Allegany: August 21-24, 2011

August 20-24, 2011:  I made my annual visit to Allegany (by myself) during those August anniversary days since Mom passed away. Bob couldn't come with me this year, because he had taken time off in July for Claire's wedding.

This time with my Dad is a special bonding time, and I am grateful for whatever time I can spend with him.  Jake & Caroline were around for the first few days, so I got to spend time with them too!  And of course, practice with my new camera!

August 21

Dad (two months shy of 91 years old)

House Finch at the feeder

The lazy days of summer!

Baby pine cones

Lovely green!

I made cinnamon rolls for Dad & I

August 22

Love these finches!

Pine cone bokeh

Bee on goldenrod

Fence view

August 23

(anniversary of Mom's passing & cemetery visit)

Civil War Monument

On August 24, I headed for home, with a planned stop to meet up for lunch with Julie (Bebop) in Ithaca at Moosewood Restaurant. On 13 North toward Ithaca, I passed a sunflower field, and just had to stop and take some photos.

After a great lunch at Moosewoods, and lots of conversation about Daily Pics, photography and Zazzle, Julie and I took a walk to one of the renowned Ithaca Gorges:

  Julie (Bebop) checking her camera settings:

Julie shooting photos:

Cascadilla Falls & Stone Bridge

Photo of me (taken by Julie)

A few hours in Ithaca was a perfectly great ending to a special time spent with my Dad! 

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Note:  this blog post was actually written in January 2012 as part of my "catch-up" but published as if in September, to keep things in proper sequence.

Learning Curve = Not So Much!

September 26, 2011:   Over the past month, I'm very happy to have learned that the learning curve hasn't been as steep as I originally thought.  I'm still shooting in autofocus, but I'm learning how the focus works.  It will take some time until I feel confident enough to use it exclusively.  And even then I will probably take my Canon G12 on certain outings (such as bike rides in the park), because it's lighter and easier to transport.   It will also take a bit longer until I get into manual focus.  But I will get this, I'm determined!  The photos I take with this camera are already so much better!

Here are some of my "practice" efforts since my last blog post in August:

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Note:  this blog post was actually written in January 2012 as part of my "catch-up" but published as if in September, to keep things in proper sequence.

Learning Curve = Less!

August 14, 2011 Update:


Took these shots on my third day out;  I've been having fun with my new Nikon D90!  These are the kinds of shots I always envied and wanted to be able to take (especially the second and third shots):

On the fourth morning I took these shots:

On the fifth morning, these shots:

(without flash)

(with flash)

Collage made from the two shots:

I'm loving this and learning alot!

Learning Curve = HUGE!

August 9, 2011:  Just purchased my first DSLR, a previously-owned Nikon D90 with a Tamron 18-270mm lens from my friend Keith (Colorado/Pullman, WA).  It arrived yesterday and I am feeling excited, anxious and frustrated all at the same time.   This experience is going to be a huge learning curve.  The one thing I've learned so far is that my previous [point-and-shoot] camera did all the work for me - all I had to contribute was my eye and timing. With this camera I am going to have to do all the work!!  Not sure how much I like that - I am basically resistant to change and resistant to having to work too hard at something -  but if I can eventually improve the quality of my photos, I guess it will all be worth it. 

It took a while, but I finally figured out how to turn on the LCD screen (duh!) and then figure out that I can't use the LCD screen and the viewfinder at the same time (duh!) and then figure out that the viewfinder may actually be the better choice.  And this enlightenment came to someone who has spent their entire digital experience using the LCD screen exclusively!  Yikes!

And all this was in autofocus too - I can see it taking a very l-o-n-g time to figure out the various manual modes!!

I did switch it into manual mode at one point - the shot is too dark because I haven't a clue yet how to change ISO, aperture, etc.  

However, all the autofocus shots I took (about 20 of them) came out way too light!    That dark manual mode shot turned out to be the only salvageable shot I took this morning.  Not that it's any good, but I felt I should keep ONE of my first attempts at least:

August 10, 2011:  Did some reading last night and cleared up a couple of puzzlements.  Took some more shots this morning:

To be continued!   This saga will be on-going, for a very long time...

Pheasant Family

August 06, 2011: Today I had the good fortune to be in the right place at the right time and saw something I've never seen before - "baby" pheasants.  Well, they are probably teenagers by now, but I'd never seen chicks of any age before, so this was a treat, despite the fact that I wasn't able to get really close:

 I thought I had them cornered against the chain link fence

  but these "babies" could fly,
and went up and over, with their mom...!

Only the male didn't fly over the fence, at least while I was standing there!  I now know, in hindsight, that this is a juvenile male, identified by the lack of the long tail feathers.  I saw him again two days later... (more photos below)

August 8, 2011:  I went back to the same place I saw the pheasant family on Saturday, but didn't see any of them in that place.  But as I turned around to leave, I came, basically, face-to-face with this juvenile male pheasant.  I am assuming he's a juvenile due to the lack of long tail feathers, but as yet have not  found any info to support that assumption.  He let me get quite close and while I stood motionless, camera ready, he felt comfortable enough to stop in a clearing and do some preening.  I got quite a few shots that way.  Actually I tired before he did, and when I moved, he finally sauntered away!  Here are  additional photos of a juvenile male pheasant:

 He stopped to preen

 but then stopped suddenly to check out
what was going on around him

 A little more preening

Always a treat to see the pheasants, and a special treat to see the whole family on a morning outing!  Gotta love Kissena Park, home to the Ring-Neck Pheasant!

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