A bit of a disappointment

Today was a bit of a disappointment. My husband and I decided to go and try to find a new place to take pictures. No dice, where we went turned out to be a big dud. So in true explorer fashion we began following along the road and we ended up getting lost. Out came the Iphone and we figured out where we were, a few minutes later we ended up coming out by in one of my newer favorite places so we just be-bopped in there instead. Only one problem.. not exactly the best time for taking pictures there. Mid afternoon with the sun directly overhead all the birds were hiding, harsh lighting and wind blowing the water from the smooth sheet of glass for great reflection shots to a choppy mess that reflected too much light in too choppy a way to make for a pretty picture. Foiled again!

Having said that I did manage to sneak off a decent photo or two but was sadly disappointed in the majority. Days like today I'm glad I shoot digital.. at least it won't cost me anything to discard them.

Photos are greater than sleep

Got off work this morning and on the way home I had the potential for a beautiful sunrise. Only problem is .. I'm exhausted.. what to do...

Well let's be honest that's hardly a decision to make. I just hopped out of my truck, pulled out my tripod and took some photos anyways. I am pretty sure every person on the road between the hours of 0600hrs and 0700hrs this morning were scratching their heads wondering who in the right mind is out taking photos on the side of the road at that time of morning. The answer is simple.. ME.

I managed to get a couple decent photos even those my pretty sunrise never materialized. The clouds were just a slight bit too low to provide a break between the mountains and the sun for the rays to shine through. Having said that I managed to get some pretty colours off clouds in the opposite direction and joy of all joys the eagles came to play.

First I saw what appeared to be a juvenile bald eagle who had obviously caught a rat or some similar rodent for breakfast and when the other eagles flew decided to find a less obvious location to consume his meal. I managed to get a slightly blurry photo of him because I was still getting set up but it's creepy because you can see the whole shape of the poor little critter.

Once he had moved on that opened up the tree for a pair of bald eagles who sat there posing for me. All in all a great sacrifice of pictures over sleep. This time at least it was worth it.

Rain Rain Go Away

Another day of rain on and off. I suppose overall it doesn't matter all that much since I have to work anyways but I'm so sick of the rain and the hail we've been getting. How is a girl supposed to get out to practice when the weather is like this. For over a week now I've been itching to get more. I really hope we have a decent summer like we had last year. I wasted so much of it being inside and being lazy and this year when I actually have the drive and desire to get out...voila.. bad weather.

Someone please have a chat with Mother Nature and tell her to send me some sun!

Here is a photo just keep my hopes up of getting out...

Went to the Wetlands

I went to the Wetlands near my home today after work. I thought after my first visit there with all the geese and the mist and the beauty of what I saw there I was certain to get a couple of really great pictures of the geese. One problem...when I got there there wasn't a goose in sight. Even the best laid plans....

Never one to admit defeat I attempted to catch a picture of the swallows in flight as it was feeding time there were about fifty all swooping and diving across the surface of the lake. Now I don't know if you have ever gotten a picture of a swallow, or perhaps more relevant to you is whether you would even care to try but I gotta say..yowsers those are some fast birds!!

I am pretty sure that if anyone had a video camera they would have been laughing off more than just their butts because there I am whirling around my tripod trying not to fall on my face or over the edge of the overlook while trying to track these manic little birds with my zoom lense in the attempt to freeze their movement. I would just like to state now, on the record, that it's going to take someone who's a lot more photographer than me to catch a great action shot of one of those little suckers.

I ended up with a photo.. that's the best I can say for it. It's not great ..heck I doubt most people would even be able to guess the type of bird in it..it's more like a blur with two wings. Maybe next time I head out I'll have better luck...but then again.. I think not!

Attached is a photo of the geese from my first visit since I didn't get a decent one this trip. I wonder what the weather will be like for my days off and perhaps I can get out in the morning again instead.

Dreams?

Have you ever had a dream? Something you wanted to more than anything else in life? Well I am happy for you if you have but that's just so not me. I've never truly known what I wanted to do, I've sort of just bumped along the path of life with no real aims other than to succeed...at what you ask? At whatever I was doing at the time.

One thing that has always remained constant is that I loved to take pictures. Perhaps my heart has thought Photography is my dream all along while my head has always said that's just not a responsible choice and therefore discounted it. I truly don't know even to this day. What I do know is that I enjoy it. I am satisfied when I get the shot I was trying for and I feel a true pride in my work when others like it. I get angry when I miss the shot or make an error that in turns ruins the photo.

What I hope to do now is learn enough to actually be able to one day be considered successful. What the true measure of that will be even I don't know. Once again I'll bump along the road and hope the people I meet along the way assist me in defining that.