The Guardian

Here is a mother Great Blue Heron guarding her nest (barely seen to the lower left). The Rookery, in Venice FL, is well known to bird watchers and photographers as a go-to place in winter.


Nikon D70s, Nikkor 70-300mm at 300mm, f/9.5 for 1/350 sec., ISO 400

I had to boost the ISO to get the shutter speed to 1/350 - this was hand held.

Bob

Backlighting

I really like back lighting, but it is difficult to avoid lens flare from the sun. Here a large tree trunk played interference for me.


Nikon D70s, Nikkor 50mm f1.8 for 1/250 second. ISO 400

I tilted the camera only to create more dynamic diagonal lines. I think that tilting works OK, as long as there is no water horizon. My brain just cannot handle that.

Bob

Awww...

This is obviously a follow up to yesterday's post. The photo was taken about five minutes later.


Nikon D70s, Nikkor 18-200mm at 90mm, ISO200, f/8 for 1/60 sec. with flash.

Here's the difference: this is Tucker, a different dog (Beasley's little brother). I can barely tell by the color of the noses. Bob

Beasley, the Wonder Dog

This handsome critter was sitting on my mother's lap, Christmas day.


Nikon D70s, Nikkor 18-200mm at 38mm, ISO 200, f/5.6 with flash

I used an SB600 speedlight, camera mounted, with a Gary Fong Lightsphere. The vaulted ceiling was too high to bounce flash; the SB600 was pointed directly at the subject. To highlight the dog, I cropped in close, and blurred and darkened the background in Photoshop. Sorry Mom! Bob

The Wonder of Christmas

My 20 month old Grandniece got to see one of Santa's elves for the first time.


Nikon D70s, Nikkor 18-200mm at 150mm, ISO 200, f/4.8 for 1/60 second with flash

The ceiling was too high to bounce flash, so I had the SB600 Speedlight mounted on the camera with a Gary Fong Lightsphere attached. Bob

Helping Hands

In the spirit of giving, this image is from the All Faith's Food Bank, Sarasota, FL. Volunteers get to put their hand prints on the wall.


Nikon D70s, Nikkor 12-24mm at 22 mm, f/5.6, 1/20 sec. with flash.

Merry Christmas!!

Bob

Amicalola Falls

Amicacola Falls is in a state park near Dahlonega, GA. This damp, dreary morning produced contrasting colors: high saturation due to diffused light, and muted grays due to fog.


Nikon D70s, 18-200mm vr at 40mm, ISO 200, f/16, 1/6 sec.

Bob

The Docent

A dreary, quiet morning at Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, FL... the docent sits unneeded, unloved, reading the local newspaper.


Nikon D70s, micro nikkor 105mm vr, ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/30 sec.

I am envious. The fellow appears older than me, but he can read the paper with his glasses folder over his shirt collar. Bob

Sadie

This is my sister's labradoodle, Sadie. She is a great, albeit high spirited, dog. I wasted many megapixels to get this shot - labradoodles do not know how to say "cheese".


Nikon D70s, 18-200mm at 26mm, ISO 200, 1/60 second with fill flash at f/4.8

The exposure was a challenge: dark brown dog, brown eyes, brown hardwood floor. In Photoshop, I brightened Sadie a bit in a curves adjustment layer, and painted light into the eyes using a duplicate layer in screen blending mode. Bob

A Rainy Day in Georgia

Well, here is my first attempt. This image is was NOT captured in the past week, but about a month ago in Cherry Log, GA. It was shot from a porch on a rainy morning with lots of brooding fog.



In Photoshop, after increasing contrast with a curves adjustment layer, I made a B&W adjustment layer and lightly masked the red-brown treetops. November was past the peak color season in north Georgia, but for a Florida guy the colors were pretty good. Bob