. I think they were about 75 feet from me when I finally got this image. No PP, just straight from the camera.


olc

So there I am at the super market and I hear a couple talking about see a bald eagle. My ears begin to burn and I eavesdrop a little hoping to learn where the sighting is. No luck. Finally I draw up my courage and ask them where they saw the birds. They were nice enough to to tell me a general location.

Segway a few hours, actually the next morning and it is really cold—I hate cold weather and this is one reason I moved Asheville. (well the best laid plans and all…), I am close to where I think I may have a chance to see the eagles. It is cold and the sky is calm with nothing flying higher then a foot off the water. Like I said I do not like the cold so I have lots of cloths on which all culminate in jeans worn til there are holes and a hoody sweatshirt and fleece vest. I did not do this on purpose, but think of Jax in Sons of Anarchy. I am walking around the park, with camera in hand, and finally realizing what some one might think when a park ranger just sorta shows up to look over some lights near by. 

I take inventory.

So I go over to the guy and ask him about the eagles. He still does not loosen up, but he stays around and tries to look like he is doing something besides checking me out. Finally, he sees my camera and tripod and I see his shoulders relax a little. We talk and he says that he thinks the eagles have nested over there someplace, but they come by the park and hunt. Now we are talking! I have some kind of idea as to game plan.

I tell him I understand about disturbing Bald Eagles and their nest, but that I really want to get a few shots. He begins to relax  even more and tells me about a hunt he witnessed. I asked what time did this happen. Middle of the day, was his reply. This blows my idea of dawn or dusk.

Now for the reason why I am posting this here. “About time,” you think rather loudly! Does any one out there have any enlightenment as to the habits of Bald Eagles in Western NC?


OLC

A day on 74A

Well, I got this bright idea to go and take some pics go motorcycles...dunno why, it jus felt like a fun thing to do. The Runtyun said she would come too. So what did I have to loose. Here are the best of what I took. There will be a learning curve. But I think I have the basics.

Let me know what you think.

olc

The last two were taken at Hickory Nut Gap Farms. I really want to know which one is the better of the them.

Thanks, olc

Dad at the Blue Sky Cafe

I took this on my Fathers 88th birthday.

I love you Dad!


olc

The Princess getting her fingers done

Recently we had a celebration for my mother and Father. It was a great todo requiring much planning. My Runtyun, the Princess, had to look just right. This was the first step. There were a few more, though I felt she was beautiful just the way she was!

Thanks Princess Ellie!

So, the set of 3 extensions has 3 different lengths, a 13mm, 21mm and 31mm They do stuff to make the image bigger, or they allow me to put the subject closer to the lens for more detailed resolution. I spent all night on my birthday taking pictures of a cute bear candle using various lenses and F-stops and shutter speeds. Being methodical, I shot with my 50mm lens, then the 18-55 at three different mm. 18mm, 35mm and 55m. Finally, I used the 55mm-250mm at 55mm, 130mm and 250mm. With all three lenses I started at the largest aperture, or opening and stopped down to the smallest. By doing this I was working with delta of field, or the range in which the subject was in focus. In some cases, only a portion of the bear’s face was in focus, while in others the whole bear was not only in view but in focus.

In the background, I put some Christmas tree lights to see how the different apertures received the light, thus affecting the shape of the representation of the bulbs. It turns out that the narrower the Depth of Field was, the more depth of field was revealed in the xmas lights. The aperture also affected the shape of the bulb, sometimes it was perfectly round, while other times the bulbs were six sided. All of these things were expected, I just wanted to do the experiment and prove it for myself. Some of the pictures are really nice, though the biggest lesson I learned was that in order to use the long lens, I’ll need to get much further way from my subject than my kitchen table allows.

So feast your eyes on the pictures and let me know what yo think!

THANKS! olc

BTW, I did no Post Production on any of the images.

A couple more

Pigeon Love

I found these guysin a park while my van was being worked on. They looked pretty happy so I had to take their picture for posterity.


olc

Biltmore Plaque

I was walking around and saw this plaque on the Biltmore HQ in Biltmore Village. I liked the shine.


olc

Mom in all her color

My Mother.


olc

Feed Me!

This was a squash The Runtyun was growing. The Blossom just peeked out and said, "Feed Me."

A smile from the queen

My mother

We were at the fine place called the Blue Sky Cafe. We have been there before and enjoyed their ambiance a few times. Mom likes their roll-ups!


olc

Dreamin' 'bout ridin'

Some times it seems like I spend more time working on the Grinner, than riding it!

Cloud Burst in Color

A pretty flower

Cute Little Girl in the park

I love the happy, yet accidental, thumbs up she has. The Runtyun and I were celebrating Friday Night during the summer. This little girl was dancing during the Drum Circle at Pritchard Park I don't think this video was the same night, but it may give you an idea of the energy  the evening gives.

Mini Mushroom

I wanted to try out the macro ability of a lens, so I got about 6 inches from this delicate little thing.


olc

My Dad

We were enjoying dinner at a local place called the BlueSky Cafe

olc