tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34832067698698242742024-02-22T10:32:17.862-08:00Foto FilingsPaulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06248410710858707839noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3483206769869824274.post-38653518668317713212015-08-30T15:56:00.001-07:002015-08-30T15:56:26.727-07:00Moving Day!!<span style="font-size: large;">I waited on the front porch of our double wide at Birdsong for birds to come to the clearing. It actually acts as a great blind, due to the large overhang. I refuse to get the porch screened in because I want to be able to get better pictures of birds than I would be able to if I shot through a metal screen. It is August, and not spring, so the birds are being a bit lazy and staying hidden in the top of the trees behind the leaves.</span><div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">But there are always squirrels. I try to find them doing something interesting, because squirrels being squirrels can get a bit boring. But wait! Here is a squirrel! What does it have in its mouth?? It is something pretty big. Last time I saw a squirrel with something that big in its mouth it was a slice of pizza, which came from a trash can at Centennial Park in Nashville. And why did the squirrel look like it had white fur on its face? I knew this wasn't a piece of pizza because the squirrel came down from a tree, and the likelihood of a piece of pizza being up in a tree was not great. I know the suspense is killing you. Here is my best shot of what I saw.</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc6JMAbDy3lKVIZYJH1zMm_8bKgzSIGq6_bTYyHXHajYmxu-RlTzZvf1pRdD9jwJnrTswxMHOehfd0QeB53PIMdJWQPixG-QSnrX0kGU6TNUtK_3mH6BuMo-0RBJoMKmpmfYtxxFhrH1JW/s1600/aIMG_0751-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc6JMAbDy3lKVIZYJH1zMm_8bKgzSIGq6_bTYyHXHajYmxu-RlTzZvf1pRdD9jwJnrTswxMHOehfd0QeB53PIMdJWQPixG-QSnrX0kGU6TNUtK_3mH6BuMo-0RBJoMKmpmfYtxxFhrH1JW/s640/aIMG_0751-1.jpg" width="640" /></a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">No, I have never seen a squirrel carry a baby around, much less gotten a picture of it. If it weren't for that white paw I still don't think I would know what it was the squirrel was carrying. Anyway, I was sort of dumbfounded. But the best was yet to come. Three times the squirrel took a different baby from the original nest at the top of one tree, to a new tree several yards away, and climbed it, and dropped the baby somewhere out of my view. This was no easy task. The squirrel was clearly exhausted, and it was taking her forever. Every time she stopped to rest at the first limb of the tree with the original nest. And she panted!! This was actually a little painful for me to watch. I wanted to help. I actually left after the squirrel went back to the original tree. I waited for her to bring a fourth baby down but it was taking so long I finally left. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Here is the squirrel resting on the limb of the tree. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivY-liTlA7vlcqj0UzuzJQB6BS93pbwJ0bIUZCmdzrifIavE4EcPlOZBkR1PYglmJlajB-LwzRZoUgKjo5fx8fr0RCZrVqB-YWKfvsLWiBINhe81t6zyIGwQQ6_5wjy5QDdUGmJkVQjTmZ/s1600/aIMG_0766.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivY-liTlA7vlcqj0UzuzJQB6BS93pbwJ0bIUZCmdzrifIavE4EcPlOZBkR1PYglmJlajB-LwzRZoUgKjo5fx8fr0RCZrVqB-YWKfvsLWiBINhe81t6zyIGwQQ6_5wjy5QDdUGmJkVQjTmZ/s320/aIMG_0766.jpg" width="320" /></a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I don't claim that these are wonderful photos, but I was very glad to get this documented. There must have been some sort of emergency at the old nest. Wow! Let's hope the babies are safe and sound in their new digs tonight. </span></div>
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Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06248410710858707839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3483206769869824274.post-27634959480409349442014-12-25T08:35:00.001-08:002014-12-25T08:38:37.772-08:00Season's Greetings from the Germantown Greenway<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlsKmZnFhDN75e5ZZEtOdTMCAnLBtRgubyawimMGO1vq8efjoTJhrxs7mkVK-7PC6iI58Q5Erl5NnXRZf04zRwVW7sYMRrqTMfFzsUljDztyaJbmEKeVo_XK8Votm-kef1nkEmkAzQ8KCS/s1600/01o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlsKmZnFhDN75e5ZZEtOdTMCAnLBtRgubyawimMGO1vq8efjoTJhrxs7mkVK-7PC6iI58Q5Erl5NnXRZf04zRwVW7sYMRrqTMfFzsUljDztyaJbmEKeVo_XK8Votm-kef1nkEmkAzQ8KCS/s1600/01o.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">I took a bit too much of a respite from both photography and posting, as I prepared for the sale of our house where we lived since the early 80s, and moved to a condo one half the size! This condo was chosen because of the proximity to the Germantown Greenway, which links to the Shelby County Greenway, and the much longer Memphis and Shelby County Greenline. This opened up a new hobby for me--bike riding, as yet again I return to the interests of my youth. Fortunately I was able to find a decent bike on Craigslist. Perfectly vintage, but I had to buy a basket for the camera.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgCRw5arxxQ_xjL3enGLMjRDybtBfCrbszr1uEw1F3g3oqRDYitOsTpgSIfsVYVBzIcEfqnABIKaOQ8uyQ0ydRZ_H9qO1HzNUAZIVn80IjEnsUHMqFzUoqfy01niuoh8ejAdp97-YOtzDm/s1600/01l.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgCRw5arxxQ_xjL3enGLMjRDybtBfCrbszr1uEw1F3g3oqRDYitOsTpgSIfsVYVBzIcEfqnABIKaOQ8uyQ0ydRZ_H9qO1HzNUAZIVn80IjEnsUHMqFzUoqfy01niuoh8ejAdp97-YOtzDm/s1600/01l.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">The Greenway is better suited to bike riding than photography. While there are both willing and unwilling subjects (various animals), most shots are backlit, as the lakes bordering Humphreys Blvd. are south of the trail. The Wolf River is to the north, but most of the wildlife is around the lakes. The above lake is at the end of the trail in Germantown, TN, at Neshoba Lake. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">There was a big whodunnit on the trail this Christmas, as various Christmas decorations eventually led to a sort of nativity scene consisting of two concrete beavers and a make believe beaver home. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">A few bushes over several miles had these ornaments on them.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh07Ce8YnmKSKlx3lfbSqrwE3IrtLdqIlqL958FWVYgWZHNivbUnuW4kF1YzKt0zCih9d8wic6Dc8WViUpAeAsjHdmKjDZFPGDzT2D5zbqWYB43W70xwWQr2LEDDcu30rKqpB4YBSJR-pLX/s1600/01a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh07Ce8YnmKSKlx3lfbSqrwE3IrtLdqIlqL958FWVYgWZHNivbUnuW4kF1YzKt0zCih9d8wic6Dc8WViUpAeAsjHdmKjDZFPGDzT2D5zbqWYB43W70xwWQr2LEDDcu30rKqpB4YBSJR-pLX/s1600/01a.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> Pretty cute hat and fishing pole, for a beaver.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTPNHWv64qA7gR2pl5OuAiqBCFGzABQuClEPfGtcY7spdj-jzyrJF_n1uA1c5TYUFUcgEqMNBw47vFWoBtmNTXTYTbPCglmVzEqkn-fEFymJ-VshW-dEPoKWMqFoXa0gYGicbuTjesbcsS/s1600/01j.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTPNHWv64qA7gR2pl5OuAiqBCFGzABQuClEPfGtcY7spdj-jzyrJF_n1uA1c5TYUFUcgEqMNBw47vFWoBtmNTXTYTbPCglmVzEqkn-fEFymJ-VshW-dEPoKWMqFoXa0gYGicbuTjesbcsS/s1600/01j.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> A manger scene with no occupants.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNaeFlY-wT2oNzOOt-W6C6iK6TbwXXoj5mtLM-8MmfyHxdLuwv5b8Zl09-ecBaiEYq291iXG4nUsvYM8oh9noRLK1AG3CZG1mwnBJul6UrE9zvLdYpK5qDtz4mXd3TodZyihbfraT8kji_/s1600/01k.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNaeFlY-wT2oNzOOt-W6C6iK6TbwXXoj5mtLM-8MmfyHxdLuwv5b8Zl09-ecBaiEYq291iXG4nUsvYM8oh9noRLK1AG3CZG1mwnBJul6UrE9zvLdYpK5qDtz4mXd3TodZyihbfraT8kji_/s1600/01k.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> Not to be outdone by the upright concrete beaver..</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkIOEU0oSj1aRrLMu-nPiSrQJOqWaKNWqVwZPLgBDLHyrzOB3RxlibSksrYw4w6agNkc9GA5xAcsJDaR4JGlYGX_rfZynmmHPQI8zkB0z_5A5H0wV6BCTeXw9YRS1dlK0PuBtgSCDSs_yw/s1600/01r.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkIOEU0oSj1aRrLMu-nPiSrQJOqWaKNWqVwZPLgBDLHyrzOB3RxlibSksrYw4w6agNkc9GA5xAcsJDaR4JGlYGX_rfZynmmHPQI8zkB0z_5A5H0wV6BCTeXw9YRS1dlK0PuBtgSCDSs_yw/s1600/01r.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Although most bike rides produce no great photos, since I can easily bike to this six mile long trail, I go often enough that I get some decent photos. This isn't either a concrete or a real beaver, but some sort of nutria or muskrat, I think. Note the paws!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLdhvkQi7Pw2goGdGVo0EFkRlHUuvlrVTOk048MbfCwXDYUN3gmQhWIutQBDUM6p1u4WSPLszyHZmNkuC9eeFvC4a3bYdO0kBKgBoyOzdPOyKCJ6NL9nJxMBzCnHy00AAmc4RWC1K6Pbm5/s1600/01re.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLdhvkQi7Pw2goGdGVo0EFkRlHUuvlrVTOk048MbfCwXDYUN3gmQhWIutQBDUM6p1u4WSPLszyHZmNkuC9eeFvC4a3bYdO0kBKgBoyOzdPOyKCJ6NL9nJxMBzCnHy00AAmc4RWC1K6Pbm5/s1600/01re.jpg" height="205" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Yes, I know it is a little late in the season to go bike riding, but here in the mid south, we get occasional winter days like this. On this sandbar people like to pretend they are at the beach. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDO5-liPrC8BvugxBuyf1EWN3i6JEW77EMUJOVKwzXitcq-Re2HNCbKjDUPK0KdLH2knqQXm43QPwizhebBZgZlaHhhSBOMUTYQ0liv4DLwCGPBu8ZnidC677znH6b4GmlAbuJxyY5rc27/s1600/01m.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDO5-liPrC8BvugxBuyf1EWN3i6JEW77EMUJOVKwzXitcq-Re2HNCbKjDUPK0KdLH2knqQXm43QPwizhebBZgZlaHhhSBOMUTYQ0liv4DLwCGPBu8ZnidC677znH6b4GmlAbuJxyY5rc27/s1600/01m.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">It was taken ona day when the sun was shining and the sky was blue. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip-YI_oN46y3KGHpg5RVon4XHfAj7paNpvBCZY1uvoH5gvbiyjpBZBCUui4uxnQD5gl8baAICbBsoRLEg08FrUsu0DIcxI1A1lwoZSl_kKmMNGqh0LvSSO_OwD0SzU6GUc9-ezOIyTUtWv/s1600/01rd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip-YI_oN46y3KGHpg5RVon4XHfAj7paNpvBCZY1uvoH5gvbiyjpBZBCUui4uxnQD5gl8baAICbBsoRLEg08FrUsu0DIcxI1A1lwoZSl_kKmMNGqh0LvSSO_OwD0SzU6GUc9-ezOIyTUtWv/s1600/01rd.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">And, yes, of course there are green herons, blue herons, hawks, and geese galore. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgamFs6QfjtYX4rhCNr2SXRGo1AaEb8biaOSQBW-EBwFjr4hSC5DaW5LwBIUktjfAfK3puNAetoEkDbQPK9iEG6X4qc_ETtyocilz8BZt6mvnv1-aR-IUyh4NaXr6043gH2qqyJbayMBhbn/s1600/01rb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgamFs6QfjtYX4rhCNr2SXRGo1AaEb8biaOSQBW-EBwFjr4hSC5DaW5LwBIUktjfAfK3puNAetoEkDbQPK9iEG6X4qc_ETtyocilz8BZt6mvnv1-aR-IUyh4NaXr6043gH2qqyJbayMBhbn/s1600/01rb.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-5mDO6eeAqpyI2xiHomrLza6pA5-Ppdz29Vvm_5hE-465wPt9Y8R2i7OSBzEoqNMCD5IyixL1A9TTIsV5ppa4zUZ61d_Mdk7lfxDNf2wkczRVsIQ-6hrm7E5bJzACpUpI5Gdku6FungXV/s1600/01rf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-5mDO6eeAqpyI2xiHomrLza6pA5-Ppdz29Vvm_5hE-465wPt9Y8R2i7OSBzEoqNMCD5IyixL1A9TTIsV5ppa4zUZ61d_Mdk7lfxDNf2wkczRVsIQ-6hrm7E5bJzACpUpI5Gdku6FungXV/s1600/01rf.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">In the spring, when it is warmer, and the constant construction at Shelby Farms ramps down, I plan to venture off the Greenway, and into Shelby Farms, which is just one bike bridge away from the Greenline. Here is a photo taken along the path.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxdWO5FRKQOOJvP6ZC0MW8OeqxTlL0tenf5X_6IWpuK7k3b8TxEgqlcdUlPdU7_WLpPWKdplZosV7bUwZTBrQDVa8CZMxHI00S7HxC_8GeTQ_ylNeyRWlwFyiB1RoU8lqCT34L4uWpG5t5/s1600/01e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxdWO5FRKQOOJvP6ZC0MW8OeqxTlL0tenf5X_6IWpuK7k3b8TxEgqlcdUlPdU7_WLpPWKdplZosV7bUwZTBrQDVa8CZMxHI00S7HxC_8GeTQ_ylNeyRWlwFyiB1RoU8lqCT34L4uWpG5t5/s1600/01e.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Here is to more adventures in a New Year--2015!</span></div>
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Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06248410710858707839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3483206769869824274.post-20267622261945961002013-08-30T08:50:00.001-07:002013-08-30T08:54:36.221-07:00Whidbey IslandThis purpose of this particular blog entry is twofold: <br />
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1. to prove that I do occasionally get out of the state of Tennessee, and<br />
2. to engage in a little self indulgence as I display some vacation photos. And there may be a lesson or two about photography along the way. <br />
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First of all, photography took a definite back seat to visiting family and friends. But when I am alone, my camera IS my friend, and I did get to do a bit of sightseeing at our rented vacation home on the Puget Sound beach. <br />
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I wanted the clouds to show up well, so I pointed my camera towards them to get the exposure. The foreground was too dark, so I lightened it using a mask in Photo Director.</div>
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Morning and evening are better times to take photos than mid-day. <br />
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As a frequent visitor to the Gulf Coast, I know a jellyfish when I see one! <br />
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Above Roxie is posing for the camera! Below are my token bird photos from the trip, including a couple of flying eagle photos! I learned how to gauge when the eagles would come on the beach. The seagulls would all warn each other with squawking, and would fly away. Then the eagle would come soaring and land on the beach. Learning this was helpful back in West Seattle, where we stayed at a friend's apartment when she was out of town. It was on a cliff overlooking the sound near Lincoln Park (we had to negotiate about four flights of stairs down from the street to get to the apartment). I heard that same squawking there, and I rushed to the kitchen window and saw one eagle soaring with a bunch of seagulls around. I later told the friend about this experience, and she said she never had seen an eagle from the apartment. Well, she obviously wasn't trained to the squawking noise. <br />
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Now, if you have made it this far into my vacation photos, you get to see another one of those minor tourist attractions that I love so much. The photos below are all taken at Greenbank Farm. There were some horses and riders there practicing for the upcoming Loganberry Festival. The horse routine, which I saw several times, was done to the music "It's raining men." Yes I did get a video of part of this but I may have accidentally erased it. If I find it I will definitely upload it and post it here. In the meantime here is the photo. I was trying to get the connection between the song and the Renaissance costumes............By the way a loganberry is a cross between a blackberry and a raspberry. Be sure to get a loganberry pie if you go to Greenbank Farm. My mouth is literally watering just writing about it. <br />
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I love to take photos in rising fog! Plenty of this at Greenbank Farm. <br />
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<br />Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06248410710858707839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3483206769869824274.post-41899802707641192162013-07-31T06:00:00.000-07:002013-08-03T18:14:20.696-07:00Fireworks<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>You just gotta ignite the light and let it shine, Just own the night like the 4th of July, </em><strong>Katie Perry</strong></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX23UIkOepxYdplPS35CcrW545HQ3ionovsnWAYt729sKD8ZbkjHOExhgELYS9TFcW16c7SR-u8bg_v5WAGzyFWJNkYv_6PhXytROtRJRsMY-d-naKAg5NdWBKSG_TI69X4Ob-8K-pBKqE/s1600/aIMG_1807-1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX23UIkOepxYdplPS35CcrW545HQ3ionovsnWAYt729sKD8ZbkjHOExhgELYS9TFcW16c7SR-u8bg_v5WAGzyFWJNkYv_6PhXytROtRJRsMY-d-naKAg5NdWBKSG_TI69X4Ob-8K-pBKqE/s640/aIMG_1807-1a.jpg" width="640" /></a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Art at its best is inspiring, and Katie Perry's <em>Firework</em> is certainly inspirational. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">And fireworks owned the night the Fourth of July at Birdsong Resort. Capturing the mood photographically isn't a matter of point and shoot.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">First of all, let me tell you how to shoot fireworks.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">1. Open your favorite web browser.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">2. Go to your favorite search engine.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">3. Type in "how to photograph fireworks".</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">4. Go to the first web pages that aren't advertisements, and read them.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">5. Now you should know how to photography fireworks.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">6. Here is what I came up with: <a href="http://www.wikihow.com/Photograph-Fireworks">How to Photograph Fireworks</a><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I'm not a technical camera person, but I do know that you can't use automatic settings on fireworks, that you really should have a tripod, and that you need a long exposure time to capture the movement of the light. On the Fourth of July, we were treated to a pretty amazing fireworks display in Camden, Tennessee. It seemed as if the whole town was at the boat dock, and surrounding land, with dozens of boats in the creek waiting for the show, and a festive atmosphere. While this should have been a fabulous photography experience, it was something less than that for me. I was there with family, and the one mainly in charge of my six year old grandson, who seemed to get too much sensory overload and wanted to watch the fireworks from the window inside our double wide. Also, my tripod was in Memphis! While I knew the basics of how to shoot fireworks, I did not know the details or how to translate that to my camera.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">But, I persevered and did my best in the face of obstacles. I resorted to my fallback position--experiment, snap a lot of photos, and hope some of them turn out. Here is another non award winning fireworks photo, taken under the somewhat adverse conditions:</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="text-align: left;">More fun was taking photos of the festive crowd before and during the display as well as throughout the weekend of festivities.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">My camera seems to automatically point at birds no matter the other content available. However, this particular weekend there was a bit too much activity (and smoke from campfires!) for birds anywhere but the boat. Herons even seemed to hide!. The one place to predictably find birds are on the various mile markers for barges on the Tennessee River, because ospreys nest on every single one, as far as I can tell. I feel a little guilty getting the osprey all upset when the boat gets near their precious nests on the mile markers, but it does make for some interesting photos. I figure if my husband can catch his beloved bass, hurt their mouths by catching them with a hook, and then save their lives by throwing them back, then my getting near the ospreys isn't such a big deal. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Okay, these people were out in the creek without waders. I am not particularly afraid of snakes, but I am not sure I would have done this. Other than creatures, this actually seems quite pleasant.</span></div>
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Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06248410710858707839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3483206769869824274.post-27743615395527696612013-06-29T08:17:00.000-07:002013-07-13T09:03:32.695-07:00Beyond a Shadow of a Doubt<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><em>To contemplate is to look at shadows.</em> Victor Hugo</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Until I took up photography as a hobby, I had not given much thought to shadows for decades. Kids in particular are fascinated with shadows, and I began remembering my own experiences with shadows as a child. When I contemplate shadows now, I remember the room where I grew up, which was on the southwest corner of the house. There were windows on both walls, so I grew up with a lot of afternoon light streaming through my blinds. I can still remember the way the blinds created shadows on the walls, and, in particular I remember the way those shadows changed when summer turned to fall. I could almost mark the days until school started like a sundial could mark hours. Of course, ancient peoples studied science, universal laws, and seasonal changes by measuring the length of shadows. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Another experience with shadows was the finger shadows that we made on the home movie screen that we had. That was much more entertaining than watching the home movies of vacations that my Dad made. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">So, this week I was using the front porch of the Tennessee River double wide we have as a "blind", just watching for birds, getting a bit bored, and I noticed the shadows of some leaves on the trees. The shadow had a "French bow" appearance, even though the leaves were about the same size. Here it is:<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5s-GN9WfwJVHzzdeZDdUxSYY6QEcvCPPrQYYYFii43WsiY5ZpnKN-F9Hpgol_wa-j7bvmIAKGpx8zw_xwoisL-PZeRapegOqxT1TV3aOsih641BbqpQf3u_xBKb8u0Ut4YTk2y0LP00b1/s650/ZaIMG_1320-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5s-GN9WfwJVHzzdeZDdUxSYY6QEcvCPPrQYYYFii43WsiY5ZpnKN-F9Hpgol_wa-j7bvmIAKGpx8zw_xwoisL-PZeRapegOqxT1TV3aOsih641BbqpQf3u_xBKb8u0Ut4YTk2y0LP00b1/s640/ZaIMG_1320-1.jpg" width="640" /></a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">It was not a remarkable photograph, but it did start me thinking about shadows again. I started pondering not only about the role of shadows in photographs, but the use of the word shadow in our language, and even the metaphysical reasons for having the concept of shadows at all. Let's see, we have the shadow government, the shadow banking system, beyond a shadow of a doubt, "shadows" that are people who attend class with autistic kids, or follow people around for other various reasons, etc. And, of course their are lunar eclipses, when the earth casts its shadow on the moon. This takes on importance in literature, such as in <u>The Return of the Native</u> but Thomas Hardy. The word shadow sometimes takes on ominous and mysterious tones, as in "shadowy characters"</span><span style="font-size: large;">. So even though we may no longer dance with our shadows as we do when we were children, or make finger rabbits on screens, we are never far away from the concept of shadows. </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">While happening upon the French bow shadow was inadvertent, there have been many times when I have purposefully tried to incorporate shadows into photography. Some examples follow. Unsurprisingly a lot of these photos are of my grandson. Perhaps this will motivate some people to begin contemplating shadows when they pick up their cameras. None of these are lunar eclipse photos, but maybe some day........... </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilCUeO0-La3DIYmv6DCcpdCcMgqs7N75pkUUKIWqB3kE6XSaVbi9KH0WXIi6cdPXidhdHgla7SSxzhDvvY4OVdn8JfKSnxo5_DtUOt51arm4mzfDTR4zX31GT7Ibno5iNq2QTeD3R9bkr4/s650/zaP1170755-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilCUeO0-La3DIYmv6DCcpdCcMgqs7N75pkUUKIWqB3kE6XSaVbi9KH0WXIi6cdPXidhdHgla7SSxzhDvvY4OVdn8JfKSnxo5_DtUOt51arm4mzfDTR4zX31GT7Ibno5iNq2QTeD3R9bkr4/s640/zaP1170755-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My grandson having fun with his shadow..........</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtN44p6mNY1vZ5KwkI9UiUyVLjYhunBS050nOSEYO4vEKk8ZI0J0RIHVMZG_jkhcrSJ5AWGMNd7XzlZ4h2e_jfi3L3YZoUqLFV7JBwA7jZd6umF9GjeITO5V5Fi5RGz4vVylZYKIVCDlIq/s631/ZaP1060040a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtN44p6mNY1vZ5KwkI9UiUyVLjYhunBS050nOSEYO4vEKk8ZI0J0RIHVMZG_jkhcrSJ5AWGMNd7XzlZ4h2e_jfi3L3YZoUqLFV7JBwA7jZd6umF9GjeITO5V5Fi5RGz4vVylZYKIVCDlIq/s1600/ZaP1060040a.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Although inadvertent, this reminds me of those shadow puppets!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJzhLl8c_CGdWhNccSLIv0ZTUM1uR2UKkI1f1eDft8q6c-SBAgeqc1YHPSm8ncioNB00tcd5QWroxK24Qf-MPM9DqcDh8HP-H9nE8GkNQVPa7V182a3S3Zt1f29qzQLLCMzkxLE5VmOCWv/s650/ZP1070030.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJzhLl8c_CGdWhNccSLIv0ZTUM1uR2UKkI1f1eDft8q6c-SBAgeqc1YHPSm8ncioNB00tcd5QWroxK24Qf-MPM9DqcDh8HP-H9nE8GkNQVPa7V182a3S3Zt1f29qzQLLCMzkxLE5VmOCWv/s640/ZP1070030.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I like the way the shadow of the tree angles at the roofline.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9oAKKtAM-sNUENQR3MuqPlRMVoLPefWlPctGXLuMGoKgV7tD7Ojt4Le2x8-7g-82xFvs9dqFf70Aw8zYm5pZj5qZvStvlRS11n5b8lqgq3Z4admkQrZuW_CCgFGlefE52TCGPBPLPkg3g/s650/ZaP1060054.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9oAKKtAM-sNUENQR3MuqPlRMVoLPefWlPctGXLuMGoKgV7tD7Ojt4Le2x8-7g-82xFvs9dqFf70Aw8zYm5pZj5qZvStvlRS11n5b8lqgq3Z4admkQrZuW_CCgFGlefE52TCGPBPLPkg3g/s640/ZaP1060054.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Holding Hands <br />
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</span>Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06248410710858707839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3483206769869824274.post-77297807634963463612013-05-14T09:05:00.001-07:002013-05-14T09:16:06.236-07:00It's a HAWK!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVMZG7V8jU9laPZDoLgl4pteMaz6ZSKfzT0fpFHPErDlrJeIS1fJBh-8-slu6v3brQXChoIG0MwRu2slYCBEgGO98U5P9IBvvzFC1celAoUl_JiE46spk5EsVRYOQuH79mk24-8VFayBpH/s1600/aIMG_0582-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVMZG7V8jU9laPZDoLgl4pteMaz6ZSKfzT0fpFHPErDlrJeIS1fJBh-8-slu6v3brQXChoIG0MwRu2slYCBEgGO98U5P9IBvvzFC1celAoUl_JiE46spk5EsVRYOQuH79mk24-8VFayBpH/s200/aIMG_0582-1.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">One of the best parts of photography is that it is such a fun way to learn, and not about photography, but about the world around us. Having a camera in hand I am forced to pay attention to what is going on. Nowhere is it more evident than in the natural world. I am the last person in the world who would want to sit down with a book and learn the names of different birds. I would be bored; it would be a chore; the memorization would soon be lost. Nor could I learn just by being a bird watcher. I would not have anything tangible to examine after looking through binoculars. I would most likely forget what I saw. But experiencing different birds through observing the world around me, and then looking at the images, and cropping and other post processing. Now that is a fun way to learn! Every time I look at one of my favorite photos, I actually relive the experience that I had when I took the shot.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">To think that a few years ago I could not have identified a red tailed hawk! Sure I knew what a hawk was, but I had no idea what was what. A funny note--my first photo of an eagle I thought was a red tailed hawk. I thought all bald eagles had white heads, and my bird did not have a white head. So, I proudly announced my find as a red tailed hawk, and oops, no, it was a juvenile bald eagle. Apparently they don't get white heads until about two years old. Reading about that in a book would not have the same impact as going through the experience. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">There are many more red tailed hawks in Memphis than there are eagles, so a couple of different times I have managed to get decent photos of them. The most recent experience was last week, when I managed to follow one around Shelby Farms for about an hour. In cases like this, I take as many photos as possible, and then delete all but the best dozen or so. Here are a few of the red tailed hawk photographs that I kept, and what I particularly liked about these photos. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Have fun. Oh, and this is a lot more fun than taking photos of animals in a zoo or otherwise in captivity..........at least for me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">First, I liked this one because it showed of its claws and was walking up the tree.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnBSkCIL8yi_14pTj0qG0QDEhyn0L76lT-IXLNFyM92CWkziF2ne3tCCBbPOPQ84kJLDQ-Nmz0x00_NOIn7iTtgzNVlANvsTwGBSiYJGKWn_YRiopaZEJSzoeDOm-293DqnxdkkuLDtjOp/s1600/aIMG_0573-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnBSkCIL8yi_14pTj0qG0QDEhyn0L76lT-IXLNFyM92CWkziF2ne3tCCBbPOPQ84kJLDQ-Nmz0x00_NOIn7iTtgzNVlANvsTwGBSiYJGKWn_YRiopaZEJSzoeDOm-293DqnxdkkuLDtjOp/s640/aIMG_0573-1.jpg" width="640" /></a> </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">In general I would rather have a photo of a hawk in a tree than on the ground, but I liked the wings outstretched in this photo.</span> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWMctHa8MJFkJJZEhdVSytUKYVYf9M2ObeIWCKF3F04KfpvL9EbNARQezbIA069bwx8LVTr1H1YG5JK8UJ5150WF_SpBP_vYZCxaipEbnsQVbF1q2zRN4fnFD8pbYmipgDB1QL-I6yXrqe/s1600/aIMG_0558-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWMctHa8MJFkJJZEhdVSytUKYVYf9M2ObeIWCKF3F04KfpvL9EbNARQezbIA069bwx8LVTr1H1YG5JK8UJ5150WF_SpBP_vYZCxaipEbnsQVbF1q2zRN4fnFD8pbYmipgDB1QL-I6yXrqe/s640/aIMG_0558-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This was a pretty easy choice. Who doesn't love a hawk turning his head around 180 degrees? </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr7bxnhvZVPmXRXANxCfkRA8NHBN4nxdsyHgvmbx0iAVXNPYp424H3jsFSHubHFk78EIC4-NdUzaUzIKbnUMdUdJ0kSbOBKs1byi_fox-epOdb2WOOWPX8cqP9wkaIkci8bJ8-SyM_-Cct/s1600/aIMG_0616-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr7bxnhvZVPmXRXANxCfkRA8NHBN4nxdsyHgvmbx0iAVXNPYp424H3jsFSHubHFk78EIC4-NdUzaUzIKbnUMdUdJ0kSbOBKs1byi_fox-epOdb2WOOWPX8cqP9wkaIkci8bJ8-SyM_-Cct/s640/aIMG_0616-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Hawks can also look up!</span> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdM4d32LFRoj9Y21h4xtRokWGpJ8EWlCvZ13Xa-hXVAWK94FhZnL6ZX3UoeQuHKMNoT6MOXr9TUhRP4gxQdf-uGMKGAO3OxBK4PP8NxPPx2XX9c6x7z5hQzTNqkOv0nnCIkQG7Hk460Iom/s1600/aIMG_0475-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdM4d32LFRoj9Y21h4xtRokWGpJ8EWlCvZ13Xa-hXVAWK94FhZnL6ZX3UoeQuHKMNoT6MOXr9TUhRP4gxQdf-uGMKGAO3OxBK4PP8NxPPx2XX9c6x7z5hQzTNqkOv0nnCIkQG7Hk460Iom/s640/aIMG_0475-1.jpg" width="640" /></a> </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This is also classic pose. Furthermore, the hawk is in filtered sun, there are no limbs in the way, and there is decent bokeh (blur) in the background.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdM4d32LFRoj9Y21h4xtRokWGpJ8EWlCvZ13Xa-hXVAWK94FhZnL6ZX3UoeQuHKMNoT6MOXr9TUhRP4gxQdf-uGMKGAO3OxBK4PP8NxPPx2XX9c6x7z5hQzTNqkOv0nnCIkQG7Hk460Iom/s1600/aIMG_0475-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcOjHIRx8h8i3S9b9Vh0a25z4oNAW_38VvXXlE6EkIUUbsazJirkQ2RfB8xcalynYBzxn7Tin2HqvBPLJ4jiIF1XvpmRqkhXBXbWHxz3V8oXtHsupv36Zu3x92mo_JRF1qFEnQuQXgd1rn/s1600/aIMG_0571-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcOjHIRx8h8i3S9b9Vh0a25z4oNAW_38VvXXlE6EkIUUbsazJirkQ2RfB8xcalynYBzxn7Tin2HqvBPLJ4jiIF1XvpmRqkhXBXbWHxz3V8oXtHsupv36Zu3x92mo_JRF1qFEnQuQXgd1rn/s640/aIMG_0571-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06248410710858707839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3483206769869824274.post-72939471268050002702013-04-30T10:07:00.001-07:002013-04-30T16:19:17.614-07:00Bird Photography: Comparison to Where's Waldo?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">I was at Shelby Farms Park today, and it struck me that using the large zoom on my Canon PowerShot camera was a lot like looking for Waldo in those picture books! First the differences, though: </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">1. Waldo doesn't move around on the page. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">2. Waldo doesn't leave the page as you hone in on him.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">2. Waldo doesn't make surrounding leaves flutter. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">3. You can find Waldo wherever you take the book, in any room in your house. You don't have to be outside. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">4. Waldo doesn't sing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">All of the above make it a lot more fun trying to get a photo of a bird than finding Waldo. In fact, I don't particularly like trying to find Waldo in a picture book, but I do like bird photography, particularly in the natural environment. Taking photos of birds at zoos or birds of prey shows lacks the challenge of nature photography. All of my zoo animal photos and bird feeder photos come with an asterisk, and I favor my photos that do not have that mental asterisk.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Often the first hint that there is a bird around is that you see it flying and then landing. Otherwise you might not notice. Do you notice the bird in this photo? All of the following photos were taken from the same location, with various stages of zoom in the lens.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLcUZixHX0pXKIXO5_bRHEiFj7cVZp_QC7Y6SqzWE1mvsFYEd96W-OaI9nQSnGwLnn1dIkmnCT_6voa5Xx4kRuz2Zyb-x4RCzS235apcSw2pTtVMGmBKTM3P72ZsUiluQZLQnBfiwzbdqK/s1600/IMG_0445.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLcUZixHX0pXKIXO5_bRHEiFj7cVZp_QC7Y6SqzWE1mvsFYEd96W-OaI9nQSnGwLnn1dIkmnCT_6voa5Xx4kRuz2Zyb-x4RCzS235apcSw2pTtVMGmBKTM3P72ZsUiluQZLQnBfiwzbdqK/s640/IMG_0445.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Sans the clues, most people would not notice the bird in the above photo. However, I had seen the bird, an eastern kingbird, fly into the tree. Would I be able to find it in my viewfinder before it flew away? Finding the bird in the camera viewfinder is a little like finding a particular piece of a jigsaw puzzle. But, with a jigsaw puzzle, you can take your time. Not so with a bird that likes to move around.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2qyUyq8QWtG_DdQQvWUcxlXJBP_BnMrHrJpHU2SJxkhfZnJsVsctHdX4B4d8x69BQd1QP2hNmEIaluFi2wURXcOXsE57g0mZ37uwkJfRBqYQV9bHJ21fDCvy5LkIIbQjwfBknwbBMAJIb/s1600/IMG_0446.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2qyUyq8QWtG_DdQQvWUcxlXJBP_BnMrHrJpHU2SJxkhfZnJsVsctHdX4B4d8x69BQd1QP2hNmEIaluFi2wURXcOXsE57g0mZ37uwkJfRBqYQV9bHJ21fDCvy5LkIIbQjwfBknwbBMAJIb/s640/IMG_0446.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Luckily, by the time I found the eastern kingbird, it was still there.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAWJEcBixKb6116wvftfxBIjVh4bQjPIjc1wiuG62TLEfaRPfV-vtMMIilHmdLDK1kvDkr8Gp9AejW9dECv0yCjyCTBRlpa4r-kDEgTQCUgivayjgGWsVCThGNome0F4-xxgtDXIi8ht1y/s1600/aIMG_0448-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAWJEcBixKb6116wvftfxBIjVh4bQjPIjc1wiuG62TLEfaRPfV-vtMMIilHmdLDK1kvDkr8Gp9AejW9dECv0yCjyCTBRlpa4r-kDEgTQCUgivayjgGWsVCThGNome0F4-xxgtDXIi8ht1y/s640/aIMG_0448-1.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Success! The zoom lens honed in on the bird! </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The process is a lot of fun, but bird photographers often miss shots of birds, so it can be as frustrating as playing golf. The golf equivalent to having a bird fly away before getting a decent shot is something like hitting the ball into a water hazard! You don't want to take too much time finding the bird, but sometimes haste makes waste. It can take quite a bit of time to find a bird in the midst of limbs and leaves that all look the same. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The moral here is that bird photography, like golf, requires a lot of patience. Now, if you use a bird feeder to attract birds, less patience is required. Since the challenge is lessened, however, the reward isn't quite as great. Where's Waldo? would not be as much fun if there were arrows pointing to Waldo on the pictures in the book.</span></div>
Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06248410710858707839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3483206769869824274.post-11335357700482792752013-04-20T10:11:00.001-07:002013-04-20T10:16:26.245-07:00The Cedar Waxwing<span style="font-size: large;">Until this spring, I never recall seeing or identifying a cedar waxwing, and only have a bare recollection of even hearing the name of the bird. So, after more than three years of photographing birds, I go from no photos of cedar waxwings to dozens of them. I almost entirely missed Memphis spring photos this year due to funky cold weather. I love photography, but I don't love getting cold. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I was on a walk in Audobon Park when I saw dozens of cedar waxwings descend on a tree with buds. The birds were everywhere, flocking and eating the buds. I took a few photos and had to go home to make a positive identification of the bird. I was thrilled to have a photo of a different bird species. Robins and mockingbirds are just a bit too common. Here is one of my first cedar waxwing photos: </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo7kQ7Bq7tNTHjX90tlnMObB892AmILCV87h7hkgBJIRrNTgco5Aoh0dbidomXJQ1rmdaxrdItFv4gVPdVos13iOzXCpy8MoL8kj7zMgFfvPVL-i_eFThrBC_UWCmMPCb9YzyHq0fWVILf/s1600/aIMG_5854-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo7kQ7Bq7tNTHjX90tlnMObB892AmILCV87h7hkgBJIRrNTgco5Aoh0dbidomXJQ1rmdaxrdItFv4gVPdVos13iOzXCpy8MoL8kj7zMgFfvPVL-i_eFThrBC_UWCmMPCb9YzyHq0fWVILf/s400/aIMG_5854-1.jpg" width="400" /></span></a><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">But that was just a precursor for a cedar waxwing experience to come. My study looks out onto a patio where there is a large pyracantha bush with red berries. Well, it USED to have red berries on it. There was a frenzy of cedar waxwing activity on this one bush, and they managed to completely strip the berries off the bush within one half hour. I felt as if I was witnessing an astonishing event. Fortunately I happened to have my camera, and shot these photos through a somewhat dirty sliding glass door. This event probably is not rare, but it was rare to me, so I just thought I would share these photos. For the most part, I don't think the dirty glass on the door affected the photos all that much. I didn't want to scare the birds by opening the door. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">So, I documented few flower buds this spring, and ended up with cedar waxwings. When you are a nature photographer, you have to discard expectations and just take what nature gives you! And, you just never know. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOuGhVjQLI2AuSrolMGyIRm7zVEpA9JW5ZFTMphG9DA16VePpLGuB7-5p-2vy90omRFctDenZTFLdHC1jrOjoHzV6n_C6r20fT7DHqXeVkYLQ8LZpG3nZxy748u6V3VhdjGVJ1mu8HVCvH/s640/aIMG_6067-1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This photo must have been taken through smudged glass.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOuGhVjQLI2AuSrolMGyIRm7zVEpA9JW5ZFTMphG9DA16VePpLGuB7-5p-2vy90omRFctDenZTFLdHC1jrOjoHzV6n_C6r20fT7DHqXeVkYLQ8LZpG3nZxy748u6V3VhdjGVJ1mu8HVCvH/s1600/aIMG_6067-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is a bit clearer</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSWNhV8_mAfFkJSW5WoLw58aExrJPhM5Ng6tlTbAYlULm41Bjq_eNPWsP_LDRdpOhX4f88BvGRvWLH_uqrJeghYIHPw0WZSGIQv6o9RnbCMpyEiXialPMVBjsS-igJisUKr-mk3iuvUXN0/s1600/aIMG_6072-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It was easy getting photos of berries in the mouth!</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrPzTyxM5a8dYMvB5KpIlKRDhwyc2C6_kjHxvTqJvszCmNM37sn5NbrQ8oLYPbn-j_HY-oiunyzUMetlDsHaE-yzHXPIzzoF4zDgN7T1UNy9zPEEjGOR6hbwjAyegLicAz8UU9C4tC-v6p/s1600/aIMG_6073-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As you can see they are starting to do a number on the berries!</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBAgfd6eyxoMKp0yl3LIda-oKWoMoQY1_FzjXRS7HFuOtDl9P6E8gSNgEoWBv7imfy0Z9qkKFRR4ZaNfSqMUbo5S3zXILHYRI2KBI_AWQEv7i1eqJ8JzM9yz5KDwG2MgYR8gOzXAGA8SQQ/s1600/aIMG_6079-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Three of them finishing off the remaining berries.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Bye, bye, berries!</span><br />
<br />Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06248410710858707839noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3483206769869824274.post-82034473193070466652013-03-16T12:44:00.002-07:002013-03-16T12:56:42.191-07:00Snowless Winter, but COLD!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFHYkEDKgLFHtUTBPmnxy8zu03Cp6QqnNeMwpT7cdpGNxhlwedLDlcKW4ndx5-yr9YcUibOIE-Pm3xDyWiDRaiiNN92YwfjOMABPwAtGwE1bRY74Xoh_QZPkkpNlIqIcO5ZFpBH2B-EU3q/s1600/aIMG_4759-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFHYkEDKgLFHtUTBPmnxy8zu03Cp6QqnNeMwpT7cdpGNxhlwedLDlcKW4ndx5-yr9YcUibOIE-Pm3xDyWiDRaiiNN92YwfjOMABPwAtGwE1bRY74Xoh_QZPkkpNlIqIcO5ZFpBH2B-EU3q/s400/aIMG_4759-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">We probably had one of our coldest winters here in Memphis, but all without snow or ice. We might have had half a day of ice, but not enough for wintry looking photography. Since most of my photography is outdoors, that means a drought, because I braving like cold, gray, and windy days less than I like photography. I did manage a couple of brief trips over the winter, and there were times when I managed to get outdoors. I don't have a consistent theme for this post, other than "here are the few things I was able to do with photography over the winter." One of the quick trips was to New York City, where I briefly lived decades ago. I managed to get a photo of one of my favorite places in NYC--the Museum of Modern Art. If you go there, start at the top floor where you find the Van Goghs, the Picassos, etc. Here is the patio area. I would have liked a wide angle lens for these photos of buildings, but am glad I at least got some blue sky in New York. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTwtpGDdOM2N5QTQI8LyDMcU3Ds3IhygoVpNEj3BknM7Fs7SlbwFk0oqyNau-yENxXlLmLOy1f3mx3VtLTh-CdbIEwzkGSg3TNkx2Uc3U6DqiZY0C7I7KbeCGebE11VTSe5jMGoYDIv6wc/s1600/aaa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTwtpGDdOM2N5QTQI8LyDMcU3Ds3IhygoVpNEj3BknM7Fs7SlbwFk0oqyNau-yENxXlLmLOy1f3mx3VtLTh-CdbIEwzkGSg3TNkx2Uc3U6DqiZY0C7I7KbeCGebE11VTSe5jMGoYDIv6wc/s200/aaa.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Photography takes a back seat on most of my trips, and it certainly did on my trip to Japan, where I greeted my newest grandchild. Here is my self portrait (with an iPhone), which I now use as my Facebook profile. Can you understand that most of my photography in Japan involved my new grandkid? <span id="goog_2051758117"></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Well, we certainly can't leave out Shelby Farms photos or heron photos, or other bird photos. One fairly nice day I captured my first reflected heron with a fish, and my best reflected flying heron. Oh, let's not forget other birds, and a nice dawn with the Patriot Lake Isand. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJNFXY0O-nU9KCCR25GC5FI9y8507wLOyw9rp2sIo0jTLgl09YfZj7E8LuU5J21Cb8_29GMjYpF0YLaJ2P3JxO4en8HXrXGZ6QoS95dzwymG_bly0GQ4y-fevzS_L2QjN5UdRWcCBfGVHM/s1600/aIMG_5331-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJNFXY0O-nU9KCCR25GC5FI9y8507wLOyw9rp2sIo0jTLgl09YfZj7E8LuU5J21Cb8_29GMjYpF0YLaJ2P3JxO4en8HXrXGZ6QoS95dzwymG_bly0GQ4y-fevzS_L2QjN5UdRWcCBfGVHM/s640/aIMG_5331-1.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Now, from Audubon Park, a junco </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHE6IQJngo_9smlgL85lTbwfkTELEQu8OlbIvNq7alWEqC7tPef4vSctEp-nPfE-b8fj9GzfMsA9cHQbDVBSKSHrNDGX6_rlNTfM72km-2Nonp8KhvDR8DnF_KoEouCP6lEu2Q3oYhXUAq/s1600/aIMG_5635.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHE6IQJngo_9smlgL85lTbwfkTELEQu8OlbIvNq7alWEqC7tPef4vSctEp-nPfE-b8fj9GzfMsA9cHQbDVBSKSHrNDGX6_rlNTfM72km-2Nonp8KhvDR8DnF_KoEouCP6lEu2Q3oYhXUAq/s640/aIMG_5635.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"> Although we had no snow, I did get a photo of a migrating snow goose in Shelby Farms.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjepuyWWHl3YKB6LPE1Jf83wncd19K_7E8O8q19386ehteY_vAQUr4n_6TvwZd1kwJtsDLsVpgnywxBWRG7VlPgtm0aQJ0cRYr9-8y3v7v3udpPumSnadFJ7TMzyTFzyIM5V8SmMW8tVsPU/s1600/aIMG_5408-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjepuyWWHl3YKB6LPE1Jf83wncd19K_7E8O8q19386ehteY_vAQUr4n_6TvwZd1kwJtsDLsVpgnywxBWRG7VlPgtm0aQJ0cRYr9-8y3v7v3udpPumSnadFJ7TMzyTFzyIM5V8SmMW8tVsPU/s640/aIMG_5408-1.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">On a particularly cold weekend at the Tennessee River, I happened to get my best photos ever of a northern flicker. I took these through a window because I was not going to brave the thirty degree windy weather. Did you know that the northern flicker is the only type of woodpecker that sometimes feeds on the ground. They do make a racket in trees, though, too. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRmgc3ob4GX9DIvDOdsLj0qbZey9ZqB6Z5N6BYivMS8qSaSO2GWX337mZz5qRXIJfnAQRGumJ91MSok5RI0v8KwVjQHXF6qaJBOucJSdJ0m8w-uvEVK7xAo8LOEdFG3Oxghb33EbK4C8Jw/s1600/aIMG_5533-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRmgc3ob4GX9DIvDOdsLj0qbZey9ZqB6Z5N6BYivMS8qSaSO2GWX337mZz5qRXIJfnAQRGumJ91MSok5RI0v8KwVjQHXF6qaJBOucJSdJ0m8w-uvEVK7xAo8LOEdFG3Oxghb33EbK4C8Jw/s200/aIMG_5533-1.jpg" width="170" /></span></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRmgc3ob4GX9DIvDOdsLj0qbZey9ZqB6Z5N6BYivMS8qSaSO2GWX337mZz5qRXIJfnAQRGumJ91MSok5RI0v8KwVjQHXF6qaJBOucJSdJ0m8w-uvEVK7xAo8LOEdFG3Oxghb33EbK4C8Jw/s1600/aIMG_5533-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"> I do very little indoor photography, and when I do, it mostly has to do with family. I was the photographer for my grandson's sixth birthday party, and it was much more fun than any of the other duties I might have been assigned (cutting and serving cake, hanging up coats, passing out pizza, cleaning up). Flash generally isn't needed indoors any more. My camera is not really quite up to getting good action photos in low light though, so I do lack photos of kids jumping on all the equipment. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">It is finally warmer, and I am ready for action, and hopefully some spring photos!</span><br />
<br />Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06248410710858707839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3483206769869824274.post-39554832363594225292012-12-27T12:34:00.002-08:002012-12-27T12:34:43.726-08:00Reflections<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOS7zegZBxEOkPO6msYGiO6ctElSdQzZDB3r79Zh7ar7YTgCgZGBeuYf9bU5KXlURm3JX7L9BzHdd88YsDJlwaQzLBlnzJVgXmD1cp1f7jqSyd-XFpIfKm7oi4vzAXRhA1td4JPq-xBr4t/s1600/aIMG_1890-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOS7zegZBxEOkPO6msYGiO6ctElSdQzZDB3r79Zh7ar7YTgCgZGBeuYf9bU5KXlURm3JX7L9BzHdd88YsDJlwaQzLBlnzJVgXmD1cp1f7jqSyd-XFpIfKm7oi4vzAXRhA1td4JPq-xBr4t/s640/aIMG_1890-1.jpg" width="640" /></a> </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I recently entered a small informal online photography
contest with the above photo. The theme
of the contest during December was “reflections.” My photo ended up taking third place. Last August I spent a solid hour
photographing a single green heron in shallow Pine Lake in Shelby Farms. I rarely get such an opportunity, but for some
reason the bird paid me no mind. It was
one of those *almost* peak experiences. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The winning photo in the contest was a shot where a single
drop of water on the leaf of a garden reflected the entire garden. The voting was very lopsided in favor of the
winning entry, deservedly so. The
creativity involved far surpassed anything anyone else entered. Can a drop of water reflect a whole
scene? Yes it can! I saw it!
Reflections are kind of metaphorical.
Is there a tiny aspect of my life that reflects the larger whole? Perhaps photography itself does that. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">“Reflections” was a wonderful contest theme, and the variety
was amazing. Buildings, puddles, lakes,
droplets, glass, marble, etc. were the reflecting surfaces. If I had the time I probably would have gone
to Graceland to get a photo of the mirrored staircase leading down to the “Jungle
Room”. It is slightly disorienting to
negotiate. Be sure to visit Graceland if you ever get to Memphis! </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Reflections are particularly timely in December, when we
reflect back on our year, as we look forward to a new one—a new beginning. I used the contest theme to be reflective in
my own life, particularly when it comes to photography. What is it that I want photography to do for
my life? How does it add value? What direction do I want to go with
photography? How does this hobby enhance
my life? What have I done new or
different with photography this year?
What will I do with photography next year? </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I realize that photography, for me, is not an end in
itself. I recently read an article in
our local newspaper about the person who consistently takes the best wildlife
and bird photos in Memphis. I have
always wondered how he got so many great shots.
He obviously is extremely talented.
It turns out he has a monster lens that he bought at an estate sale, and
rarely leaves his truck to get photos of birds!
They fly away if he opens the door.
I could do that (if I had a lens that big, and a truck), but that wouldn’t
really provide the need that I have to explore nature with my camera. Observing nature in a truck, to me, isn’t
quite the same as observing it on foot.
Monster lenses are heavy, and tripods can be unwieldy. Therefore, unless I go that route at some
point, my wildlife photos will never be as consistently good and prolific as
his. I can live with that. I do think of myself as being in competition
with the birds, much like a hunter does.
Hunters don’t generally hunt from trucks. I don’t feel that competitive with other
photographers, though.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Photography in general causes me to be reflective, as every
trip I take, whether it is to Japan, or to the Tennessee River, or to Shelby
Farms comes back to me when I observe the photos. Also, when I observe a place where I have
taken a special photo, that place is transformed in my mind when I see it
again. Here are some other reflection
photos I have taken over the past few years: </span></div>
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Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06248410710858707839noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3483206769869824274.post-44099222003199475092012-11-12T09:19:00.001-08:002012-12-03T20:31:47.577-08:00Autumn 2012<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Usually by this time of year I have My Pictures filled with
photos of turning leaves, crisp sunsets, and wonderful low light landscapes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This year is the exception.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Firstly, the dry weather this year caused a
lot of leaves to fall off before they turned colors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, I was on a couple of trips that
involved very little time for taking photos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I managed a few tourist photos, including lower Manhattan before Sandy
hit, and some basic photos of hills from the Blue Ridge Parkway, but nothing
earth shattering or even very much like fall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Rather than abandon the blog for the season, I thought this would give me
the opportunity to demonstrate a few things that have been keeping me busy—all related
to photography of course, and various cheap software. </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Mostly I try
to stay away from technical stuff because I really am not very knowledgeable
about it, but I do like to experiment with various types of software.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">One of my trips involved a seven day Foundation Biogeometry
course in Asheville.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I took away from
that a new appreciation for the ancient science of shape and number, and new
ideas to transmute negative subtle energy into positive subtle energy, using
shape, number, color, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And yes,
electromagnetic fields and other similar influences can weaken people
energetically.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because I work on the
computer a lot, I have to be well aware of its effects on my own energetic
fields around my body. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">As usual when I learn new things, I like to put my own spin
on the knowledge, and rather than immediately running around my house with a
pendulum measuring earth lines, I decided to make some mandalas on the
computer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It just sounded more fun to me, and I can
always correct my house later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I used
some of the principles that I learned at the training to make this YouTube
video. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> I used guitar music from </span>Jon Sayle (free MP3s <a href="http://www.jsayles.com/familypages/earlymusic.htm" target="_blank">here</a>). </span><br />
<br />
<object width="480" height="360"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/OdtU2IfkHbg?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/OdtU2IfkHbg?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="480" height="360" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I had to have some software to make these mandalas,
obviously.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t have Photoshop,
because of the expense and because I like the challenge of getting by with
cheap or free software.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> If you download "free" software from the 'net, though, make sure it is a reputable source!! Freebies come with strings attached, such as unwanted toolbars, and oftentimes computer viruses. </span>Rather than
buying mandala making software, I used an <a href="http://www.colormandala.com/main/design" target="_blank">online mandala making program</a> for free that allowed
me to save drawn mandalas to a pdf file.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I then used PrtScn (Print Screen) and paste into Microsoft Paint, and
used that program to color the mandala and resize it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I saved it as a bmp file (for better
resolution than jpg).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because using
Paint alone results in garish looking colors, I experimented with Photo Filter
Factory to put layers over the mandalas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Someone with Photoshop would likely not need this program.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have a free version of Photo Filter
Factory, but now the free version doesn’t just limit the number of filters, but
also the number of times you use it. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
is cheap though, especially when compared to Photoshop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>GIMP may have some free filters, though, I am
just not sure!</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">The only other two software programs that I used for the mandalas were Irfanview to rotate
the photos, and Sony Movie Studio to make the slideshow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">If you take up photography as a hobby, you will find that
learning about various types of software is both challenging and
rewarding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Be creative and see where it
leads! </span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">And my salute to fall this year is a movie clip of the wind
blowing fall leaves at the Tennessee River. This clip illustrates that camera microphones tend to exaggerate any wind noise! </span><br />
</div>
<object height="360" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/YNogmEqkeO0?version=3&hl=en_US"></param>
<param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param>
<param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param>
<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/YNogmEqkeO0?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="480" height="360" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">To illustrate what a photo filter does to a regular photo, here is a basic tourist photo of the sculpture in Rockefeller Center ice skating rink, first straight from the camera, and then with a "parched paper" photo filter: </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZhFFGBME7I9A1a3jGINQKXA7f8QJbU9x-waTq-RwvgAfyxSzXmYDDTXfz3tvNv3neFo-QwyQ7J2h-GXd5sL3jhDVlR3hBqCk-Vi-tJp3ebORlBnPH-44RUADE1tC4WmoDzaFSabm8GyBM/s1600/parchedpaper.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="481" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZhFFGBME7I9A1a3jGINQKXA7f8QJbU9x-waTq-RwvgAfyxSzXmYDDTXfz3tvNv3neFo-QwyQ7J2h-GXd5sL3jhDVlR3hBqCk-Vi-tJp3ebORlBnPH-44RUADE1tC4WmoDzaFSabm8GyBM/s640/parchedpaper.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06248410710858707839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3483206769869824274.post-76118700123256075622012-09-09T11:28:00.000-07:002012-09-09T12:17:06.462-07:00Fall is for Festivals<span style="clear: right; float: right; font-size: large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje7mhGCKznM8wK3-mN_HaeNuHDgaz6sbreWbC4MbFF237bYZ0_aNsQbq2i0wypr-l-Tr_WWH0oqss7rifedCMsk0FwanwV6vD2s3ornfjXCi9IGV12BiUy4UNBmg5xlwLbaMDtfF35Q2X0/s400/aIMG_3176-1a.jpg" width="400" /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Well, spring is for festivals too, but the October weather here in Memphis is notoriously good--dry and clear--well, generally. That is October, but what about September? That depends. Why is it that I am talking about festivals in September rather than October? It turns out that festival season in Memphis starts out with many of the smaller, lesser known festivals, targeted for certain groups. They do not want to compete with the huge Pink Palace Arts and Crafts Sale, or even the Arts Festival, both in October. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">And festivals are a fun place to take a camera.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I prefer September festivals. I am always telling my friends and family, "Everything good gets ruined." Really I am referring to festivals, and my own "Peter Principle" type effect. The Peter Principle was developed by an author who made a very good case for people being promoted in companies to their level of incompetence. They do a good job but once promoted, they may not have the skill set required for the new job. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">But, with festivals, the argument is that once a festival gets really good, it gets popular. Once it gets popular, it gets crowded. It is hard to find a parking place. It is hard to fight the traffic. The same is true with tourist attractions. I love tourist attractions until they get really good and thus attract more patrons. So my children were deprived growing up because we never went to DisneyWorld. When they complained, I pointed out that we had gone to Six Flags and Sea World. These were acceptable because, even though popular, they at least were in my home town of San Antonio, so we didn't have to make a special trip. We just went when we visited relatives. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I also love the beach, but will no longer go in the summertime. I prefer some sort of off season. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">That brings me back to festivals in Memphis in September. Festivals are a must for any photographer interested in candid shots (frankly, I don't really like posed shots that much!) And the best festivals are easily accessible, fun, and not so popular as to be overcrowded. Enter the Japanese Festival in Memphis this past Saturday. The weather was perfect, the crowd good, but I could still get front row seats at the main stage. If truth be told, there was only one stage, with three rotating acts. I actually lost my program so I am not sure that is the case, but they started repeating after I was there for awhile. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">A lot of the charm of the Japanese festival is that it takes place in a Japanese tea garden at the Memphis Botanic Gardens. It was actually a good time to go to it because I have been seeing the world through orange colored lenses lately, as I have been hosting an informal photography contest with the subject of "orange". There are few better places to find orange than anything Japan! </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">For example, Japan uses a lot of orange in architecture, as seen above in the roof of the tea room in the Memphis Botanic Gardens.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">And then there are the koi fish, a must for every Japanese garden. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG5tfSlRMIppk4voxGWfuhX5Cz96igWZ_Fk2mqAWuo6D-VC2JGxjBAxbo0FxSMtIArzp8cpggo6QX07_t7NDK9kgNXz9wSw9Bulm74nLzy_qbjzW1nCW3HmC2E8Ou46A-cWuMHNgXT4IOx/s1600/aIMG_3345-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG5tfSlRMIppk4voxGWfuhX5Cz96igWZ_Fk2mqAWuo6D-VC2JGxjBAxbo0FxSMtIArzp8cpggo6QX07_t7NDK9kgNXz9wSw9Bulm74nLzy_qbjzW1nCW3HmC2E8Ou46A-cWuMHNgXT4IOx/s640/aIMG_3345-1.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">That's a pretty good orange start already. Even better, though, orange koi fish are even used in the theme for the festival. And there is the traditional reddish orange Japanese bridge-</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjbHJ3QLJr-lnsKD4ca3R3yBSG-6GYLI9yA2GdPJDv032uXTAv0wf6iU2i-JFzUUE9p-f8-iVEypQBXvGZWULDwmX5wTTlqZohauNhttLIoOsBxQPpV6WY7fiFWj1MQZVvZWqBbzw4TxiL/s1600/aIMG_3170-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjbHJ3QLJr-lnsKD4ca3R3yBSG-6GYLI9yA2GdPJDv032uXTAv0wf6iU2i-JFzUUE9p-f8-iVEypQBXvGZWULDwmX5wTTlqZohauNhttLIoOsBxQPpV6WY7fiFWj1MQZVvZWqBbzw4TxiL/s200/aIMG_3170-1.jpg" width="200" /></span></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSNkq2H0fS2EZCpanM4jy_cliAdnyy5v5dvfR2j8cm2R41TtMrwrJGwentLH76jzV9k47D91q8RIEpXfNXDdTi7cMoHHAg6MnZqD9G1zwa7E55ky9HhzQdcXGewW2fmcSp3ScKlEGJRAK8/s1600/aIMG_3344-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSNkq2H0fS2EZCpanM4jy_cliAdnyy5v5dvfR2j8cm2R41TtMrwrJGwentLH76jzV9k47D91q8RIEpXfNXDdTi7cMoHHAg6MnZqD9G1zwa7E55ky9HhzQdcXGewW2fmcSp3ScKlEGJRAK8/s320/aIMG_3344-1.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I was not done with orange, as the first act on stage were the Taiko drummers. You guessed it--orange! In the first one, since the drummer's pose looks as if he might take off flying, I decided to experiment with an effect call "focal zoom" in Picasa. A lot of serious photographers don't like effects like this, but I think they are fun. And I have a straight version of this anyway. They good thing is that you can make up your own mind about using effects like this.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimsTrQPRrE12o9jxfbeFUHnve14dPy8C6ajayI3hQDdYypI_snlv61LttOE7Lqj3bIsKeN7SeM3H_gABeqfKRbjc3cYcwahb3XB6oRWD18XBqZjwc_hDxQjV0j-KXrgV28x-sL9cAlegR1/s1600/aIMG_3106-1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimsTrQPRrE12o9jxfbeFUHnve14dPy8C6ajayI3hQDdYypI_snlv61LttOE7Lqj3bIsKeN7SeM3H_gABeqfKRbjc3cYcwahb3XB6oRWD18XBqZjwc_hDxQjV0j-KXrgV28x-sL9cAlegR1/s640/aIMG_3106-1a.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">And below is a behind the scenes look. Because I got there early before the crowds, I could take photos from almost anywhere, a big plus. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCByC1G2JgVj49dOncA1tVOeS4DCVKgGoQj92_0pGZh0Wf41ZkORlJbCJu1qpg77jOsuH2asyUQcROt6Xxwqqtkqk28LpXe4bpKKvTF-1H1-By9vBR9Ll2ZlXk-NFI4pryELk1Dt8NlWsP/s1600/aIMG_3149-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCByC1G2JgVj49dOncA1tVOeS4DCVKgGoQj92_0pGZh0Wf41ZkORlJbCJu1qpg77jOsuH2asyUQcROt6Xxwqqtkqk28LpXe4bpKKvTF-1H1-By9vBR9Ll2ZlXk-NFI4pryELk1Dt8NlWsP/s640/aIMG_3149-1.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Here I am going to insert a video I took with my camera, if only because I get frustrated seeing photos of musical performances without getting to actually hear something. Although I took this video in high definition, You Tube reduced the quality. Please remember that I do not pretend to be a videographer!
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkZDCtaiedAge1GjCQVW4DE1IQ_-aio6KoFov-ygK23oqPuBJlrcsG6SIN7MNHJyJCACVglQQnSgqatRi2_0qkeJpJhIq-EDSb6zPs0dxHkAInVqKXXKZ6tBxcFep2XMw4T7QvtbZL5J3x/s1600/aIMG_3326-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkZDCtaiedAge1GjCQVW4DE1IQ_-aio6KoFov-ygK23oqPuBJlrcsG6SIN7MNHJyJCACVglQQnSgqatRi2_0qkeJpJhIq-EDSb6zPs0dxHkAInVqKXXKZ6tBxcFep2XMw4T7QvtbZL5J3x/s200/aIMG_3326-1.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">The other acts were a very short Japanese dance, and an aikido exhibition. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKfAaFf7Rd100Lyy9z3I54jl2HE8wX3LYd8EcYlupiYwuwPUhnGRYFWPCIVLTrIkYAxAzvQMrgCgLnW46r4OixyKsLahE1y_f9eldh_cTS4fNRDcm7EbrgLqJ5bhOyeljNwiRME42LFy_M/s1600/aIMG_3209-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKfAaFf7Rd100Lyy9z3I54jl2HE8wX3LYd8EcYlupiYwuwPUhnGRYFWPCIVLTrIkYAxAzvQMrgCgLnW46r4OixyKsLahE1y_f9eldh_cTS4fNRDcm7EbrgLqJ5bhOyeljNwiRME42LFy_M/s640/aIMG_3209-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I am going to include my very short You Tube of the aikido demonstration because it showcases a huge mistake that I made. I knew that one thing about my camera was that it could take video and photos at the same time. Well, I won't make that mistake again. Every time there was a throw, I started snapping away, actually interrupting the video. The result is a little odd to say the least.
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<span style="font-size: large;">This is called learning from mistakes, a very important concept for photographers. Here are a couple of more interesting photos of some attendees. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3-avqb6oYu4lizjsn21ybGDXN2j3abh7QMJbWrlA1Ju4ZyDeoaNzwZ0sbrGW9SwZ05tyheHTLGJhJ4DIc0A6y-0FfAiWf5Wihj9BDLNv4Li2Vjb-ART_LfIM5UP8jjpHeLBCjynpWQ6-1/s1600/aIMG_3495-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3-avqb6oYu4lizjsn21ybGDXN2j3abh7QMJbWrlA1Ju4ZyDeoaNzwZ0sbrGW9SwZ05tyheHTLGJhJ4DIc0A6y-0FfAiWf5Wihj9BDLNv4Li2Vjb-ART_LfIM5UP8jjpHeLBCjynpWQ6-1/s320/aIMG_3495-1.jpg" width="227" /></span></a><span style="font-size: large;">
</span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHLVmTuO0u2Q9JRIl68hk93B8ZNRbVhSzJCQeKd1nb3v5WzxVaSrOMFDy3SAU2M2M6uSpcBIion9OeGifcfnIOmym_i8PD-OAAV481tNFMLhZJTpswHy2vTnY3E1nlFxXofofmA-_qT95C/s1600/aIMG_3491-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHLVmTuO0u2Q9JRIl68hk93B8ZNRbVhSzJCQeKd1nb3v5WzxVaSrOMFDy3SAU2M2M6uSpcBIion9OeGifcfnIOmym_i8PD-OAAV481tNFMLhZJTpswHy2vTnY3E1nlFxXofofmA-_qT95C/s320/aIMG_3491-1.jpg" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-size: large;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">A wonderful Japanese street performer made this sugary concoction, which is a dragon I think:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I wasn't done with orange, though. As the acts began repeating themselves, I meandered toward the exit. I got hit in the head with a persimmon falling from the tree. I couldn't resist this photo, which is probably one of the closest I have come to setting up a still life photo. I did it for "orange". I started and ended the whole experience with orange, and I wrapped it up thusly: </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhecCS8Bhay1-mv_n6bp27Zx7V-MKTBbXiMCdu9txn1ibNb0bnHI0mVZ77fdkkGSu3LoGaE3cj7wx7Z33ii7Jx_Q_HjnDFOihifbkQtcgQhSQjnoAY303TOH40nR5IJABNo_wurN4kK_X5i/s1600/aIMG_3543-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhecCS8Bhay1-mv_n6bp27Zx7V-MKTBbXiMCdu9txn1ibNb0bnHI0mVZ77fdkkGSu3LoGaE3cj7wx7Z33ii7Jx_Q_HjnDFOihifbkQtcgQhSQjnoAY303TOH40nR5IJABNo_wurN4kK_X5i/s640/aIMG_3543-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Check out your community's calendar for some fun fall festivals. Pick out the unknown gems, take your camera, and have a great time.
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<br />Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06248410710858707839noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3483206769869824274.post-62083127396239962232012-08-30T15:02:00.002-07:002012-09-14T19:41:30.511-07:00Squirrels in the Present<em>The idea is that there is a kind of memory in nature. Each kind of thing has a collective memory. So, take a squirrel living in New York now.</em> <em>That squirrel is being influenced by all past squirrels.</em> <br />
Rupert Sheldrake. <br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Since I am a fan of Rupert Sheldrake, I decided to use the squirrel quotation notwithstanding the fact that the squirrels here are Tennessee River squirrels. Presumably the morphogenetic field of Tennessee River squirrels is pretty similar to Central Park squirrels. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Take the squirrel I observed recently at the Tennessee River. If you had a big bushy tail would you hang by your back feet, completely upside down, and nibble on berries? I didn't think so. Well, our human morphogenetic field is different from that of squirrels, so I am sure that explains it! I was reduced to observing squirrels at the Tennessee River one morning when the birds seemed to disappear. Well, the squirrels chased at least some of them away! As it turned out, I was glad, because this produced one of my favorite photos of the year. I also learned a couple of things........ </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">For instance, squirrels sit on vines so that they can use the front paws to eat. I didn't know it at the time, because I was snapping photos from so far away with my new very zoomed camera that I couldn't really see the stuff I was snapping. What a revelation it is to look at the photos later. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihEdsuvKJarJ1lQKSRuZri5nIHhKK5SfyjW2GZeR5Hf9d0L3avqvyWaO-YTzlNuh4E4V-zr1UzXqDSGMgadhdBMMYRYzT7JP2PE-gqzfEoXbn60dPVQnJUWW5GKY9D00Xz0fzaJ-0l5HFM/s1600/aIMG_1535-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihEdsuvKJarJ1lQKSRuZri5nIHhKK5SfyjW2GZeR5Hf9d0L3avqvyWaO-YTzlNuh4E4V-zr1UzXqDSGMgadhdBMMYRYzT7JP2PE-gqzfEoXbn60dPVQnJUWW5GKY9D00Xz0fzaJ-0l5HFM/s400/aIMG_1535-1.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">What I love about nature photography is that it is unpredictable. Luck, persistence, patience all play a role. I had to snap whatever the animal decides to do. Even if you get a squirrel hanging by its toes eating berries, any two shots come out differently. I have an obvious favorite between the following shots. See if you agree with me. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj_RW4Qbrdp4zD_Xxi37vJHt-_DkjM95y2z7gIn1becA-hN7TJQixhm9oqMCmwJuUFRa9114NQpU5ht10zggzunoYrnlYErkCI03d1K_BJiO0Nl26PtwugE1Tzypbf1hyAkZyatkVDoUow/s1600/aIMG_1544-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj_RW4Qbrdp4zD_Xxi37vJHt-_DkjM95y2z7gIn1becA-hN7TJQixhm9oqMCmwJuUFRa9114NQpU5ht10zggzunoYrnlYErkCI03d1K_BJiO0Nl26PtwugE1Tzypbf1hyAkZyatkVDoUow/s640/aIMG_1544-1.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Now, the next ones. Note that I am not the director, merely the observor. Which is your favorite hanging squirrel photo, and why? </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrzFkwJOifEuasXjyERXI5BDHmzJkC7eHIbobI0hlJ3ZzsDCZSp9Khg36GbelpQw2gcBwi4Na8PziF2GIUSiT2O-0ZcwOulx-QLickBU4xaMsB95F1dCDu9QN2tq15yZCHR59V-Xd-f1LP/s1600/aIMG_1536-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrzFkwJOifEuasXjyERXI5BDHmzJkC7eHIbobI0hlJ3ZzsDCZSp9Khg36GbelpQw2gcBwi4Na8PziF2GIUSiT2O-0ZcwOulx-QLickBU4xaMsB95F1dCDu9QN2tq15yZCHR59V-Xd-f1LP/s640/aIMG_1536-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06248410710858707839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3483206769869824274.post-23902409539282280732012-08-08T07:18:00.004-07:002012-08-08T07:18:39.203-07:00Catching the Light on Bluebird Lane<span style="font-size: large;">Who else here lives on a street named Bluebird Lane? For years I paid no attention to the name of our street on the Tennessee River. After all, we don't get any mail there. I soon found out that it lives up to its name, thanks to a few bluebird boxes the owners of the marina scattered around.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Now, this is not a particularly good time a year to take songbird photos. They aren't very active, like in the spring, for one thing. Mainly, though, they are hard to see when leaves are out. Even when you can see them, it is hard to get a clear view through a camera lens, because even with a big zoom, getting a photo of birds is like threading a needle through the leaves. The exception of course is if you have a bird feeder, but I don't take advantage of that. After all, then getting photos of birds would be no challenge. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil8RwemMWs7_wemIE9bZEfCbCrumLsgGMGGcoIrQ6kM7zHXk4UKAdjuoyA21HJKSqaY16tjp4EyT89uxgruKgcnlxxyOAFF4stc1oDTtR9oMKy7GULQahcEGkmUNDsu9Kqo7loIu2kmgMc/s1600/aIMG_0824-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil8RwemMWs7_wemIE9bZEfCbCrumLsgGMGGcoIrQ6kM7zHXk4UKAdjuoyA21HJKSqaY16tjp4EyT89uxgruKgcnlxxyOAFF4stc1oDTtR9oMKy7GULQahcEGkmUNDsu9Kqo7loIu2kmgMc/s200/aIMG_0824-1.jpg" width="200" /></span></a><span style="font-size: large;">Another issue is even if a bird lands in a tree, and you can get a clear view of it through a camera lens, often the shade is too dense to get a good photo. All I can say is, sans a bird feeder, a photographer has to be extremely lucky and persistent to get really good photos of birds this time of year. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I found a favorite place on a branch not too far from our front porch. Still, I had to use the full zoom of my new camera. Now this is a pretty decent photo of a bird grooming herself. And she sure needed grooming. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ8_Td3KKpKgc3FPrOSqSw31yqbizLAt6Tl-0YaRpWMTiTHf2KX8p00OhJIm0OdF41KBiOnyHWM6UKWlfXwRSY1KW3RmgMGyzCEI2TMmnDGUUI0TzdhLJ4IKYE411bO52DMRdw_K3NQ_4O/s1600/aIMG_0759-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ8_Td3KKpKgc3FPrOSqSw31yqbizLAt6Tl-0YaRpWMTiTHf2KX8p00OhJIm0OdF41KBiOnyHWM6UKWlfXwRSY1KW3RmgMGyzCEI2TMmnDGUUI0TzdhLJ4IKYE411bO52DMRdw_K3NQ_4O/s400/aIMG_0759-1.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">While the first photo was completely shady, there were hints of some filtered sun coming through the leaves. Rare! Lucky! Here is mom with a juvenile member of the bluebird family. The juvenile bluebird does not yet have the red breast, but is still spotted. Mom continued having a bad feather day.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> And for perfect bluebird natural lighting, it came later when the two birds were having a heated conversation. The light is filtered, shining on the birds, but not much in the background, and the background is green leaves! Notice the difference the light makes from the first photo.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9I238boyuSC-pKxCCIrW4lzTc5WL0yMu01QMsnmUJPDgKHeBiaGoBI-oSOuGVvjG_V6nxHIh1sKRwdVsPvBvnC6FzAMFeaDqx4w1qPzWqRvZoGLN7KBp9htGdUO76jhp2R5TaIA4RW6Vx/s1600/aIMG_0726-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9I238boyuSC-pKxCCIrW4lzTc5WL0yMu01QMsnmUJPDgKHeBiaGoBI-oSOuGVvjG_V6nxHIh1sKRwdVsPvBvnC6FzAMFeaDqx4w1qPzWqRvZoGLN7KBp9htGdUO76jhp2R5TaIA4RW6Vx/s400/aIMG_0726-1.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Later I got a photo of a bluebird that illustrate the principles of both "backlit" (photographer facing the light source), and negative space! I didn't purposely look for such a shot, but this was pretty natural with the Tennessee River in the background. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Bluebird Lane is no misnomer! </span>Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06248410710858707839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3483206769869824274.post-85450675981049267352012-07-27T12:26:00.001-07:002012-07-27T15:30:38.935-07:00New Camera!<span style="font-size: large;">I'm a fan of advanced point and shoot cameras, because I don't care about being burdened with carrying around different lenses. There are three things I look for in a camera-- a big zoom for birds, burst mode for birds, and easy automatic focusing. Of course there are other things, such as ease in changing settings, decent movie capability, etc. My last camera was a Panasonic, and because I wasn't 100% happy with the way it focused on birds through the leaves in the trees, I decided to go back to a Canon. Generally I make sure to check the written reviews on Amazon and other sites. I trust those more than the professional reviews.</span> <br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I waited until the model was about 1/2 dated (new one out in a few months) because there usually is about a 25% discount after a model has been out a few months. A huge plus to this particular Canon is that it has a 35x optical zoom. Naturally, I tried out my new camera with birds. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Although the weather is still too hot to do much outdoor photography, I sat on our front porch at the river, rested my arms on the railing of the porch, and managed to take full advantage of the zoom. This is by far the best photo of the red headed woodpeckers that live in our front yard (the downy woodpecker is the more common variety I see in Memphis). </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyj71DDnFoV7yWFbeSicW2Mxn2LleWkPB85CD8hyZ5grTO6NzZ6wMwTsugA8L5aTE5SJoVRc5CD5U1Bn45h4AGQ5b4G7MwGruVXJS835rPzJQDWVzl212Unxz5u-YnNlZCrxRcI2AlEYIe/s1600/aIMG_0327-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyj71DDnFoV7yWFbeSicW2Mxn2LleWkPB85CD8hyZ5grTO6NzZ6wMwTsugA8L5aTE5SJoVRc5CD5U1Bn45h4AGQ5b4G7MwGruVXJS835rPzJQDWVzl212Unxz5u-YnNlZCrxRcI2AlEYIe/s640/aIMG_0327-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Here is the "shy" summer tanager:</span> <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk3GeA8kgtnmIf9iy5Uul3ktH_LgKIfCIbGEWdgvgX9g6jNA2d8wkoBYEFQEvpXha5THFfOeDQAEUhmLxKBd14Xn5175FkUkdQ6u-jhHgCIWX8ZRPFKNDuIgiBOp49CmEMG5szgIKpospr/s1600/aIMG_0328-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk3GeA8kgtnmIf9iy5Uul3ktH_LgKIfCIbGEWdgvgX9g6jNA2d8wkoBYEFQEvpXha5THFfOeDQAEUhmLxKBd14Xn5175FkUkdQ6u-jhHgCIWX8ZRPFKNDuIgiBOp49CmEMG5szgIKpospr/s640/aIMG_0328-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This photo has the most detailed feathers of any of my bluebird photos. That may be attributed to the large zoom, my being somewhat camouflaged by the porch, and being able to steady my arms with the porch railing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I am looking forward to getting to learn more about the camera when the weather improves. There is a big learning curve with any camera, but this one should be worth it.</span>Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06248410710858707839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3483206769869824274.post-51518437520187180892012-07-04T21:46:00.000-07:002012-07-05T06:08:54.354-07:00"It's Hotter than Vinyl Underwear"<span style="font-size: large;">Like a good part of the country, Tennessee has been in the grips of a big heat wave, combined with humidity, smog, weather warnings, etc. For an outdoor photographer, that means trouble. I knew my photography would slow down over the summer, but I never suspected that it would come to a virtual halt. After all, at least once a week, I am awake at 6am and can get my exercise walking at the same time I am scouring the sky and landscape for ducks, herons, bison, etc. Well, dawn isn't early enough to escape the heat and humidity. I even sent away for a kick boxing DVD to use instead of walking. (It is still in the box.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">That is my excuse for no blog posts for a month. So I decided to try to make a weather statement! I wanted to think about winter to add some balance to the high temperatures. I don't have many snowy and icy photos, but I gathered the ones that I do have together, and made a slideshow. I knew there must be a song entitled "Christmas in July", so I did a search for downloadable songs on Amazon. I generally now buy MP3s from Amazon rather than go to ITunes. Here is a hint: If you are making slideshows with Windows, and not a using a Mac, then MP3s are the way to go. I'm not even sure how to use ITunes music on a slideshow. But then, with Amazon available, I don't have to learn that, thankfully. </span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I was wrong about there being *A* song named Christmas in July. There were many! I listened to about ten samples of different songs entitled Christmas in July, and this one was the only one that seemed remotely appropriate, and possibly good. I took a chance and paid 89 cents to download it. Yes, it is a bit hillbilly, but you must know that a native Texan, transplanted to Tennessee, who is married to someone who likes bass fishing, must have at least some affinity for hillbilly type music, as long as it is good. And this is good. I need to check out more stuff by the Therapy Sisters. After all this hot weather we all need a little therapy. </span><br />
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<object height="480" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/mR7REWVnAec?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0"></param>
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<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/mR7REWVnAec?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="480" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06248410710858707839noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3483206769869824274.post-69922753532949082942012-06-09T10:07:00.000-07:002012-07-04T23:05:05.740-07:00Lessons Learned from a Green Heron<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUIPf2mVtH8Z_bNuBxk9ubOqWDVS8DF18EUlwZ9Nw7vt0ogFGIafmbE79fOI73YEBbdMu38PQfc47xNwTPWHeJofFyKkTW-jh5_YQCz1wtIJp4m9sgsSKyqDJTusRXlZMZUeYsqLtuVr2V/s1600/aP1400351-1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUIPf2mVtH8Z_bNuBxk9ubOqWDVS8DF18EUlwZ9Nw7vt0ogFGIafmbE79fOI73YEBbdMu38PQfc47xNwTPWHeJofFyKkTW-jh5_YQCz1wtIJp4m9sgsSKyqDJTusRXlZMZUeYsqLtuVr2V/s640/aP1400351-1a.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Obviously I am back in bird photography mode again, because I was pretty excited about my most recent photo of a green heron. It was actually my only decent one of the day, probably because the light wasn't great, and bird photography is pretty unpredictable anyway. The first time I saw a green heron I thought it might be a duck that liked trees. It was in a tree, the size of a duck, and I had never seen anything like it. Of course, sans my photography hobby, I probably would not have noticed it. Why is it called green instead of maroon or blue? Well there is already a blue heron that is quite a bit bigger and blue all over. Maroon would seem more apt to me than green. There are bits of green around the eyes of a green heron. I guess that must be it! </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">So what are the lessons learned from this photo? Let's just start a list. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">1. Always take your camera with you. You never know when a green heron might appear in front of your eyes. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">2. It is helpful to always have a camera card in your camera. I cannot count the times that I have specifically gone out with my camera, and no camera card. Finally I decided I would have to remember to keep an extra small card in my bag, for those emergency situations. That worked great until the inevitable time that I had neither a camera card in the camera, nor an extra camera card. Oh, yes, that was yesterday, when I saw the green heron. I had to resort to the small internal memory. It was full of course, from past times when I have done the same thing. Rather than try to figure out if there was anything worthwhile on my internal memory, I just cleared it all out. There would only be single shots today, as only about ten photos fit on the internal memory. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">3. It helps to be very patient and slightly geeky when doing photography, for those inevitable times when you have to take photos on the internal drive of the camera. I always transfer photos to the computer using the camera card; I have completely lost the direct hookup capability. The Panasonic Manual is about 200 pages, not printed out, and has no table of contents on how to move internal memory photos to the card. I knew it was possible. I had actually done this in the past. Time for the geeky Google search. After about four false starts I finally found some photography blog where someone had asked the same question, and the blog person pointed to the actual page number in the instruction manual (page 182, in this case). I had read other blogs but I needed the actual instructions to figure out how to do this. The patience part is that this whole process was that, for one photo, this took forty five minutes. Was it worth it? What choice did I have? If you ever have a photography question, do a Google search, and you will get a lot of answers, some conflicting. Go with the majority.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">4. Sometimes there is just too much of one color in a photo--irony that this was green in a green heron photo. Here is the original photo, before post processing. This is straight out of the internal memory box-- </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieTc7gJc7p-yl6UjMphAwCcg4Ckr9xIpmLusSy7Aa5I30o4wJetQqtp1QkHOe1YYHNzn0A5GkEbY2jkgTYxCzRkzvUDmaQRcn2DQkNCI58pHywsymkN5IdnblTSmhr_vxZj6qKlQ3MQjM_/s1600/P1400351a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieTc7gJc7p-yl6UjMphAwCcg4Ckr9xIpmLusSy7Aa5I30o4wJetQqtp1QkHOe1YYHNzn0A5GkEbY2jkgTYxCzRkzvUDmaQRcn2DQkNCI58pHywsymkN5IdnblTSmhr_vxZj6qKlQ3MQjM_/s640/P1400351a.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Generally it is not a good idea to start messing around with colors in bird photography. I mean, you wouldn't generally want to end up with a purple cardinal, for instance. It was quite helpful that the green heron has very little green in it, and the green that is there is more yellow. Audubon Lake is kind of a muddy green, and you can get a bit too much of that combined with the green grass. Since it is a shallow lake with little flow to it, unattractive debris accumulates on top of the water. It looks a bit better by adding some noise reduction (luminance). Luminance is also good for beautifying skin in portrait photography. It's better than Botox.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">So the green heron taught me, or reminded me, of quite a few photography lessons. I know, I know, if I transferred photos from my camera to the computer directly, I would not have an issue with not having camera cards when I needed them. But some old habits are just hard to change.</span>Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06248410710858707839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3483206769869824274.post-29446382334041017242012-05-25T08:18:00.000-07:002012-06-30T19:59:13.803-07:00A Big Hazard, and A Heron Swallowing a Fish<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>Time had come into being, death, birth, and the killing and eating of other living beings, for the perservation of life.</em> Joseph Campbell</span> </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Before I get to the hazard, I'm going to embed a slideshow of some photos that I took of a heron swallowing a fish. A BIG fish. You can follow it all the way down the throat. If you are squeamish about such stuff that should weed out all the people that don't want to see the BIG HAZARD. Following that, I am wrapping up my spring photos with some cuter, lighter stuff.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Now for the HAZARD--my closest encounter with a water moccasin. This actually came after my encounter with the heron catching the big fish (carp?) or I might have been a bit more cautious about sitting in the grass taking the photos. </span><br />
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It looked reasonably lazy, so I did get a bit of a closer look. I am not sure it was a great idea. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9iShFTgtUn1FcjgFKo7dCWGAhO1N34IXNKePBGrs3V3ZRTCNFjZzrtlgH_TPEfL7in08mnheaOPbZyCTwoLsJ6Tw0-cBZavo8oRL7qRkWRhiXjofpsXYVzmbbeTILirz_1_-sNC0eV8Ld/s1600/aP1370143-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9iShFTgtUn1FcjgFKo7dCWGAhO1N34IXNKePBGrs3V3ZRTCNFjZzrtlgH_TPEfL7in08mnheaOPbZyCTwoLsJ6Tw0-cBZavo8oRL7qRkWRhiXjofpsXYVzmbbeTILirz_1_-sNC0eV8Ld/s640/aP1370143-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not a candidate for National Geographic Publication, but it did make an impression on me. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;">Now for some of the lighter, cuter photos. First off, I found some nesting herons on an island in the Tennessee River. Believe me, I was in the relative safety of a boat. I am more nervous about coming close to a nesting heron than I am a water moccasin. They nest in groups (it makes for easier babysitting and safety). Luckily part of the group picked a dead branch, so I had easy photographic access to one part of this. The nest was probably twenty five feet off the ground.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnB2U9vEPkDRIGlbDrxHL4TN5Cx5hbM8ZgT78Brxd5lrN7lDa8OymvthO_CyH1Zv7RDEkAlECF-4v6G-vUT_ud5vEOhF-BIf4zmFIpSrkWixosHuENYeErmcz_wsSpseWZQAdnfzYAChIK/s1600/aP1360132-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnB2U9vEPkDRIGlbDrxHL4TN5Cx5hbM8ZgT78Brxd5lrN7lDa8OymvthO_CyH1Zv7RDEkAlECF-4v6G-vUT_ud5vEOhF-BIf4zmFIpSrkWixosHuENYeErmcz_wsSpseWZQAdnfzYAChIK/s640/aP1360132-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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This is a photo for Mother's Day- <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4B7V4Fqgl93sfZZ5KDZlVII6xg-OQoZaT_1dRGhs3LwuXkhQeQJUXNfumAdP8LRkfCxHCmMQ-ZcGJRVyT5TPaDtemIPj_hVC37EcIaCEsDWKXNDHpf6pLVdGGBP3uCKE_GrIv5mT1knHM/s1600/aP1350713-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4B7V4Fqgl93sfZZ5KDZlVII6xg-OQoZaT_1dRGhs3LwuXkhQeQJUXNfumAdP8LRkfCxHCmMQ-ZcGJRVyT5TPaDtemIPj_hVC37EcIaCEsDWKXNDHpf6pLVdGGBP3uCKE_GrIv5mT1knHM/s640/aP1350713-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">For a week or two I was following the family of wood ducks in Audubon Park. I am not much of a bird identification person, but I had to know what these things were, as I knew they weren't the garden variety of mallard, or mixture that I usually see in urban parks. And cute? Oh my, they are really CUTE! The male is extremely colorful, hard to resist for a female wood duck.</span> <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj54kkEQKIeDlapRO7P9e0Qx8QkbJKYkfojwu9AmyWTY2LCAGRxKzWcA51kQNdwm4buDect8nz17mLb8DQws3iqFOYX_G4OFmqbW841798eGngLlcn_VQN2vQP-QQ1NxGvhp20c0sLNhc5V/s1600/aP1360937-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj54kkEQKIeDlapRO7P9e0Qx8QkbJKYkfojwu9AmyWTY2LCAGRxKzWcA51kQNdwm4buDect8nz17mLb8DQws3iqFOYX_G4OFmqbW841798eGngLlcn_VQN2vQP-QQ1NxGvhp20c0sLNhc5V/s640/aP1360937-1.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<br />
Learning to Fly! <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMo8oBFNf6O_7vV_XS_5yWvveYoDsQbNpaj-Xm-UmwfjHt1CCRUVIFYowjU3jz33uCT1ilyDwKbs_ldAVjaQp4bVsjhS73qzHYt7GvdFSJov3mrNArENMuOKjdIz7topx-Ma31tjuUyzEE/s1600/aP1360996-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMo8oBFNf6O_7vV_XS_5yWvveYoDsQbNpaj-Xm-UmwfjHt1CCRUVIFYowjU3jz33uCT1ilyDwKbs_ldAVjaQp4bVsjhS73qzHYt7GvdFSJov3mrNArENMuOKjdIz7topx-Ma31tjuUyzEE/s640/aP1360996-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlFWicY7CDDGZrGjtM-o0dKv4PRxbpkD8nMH-INGkndEfFeMR8z2ia_FPonfY1Uezu39rwYA8rn-QrDQ-eJgRPy4gvyHLANddrOtFdvvphjMxNwpcF4eeiO88pDzBzliZ_hwDBlvGqdwzU/s1600/aP1370554-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlFWicY7CDDGZrGjtM-o0dKv4PRxbpkD8nMH-INGkndEfFeMR8z2ia_FPonfY1Uezu39rwYA8rn-QrDQ-eJgRPy4gvyHLANddrOtFdvvphjMxNwpcF4eeiO88pDzBzliZ_hwDBlvGqdwzU/s640/aP1370554-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Spring has been an adventure for sure. I am sending this blog off to the heat of summer with a nice cool photo of a Seattle spring. Yes, I was in Seattle for a week. Even though a got a lot of photos of herons in Seattle, I think we need a change of pace.</span> <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBc1wTBCLEZe153NxhJTtWRg3Qa6IogtVECzrKSciXDX00w55d3IZ1JucpRhHls4JeqdaRKoScwAbuYcInFl_P70cJoRh4Hs8whCEZhY1kH0wmZBF24D-MgtXsECSMwmh2hzMruSykomx3/s1600/P1370868.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBc1wTBCLEZe153NxhJTtWRg3Qa6IogtVECzrKSciXDX00w55d3IZ1JucpRhHls4JeqdaRKoScwAbuYcInFl_P70cJoRh4Hs8whCEZhY1kH0wmZBF24D-MgtXsECSMwmh2hzMruSykomx3/s640/P1370868.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06248410710858707839noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3483206769869824274.post-31513848591113188912012-05-07T19:12:00.000-07:002012-05-09T09:50:17.279-07:00Supermoon Saturday!<em>Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.</em>
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Anton Chekhov
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Supermoon Saturday presented quite a challenge for a novice
photographer like me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It does lend an
opportunity to share my very favorite photo I took of the moon more than one
year ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was a pretty magical
moment, as I can still hear all the blackbird noises when I look at this
photo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I took this before I had a camera
with a continuous shutter, but I just kept snapping photos until I had some
that I liked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the time, my Canon had
a setting that was labeled “M”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
thought it was "M" for moon, but now I think it was “M” for manual.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am telling this story on myself because I
want this blog to be unintimidating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was almost as if I was an accidental moon
photographer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, I was accidental on
everything but the timing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I keep up
with moonrise, moonset, sunrise, and sunset times, as well as dew point (in
case I want a fog photo).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here is one
website where you may calculate those. </span><br />
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<a href="http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/RS_OneDay.php" target="_blank">U.S. Navy Site--Time Calculator for Moon and Sun</a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Enter my new Panasonic camera and the eclipse of the moon
last December.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tried everything, every
setting I could think of and failed to get a decent photo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I quickly dumped them into the recycle
bin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, I don’t have a DSLR, only what
is known as an advanced point and shoot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The last thing I want to do is carry around lots of different lenses, so
it mostly suits me fine, until it comes to things like moon photographs. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">I practiced the day before the Supermoon and they turned out
okay, given my lack of equipment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
don’t have a telephoto lens, only the zoom attached to the camera, and I don’t
have a tripod.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
We were at our home on Birdsong Creek on the Tennessee River. </span>Will someone please tell me how a tripod would help on a boat anyway?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These were taken the day before the Supermoon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRkK8slBU3pu-g4pFimC7CNgY0Glh5i81irKk8YMmPuMFU-Ul9mq74TtWEwH6sAce7voUk_b5pDRCCA575ibEw7Kekn1tJDncxnhwlpojT0v_E4WxsVhyphenhyphenlijBSG-9DNBm5EnOh_C7iiM4S/s1600/aP1370199-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRkK8slBU3pu-g4pFimC7CNgY0Glh5i81irKk8YMmPuMFU-Ul9mq74TtWEwH6sAce7voUk_b5pDRCCA575ibEw7Kekn1tJDncxnhwlpojT0v_E4WxsVhyphenhyphenlijBSG-9DNBm5EnOh_C7iiM4S/s640/aP1370199-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">I rather like this one of the bass fisherman in the family!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This one is edited to make it a bit more interesting than the original. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Here is just a straightforward shot of the moon, with my point and shoot zoomed out all the way. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipE7D1GESPD_PJNl_HpJU4lYHRJ6sPx0lkuJIRsxEv2Gk6cDO8tn3ZtKZyev40saMZVm8ss_0BVxoJeD2zarhRFeJVsX1jebHTLRR5Za6x5FdOw6bLCksQ3j4RiPkPS_O3LVRyoj7RRUk5/s1600/aP1370246-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipE7D1GESPD_PJNl_HpJU4lYHRJ6sPx0lkuJIRsxEv2Gk6cDO8tn3ZtKZyev40saMZVm8ss_0BVxoJeD2zarhRFeJVsX1jebHTLRR5Za6x5FdOw6bLCksQ3j4RiPkPS_O3LVRyoj7RRUk5/s640/aP1370246-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Because the moon rose about an hour earlier
on Friday afternoon than Saturday, there was more light in general.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had to wait for the moon to be relatively
high in the sky to even clearly see it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Obviously I can’t get photos to compete with the ones taken by huge
telephoto lenses, so I was going more for the feeling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, the best supermoon photos are taken in
cities next to landmarks that are well lit, to emphasize the size of the
moon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having the moon up against a dark
tree, which could be any size, is not exactly the right backdrop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">The next night was more problematic, starting with all the
haze on the horizon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had no idea if
the moon would even be visible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First we
tried the one fourth mile hike to the Duck River Overlook, but gave that up
when I realized we would have to hike back in the dark, and my husband had a
martini in hand and leather soles on his loafers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, there also were bees!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We left, and had time to hop in the
boat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">I had my old Canon with me as a backup, the one with the "M" setting, but nothing happened when I turned it on. It was too dark to even see the settings anyway. Later I figured out that I had put one of the batteries in upside down. It was the Panasonic or nothing! </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Why I didn’t think about the night
being darker than the night before, and the river being rougher, I don’t
know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, our so called lights on the boat
aren’t for navigation, only visibility, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>so we felt safer staying within the buoys as
we scoured the eastern skies for the moonrise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Our boat was rocking wildly from the wakes of all the boats trying to
make it back to the dock before nightfall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Needless to say, most of my photos turned out blurry, and some even had
two moons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Honestly they make Vincent
Van Gogh look sane in comparison to me: </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEIBLxlOMir_t72IRagOjQk9xVmG95Clib2mBFBSUvmJnLPdxOynjRB3t3B3e-FX5pP0G8jhsPysuszjxQ9RBi4j6p0gccuWoGR_P2SObJ3lC6ohsUo-DeC6Wm6D3FYVjPF51rfBNeRcYH/s1600/aP1370405.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEIBLxlOMir_t72IRagOjQk9xVmG95Clib2mBFBSUvmJnLPdxOynjRB3t3B3e-FX5pP0G8jhsPysuszjxQ9RBi4j6p0gccuWoGR_P2SObJ3lC6ohsUo-DeC6Wm6D3FYVjPF51rfBNeRcYH/s400/aP1370405.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUSYQK6AlKs9hkbPLyfS7jGQYiDXzyBhSI_eajtXT8Wou5YJj6VIpHLQFRU0hhz3p_hWjJ1AqCiN4eqh1QBNYmo2aYZkVrn-oa38KgAvPqSg2vwH77wGlJ_xPXijv_ObXHCuIqeefTLy69/s1600/aP1370384-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUSYQK6AlKs9hkbPLyfS7jGQYiDXzyBhSI_eajtXT8Wou5YJj6VIpHLQFRU0hhz3p_hWjJ1AqCiN4eqh1QBNYmo2aYZkVrn-oa38KgAvPqSg2vwH77wGlJ_xPXijv_ObXHCuIqeefTLy69/s320/aP1370384-1.jpg" width="240" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">At the very least it looked like I was heavily into the martinis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nevertheless, I am not unhappy with a couple of the photos, not because they are technically great, because they are not, but because, to me, they capture the flavor of the evening. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">We had a great time, even if this is all I
have to show for it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was going to make
up for it by being on land for the moonset, but alas, it rained all night long. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Yes, the moon was that orange, and had these clouds of dust
partially obscuring it. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I rather like
this one, which is a bit dreamy looking and shows none of the craters. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjluwa7t7dztKi5Of9vIMEr6O0vRCpVgHdBzj3d3pMmZPxOviTcnY5WoLB5zMQotZQugNbEvyPqY0GtIqW0gOe0kzaewq7v8N1MCIAScCvUleMOawsCyDjAt1JPqJjt5zRDQay6riYlIW74/s1600/aP1370416-1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjluwa7t7dztKi5Of9vIMEr6O0vRCpVgHdBzj3d3pMmZPxOviTcnY5WoLB5zMQotZQugNbEvyPqY0GtIqW0gOe0kzaewq7v8N1MCIAScCvUleMOawsCyDjAt1JPqJjt5zRDQay6riYlIW74/s640/aP1370416-1a.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirg3Du4z0mNhTAyuhoCIpkY55bwpTKmp2OLDx0OEzLRz52wodDzbXU6PQgX2NbLvZIHNGs1Cn8dQqyW3qGHXASFtSdj_esvpb-7Mfb3VZn5wrEO2eT_D_yoMFJ4ZZ6fBMhSA9_hTA_IN4L/s1600/aP1370377-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirg3Du4z0mNhTAyuhoCIpkY55bwpTKmp2OLDx0OEzLRz52wodDzbXU6PQgX2NbLvZIHNGs1Cn8dQqyW3qGHXASFtSdj_esvpb-7Mfb3VZn5wrEO2eT_D_yoMFJ4ZZ6fBMhSA9_hTA_IN4L/s640/aP1370377-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The waves reflected the light nicely, but caused huge issues with the boat bobbing up and down, and back and forth.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">I hope you were able to see the Supermoon on Saturday!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Any visible moonrise is a good one for
me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Would we have bothered to go out it
the boat on Supermoon Saturday had it not been for my photography hobby?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I doubt it, and we would have definitely missed
out.</span></div>
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<br /></div>Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06248410710858707839noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3483206769869824274.post-60974230620432861002012-04-30T06:46:00.000-07:002012-05-07T16:54:13.255-07:00My Day in Paris<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje5KPatWhDriT1oqCTW17fcla9NpQ3ga9o4diq3Gmr_R2aPbLoI8AqLz1CdIGp6c_cLX276EptEzQAr-Dye06pbhQszUuiLGUGkhE1NNuH0keoRTCh04LLWWFn0otgC6SkgYs_ELj7qD-N/s1600/aP1350776-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje5KPatWhDriT1oqCTW17fcla9NpQ3ga9o4diq3Gmr_R2aPbLoI8AqLz1CdIGp6c_cLX276EptEzQAr-Dye06pbhQszUuiLGUGkhE1NNuH0keoRTCh04LLWWFn0otgC6SkgYs_ELj7qD-N/s640/aP1350776-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paris, Tennessee Eiffel Tower</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">What drew me to Paris, Tennessee, a town of 10,000 people near the Kentucky border? Paris is only about forty five minutes away from our Tennessee River haven, and my husband was fishing with a friend for the day. The nesting herons could wait. But why Paris? Because this is a photography blog, I can show you rather than tell you. For one thing, Paris has its own Eiffel Tower.
</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I wanted to go to Paris for the Eiffel Tower alone. You see, the last time I saw this tower it was in Memphis, in 1991. Memphis in May was honoring France, and to help celebrate the occasion, some engineers at Christian Brothers University got the idea to create a scale model of the Eiffel Tower, sixty feet tall. This was quite an endeavor, involving a lot of time from both professors and students. Christian Brothers had no use for this impressive tower after the festivities were over, and offered it to Paris, Tennessee. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The refurbished Eiffel Tower now sits on a rise among the tennis courts, the playground, the walking trail, and the municipal pool in Paris. Luckily it was a good day for photography, partly cloudy and a pleasant temperature. I had two shots of the tower that I liked, and finally decided on this one for my post because the clouds were the most interesting, and because the tower is framed by the leaves of a tree.
The background in a photo <i>is</i> important. In this case the tower was far enough away from me that I was able to point my camera at the sky, depress the shutter half way, and then quickly move the camera back to the subject without releasing the shutter before clicking. The result of that is that the blue sky and clouds show up much better than if I focused directly on the tower. If I had not done that the sky would have been washed out. Of course I could have fooled around with the exposure settings on the camera instead, but this was just easier. If you use this shortcut make sure it will not interfere with your automatic focus. You could not do this if you are close to your subject.
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I learned from my visit to Paris that since 1991, the pride and marketing focus of the town are dominated by the tower. What a wonderful thing the CBU engineers had done for this place!! I started taking photos of everything with the tower in a sign, but I quickly gave up. I felt surrounded by tower signage. It was on the water tower. It was embedded in a fountain. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOhHZyJmsy1MefixAuA3wjOEA2WPPmH_c-uC92lwhTrdsNJ0v0wrKuvWa6kx1dTYm8Ydw30leHkNrS5j0uM3_Ygr0I5wYD7_9PQn4kufzM_6F3OxhIPVe8pSc-Q5vaMEAuHWqAaoaOVyjd/s640/aP1350822-1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From the downtown fountain in Paris, Tennessee</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOhHZyJmsy1MefixAuA3wjOEA2WPPmH_c-uC92lwhTrdsNJ0v0wrKuvWa6kx1dTYm8Ydw30leHkNrS5j0uM3_Ygr0I5wYD7_9PQn4kufzM_6F3OxhIPVe8pSc-Q5vaMEAuHWqAaoaOVyjd/s1600/aP1350822-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The shops in town use the motif. It was on an Elementary School sign. It was the name of a street. This was one of my favorite uses of the tower by a private business. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Ne7byZuRCqUlBe6RGVX-SItFP6T2e5rZSKSKg9-TLU3i0S7vExmW4UtKG6C5WVHT_ul8b-HTf1oZhxuzU25d-iug2y9hDOSnmX-DW1dKaL3qwY8oBqXcNGmLUVUxTTDCxgI1knDDYsT-/s640/aP1350858-1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shop, Eat, Live</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Ne7byZuRCqUlBe6RGVX-SItFP6T2e5rZSKSKg9-TLU3i0S7vExmW4UtKG6C5WVHT_ul8b-HTf1oZhxuzU25d-iug2y9hDOSnmX-DW1dKaL3qwY8oBqXcNGmLUVUxTTDCxgI1knDDYsT-/s1600/aP1350858-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCbPh0wBpkaNN6PuNJB3YIjyX5ixDjbA4iRideDQfA-r35jWqXDozPc9x4Fy_ZOmz3BXW0aZbnCL-xQBu-hj5ZSVPBlbtMg90qjmj7DIAYrtjx-Q3DguxuWcOY1x6_YAJjavGlCF5cUbAz/s640/aP1350854-1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">World's Largest Catfish Fry Activities</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCbPh0wBpkaNN6PuNJB3YIjyX5ixDjbA4iRideDQfA-r35jWqXDozPc9x4Fy_ZOmz3BXW0aZbnCL-xQBu-hj5ZSVPBlbtMg90qjmj7DIAYrtjx-Q3DguxuWcOY1x6_YAJjavGlCF5cUbAz/s1600/aP1350854-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></a><span style="font-size: large;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">Although I love the tower, and heartily approve of the use of the tower as a symbol for the town, I decided that there must be some other similarities to all things Parisian, and I began to search them out! Fortunately, the downtown streets were bustling on Saturday.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">I had happened upon the last day of the World’s Largest Catfish Fry. If there is anything that is more important to Paris, Tennessee citizens than the Eiffel Tower, it is this week long celebration. Everywhere there were signs saying that official business stopped on Friday because of the catfish fry. </span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Unfortunately, I only got to see the catfish race.
I’m taking a slight detour here to prove that I am not making this up! I saw a catfish race! It was a no brainer to make this photo black and white. Who wants to see a catfish in color? This is not a fishing blog!
</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="331" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYsd6b_qwCqiif10xyhC1UUO-Z7L5M4QPqUZi3yM7_j_e4FZKgtFInJeVMaJgmjYWN92CFvSL10V7vh_DXfXCawDSf4OsaRu8lZVPn7hJTuPolEog8fJ1Vsbs6Ujg7_uOR2REH4TXco1t1/s640/P1350942.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Catfish Race in Paris, Tennessee</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYsd6b_qwCqiif10xyhC1UUO-Z7L5M4QPqUZi3yM7_j_e4FZKgtFInJeVMaJgmjYWN92CFvSL10V7vh_DXfXCawDSf4OsaRu8lZVPn7hJTuPolEog8fJ1Vsbs6Ujg7_uOR2REH4TXco1t1/s1600/P1350942.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Despite this large event, which attracted a few hundred people in front of the courthouse (Paris is the county seat of Henry county), I found a place to park, and immediately discovered more connections between Paris, Tennessee and its larger namesake. This looks a bit like a Paris street scene, complete with an artist painting portraits. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb9DYajN6QIo4wYGeoWj_VW3DKcoN5tZIVxEGESwM8WQ3Z-8-NIf6js3EIO_f5rM8Qo0Ccc8Ax8shtamp2uX2Qgt09Y6_4Ini40JnZwU7_cNOTw5A8LHgUTRNgF-KhaNjzmz1OLFTCn7HE/s640/aP1350855-1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Parisian sidewalk artist at work</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb9DYajN6QIo4wYGeoWj_VW3DKcoN5tZIVxEGESwM8WQ3Z-8-NIf6js3EIO_f5rM8Qo0Ccc8Ax8shtamp2uX2Qgt09Y6_4Ini40JnZwU7_cNOTw5A8LHgUTRNgF-KhaNjzmz1OLFTCn7HE/s1600/aP1350855-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I could not resist this shot of a traditional Parisian sidewalk café. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg62WLhnisRhP2NAr2VlCdSbuq5YLIermhkXDC0WF-xvYkOXJVm8IjQlT6C0Hq_rFBA9gH2gJ1Vmt60G0nJzmURbkMKJAUX_RSajEmz1DOVIxV7uNYvuXL2fsU3e6RZRzW1VjkAnzV0APA7/s640/aP1350820-1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Parisian Sidewalk Cafe</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg62WLhnisRhP2NAr2VlCdSbuq5YLIermhkXDC0WF-xvYkOXJVm8IjQlT6C0Hq_rFBA9gH2gJ1Vmt60G0nJzmURbkMKJAUX_RSajEmz1DOVIxV7uNYvuXL2fsU3e6RZRzW1VjkAnzV0APA7/s1600/aP1350820-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Now I was on a roll, and I hadn’t even left Court Square! I found the Arc de Triomphe, with the Champs-Élysées in the background.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDMhFzmE3cgKL_dQ9IDMPtvwhBfpC2iYNFIyF4ZNCtpWzNMNkeqgtGBMCz_1-W51UXwm0rF7RDA6w23mD05gsJ0nOfw1YzV2JWYCaDDAjJXWyru2kZmOIf3a7h_2Xb8QTW2GDKtL8oj9zy/s1600/aP1350872-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDMhFzmE3cgKL_dQ9IDMPtvwhBfpC2iYNFIyF4ZNCtpWzNMNkeqgtGBMCz_1-W51UXwm0rF7RDA6w23mD05gsJ0nOfw1YzV2JWYCaDDAjJXWyru2kZmOIf3a7h_2Xb8QTW2GDKtL8oj9zy/s640/aP1350872-1.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">
From the sculpture garden at the Louvre:</span><span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="392" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEhyphenhyphenJVu7SOf_dCXlWiiZvapHG3DMv4GiJUBVi08y6GnZf6QBp0Vbxd-C1OTy5LWxEm1O0wkKxg2S0DM0AfOXxpHF05f9ACwCLCGHOu4wDQWd49SAmODgr64OqSN6LDlTud5vKqV47d2uVx/s640/aP1350794.jpg" width="640" /> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">And, from the countryside outside Paris: </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg18pRLSarTtYkFftSf2aTjy4ScKcY9f3fyEYFYAdgmTPqGQpx0jm3Zjl3W4bAKVOlTZcbqH6qzIJt3xMMPZDvbcltVdYOLLnuPODSbOZyXFwCJiLmzWE1bICSfo_bhkZ9uzMLcUqz3Pz08/s640/aP1360080-1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Seine River, left and right banks, aka Big Sandy</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigoJwYbRm_KNtXjVAlPuK0gS77DGBYG-bCJoEDpq-3uKhq1GBQLBIkHew_uX6xlkRt_0tuSSyXuciYCG5-BzSmQ5B3inlxQNsrq23Hf7ohJzwHlZ0FDIU8GYCxWPm0d1hLfjVHPB4dCIRX/s1600/aP1360057-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigoJwYbRm_KNtXjVAlPuK0gS77DGBYG-bCJoEDpq-3uKhq1GBQLBIkHew_uX6xlkRt_0tuSSyXuciYCG5-BzSmQ5B3inlxQNsrq23Hf7ohJzwHlZ0FDIU8GYCxWPm0d1hLfjVHPB4dCIRX/s320/aP1360057-1.jpg" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Naturally Paris has a winery, which provided many comparisons to the larger Paris—the one in France. But I bet even France doesn’t have bottles of wine in the shape of an Eiffel Tower. Henry County, Tennessee, unlike Benton County, doesn’t seem to have many issues with spirits.
Venus de Milo (complete with arms!) was found at the winery. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLlJs1XuXXNNa8bERwgYrLsQDAS7S69SOGxMFrq7iHpjTD7HlZsdj435y04SnEJA3GgLAnCUTFUgsCf8onTV4WqxjxiTKNVMfqePqBXXyNOvzTjKAEpIT9hdIKTEtlHdIpN8L2Hm2ZctQs/s640/aP1360053-1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Venus de Milo</td></tr>
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With the winery came my favorite Eiffel Tower signage </span><br />
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<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">As you can tell, I had fun with this blog. You don't have to take photography seriously. And it can take you exciting places like Paris, without the expense and time necessary for a plane ticket. I think I had a better time in Paris, Tennessee taking photos than I would have trying to speak French in the other Paris. Many of my best shots from the day didn't fit the theme, and I am embedding a slideshow for these, which include traditional street photography, more Eiffel Tower signage, and scenes from the surrounding countryside. I even include my best attempt at Versailles! </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj0QoS7S5J95I1YmbsRyLISA7TaAAvjTqNB6XTTUh-aYgQKct-Vkit9WtdUxE96FDLA5Lzsr1PbtspeyodLilgK8Ow-NTfBAk-IOyYQNmL_2F2nsIiDjIQR9aYbMRYH36PilpILS1EXm4z/s1600/aP1360008-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="107" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj0QoS7S5J95I1YmbsRyLISA7TaAAvjTqNB6XTTUh-aYgQKct-Vkit9WtdUxE96FDLA5Lzsr1PbtspeyodLilgK8Ow-NTfBAk-IOyYQNmL_2F2nsIiDjIQR9aYbMRYH36PilpILS1EXm4z/s320/aP1360008-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<embed src="http://cdn.smugmug.com/ria/ShizamSlides-2012031404.swf" flashVars="AlbumID=22715510&AlbumKey=knmCGz&transparent=true&bgColor=&borderThickness=&borderColor=&useInside=&endPoint=&mainHost=cdn.smugmug.com&VersionNos=2012031404&width=600&height=600&clickToImage=true&captions=true&showThumbs=false&autoStart=true&showSpeed=true&pageStyle=white&showButtons=false&randomStart=false&randomize=true&splash=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.smugmug.com%2Fimg%2Fria%2FShizamSlides%2Fsmugmug_black.png&splashDelay=0&crossFadeSpeed=350" width="600" height="600" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowScriptAccess="always" allowNetworking="all" ></embed></object>Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06248410710858707839noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3483206769869824274.post-33295434827594073992012-04-22T08:19:00.000-07:002012-04-22T08:39:21.459-07:00Who doesn't love black labs?<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Here’s the dog:</span></div>
<span id="goog_1625964463"></span><span id="goog_1625964464"></span><span style="font-size: large;">
</span><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/FAA86YbXBwM" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Every time I think I am going to run out of material for this blog, something a tiny bit quirky seems to happen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know if it will continue, but I can’t help but post this clip from the infamous </span><a href="http://www.fotofilings.blogspot.com/2012/03/losing-my-religion-to-yellow-bellied.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">Audubon Park</span></a><span style="font-size: large;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> This clip perfectly illustrates the value of becoming familiar with the video settings on your camera. </span>I have never owned a labrador retriever, but have always really appreciated the breed and their owners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Labs generally have owners that are serious lovers of dogs (and that particular breed of dog). </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">And, I can see why.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Labs</span> have many more important things to do than obey the authority figures in their lives if there is some serious action going on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was hard for me to<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>hold my laughter as I was trying to hold my camera straight for this video clip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t have a tripod, remember?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">If you don’t know how to operate your camera’s video, get out your instruction booklet, and follow the steps.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is usually as easy as 1, 2, 3. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Oh, and this is an election year!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you watch television of any kind, you will probably be angry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Turn the television off, head out to the park, and see what is going on. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In addition to this lab clip, we saw a very serious hula hoop person doing all kinds of crazy stuff, a throwback to the late 50s. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would have loved a video clip of that but did not want to invade her privacy. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not sure if she was practicing a routine or what? In any case, you can expect that sort of eclectic activity on a weekend afternoon in the park.</span></div>Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06248410710858707839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3483206769869824274.post-33107155873868151742012-04-17T14:46:00.000-07:002012-04-25T10:21:33.429-07:00Goforth, Wildlife!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqzdr8__tBPDU100sTTcXDwnhMSVfcXXVt5Sj7KyZJL7opPGQf3qA3-WCQcaSunkttaDLTeed-km6j_1xtURshxoA6uO2t9c5rNFITQ82Uuc006zQr5PQ7SwLMIoFm7y38MUzS5m5e-nul/s1600/04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqzdr8__tBPDU100sTTcXDwnhMSVfcXXVt5Sj7KyZJL7opPGQf3qA3-WCQcaSunkttaDLTeed-km6j_1xtURshxoA6uO2t9c5rNFITQ82Uuc006zQr5PQ7SwLMIoFm7y38MUzS5m5e-nul/s400/04.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Sometimes a
sign says it all, and sometimes it just says a little.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I have mentioned quite a few times,
photographers are forced to pay attention to their surroundings, and in
particular I have been paying attention to graffiti and signs lately.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even though the Tennessee River abounds with
wildlife, I did pay a bit of attention to a few signs the last couple of
weekends we were there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I loved catching
the spider’s web over the Wild in Wildlife in this street sign.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Plus, Goforth
Wildlife is exactly what they do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mostly
creatures scurry away from me, but the occasional one shows an interest, like
this squirrel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I added a bit of vignette
(darkening around the edges) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to bring
the viewer’s eye onto the squirrel. </span></span><br />
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<br /><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Here a
bluebird actually pays me no attention, and allows me to get a few close-ups. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil-eypaiybfY1p77Ukiuc0oIK9DVGPrq1l4tU60AAMW0yV-3ipbbRsW48N9_Kv6-AWf0Vh7LRdCwV6i17Or8JiuRF49gEJj-lOix7tQ__oGZvIo4mAbMnEnDlgsbjqb3OZEPf4KT0k2ZdR/s1600/aP1340179-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil-eypaiybfY1p77Ukiuc0oIK9DVGPrq1l4tU60AAMW0yV-3ipbbRsW48N9_Kv6-AWf0Vh7LRdCwV6i17Or8JiuRF49gEJj-lOix7tQ__oGZvIo4mAbMnEnDlgsbjqb3OZEPf4KT0k2ZdR/s640/aP1340179-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Lo and
behold, I get a sign AND a bluebird all in one in this one. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">There are a
whole group of herons nesting in one tree on the island where the creek meets
the river.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since half of the tree is
dead, one of the nests is in clear view.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is the first time I have seen a heron on a nest, because
usually they are in leafy areas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
one is entirely exposed. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Speaking of
exposed, I should have turned down the exposure in this one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I guess I forgot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also
sometimes add just a tiny bit of vignette effect in my bird photos,
and I especially needed it in this one because the picture was just overall too
light. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><o:p>The heron looked really bored on that nest, and kept scratching itself and looking around. I love the pose on this one. The heron did not feel threatened because I was in a boat about twenty feet below her nest. Believe me, you do not want to just happen upon a heron's nest while in the wild.</o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">My attempts
to do real street photography at the Tennessee River were somewhat thwarted by
lack of subject matter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will keep
trying to meet this challenge, however, and perhaps a cumulative total will
eventually lead to a blog post at some point. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">There is sometimes value in getting up at dawn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here is another in my series of Duck River Overlook photographs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I chose this one to illustrate “the rule of thirds.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some people advocate using the rule of thirds in cropping photos, and landscapes in particular generally go well with this rule.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this case there is a lot going on in the foreground, so the horizon demarcates the top third of the photo, which is "clouds at dawn"..<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bottom two thirds of the photo is the river, and this portion of the photo is split in two right where the boat’s wake<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>makes the curve.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my opinion, it is the curve of the boat wake that makes this photo the most interesting Duck River Overlook photo of the two weekends.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</div>Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06248410710858707839noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3483206769869824274.post-79808971508559794552012-04-12T10:40:00.002-07:002012-04-25T14:53:19.506-07:00Everyone Has a Story--What is Yours?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDMYSWjXDoaxLhNeLOtQyzNmkYw7C4yeH-9B1anIZxSZds72T7IDx4NOi09sxET09SJlj4B8CNHko1Jj_uiKiIC-7wOSJZjNAZRmz6WaTdv-FxR6ilhchYDpm0ckG0BV7HzuASQX2gsjnP/s1600/Jo3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDMYSWjXDoaxLhNeLOtQyzNmkYw7C4yeH-9B1anIZxSZds72T7IDx4NOi09sxET09SJlj4B8CNHko1Jj_uiKiIC-7wOSJZjNAZRmz6WaTdv-FxR6ilhchYDpm0ckG0BV7HzuASQX2gsjnP/s400/Jo3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Everyone has a story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What is yours?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How you can you
rediscover your story through photography?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">You may not think you have a story, but you do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Can you recapture the essence of your story
by becoming a photographer?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You
bet!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The process is very simple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Psychologists tell us that most of our
personality traits are in place by age five (or six, or seven, or eight).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am not sure what the exact age is, but you
get the drift.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Think back to what you
enjoyed doing at that age.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You may have
had a particularly blessed childhood, or it may have been difficult. But even
the most difficult childhood has peak moments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What type of activities did you enjoy, left to your own devices?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How can you incorporate those things into
your life now, and how does photography both inform and enhance that
experience? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">I can tell you my story, and like many people’s stories, it
starts with my mother.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I always felt
loved by my parents, but, because I was the youngest child, I felt a bit of
disengagement on the part of my mother when I was growing up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Part of it<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>had to do with my particular generation, part of it had to do with her
parenting style, and part of it was her not wanting to be all that bothered,
beyond carpools, birthday parties, making sure I knew how to swim, teaching me
to brush my teeth and say bedtime prayers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Her favorite book in those days was “Where did you go? Out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What did you do? Nothing.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She devoured that book and after reading it
she became even more adamant about this parenting style, and laughed every time
she said the title of the book. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Because I always felt I could go to her with any issues, or
problems, without judgment on her part, I did that a few times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She would listen, and then give me this advice,
“Why don’t you go outside and play?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I took this advice to heart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Going outside to play meant that I was to
fend for myself and not bother her any more for the rest of the day, and
everything would be fine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nobody had <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>fenced<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>yards in my neighborhood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nobody
minded kids wandering on their property.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I kept myself entertained various ways-- by playing with our outdoor,
unfenced dog, wandering over to my cousins’ house for various sports activities
and other mischief, feeding the horses across the street, and watching tadpoles
turn into frogs in the pond next door.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then there were
trees!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I convinced my parents to place the
jungle gym under the pecan tree so I could reach the branches and climb that
one particular tree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I spent several <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>hours per week in that tree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I didn’t limit myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently one time my uncle, who lived next
door, called my mom and told her he was looking out of his second story bedroom
window and he saw me so high in a tree that he feared for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He wanted to call out to me to get down from
the tree, but worried about startling me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If my uncle meant for my mother to warn me about my tree climbing, he
failed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She loved telling that story and
laughed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">That is my story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
more important, what is yours?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Rediscovering my story through photography helped reconnect me with my
past, and with provided me both with a stronger sense of self and a stronger
connection to the world around me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You
can guess what kinds of photos I take!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If you can’t guess, then take a look. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">If you loved sports, you could go to some sporting events
and trying to get action shots.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you
loved arranging furniture in a dollhouse you would love still life
photography.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Did you play with your
Barbie dolls and collect all the clothes?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You could buy and sell stuff on Ebay, and put up enticing looking
photos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am convinced that the best
photographs produce the highest bids!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You may have had a chemistry set and a microscope.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ah, macro photography is for you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you liked looking through a <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>telescope there is always
astrophotography.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you are an artist,
you would probably love a lot of different kinds of photography, including
portrait photography.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If your mom baked
cookies with you instead of telling you go outside and play, you might want to
get into food photography!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Photos can
really make food look delicious. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you
grew up in the ‘hood, please look into street photography, which is one of my
favorite genres to peruse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And if you
were a member of the Audio Visual Club in high school, you can learn cameras
and their functions and run circles around me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then you definitely need your own blog!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Rediscover your story through photography, and your life
will be enhanced.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I promise!</span></div>
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<br /></div>Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06248410710858707839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3483206769869824274.post-37207542867164206782012-04-04T12:21:00.001-07:002012-06-07T04:22:55.338-07:00East Memphis Silos--New Desktop Wallpaper<span style="font-size: large;">Once a person that I had just met asked me what I did with the photos I took. I have so many answers for that that it would take up an entire blog post, and then some. But one of the things I do with photos is a very simple answer--I use them as desktop wallpaper. I can't imagine having desktop wallpaper that is not personal. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Generally I change wallpaper every few months, and it kind of gives me a jolt for the first few times I turn on the computer, because the desktop wallpaper I select gives the screen a certain familiar energy. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Over the years I have used landscapes from various vacations, but lately I have used photos I take closer to home. My old wallpaper was a scene from Patriot Lake in Shelby Farms in Memphis, taken in the morning just after the fog lifted. Most people don't really notice this particular scene, because you have to hike about a fourth of a mile from the parking lot, and look toward what I call the skyline of the park, and then either zoom the camera lens to the max (in my case, 24x), or get out the binoculars. I happened to capture the three herons in the foreground on the islands in Patriot Lake.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">This wallpaper served me well for many months, but I recently replaced it with another Memphis photograph, this time of one of my favorite sites in the city, although it also is relatively unknown by people who don't happen to know the neighborhood. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Many Memphians don't even know that the hottest office real estate market in town, right off the Poplar Corridor, is home to two brick silos that come to life with wisteria in the spring. I love taking photos on partly cloudy afternoons, and when we had one recently, I got some wonderful silo photos. One has replaced the Shelby Farms landscape as my new desktop wallpaper.</span> <br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I had to process this photograph with my photo processing software (PhotoDirector) using a technique called "masking". This highlights a certain portion of the photo to make changes on just that portion of the photo. Without the masking technique, the photograph foreground was too dark. I had changed the automatic settings in the camera to make the photo dark, because I did not want the clouds to disappear into the sky. Using the masking technique, I was able to have the best of both worlds--clouds that look like clouds, and enough light to clearly see the wisteria and the brick silos. Another way to accomplish this is to use one of the various filters available for camera lenses that are meant to be used with clouds. Before any processing, my photo looked like this: </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">If I had lightened the entire photograph, rather than just the silos and wisteria, the photo would look like this--notice the clouds don't show well in this photo:</span> <br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The hint for the week, is that it is a lot better to start with the photograph dark, and to lighten it with post processing than it is to start with it light, and try to darken it. But you can take photos various ways, and experiment.</span>Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06248410710858707839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3483206769869824274.post-21933662693401724682012-03-27T06:02:00.000-07:002013-08-03T05:26:52.105-07:00Losing My Religion to the Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><em>Nature
teaches more than she preaches. There are no sermons in stones. It is easier to
get a spark out of a stone than a moral.</em> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">~John Burroughs </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Early Sunday morning I decided to take advantage of the spring weather in Memphis, and I drove to nearby Audubon Park, where I had previously identified what I called a “woodpecker tree.”</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Perhaps I should reverse the title of this post and call it “The Yellow- Bellied Sapsucker to Losing My Religion.” In lieu of much writing, I am going to let the slideshow I prepared mostly speak for itself. I love this acoustic version of the R.E.M.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>song, and I hope you will also. The state of Audubon Park in general is described, (specifically on a Sunday morning) and then there are some tips on taking photos of the yellow-bellied sapsucker. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Much of this applies to any bird photo, of course. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Two <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>of my many goals in starting this blog were 1) to force myself to pay more attention to my surroundings and 2) to actually learn a few things. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>I doubt if I would have noticed the “woodpecker tree” in Audubon Park if it hadn’t been for this blog. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I know I would not have read the graffiti!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I am also paying much more attention to details, and I learned that this was not a woodpecker that I photographed, but a sapsucker, which literally lives by sucking the lifeblood out of trees! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Nature is cruel! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>I identified this bird the lazy person’s way-- by posting it to my Flickr account and moving it to the bird identification group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>You are not allowed to move a bird photo to that group unless you can’t identify it. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>I got my answer within seven minutes. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Hey, it is a common bird, and I am not a birder!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span></span><br />
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Retraction: According to Wikipedia--"<span class="st">The Yellow-bellied <strong>Sapsucker</strong> is part of the New World <strong>sapsucker genus</strong> Sphyrapicus, which is within the <strong>woodpecker</strong> family Picidae." </span><br />
<span class="st"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow-bellied_Sapsucker" target="_blank">Yellow-bellied Sapsucker</a> </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl83A5RAC33JwTGPpVNFqnxiS6x08f-3Secuzi3cxo3swqDlH5RZx26qDp7DcMfFvB8jPAf2aORVWZFDnhx0qBytrF-B-FYkatdmufbvbShMVpiOAvUEewzYANrzwRX83hixEgWMe81GOs/s1600/yaP1290469-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl83A5RAC33JwTGPpVNFqnxiS6x08f-3Secuzi3cxo3swqDlH5RZx26qDp7DcMfFvB8jPAf2aORVWZFDnhx0qBytrF-B-FYkatdmufbvbShMVpiOAvUEewzYANrzwRX83hixEgWMe81GOs/s640/yaP1290469-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Profile Photograph of a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4WOe_tAP-ia9dzgzRf3d6XBh6txT3dvXvhqAwyQbekd3z_QW6Lr7VxWd2gsQ2miob38s7oMouw4scCs9XrlJpcuCu6WojeQRnzYi4zOZQsGMxggrMkCupG76zuOuT-oAf7PB7zXvdllxr/s1600/aP1290256-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4WOe_tAP-ia9dzgzRf3d6XBh6txT3dvXvhqAwyQbekd3z_QW6Lr7VxWd2gsQ2miob38s7oMouw4scCs9XrlJpcuCu6WojeQRnzYi4zOZQsGMxggrMkCupG76zuOuT-oAf7PB7zXvdllxr/s640/aP1290256-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yellow-bellied Sapsucker from the Back</td></tr>
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Can you find a woodpecker tree in your neighborhood? Or do you notice something else interesting to photograph?</div>
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</span>Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06248410710858707839noreply@blogger.com1