Trinidad

We went to the coast for President's Day weekend.  This was the most eye-catching image that I took: 

I was also able to catch a nice family portrait:

Butterfly

I had the opportunity to use my new macro lens (AF-S Micro Nikkor 60mm f/2.8G ED) when I discovered this butterfly trapped in our rain gutter.

In the images that I took, she is resting on Michele's arm drying her wings.

Due to the break in the weather, there was plenty of ambient sunlight.  As a lucky bonus, there was an additional source as sunlight was reflected off of a mirrored door stored in the garage.  The light enabled nice exposures.

The butterfly flew away shortly after the shoot and alighted in a nearby tree.

Perfect!

I would love for some feedback on the three images in my gallery. Which is your favorite and why?

Another Lovely Sunday

We had another lovely afternoon spent in Upper Bidwell park. We brought the camera and took a few interesting shots:

Here is an image of Owen eager for hiking at the trailhead.

The kids hauled down the road into the Chico Creek Canyon.

The star thistle was threatening along the roadside.

Noah relaxed in a tree. It is not possible to keep this kid out of trees.

Sophie brought her nets and we were able to catch the biggest crawdad I have ever seen.

The water was cold but the catch was worth the discomfort.

We released this lovely beast after admiring his colors.

All the kids were exhausted by the end of the hike.

The younger kids required a little assistance on the trail home.

This hike was a great conclusion to a wonderful weekend.

Contest with "Froggy"

This is the first photo that I have entered in a contest. I listen to several “how to” and “about” podcasts. With my renewed interest in photography, I have added several photography podcasts to my usual lineup. These “hobbiest” podcasts often run contests and assignments. More interesting than the prizes (although I would love to win some gear) are the actual assignments.

Adding constraints to learning is often inspiring. Big ideas become imaginable. I entered this contest because we have a unique pet that I have been eager to photograph. The contest energized me to set up and capture the image.

The subject is Foggy our green tree frog (Hyla cinerea). One of the challenges in capturing Froggy was that he doesn’t come out of hiding very often. One evening, I noticed that he was perched just right for a photo. I got my tripod out of the garage, mounted the camera, turned off the flash, stopped down the aperture as much as I could, set the self timer, and hoped for the best. I got lucky with this image because Froggy spooks easily. Normally, he scoots away to his hiding spot if I just look at him. For this shot, I stuck a camera right in his face.

Click on the image to view it in high resolution. I think the colors come through very nicely.

Red-Tailed

We saw this bird in a tree during our hike. The 300mm zoom lens gets in pretty close. A tri-pod would have been nice.