New Year’s Eve 2011

It’s New Year’s Eve, and it’s the end of a full year of photography every day. It’s been a really good experience for me. I learned a lot about using my camera and I learned a lot about photography.

I learned about post-processing photos and about photographing dogs. I can now identify all kinds of birds. I spent a lot more time outside with my dogs than I had been doing before, and I’ve enjoyed that a lot. I liked going outside with my camera and looking for something to catch my eye each day–a new tomato on the tomato plant, a bird in a tree, Sophie sitting by the fence, raindrops on a leaf. Getting sick or coming home really late from work pushed me into finding ways to get a photo taken and posted under less than favorable conditions. (I still like my photo of the Theraflu box.) Taking pictures of my dolls was always fun, and I’ve enjoyed reading comments from Sonny who also has some big Masterpiece dolls.

Today I’ve changed the way I’m resizing photos–I had been keeping them at about 1100 x 733 pixels, so that they appeared smaller on the blog page but could be clicked on to be seen at a larger size. Now I’m just posting them at the smaller size. This is a lot easier for me, and I hope it makes the photos appear sharper and that it’s quicker and easier to view them.

So anyway, here are some photos for today.Sophie and Lulu have to be here on New Year’s Eve, of course. I took some photos of the two of them together, but the best I got was this, with them together but looking in different directions. Settings were f/5.6, 1/50, ISO 400.

Lulu wouldn’t cooperate with Sophie for a picture, but on her own she was posing for the camera. Settings were f/5.6, 1/80, ISO 400.

I was happy to see the Mockingbird in the tree by the fence on this last day of the year. Settings were f/6.3, 1/80, ISO 400.

Sophie spotted this squirrel starting to bury an acorn in the back yard, and chased it up into a tree. The squirrel didn’t let go of its acorn though. Settings were f/5.6, 1/250, ISO 400.

The squirrel peered down at Sophie and me, acorn still held securely in its mouth. Settings were f/6.3, 1/400, ISO 400.

And one more look at the squirrel peeking over the top of the big branch. Settings were f/6.3, 1/400, ISO 400.

Friday Photos

I set the camera for manual exposure today, something I haven’t done in awhile–lately it’s been mostly in aperture priority. I was pleased overall with the results. First here’s happy Sophie out in the yard. Settings were f/7.1, 1/250, ISO 400.

And here’s Sophie sneaking a drink of water from the seat of a lawn chair. Settings were f/7.1, 1/125, ISO 400.

I realized today that Sophie has a heart-shaped spot on the back of her neck. Settings were f/5.6, 1/1000, ISO 400.

Little wildflowers (oxalis) in the back yard. Settings were f/5.6, 1/640, ISO 400.

The Mockingbird was back in the little tree, and looked down at me curiously between the bare branches. This bird isn’t at all shy and doesn’t mind my coming up close with my camera. Settings were f/5.6, 1/25, ISO 400.

Thursday Photos

Just a few photos for today, and nothing as exciting as a Red-Tailed Hawk swooping in to perch in a nearby tree. I did see a Great Egret flying by, but I wasn’t quick enough to get photos of anything but the bird fading into the distance. Late this afternoon the Mockingbird was around though, picking berries in the palm trees where it was too dim and shady for pictures, and then flying up to the top of another tree.  Settings were f/7.1, 1/400, ISO 200.

Another look at the Mockingbird. Settings were f/7.1, 1/400, ISO 200.

Here’s one little brown leaf still clinging to a tree branch. Settings were f/9. 1/250, ISO 200.

Richard came out to play with Sophie this afternoon. Here they are meeting over at the fence. Settings were f/7.1, 1/100, ISO 250.

Both tails are wagging in this photo. Settings were f/7.1, 1/100, ISO 200.

Red-Tailed Hawk and More on Wednesday

It was bright but chilly and breezy this morning. When I went outside with Sophie and the camera, nothing much really caught my eye. I took a few photos anyway, just to have some taken in case I didn’t come across anything else more interesting during the day. Here are palm fronds blowing in the breeze and reflecting the sunlight. Settings were f/8, 1/800, ISO 200.

Sophie lying in the grass. Settings were f/7.1, 1/125, ISO 200.

And a little cocoon of some sort on one of the tomato plants. Settings were f/8, 1/400, ISO 640.

Another appointment took up the middle of the day. After I got home this afternoon I happened to look out the window to see a large bird fly over the front yard and land on top of a pine tree across the street. I grabbed my camera and went out the front door. The bird was still perched in the pine tree, and it looked to me like a Red-Tailed Hawk (later confirmed for me on WhatBird). I realized later that I’d still had the metering mode set on spot metering from the palm tree photos this morning, which threw off the exposure on some of the photos. But enough of them came out well enough, and I was able to correct some of the exposure problems in post-processing. Here is the Red-tailed Hawk in the pine tree, surveying its surroundings. Settings were f/7.1, 1/500, ISO 200.

A closer crop of the hawk in the pine tree. Settings were 7.1, 1/400, ISO 200.

The hawk as it started to take off from the pine tree. This one was very overexposed due to my metering issue, but I liked it and I did the best I could to fix it in post-processing. I really am doing a lot better about checking settings and changing them as needed, but that hawk was so unexpected and amazing that it didn’t occur to me that I’d changed the metering mode that morning and hadn’t switched it back. Settings were  f/7.1, 1/400, ISO 250.

The Red-Tailed Hawk as it left the pine tree. Settings were f/7/1, 1/400, ISO 250.

The hawk in flight. Settings were f/7.1, 1/500, ISO 200.

One more of the hawk as it flew away. Settings were f/7.1, 1/500, ISO 200.

Dogs and Birds on Tuesday

Most of today was taken up with appointments for my husband and then for me, but by late afternoon I was able to take the camera outside. There are still blossoms on the tomato plants. Settings were f/7.1, 1/640, ISO 200.

Sophie and Lulu both came outside with me. Here’s Lulu as she was ambling around the yard. Settings were f/7.1, 1/100, ISO 640.

And here’s Sophie with the sun behind her. Her white in her coat is very bright in the sunlight (which can happen easily with pictures of Sophie) but I still like the photo. Settings were f/5.6, 1/400, ISO 800.

Another photo of Sophie lying in the sun. Settings were f/5.6, 1/160, ISO 200.

A Turkey Vulture flew over the yard this afternoon, and its red head showed up clearly in the photos. Settings were f/7.1, 1/500, ISO 200.

The Ground-Doves were back again today. First I saw the pair of them sitting in this tree, but before I could take a photo one of them had flown away. Settings were f/7.1, 1/500, ISO 200.

This Ground-Dove followed the other one into the big leafy tree where I’ve been seeing the squirrels, and I was able to get a photo with the two little birds together on a branch. Settings were f/7.1, 1/80, ISO 800.

Monday Photos

Just a few photos for today. I looked outside this morning and saw two small birds fly into a tree in the back of the yard–I couldn’t tell what they were at that distance. I got my camera and approached slowly so I wouldn’t scare the birds off. I saw that it was the pair of little Ground-Doves that I’ve seen in that tree often before, and tried a few photos. There were branches in the way but I did get both Ground-Doves into this photo. The birds flew away when I tried to move closer. Settings were f/5.6, 1/320, ISO 800.

The Mockingbird was back in its favorite little tree. It was overcast at that point and I used cloudy white balance, which gave the photo this tone. Settings were f/6.3, 1/80, ISO 200.

A live oak tree branch stretching toward the cloudy sky. The light from the sky was reflecting off the shiny leaves, which shows up a little in this photo but not as much as I wanted. Settings were f/6.3, 1/2500, ISO 200.

Another tree branch with its few remaining leaves. There was sun for a little while, and the sky was blue with scattered white clouds when I took this photo. Settings were f/6.3, 1/800, ISO 200.

Christmas Day

I got a new lens for Christmas, a Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 with Vibration Compensation. I wanted a lens that would let me take landscape and distance photos, something none of my other lenses would do very well. My kit lens that originally came with my camera, the Canon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6, has a similar mm range but needs a lot more light, and it’s not a really great lens–I wanted something better. So now I have the Tamron 17-50, a much bigger, heavier, sturdier lens. I found that it will also work well indoors–I can set it on f/2.8 for photos with available light, and I can be close to my subject and still get everything I want into the picture. Here’s the 42″ Christmas tree we have on a table in a lower light area, taken this evening. Settings were f/2.8, 1/25, ISO 500.

And here’s Ethan with his sock monkey. It was nice not to have to back way off to take the photo! Settings were f/2.8, 1/20, ISO 800.

This one is the big pine tree in my neighbor’s yard on this overcast gray morning, the first outdoor picture I tried with the new lens. I just didn’t think to take the photo of the full tree, which I could have done easily with this lens. I was also so eager to try an outdoor picture that I didn’t change the f-stop, which accounts for the shutter speed of 1/3200. Settings were f/2.8, 1/3200, ISO 200.

I took this photo of Sophie outdoors this morning. Settings were f/7.1, 1/50, ISO 200.

Next, with the 90mm f/2.8 lens, are Christmas tomatoes. I picked these tomatoes and more from the tomato plants today. Settings were f/6.3, 1/125. ISO 200.

Some of our Christmas harvest. Settings were f/8, 1/125, ISO 200.

The sun broke through for awhile this afternoon, and the Mockingbird was in its usual spot in the little tree by the fence, so I switched to the 70-300mm lens. Settings were f/8, 1/500, ISO 200.

This red, orange and yellow leaf was lying in the grass. It stood out especially because almost all the remaining leaves are brown now. Settings were f/6.3, 1/125, ISO 800.

Last one for Christmas day is Sophie lying in the yard gazing off into the distance. Settings were f/8, 1/200, ISO 200.

Christmas Eve Photos

Just a couple of photos from today, a mostly warm but overcast day before Christmas. Sophie was feeling more like herself today and seemed to have recovered from the aftereffects of her vet visit. Here she is at the gate, watching alertly for possible intruders. Settings were f/7.1, 1/200, ISO 500.

Except for some crows and grackles flying through early this morning and a few pigeons later in the day, I didn’t see any birds today until I heard the squawking cry of the Mockingbird that likes to sit in the little tree by the fence. I went over and there it was, perched up on a nearly leafless branch. This Mockingbird doesn’t seem to care how close I approach, and doesn’t seem to mind having its picture taken. Settings were f/7.1, 1/250, ISO 800.

And one more photo of the friendly little Mockingbird on Christmas Eve. Settings were f/7.1, 1/250, ISO 800.

Friday Photos

Sophie had her trip to the vet yesterday–had her teeth cleaned, ears flushed, and nails cut. She was a little groggy when she got home last night, and still not quite her alert, lively self today. Settings were f/8, 1/200, ISO 200.

It was another warm pleasant day, not the sort of day anyone would associate with Christmas. Tomatoes are still growing. I picked some today, but made sure to leave a few partially ripe ones so I could say I picked tomatoes on Christmas day. This is one that I did pick. Settings were f/7.1, 1/100, ISO 250.

There are wildflowers (well, weeds) blooming here and there in the back yard. This is a pretty little blue flower I saw by the back fence. Settings were f/7.1, 1/100, ISO 500.

This small red/orange trumpet-shaped flower was growing on a vine on the fence. Settings were f/8, 1/100, ISO 500.

This flower seems to be in the daisy family–another small flower, growing all by itself. Settings were f/7.1, 1/100, ISO 320.

And this last one is a little yellow flower. Settings were f/8, 1/100, ISO 320.

 

Faith, Ethan, Christopher, and More Squirrels on Thursday

I finally got Faith, my largest Masterpiece doll, dressed in her Christmas outfit today and took her outside for pictures. She’s wearing a red corduroy dress and shiny red shoes. Settings were f/7.1, 1/60, ISO 200.

Faith is a sweet little girl and I love this dress on her. Settings were f/7.1, 1/125, ISO 500.

Here’s Faith with her little brother Christopher, the first of the boys to join her outside. Settings were f/7.1, 1/100, ISO 250.

And here are the three of them together: Ethan, Faith, and Christopher. Settings were f/7.1, 1/100, ISO 200.

After posing for those photos, the kids got to wear Santa hats for the last pictures. Settings were f/7.1, 1/100, ISO 200.

One last photo of the three of them. Settings were f/7.1, 1/100, ISO 320.

Besides Christmas photos of the Masterpiece kids, I took some more squirrel photos today. There weren’t any birds around except for crows and pigeons passing by, but the squirrels were still busy with the berries in the trees in the back.  This squirrel was on its way across the back fence to one of the trees with berries. Settings were f/5.6, 1/250, ISO 500.

The squirrel climbed into the tree, picked out a good branch, and settled down to eating berries. Settings were f/5.6, 1/320, ISO 500.

At the other end of the back fence, in the tree I photographed yesterday, another squirrel was also busy eating berries. Settings were f/7.1, 1/100, ISO 800.

The squirrel started looking around for some more attractive berries. Settings were f/6.3, 1/160, ISO 800.

The squirrel stretched over to reach its chosen branch of berries. Settings were f/6.3, 1/125, ISO 800.

And here’s the squirrel returning to its perch with a berry in its mouth. Settings were f/6.3, 1/100, ISO 800.