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No doubt about it... I was humming my little victory tune in the car on the way home after shooting this one!!
I had absolutely no idea where I was going, or what I wanted to shoot when I left home with my camera yesterday afternoon. What I did know was that the clouds were looking very good and that the wind had died down completely... so I was hoping to find a nice dam somewhere... with some nice foreground interest... preferably something that I haven't shot a million times already!
While driving around aimlessly but quite intently... I kept thinking about what my friend Mark Vee recently said to me. He was so impressed with some of the subjects and compositions that I've managed to capture with my new D3100 lately... that he wondered if it wasn't perhaps a "lucky" camera? I must admit that I have been feeling rather lucky lately... somehow I've managed to find something (fairly) interesting every single time that I've gone out shooting with this camera. I was really hoping that my luck would hold out and that I would find my nice dam and interesting foreground real soon... the sun was going to set in 20 minutes... and I still hadn't found anything even remotely worthwhile!
Just then I drove past the field where our three "experimental" wind turbines are parked... should I bother to stop I wondered... I've shot these things so many times already... and I didn't remember ever seeing a dam here before. But time was running out... I'd better get my camera on my tripod soon... the light was starting to look really good... if I didn't stop now... I was going definitely to miss out on the best part of the sunset!
So I parked the car... hopped over the fence... and ran into the field to see what I could find. Imagine my surprise when I discovered this little pool of water... exactly where I needed it to be... to reflect the wind turbine perfectly in the water. Then I noticed the cracked mud covered by less than an inch of water... that would make the perfect foreground interest... what a luck! Although the wind had died down... every now and again a slight gust would start turning the blades of the turbine. That meant that I would have to wait till they stopped completely if I wanted to match up their position in both the upper and lower images that make up this Vertorama.
The sunset was nice... but the blades were still turning! I tried to shoot the upper and lower images when the blades were in exactly the same position... but I never managed to time it just right. But then... just as the clouds were at their pinkest... the blades stopped turning... and a gap opened up in the clouds right behind the turbine... framing the blades perfectly... what a luck! The best part of the clouds was also positioned perfectly to the right of the turbine... allowing me to compose my Vertorama with the turbine off-center in the frame... what a luck!!
Don't you just love it when everything falls into place like this? I simply couldn't have asked for more! This must be a "lucky" camera!! :)
Nikon D3100, Sigma 10-20mm at 20mm, aperture of f10, with a 1/8th second exposure.
Click here to check out my Vertorama tutorial.
Here's a male, broad-teil hummingbird, flashing his ruby gorget, as he enjoys some catnip at Cherry Creek State Park, Colorado. There's a currant bush behind him, where I've been shooting catbirds, robins, house finch and goldfinch, as they feast on the ripe berries.
I spend hours sitting here, always listening for the telltale sound of a male broad-tail flying by. Some days< i'll hear that sound and not even see the hummer. Other times, I see it flash by and maybe dive bomb me once or twice as it goes about its business. On my lucky days, like this morning, it'll stop and feed on thistle or catnip, or whatever is in bloom. Today, he did it a couple of times. He was only there a few seconds, but I've gotten good at locking him into focus quickly.
I have a button on my camera that I can push to raise the frames per second to 120-fps. I seldom use it, but when a hummingbird comes by, I push the button, so that I get to choose the best pose from many possible.
taken with an iphone, fifty yards out through a $14 telescope from our office.
super hard to frame - every heartbeat shook the image.
i'm kinda partial to crazy vignetting
she was real tiny.
¤ On Black ¤
An abandoned house and now-silent telegraph pole and wires on the "outskirts of town" at Bodie State Historic Park in California. The wires are more-easily seen by clicking the "On Black" link above--opening a slightly larger view. A keen eye will also pick up on a primitive lightning rod on the roof of the house.
It is possible to glimpse the Eastern Sierras in the distance: A constant reminder of the harsh winters which visit Bodie. Some clouds were nice enough to stop by, making this image worth a trip of the shutter.
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мσ∂єℓ вч :HUMMER H3
The HUMMER H3 is the baby of the range - newer, smaller and more civilised than its siblings but don't be fooled by this statement because size-wise, it is still one of the most imposing vehicles on the road today
Not my usual "flyer" but a fascinating moth. Its wings can beat up to eighty times a second, 4,800 times a minute, sadly I don't have the skill or camera that could cope with that.
My sweet Winter Hummer, a female Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna). I was sitting outside at the front door enjoying the sunshine this morning, when this little bird came in, hovered and checked me out for a few seconds. She then buzzed off to resume her hectic winter schedule of feeding. They must feed at least every 15 minutes of less to keep up their body temperature! Not much time for anything else in life!