….thanks Cee for hosting Odd Ball Photo Challenge
In Carla Sonheim’s, Year Long Video a Day: 365, on-line class we were assigned a photo challenge. We had to stand in the middle of a room and with our eyes closed start shooting the space while turning around. Here are a few shots of my living room that were taken with my eyes closed.
….thanks Becca for hosting Sunday Trees
…an opportunity to pull out the ‘zoom’ lens
As you know from previous posts I’ve inherited a zoom lens that I’ve been dying to use on wildlife. My moon photos were a complete bust but I’ll try again when the weather isn’t quite so frigid.
A few days ago, before the snow storm hit, a squirrel was darting around on my deck looking for water. I grabbed my camera and started shooting through the glass of the patio doors. The first few had too much glare because I was shooting at an angle. Then I was able to get a shot straight on and it made a big difference. I wanted to say ‘huge’ but I’m trying to avoid that word as much as possible.
I was hoping to open the doors so that I could get a shot that didn’t happen through a glass window (a dirty on at that) but as soon as I did that the squirrel took off and look who showed up (3rd photo). If the squirrel hadn’t run away when I opened the door , Frances’ presence would have scared him off for sure.
…this week’s WordPress photo challenge is any photo taken from above or atop
….this happened when I tried to get a photo of the moon and failed
After taking Photography 201 I was hoping I was better prepared to take shots of the full moon. If it hadn’t been so cold I might have persevered with different setting and tried again. Instead I sat on the park bench and turned the camera towards the city skyline. As I held the shutter down I could tell that something different than normal was happening but I wasn’t quite sure what it was. At least I knew that the camera was taking pictures.
When I got home I realized that the shutter was open for a full 10 seconds.
A few days ago in my on-line art class with Carla Sonheim, we were instructed to take artistic shots of bright lights. I couldn’t figure out how to do it. Fast forward to the night of the full moon. I got my artistic light shots without even knowing it. Here they are:
….more like playing with my camera
Usually when I approach birds of any kind they tend to fly away. I was hoping that my new zoom lens would allow me to get closer without actually having to physically approach my subjects.
A few day ago, when I left the dog at home, I walked into the Col. Sam Smith Park hoping to find some birds to capture with my camera. Despite the bitter cold, I found a gaggle of geese along the first beach as I entered the naturalized area of the park. To my surprise the geese did not fly away. Instead a couple of them walked towards me as if looking for something. I don’t know if it was curiosity on their part or if they were looking for a handout.
At one point they got so close to me that I found myself actually backing away from them. One thing I know about geese and swans is that they can be rather nasty and they will bite if they feel threatened. Clearly these two weren’t threatened by me or this big black contraption hanging from my neck.
I’m pretty pleased with the photos I managed to get. In fact, I didn’t have the zoom lens with me. I used the macro lens. These birds were way to close to me for the zoom lens anyway, unless I wanted pictures of their eyes. I’m sure that an expert could find plenty wrong with them. The day was overcast, Canada Geese don’t have a lot of colour and the beach we were standing on was also void of a lot of colour. Consequently there’s not a lot of contrast and everything seems a little muted. None the less, it is what it is and I finally got a close-up even without my zoom lens.
….this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge is wish
I wish I could see my son and daughter-in-law in London, England.
I wish I was feeling better so I could spend some time with my granddaughter this week.
I wish my husband would get over his cold so we can spend some quality time together and have the family over.
I wish for a smooth transition when my 90 year old father moves in with us in May.
I wish to travel back to Europe, maybe even with my Dad. It would be nice for him to see his brother one more time. I would love to go back to Venice.
I wish I could stop procrastinating and do some more art. I miss it.
Finally I wish it were warmer and I was on the beach at the cottage.
….but lovely enough for taking photos
My husband has been suffering all week with a miserable cold and sinus infection, so when the dog barked non-stop to go outside and no one moved from their cozy chair in front of the TV I knew that I would be the designated dog walker for the day.
If I had to go outside I might as well take my camera and make the best of it. I bundled up, knowing that the temperature had plummeted to well below freezing and I tucked my camera inside my coat.
Now taking photos with a dog at the end of a leash is not easy but I did manage to take a few interesting shots close to home. I’m still experimenting with my macro lens and sometimes it’s very hit or miss but with a digital camera it really doesn’t matter. There’s no waiting for film to be developed and you can see immediately if the shot worked or not. In the photos below it’s difficult to see but I started tracking a couple of geese but as I got closer they flew down to the water.
Later in the day I had to pick up a library book so I drove and left the dog at home. I decided to park the car by Sam Smith Park after getting my book in hopes of getting a few more shots. The lake side was ice free but on the pond there was a thin sheet of ice across most of the pond. 
After an hour or so of hunting around for interesting shots my fingers started to freeze. This is the one downside of taking photos on such a cold day. Wearing mittens is impractical and my leather gloves are fine when I’m moving a lot but they don’t do a very good job of keeping the cold out when you’re standing around, fiddling with dials on your camera. Keeping the camera inside my coat helped preserve the battery somewhat. Batteries don’t like the cold either.
Do you have any tips for taking photos on freezing cold days? I’d love to hear about them.
….go to Cee’s Odd Ball Photo Challenge to see more odd ball photos or submit some of your own
….as always thanks Becca for hosting Sunday Trees
Mama Cormier 